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PART 2: COUNTERATTACK

CHAPTER 8: HOOKS, LINES AND SINKERS

EXCERPT FROM ARTEMIS FOWL’S DIARY. DISK 2.

ENCRYPTED.

TODAY Father was fitted for his prosthetic limb. He joked throughout the entire process, as though he were being measured for a new suit on Grafton Street. I must admit, his good humour was infectious, and I found myself making excuses just to sit in the corner of the hospital room and enjoy his presence.

It wasn’t always this way. In the past, one needed valid grounds to visit my father. Of course, he wasn’t generally available, and even when he was, his time was limited. One did not burst into the Fowl study without good reason. But now I feel welcome at his side. It is a nicefeeling.

My father always liked to impart wisdom, but now it is more philosophical than financial. In the old days, he would direct my attention to the latest share prices in the Financial Times.

‘Look, Artemis’, he would say. ‘Everything else Jails, but gold stays steady. That is because there is not enough of it. And there never will be.

Buy gold, boy, and keep it safe.’

I liked to listen to his pearls of wisdom, but now they are harder to understand.

On the third day of his consciousness, I fell asleep on the hospital bed while my father did his walking exercises. I woke to find him looking at me thoughtfully.

‘Shall I tell you something, Arty?’ he said. I nodded, unsure what to expect.

‘While I was a prisoner I thought about my life, how I had wasted it gathering riches whatever the cost to my family and others around me. In a man’s life, he gets few chances to make a difference. To do the right thing. To be a hero, if you will. I intend to become involved in that struggle.’ This was not the kind of wisdom I was accustomed to hearing from my father. Was this his natural personality or the fairy magic? Or a combination of both?

‘I never got involved before. I always thought the world could not be changed.’ Father’s gaze was intense, burning with new passion. ‘But things are different now. My priorities are different. I intend to seize the day, be the hero that every father should be.’ He sat on the bed beside me.

‘And what about you, Arty? Will you make the journey with me? When the moment comes will you take your chance to be a hero?’ I couldn’t respond. I didn’t know the answer. I still don’t.

FOWL MANOR

For two hours Artemis locked himself in his study, sitting cross-legged in the meditative position taught to him by Butler. Occasionally he would voice an idea aloud, to be picked up by a voice-activated digital recorder placed on the mat before him. Butler and Juliet knew better than to interrupt the planning process. This period was crucial to the success of their mission. Artemis had the ability to visualize a hypothetical situation and calculate the likely outcomes. It was almost a dream state, and any disturbance could send the thread of his ideas flying like vapours.

Eventually Artemis emerged, tired but satisfied. He held three CD-writable disks.

‘I want you to study these files,’ he said. ‘They contain details of your assignment. When you have memorized the contents destroy the disks.’ Holly took the disks.

‘A CD. How quaint. We have these in museums.’

‘There are several computers in the study,’ continued Artemis. ‘Use any terminal you wish.’ Butler was empty-handed.

‘Nothing for me, Artemis?’ he asked.

Artemis waited until the others had gone.

‘I needed to give you your instructions verbally,’ he began. ‘I don’t want to risk Foaly picking them up from the computer.’ Butler sighed deeply, sinking into a leather armchair by the fireplace.

‘I’m not going with you. Am I?’

Artemis sat on the chair’s arm. ‘No, old friend. But I have an important task for you.’ ‘Really, Artemis,’ said Butler. ‘I’ve skipped right over my midlife crisis.

You don’t have to invent a job just to make me feel useful.’ ‘No, Butler. This is of vital importance. It concerns the mind wipes. If my plan succeeds, we will have to submit to them. I see no way to sabotage the process itself, so I must ensure that something survives Foaly’s search.

Something that will trigger our memories of the People. Foaly once told me that a strong enough stimulus can result in total recall.’ Butler shifted his position in the chair, wincing. His chest was still giving him trouble. Not surprising really. He had been alive less than two days.

‘Any ideas?’

‘We need to lay a couple of false trails. Foaly will be expecting that.’ ‘Of course. A hidden file on the server. I could send an e-mail to ourselves, but not pick it up. Then the first time we check our mail, all this information will come through.’ Artemis handed the bodyguard a folded sheet of A4.

‘No doubt we will be mesmerized and questioned. In the past we have hidden from the mesmer behind mirrored sunglasses. We won’t get away with that on this occasion. So, we need to come up with something else.

Here are the instructions.’

Butler studied the plans.

‘It’s possible. I know someone in Limerick. The best man in the country for this kind of specialized work.’ ‘Excellent,’ said Artemis. ‘After that, you need to put everything we have on the People on a disk. All documents, videos, schematics. Everything.

And don’t forget my diary. The whole story is there.’ ‘And where do we hide this disk?’ asked Butler.

Artemis untied the fairy pendant from around his neck.

‘I’d say this was about the same size as the disk. Wouldn’t you?’ Butler tucked the gold medallion into his jacket pocket.

‘It soon will be,’ he said.

Butler prepared them a meal. Nothing fancy. Vegetarian spring rolls, followed by mushroom risotto with creme caramel to finish. Mulch opted for a bucket of diced worms and beetles, sauteed in a rainwater and moss vinaigrette.

‘Has everybody studied their files?’ Artemis asked, when the group had adjourned to the library.

‘Yes,’ said Holly. ‘But I seem to be missing a few key pieces.’ ‘Nobody has the entire plan. Just the parts concerning them. I think it’s safer that way. Do we have the equipment I specified?’ Holly dumped the contents of her pack on the rug.

‘A complete LEP surveillance kit, including camouflage foil, mikes, video clips and a first aid box.’ ‘Plus we still have two intact LEP helmets and three laser handguns left over from the siege,’ added Butler. ‘And, of course, one of the prototype Cubes from the lab.’ Artemis passed the cordless phone to Mulch. ‘Very well then. We may as well get started.’ THE SPIRO NEEDLE

Jon Spiro sat in his opulent office, staring glumly at the C Cube on his desk. People thought it was easy being him. How little they knew. The more money you had, the more pressure you were under. He had eight hundred employees in this building alone, all relying on him for a pay cheque. They wanted yearly salary reviews, medical plans, baby-care centres, regular coffee breaks, double pay for overtime and even stock options, for heaven’s sake. Sometimes Spiro missed the times when a troublesome worker was thrown out of a high window and that was the end of him. These days, if you threw someone out of a window, they’d phone their lawyer on the way down.

But this Cube could be the answer to his prayers. A once-in-a-lifetime deal, the brass ring. If he could get this weird little gizmo working, the sky was the limit. Literally. The world’s satellites would be his to command.

He would have complete control over spy satellites, military lasers, communications networks and, most important of all, television stations.

He could feasibly rule the world.

His secretary buzzed from reception.

‘Mister Blunt to see you, sir.’

Spiro jabbed the intercom button.

‘OK, Marlene, send him in. And tell him he better look sorry.’ Blunt did indeed look sorry when he pushed through the double doors.

The doors themselves were imposing enough. Spiro had them stolen from the ballroom of the sunken Titanic. They were a perfect example of power gone mad.

Arno Blunt was not quite so cocky as he had been in London. Then again, it is difficult to look arrogant when your forehead is a mass of bruises and your mouth is full of gums and nothing else.

Spiro winced at the sight of his sunken cheeks.

‘How many teeth did you lose?’

Blunt touched his jaw gingerly.

‘All ob ‘em. Dendish shaid de roods are shaddered.’ ‘It serves you right,’ said Spiro matter-of-factly. ‘What do I gotta do, Arno? I hand you Artemis Fowl on a platter and you mess it up. Tell me what happened. And I don’t want to hear about any earthquakes. I want the truth.’ Blunt wiped a blob of drool from the corner of his mouth.

‘I doh undershtan ih. Shomeshin explohduh. I dunno wha’. Shome kinna shoun grenay. Buh I dell you shomeshin. Budlah ish dead. I shod him in de head. No way he’sh geddin uh affer da.’ ‘Oh, shut up!’ snapped Spiro. ‘You’re giving me a headache. The sooner you get those new teeth, the better.’ ‘My gumsh wi be healed suffishendly by hish afernoo.’ ‘I thought I told you to shut up!’

‘Shorry, bosh.’

‘You’ve put me in a very difficult situation, Arno. Because of your incompetence I had to hire a team from the Antonellis. Carla is a smart girl; she could decide that they deserve a percentage. It would cost me billions.’ Arno tried his best to look remorseful.

‘And don’t bother with the puppy dog look, Blunt. It doesn’t cut any ice with me. If this deal goes south, you’ll be losing a lot more than a couple of teeth.’ Arno decided to change the subject.

‘Sho, di’ your shiendishds geh de Cube worging?’ ‘No,’ said Spiro, twisting his gold identity bracelet. ‘Fowl has it sealed up tight. An Eternity Code, or some such thing. That idiot, Pearson, couldn’t get a peep out of it.’ It was at that moment, dramatically, that a voice emanated from the C Cube’s micro-speaker mesh.

‘Mister Spiro?’ said the voice. ‘This is Ireland calling. Do you read, Mister Spiro?’ Jon Spiro was not a man who spooked easily. He hadn’t seen a horror movie yet that could make him jump in his seat, but the voice coming out of that speaker almost knocked him off his chair. The quality was incredible. Close your eyes and you’d swear that the person speaking was standing right in front of you.

‘You wan’ me do anshwer da?’

‘I told you to shut up! Anyway, I don’t know how to answer this thing.’ ‘I can hear you, Mister Spiro,’ said the voice. ‘You don’t need to do anything. Just talk. The box does the rest.’ Spiro noticed that a digital wave meter had appeared on the Cube’s screen. When he spoke it registered.

‘OK then. We got communication. Now, who the hell are you? And how did you get this box working?’ ‘The name is Mo Digence, Mister Spiro. I’m the monkey from Carla Frazetti’s team. I don’t know what kind of box you have at your end; I just have a plain old telephone.’ ‘Well, who dialled the number then?’

‘A little kid I have here by the scruff of the neck. I impressed upon him how important it was that I talk to you.’ ‘And how did you know to talk to me? Who gave you my name?’ ‘Again, the kid. He was very eager to tell me everything after he saw what I did to the metal man.’ Spiro sighed. If the metal man was damaged, he would have to pay the Antonellis a fine.

‘What did you do to the metal man?’

‘Nothing permanent. But he won’t be aiming any guns at kids for a while.’ ‘Why did you feel it necessary to damage your own partner, Digence?’ There was a pause on the other end while Mulch got the supposed sequence of events sorted out.

‘It was like this, Mister Spiro. Our instructions were to escort the kid across to the US. But Loafers goes crazy and starts waving a gun about. I figured this was the wrong way to go, so I stopped him. Forcibly.

Anyway, the kid gets so scared that he tells me everything I want to know.

And here I am now having a conversation with you.’ Spiro rubbed his hands together. ‘You did the right thing, Digence.

There’ll be a bonus in this for you. I’ll see to it personally.’ ‘Thanks, Mister Spiro. Believe me, the pleasure was mine.’ ‘Is the Fowl kid there?’

‘Right beside me. A little pale, but not a scratch on him.’ ‘Put him on,’ ordered Spiro, all traces of depression vanishing.

‘Spiro, it’s me.’ Artemis’s voice was aloof, but with an unmistakable tremor.

Spiro squeezed the air, as though it were Artemis’s neck.

‘Not so cocky now, kid? It’s like I told you, you don’t have the guts for this job. Me, on the other hand, if I don’t get what I want, then I’ll have Mo put you out of my misery. Do we understand each other?’ ‘Yes. Loud and clear.’

‘Good,’ said Spiro, clamping a huge Cuban cigar between his teeth. It would be chewed to a pulp, but not lit. ‘Now, talk. What do I have to do to get this Cube working?’ Artemis’s voice sounded even shakier than before. ‘It’s not that simple, Mister Spiro. The C Cube is coded. Something called an Eternity Code. I can remotely access certain basic functions: the phone, MP3 player and so on, but to disable the code completely and unlock the Cube’s potential, I need to have it here in front of me. If you could just bring the Cube here . .

.’

Spiro spat out the cigar.

‘Hold it right there, Fowl. Just how stupid do you think I am? I’m going to bring this priceless technology back to Europe? Forget it! If you’re going to disable this thing, you’re going to do it here. In the Spiro Needle!’ ‘But my tools? My lab?’

‘I got tools here. And a lab. The best in the world. You do it here.’ ‘Yes. Whatever you say.’

‘That’s right, kid. Whatever I say. I want you to fuel up the Lear jet that I happen to know you have, and do a quick hop across to O’ Hare Airport.

I’ll have a chopper waiting for you.’

‘I don’t suppose I have a choice.’

‘That’s right, kid. You don’t. But do this right and I might just let you go.

Did you get all that, Digence?’

‘Loud and clear, Mister Spiro.’

‘Good. I’m counting on you to get the kid here safely.’ ‘Consider it done.’

The line went dead.

Spiro chuckled.

‘I think I’m going to celebrate,’ he said, punching the intercom button.

‘Marlene, send in a pot of coffee, and no low-caffeine junk either. I want the real thing.’ ‘But, Mister Spiro, your doctors said Spiro waited for his secretary to realize who she was arguing with.

‘I’m sorry, sir. Right away, sir.’

Spiro leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head.

‘You see, Blunt. This is going to turn out fine, in spite of your incompetence. I got that kid just where I want him.’ ‘Yesh, shir. Mashderfully done, shir.’

Spiro laughed. ‘Shut up, you clown. You sound like some cartoon character.’ ‘Yesh. Mosh amushing, shir.’

Spiro licked his lips, anticipating his coffee. ‘For a supposed genius, that kid sure is gullible. Do this right and I might just let you go? He fell for that one hook, line and sinker.’ Blunt tried to grin. It was not a pretty sight. ‘Yesh, Mishduh Shpiro. Hoo, line an’ shinkuh.’ FOWL MANOR

Artemis hung up the phone, his face flushed with the thrill of the sting.

‘What do you think?’ he asked.

‘I think he bought it,’ replied Butler.

‘Hook, line and sinker,’ added Mulch. ‘You have a jet? I presume there’s a kitchen.’ Butler drove them to Dublin Airport in the Bentley. It was to be his final act in this particular operation. Holly and Mulch huddled in the back, glad of the tinted glass.

The Butler siblings sat up front, dressed in corresponding black Armani suits. Juliet had jazzed hers up with a pink cravat and glitter make-up. The family resemblance was clear: the same narrow nose and full lips. The same eyes, jumping in their sockets like roulette balls in the wheel.

Watching, always watching.

‘You don’t need a traditional gun on this trip,’ said Butler. ‘Use an LEP blaster. They don’t need reloading, they shoot in a straight line forever and they’re non-lethal. I gave Holly a couple from my stash.’ ‘Got it, Dom.’

Butler took the airport exit.

‘Dom. I haven’t been called that in so long. Being a bodyguard becomes your world. You forget to have your own life. Are you sure that’s what you want, Juliet?’ Juliet was twining her hair in a tight braid. At the end of the plait she attached an ornamental jade ring. Ornamental and dangerous.

‘Where else would I get to bodyslam people outside of a wrestling ring?

Bodyguarding fits the bill, for the moment.’

Butler lowered his voice. ‘Of course, it’s completely against protocol for you to have Artemis as your principal. He already knows your first name and, truth be told, I think he’s a little fond of you.’ Juliet slapped the jade ring against her palm.

‘This is just temporary. I’m not anybody’s bodyguard just yet. Madame Ko doesn’t like my style.’ ‘I’m not surprised,’ said Butler, pointing to the jade ring. ‘Where did you get that?’ Juliet smiled. ‘My own idea. A nice little surprise for anyone who underestimates females.’ Butler pulled into the set-down area.

‘Listen to me, Juliet,’ he said, catching his sister’s hand. ‘Spiro is dangerous. Look what happened to me, and, in all modesty, I was the best.

If this mission weren’t so vital to humans and fairies, I wouldn’t let you go at all.’ Juliet touched her brother’s face.

‘I will be careful.’

They climbed on to the walkway. Holly hovered, shielded, just above the throngs of business travellers and holidaymakers. Mulch had applied a fresh layer of sunblock, and the stink repelled every human who was unfortunate enough to pick up his scent.

Butler touched Artemis’s shoulder.

‘Are you going to be all right?’

Artemis shrugged. ‘I honestly don’t know. Without you by my side I feel as though one of my limbs is missing.’ ‘Juliet will keep you safe. She has an unusual style, but she is a Butler, after all.’ ‘It’s one mission, old friend. Then there will be no more need for bodyguards.’ ‘It’s a pity Holly couldn’t have simply mesmerized Spiro through the Cube.’ Artemis shook his head.

‘It wouldn’t have worked. Even if we could have set up a link, a fairy needs eye-to-eye contact to mesmerize a strong mind like Spiro’s. I don’t want to take any chances with this man. He needs to be put away. Even if the fairies relocated him, he could do some damage.’ ‘What about your plan?’ Butler asked. ‘From what you told me, it’s quite convoluted. Are you sure it’s going to work?’ Artemis winked — a very unusual display of levity. ‘I’m sure,’ he said.

‘Trust me. I’m a genius.’

Juliet piloted the Lear jet across the Atlantic. Holly sat in the co-pilot’s chair, admiring the hardware.

‘Nice bird,’ she commented.

‘Not bad, fairy girl,’ said Juliet, switching to autopilot. ‘Not a patch on fairy craft, I’d bet?’ ‘The LEP doesn’t believe in comfort,’ said Holly.

‘There’s barely enough room in an LEP shuttle to swing a stink worm.’ ‘If you wanted to swing a stink worm.’

‘True.’ Holly studied the pilot. ‘You’ve grown a lot in two years. The last time I saw you, you were a little girl.’ Juliet smiled. ‘A lot can happen in two years. I spent most of that time wrestling big hairy men.’ ‘You should see fairy wrestling. Two pumped-up gnomes having it out in a zero G chamber. Not a pretty sight. I’ll send you a videodisc.’ ‘No, you won’t.’

Holly remembered the mind wipes.

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘No, I won’t.’

In the passenger section of the Lear jet, Mulch was reliving his glory days.

‘Hey, Artemis,’ he said, through a mouthful of caviar. ‘Remember the time I nearly blew Butler’s head off with a blast of gas?’ Artemis did not smile. ‘I remember, Mulch. You were the spanner in an otherwise perfect works.’ ‘To tell you the truth, it was an accident. I was just nervous. I didn’t even realize the big guy was there.’ ‘That makes me feel better. Scuppered by a bowel problem.’ ‘And do you remember the time I saved your neck in Koboi Laboratories?

If it hadn’t been for me, you’d be locked up in Howler’s Peak right now.

Can’t you do anything without me?’

Artemis sipped mineral water from a crystal flute.

‘Apparently not, though I live for the day.’

Holly made her way back through the aisle.

‘We’d better get you kitted out, Artemis. We land in thirty minutes.’ ‘Good idea.’

Holly emptied the bag’s contents on to the central table.

‘OK, what do we need for now? The throat mike and an iris-camera.’ The LEP captain selected what looked like a circular adhesive bandage from the pile. She peeled back the adhesive layer and stuck the material to Artemis’s neck. It immediately turned the colour of his skin.

‘Memory latex,’ explained Holly. ‘It’s almost invisible. Maybe an ant crawling up your neck might notice it, but apart from that . . . The material is also X-ray proof, so the mike is undetectable. It will pick up whatever is said within a ten-metre radius, and I record it on my helmet chip.

Unfortunately, we can’t risk an earpiece — too visible. So we can hear you, but you won’t be able to hear us.’ Artemis swallowed, feeling the mike ride on his Adam’s apple.

‘And the camera?’

‘Here we go.’

Holly removed a contact lens from a jar of fluid.

‘This thing is a marvel. We’ve got hi-resolution, digital quality, recordable picture with several filter options, including magnification and thermal.’ Mulch sucked a chicken bone dry.

‘You’re starting to sound like Foaly.’

Artemis stared at the lens.

‘A technological marvel it may be, but it’s hazel.’ ‘Of course it’s hazel. My eyes are hazel.’

‘I’m glad to hear it, Holly. But my eyes are blue, as you well know. This iris-cam will not do.’ ‘Don’t look at me like that, Mud Boy. You’re the genius.’ ‘I can’t go in there with one brown eye and one blue eye. Spiro will notice.’ ‘Well, you should have thought of that while you were meditating. It’s a little late now.’ Artemis pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘You’re right, of course. I am the mastermind here. Thinking is my responsibility, not yours.’ Holly squinted suspiciously. ‘Was that an insult, Mud Boy?’ Mulch spat the chicken bone into a nearby bin.

‘I have to tell you, Arty, a cock-up this early in the proceedings doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. I hope you’re as clever as you keep telling everyone you are.’ ‘I never tell anybody exactly how clever I am. They would be too scared.

Very well, we will have to risk the hazel iris-cam. With any luck, Spiro might not notice. If he does, I can invent some excuse.’ Holly placed the camera on the tip of her finger, sliding the lens under Artemis’s lid.

‘It’s your decision, Artemis,’ she said. ‘I just hope you haven’t met your match in Jon Spiro.’ 11 P.M., O’ HARE AIRPORT, CHICAGO

Spiro was waiting for them at O’ Hare’s private hangar. He wore a fur-collared greatcoat over his trademark white suit. Halogen lamps blasted the tarmac, and the downdraught from the chopper blades snagged his coat tails. It was all very cinematic.

All we need now is background music, thought Artemis as he descended the motorized steps.

As per instructions, Mulch was putting on the gangster act.

‘Move it, kid,’ he snarled, quite convincingly. ‘We don’t want to keep Mister Spiro waiting.’ Artemis was about to respond when he realized that he was supposed to be the ‘terrified kid’. It wasn’t going to be easy. Being humble was a real problem for Artemis Fowl.

‘I said move it!’ repeated the dwarf, stressing the point with a firm shove.

Artemis stumbled the last few steps, almost colliding with a grinning Arno Blunt. And this was no ordinary grin. Blunt’s teeth had been replaced by a custom-crafted porcelain set. The tips had been filed to sharp points. The bodyguard looked for all the world like a human shark hybrid.

Blunt caught Artemis’s stare.

‘You like ‘em? I got other sets too. One is all flat. For crushing stuff.’ A cynical sneer was forming on Artemis’s mouth before he remembered his role, replacing the sneer with a set of quivering lips. He was basing his performance on the effect Butler usually had on people.

Spiro was not impressed.

‘Nice acting, sonny. But pardon me if I doubt the great Artemis Fowl has fallen to pieces quite so easily. Arno, check the plane.’ Blunt nodded curtly, ducking inside the private jet. Juliet was dressed in a flight attendant’s uniform and was straightening the headrest covers. For all her athletic ability, she was finding it difficult not to fall out of her high heels.

‘Where’s the pilot?’ growled Blunt, living up to his name.

‘Master Artemis flies the plane,’ replied Juliet. ‘He’s been flying it since he was eleven years old.’ ‘Oh, really? Is that legal?’

Juliet put on her best innocent face. ‘I don’t know about legal, Mister. I just serve the drinks.’ Blunt grunted, charming as ever, and had a quick poke about the jet’s interior. Eventually he decided to accept the flight attendant’s word.

Lucky for him, because had he decided to argue, two things would have happened. First, Juliet would have clobbered him with the jade ring. And second, Holly, who was lying shielded in an overhead locker, would have blasted him into unconsciousness with her Neutrino 2000. Of course, Holly could simply have mesmerized the bodyguard, but after what he had done to Butler, a blasting seemed more appropriate.

Blunt stuck his head through the hatch.

‘No one in there except some dumb attendant.’

Spiro was not surprised.

‘I didn’t think so. But they’re here somewhere. Believe it or not, Digence, Artemis Fowl did not get suckered by a goon like you. He’s here because he wants to be here.’ Artemis was not surprised by this deduction. It was only natural that Spiro should be suspicious.

‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he said. ‘I’m here because this odious little man threatened to crush my skull between his teeth. Why else would I come? The C Cube is useless to you, and I could easily construct another one.’ Spiro was not even listening.

‘Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, kid. But let me tell you something. You bit off more than you could chew when you agreed to come here. The Spiro Needle has the best security on the planet. We’ve got stuff in there that even the military don’t have. Once those doors close behind you, you’re on your own. Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody. Understand?’ Artemis nodded. He understood what Spiro was saying to him. That wasn’t to say that he agreed with it. Jon Spiro might have stuff that the military didn’t have, but Artemis Fowl had stuff that humans had never seen.

A Sikorsky executive helicopter whisked them downtown to the Spiro Needle. They landed on a helipad on the skyscraper’s roof. Artemis was familiar with helicopter controls, and realized how difficult it must be to land in the bluster of the Windy City.

‘The wind speed must be treacherous at this altitude,’ he said casually.

Holly could record the information on her helmet chip.

‘You’re telling me,’ shouted the pilot over the rotors’ din. ‘It gets over sixty miles an hour on top of the Needle. The helipad can sway up to ten metres in rough conditions.’ Spiro groaned, giving Blunt a nod. Arno reached forward and whacked the pilot’s helmet.

‘Shut up, you moron!’ snapped Spiro. ‘Why don’t you give him the blueprints to the building while you’re at it?’ He turned to Artemis. ‘And in case you’re wondering, Arty, there aren’t any blueprints floating around. Anybody who goes looking in City Hall is going to find that file mysteriously missing. I have the only set, so don’t bother getting one of your associates to do an Internet search.’ No surprises there. Artemis had already run several searches himself, although he hadn’t really expected Spiro to be so careless.

They climbed down from the Sikorsky. Artemis was careful to point the iris-cam at any security feature that could be useful later. Butler had often told him that even a seemingly insignificant detail, like the number of steps in a stairwell, could be vital when planning an operation.

A lift brought them down from the helipad to a key-coded door. Closed-circuit cameras were strategically placed to cover the entire rooftop. Spiro moved ahead to the keypad. Artemis felt a sharp sting in his eye and suddenly the iris-cam magnified his vision by four. In spite of the distance and shadows he could easily discern the entry code.

‘I hope you got that,’ he muttered, feeling the mike vibrating on his throat.

Arno Blunt bent his knees, so his extraordinary teeth were a centimetre from Artemis’s nose.

‘Are you talking to someone?’

‘Me?’ said Artemis. ‘Who would I be talking to? We’re eighty floors up, in case you hadn’t noticed.’ Blunt grabbed the teenager by the lapels, hoisting him off the tarmac.

‘Maybe you’re wearing a wire. Maybe you have someone listening to us right now.’ ‘How could I be wearing a wire, you big oaf? Your miniature hit man hasn’t let me out of his sight for the entire journey. He even accompanied me to the bathroom.’ Spiro cleared his throat noisily.

‘Hey there, Mister I-Gotta-Make-My-Point, that kid slips over the side and you might as well throw yourself off, because that boy is worth more to me than an army of bodyguards.’ Blunt set Artemis down.

‘You’re not going to be valuable forever, Fowl,’ he whispered ominously.

‘And when your stock falls, I’ll be waiting.’

They took a mirrored lift to the eighty-fifth floor, where Doctor Pearson waited, along with two more muscle-bound minders. Artemis could tell by the look in their eyes that these two weren’t exactly brain surgeons. In fact, they were as close as you could get to Rottweillers still balanced on two legs. It was probably handy to have them around to break things and not ask questions.

Spiro called one of them over.

‘Pex, do you know what the Antonellis charge if you lose their personnel?’ Pex had to consider it for a moment. His lips moved as he thought.

‘Yeah, wait, I got it. Twenty grand for a metal man and fifteen for a monkey.’ ‘That’s dead, right?’

‘Dead or incapaci . . . incatacip . . . broken.’ ‘OK,’ said Spiro. ‘I want you and Chips to go over to Carla Frazetti’s and tell her I owe her thirty-five grand for the team. I’ll wire it to her Cayman account in the morning.’ Mulch was understandably curious, and not a little apprehensive.

‘Excuse me? Thirty-five grand? But I’m still alive. You only owe twenty grand for Loafers, unless the extra fifteen K is my bonus?’ Spiro sighed with almost convincing regret.

‘This is the way it is, Mo,’ he said, punching Mulch playfully on the shoulder. ‘This deal is huge. Mammoth. We’re talking telephone numbers.

I can’t afford any loose ends. Maybe you know something, maybe you don’t. But I’m not about to take the chance that you might tip off Phonetix or one of my other competitors. I’m sure you understand.’ Mulch stretched his lips, revealing a row of tombstone teeth.

‘I understand all right, Spiro. You’re a back-stabbing snake. You know, the kid offered me two million dollars to cut him loose.’ ‘You should have taken the cash,’ said Arno Blunt, propelling Mulch into Pex’s gigantic arms.

The dwarf kept talking, even as he was being dragged down the corridor.

‘You better bury me deep, Spiro. You better bury me real deep.’ Spiro’s eyes narrowed to wet slits.

‘You heard the man, boys. Before you go to Frazetti’s, bury him deep.’ Doctor Pearson led the party through to the vault room. They had to pass through a small antechamber before entering the main security area.

‘Please stand on the scanner pad,’ said Pearson. ‘We wouldn’t want any bugs in here. Especially not the electronic kind.’ Artemis stepped on to the mat. It sank like a sponge beneath his feet, spurting jets of foam over his shoes.

‘Anti-infection foam,’ explained Pearson. ‘Kills any virus you might have picked up. We’re keeping some bio-technology experiments in the vault at the moment. Very susceptible to disease. The foam has the added advantage of shorting out any surveillance devices in your shoes.’ Overhead a mobile scanner bathed Artemis’s frame in purple light.

‘One of my own inventions,’ said Pearson. ‘A combination scanner. I have incorporated thermal, X-Ray and metal-detector beams. The beam basically breaks your body down into its elements and displays them on this screen here.’ Artemis saw a 3D replica of himself being traced out on the small plasma screen. He held his breath, praying that Foaly’s equipment was as clever as the centaur thought it was.

On-screen, a red light pulsed on Artemis’s jacket front.

‘Aha,’ said Doctor Pearson, plucking off a button. ‘What have we here?’ He cracked the button open, revealing a tiny chip, mike and power source.

‘Very clever. A micro-bug. Our young friend was attempting to spy on us, Mister Spiro.’ Jon Spiro was not angry. In fact, he was delighted to have the opportunity to gloat.

‘You see, kid. You may be some kind of genius, but surveillance and espionage are my business. You can’t slip anything past me. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner we can get this thing over with.’ Artemis stepped off the pad. The decoy had worked, and the real bugs hadn’t caused a blip in the system. Pearson was smart, but Foaly was smarter.

Artemis made sure he had a good look around the antechamber. There was more here. Every square centimetre of the metal surface contained a security or surveillance device. From what Artemis could see, an invisible ant would have trouble sneaking in. Not to mention two humans, an elf and a dwarf— assuming the dwarf survived Pex and Chips.

The vault door itself was impressive. Most corporate vaults looked impressive, plenty of chrome and keypads, but that was just to make an impression on stockholders. In Spiro’s vault there wasn’t a tumbler out of place. Artemis spotted the very latest computer lock on the face of titanium double doors. Spiro keyed in another complicated series of numbers, and the metre-thick doors slid back to reveal another barrier. The secondary door.

‘Imagine you are a thief,’ said Spiro, an actor introducing a play, ‘and you somehow get into the building, past the electronic eyes and the locked doors. Then imagine you somehow cheat the lasers, the sensor pad and the door code, and open the first vault door — an impossible feat by the way.

And while we’re imagining all this, let’s pretend you disable the half dozen cameras, and even then, even after all that, would you be able to do this?’ Spiro stood on a small red plate on the floor in front of the door. He placed a thumb on a gel-print scanner, held his left eyelid open and enunciated clearly.

‘Jon Spiro. I am the boss, so open up quick.’ Four things happened. A retinal scanner filmed his left eye and fed the image into the computer. A print plate scanned his right thumb, and a vocal analyser scrutinized his voice’s accent, timbre and intonations. Once the computer had verified all this information, the alarms were deactivated and the secondary door slid open to reveal an expansive vault.

In the very middle, in the centre of a custom-made steel column, rested the C Cube. It was enclosed in a perspex case, with at least six cameras focused on its various planes. Two burly guards stood back to back, forming a human barrier in front of the fairy technology.

Spiro could not resist a jibe. ‘Unlike you,’ he said, ‘I look after my technology. This is the only vault of its kind in the world.’ ‘Live security in an airtight room. Interesting.’ ‘These guys are trained at high altitude. Also, we change the guards on the hour, and they all carry oxygen cylinders to keep them going. What did you think? I was going to put air vents into a vault?’ Artemis scowled. ‘No need to show off, Spiro. I’m here; you win. So can we get on with it?’ Spiro punched a final number sequence into the column’s keypad and the perspex panes retracted. He took the Cube from its foam nest.

‘Overkill, don’t you think?’ commented Artemis. ‘All of this is hardly necessary.’ ‘You never know. Some crooked businessman could attempt to relieve me of my prize.’ Artemis took a chance on some calculated sarcasm.

‘Really, Spiro. Did you think I would attempt a break-in? Perhaps you thought I would fly in here with my fairy friends and magic your box away?’ Spiro laughed. ‘You can bring all the fairy friends you like, Arty boy.

Short of a miracle that Cube is staying right where it is.’ Juliet was an American citizen by birth, even though her brother had been born on the other side of the world. She was glad to be back in her home country. The discord of Chicago’s traffic and the constant chorus of multicultural voices made her feel at home. She loved the skyscrapers and the steam vents and the affectionate sarcasm of the street vendors. If she ever got the chance to settle down, it would be in the US. On the west coast though, somewhere with sun.

Juliet and Holly were circling the Spiro Needle in a blacked out mini-van.

Holly sat in the back, watching the live video feed from Artemis’s iris-cam on her helmet visor.

At one point she punched the air triumphantly.

Juliet stopped at a red light. ‘How are we doing?’ ‘Not bad,’ replied the fairy, raising her visor. ‘They’re taking Mulch to bury him.’ ‘Cool. Just like Artemis said they would.’

‘And Spiro has just invited all of Artemis’s fairy friends into the building.’ This was a crucial development. The Book forbade fairies from entering human buildings without an invitation. Now Holly was free to break in and wreak havoc without violating fairy doctrine.

‘Excellent,’ said Juliet. ‘We’re in. I get to bodyslam the guy who shot my brother.’ ‘Not so fast. This building has the most sophisticated Mud Man security system I’ve seen. Spiro has a few tricks in there that I’ve never come across before.’ Juliet finally found a space opposite the Needle’s main revolving doors.

‘No problem for the little horsey guy, surely?’

‘No, but Foaly’s not supposed to help us.’

Juliet focused a set of binoculars on the door. ‘I know, but it all depends on how you ask. A smart guy like Foaly - what he needs is a challenge.’ Three figures emerged from the Needle. Two large men in black and a smaller, nervous-looking individual. Mulch’s feet were treading air so fast that he seemed to be performing an Irish jig. Not that he had any hope of escaping. Pex and Chips had him tighter than two badgers fighting over a bone.

‘Here comes Mulch now. We better give him back-up. Just in case.’ Holly strapped on her mechanical harness, extending the wings with the touch of a button.

‘I’ll follow them from the air. You keep an eye on Artemis.’ Juliet ran a video lead from one of the spare helmets’ hand-held computers. Artemis’s point of view sprang to life on the screen.

‘Do you really think Mulch needs help?’ she asked.

Holly buzzed into invisibility. ‘Help? I’m just going along to make sure he doesn’t harm those two Mud Men.’ Inside the vault, Spiro was finished playing the gracious host.

‘Let me tell you a little story, Arty,’ he said, lovingly caressing the C Cube. ‘There was this Irish kid who thought he was ready for the big time.

So he messed with a very serious businessman.’

Don’t call me Arty, thought Artemis. My father calls me Arty.

‘This businessman didn’t appreciate being messed with, so he messed back, and this kid is dragged kicking and screaming into the real world. So now this kid has to make a choice: does he tell the businessman what he needs to know, or does he put himself and his family in mortal danger?

Well, Arty, which one is it?’

Spiro was making a serious mistake by toying with Artemis Fowl. It was difficult for adults to believe that this pale-faced thirteen-year-old could actually be a threat. Artemis had tried to take advantage of this by wearing casual clothes in place of his usual designer suit. He had also been practising an innocent, wide-eyed look on the jet, but wide-eyed was not how you wanted to look when one iris did not match the other.

Blunt prodded Artemis between the shoulder blades.

‘Mister Spiro asked you a question.’ His new teeth clicked as he talked.

‘I’m here, am I not?’ replied Artemis. ‘I’ll do whatever you wish.’ Spiro placed the Cube on a long steel table that ran down the centre of the vault.

‘What I wish is for you to disable your Eternity Code, and get this Cube working right now.’ Artemis wished that he could make himself perspire so that his anxiety would seem more authentic.

‘Right now? It’s not that simple.’

Spiro grabbed Artemis by the shoulders, staring him in the eye.

‘And why wouldn’t it be that simple? Just punch in the code word and away we go.’ Artemis averted his mismatched eyes, staring at the floor.

‘There is no straightforward code word. An Eternity Code is built to be irreversible. I have to reconstruct an entire language. It could take days.’ ‘Don’t you have any notes?’

‘Yes. On disk. In Ireland. Your monkey wouldn’t let me bring anything in case it was booby-trapped.’ ‘Can we access your hard drive online?’

‘Yes. But I only keep my notes on disk. We could fly back to Ireland.

Eighteen hours, round trip.’

Spiro wouldn’t even consider that option. ‘Forget it. As long as I have you here, I’m in control. Who knows what kind of reception is waiting for me in Ireland? We do it here. As long as it takes.’ Artemis sighed. ‘Very well.’

Spiro replaced the Cube in its perspex case.

‘Get a good night’s sleep, kid, because tomorrow you’re going to peel this gizmo apart like an onion. And if you don’t, what’s about to happen to Mo Digence will happen to you.’ Artemis wasn’t unduly worried by that threat. He didn’t believe Mulch to be in any danger. In fact, if anyone was in trouble, it was those two musclemen Pex and Chips.