Read Online Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer - Free Book Online Page B

weapon.”
    “Just wait. It gets worse.”
    “I don’t suppose you would consider peaceful surrender?” said a second voice. Just listening to it gave the commander shivers. “No,” continued the voice. “I suppose not.”
    “This is bad,” said Root, his face uncharacteristically pale. “This feels like a setup. These two goons were waiting. How is that possible?”
    Holly’s voice came through the speaker then, typically brazen in the face of danger. The commander sighed. At least she was alive. It was more bad news, though, as the parties exchanged threats, and the second human displayed an uncommon knowledge of fairy affairs.
    “He knows about the Ritual!”
    “Here’s the worst bit.”
    Root’s jaw dropped. “The worst bit?”
    Holly’s voice again. This time layered with the mesmer.
    “Now she has them,” crowed Root.
    But apparently not. Not only did the mesmer prove ineffective, but the mysterious pair seemed to find it amusing.
    “That’s all there is from Holly,” noted Foaly. “One of the Mud People messes around with the camera for a bit and then we lose everything.”
    Root rubbed the creases between his eyes. “Not much to go on. No visual, not even a name. We can’t really be a hundred percent sure that we have a situation.”
    “You want proof?” asked Foaly, rewinding the tape. “I’ll give you proof.”
    He ran the available video.
    “Now, watch this. I’m going to slow it right down. One frame per second.”
    Root leaned in close to the screen, close enough to see the pixels.
    “Captain Short comes in for a landing. She takes off her helmet. Bends down, presumably to pick up an acorn, and . . . there!”
    Foaly jabbed the pause button, freezing the picture completely. “See anything unusual?”
    The commander felt his ulcer churn into overdrive.
    Something had appeared in the top right-hand corner of the frame. At first glance it seemed like a shaft of light, but light from what or reflected from what?
    “Can you blow that up?”
    “No problem.”
    Foaly cut to the relevant area, increasing it by four hundred percent. The light expanded to fill the screen.
    “Oh no,” breathed Root.
    There on the monitor before them, in frozen suspension, was a hypodermic dart. There could be no doubt. Captain Holly Short was missing in action. Most probably dead, but at the very least held captive by a hostile force.
    “Tell me we still have the locator.”
    “Yep. Strong signal. Moving north at about eighty klicks an hour.”
    Root was silent for a moment, formulating his strategy.
    “Go to full alert, and get Retrieval out of their bunks and back down here. Prep them for a surface shot. I want full tactical and a couple of techies. You too, Foaly. We may have to stop time on this one.”
    “Ten four, Commander. You want Recon in on this?”
    Root nodded. “You bet.”
    “I’ll call in Captain Vein. He’s our number one.”
    “Oh, no,” said Root. “For a job like this, we need our very best. And that’s me. I’m reactivating myself.”
    Foaly was so amazed, he couldn’t even formulate a smart comment.
    “You’re . . . You’re . . .”
    “Yes, Foaly. Don’t act so surprised. I have more successful recons under my belt than any officer in history. Plus I did my basic training in Ireland. Back in the top hat and shillelagh days.”
    “Yes, but that was five hundred years ago, and you were no spring bud then, not to put too fine a point on it.”
    Root smiled dangerously. “Don’t worry, Foaly. I’m still running red hot. And I’ll make up for my age with a really big gun. Now get a pod ready. I’m leaving on the next flare.”
    Foaly did what he was told without a single quip. When the commander got that glint in his eyes, you hopped to and kept your mouth shut. But there was another reason for Foaly’s silent compliance. It had just hit him that Holly could be in real trouble. Centaurs don’t make many friends, and Foaly was worried he might lose one of the few