‘What happened?’ asked Mulch, a reasonable question for once.
Foaly opened another box on the screen. Most of the picture was white. ‘This happened.’
Mulch peered at the box. ‘A very small snowstorm?’
Foaly wagged a finger at him. ‘I swear, if I wasn’t such a fan of mockery myself, I would have you tossed out of here on your combustible behind.’
Mulch accepted the compliment with a gracious nod.
‘No, this is not a small snowstorm. This is white-out. Someone was blocking our Scopes.’
Holly nodded. Scopes was the shop name for the shrouded trackers attached to human communications satellites.
‘You can see that whatever happened in our little snowstorm must have been pretty unusual, because the Mud Men are very eager to get away from it.’
On screen, humans outside the white-out zone ran away wildly or drove their cars into walls.
‘Human news programmes report several sightings of a lizard-like creature appearing out of thin air for several seconds. Of course, there are no photographs. I had calculated that there would be an appearance, but more than three metres to the left, and we had set up an Elldee, sorry, Light Distortion projector accordingly. Unfortunately, although we got the time right, the exact location was wrong. Somehow, whoever was inside that ball of interference got the location exactly right.’
‘So Artemis saved us,’ noted Holly.
Vinyáya was puzzled. ‘Saved us? How?’
‘Well, if it hadn’t been for that interference, our demon friend would have been all over the Internet by now. And you think that Artemis was inside the ball of interference.’
Foaly grinned, obviously delighted with his own cunning. ‘Little Arty thought he could outwit me. He knows the LEP keep him under constant surveillance.’
‘Even though they promised not to,’ interjected Holly.
Foaly ignored this technicality, ploughing on. ‘So Artemis sent out decoys to Brazil and Finland, but we put a satellite on all three. Took a big chunk out of my budget, I can tell you.’
Mulch groaned. ‘I am either going to barf, or fall asleep, or both.’
Vinyáya slammed a fist into her palm. ‘Right. I’ve had enough of the dwarf. Let’s just toss him in a holding cell for a few days.’
‘You can’t do that,’ objected Mulch.
Vinyáya grinned nastily at him. ‘Oh yes I can. You wouldn’t believe the powers Section Eight has. So shut up, or listen to your own voice bouncing back at you from steel walls.’
Mulch locked his mouth and threw away the key.
‘So we know Artemis was in Barcelona,’ continued Foaly. ‘And we know a demon appeared. He was at several other possible materialization sites too, but no demons showed up. He’s involved somehow.’
‘How do we know that for sure?’ asked Holly.
‘Here’s how,’ said Foaly. He tapped the screen, enlarging a section of the Casa Milá’s roof.
Holly stared at the picture for several seconds, looking for whatever it was she was supposed to see.
Foaly gave her a hint. ‘This is a Gaudí building. You like Gaudí? He designed some lovely mosaics.’
Holly looked harder. ‘Oh my God,’ she said suddenly. ‘It can’t be.’
‘Oh, but it is,’ laughed Foaly, enlarging a particular rooftop mosaic until it filled the entire wall screen. There were two figures in the picture, stepping from a hole in the sky. One was obviously a demon, and the other was clearly Artemis Fowl.
‘But that’s impossible. That building must be a hundred years old.’
‘Time is the key to this whole thing,’ said Foaly. ‘Hybras has been lifted out of time. A demon who gets sucked off the island drifts through the centuries like a temporal nomad. This demon obviously got hold of Artemis and took him along for the ride. They must have appeared to one of Gaudí’s artists, or maybe even the man himself.’
Holly paled. ‘You mean Artemis is…’
‘No, no. Artemis is home in bed. We’ve pulled a satellite out of orbit to keep twenty-four-seven watch on him.’
‘How is this possible?’
Foaly said nothing, so Vinyáya answered the question. ‘I’ll take this one, because Foaly doesn’t like saying the words. We don’t know, Holly. This affair leaves a lot of important questions unanswered. That’s where you come in.’
‘How? I don’t know anything about demons.’
Vinyáya nodded craftily. ‘Yes, but you know a lot about Artemis Fowl. I believe you keep in touch.’
Holly shrugged. ‘Well, I wouldn’t say we really…’
Foaly cleared his throat, then called up an audio file on the system.
‘Hey, Artemis,’ said a recording of Holly’s voice. ‘I’ve got a little problem you might be able to help me with.’
‘Happy to help, Holly,’ said Artemis’s voice. ‘Something difficult, I hope.’
‘Well, there’s this pixie I’m after, but he’s a fast one.’
Foaly switched off the file. ‘I think we can say you’re in contact.’
Holly smiled sheepishly, hoping nobody would ask who gave Artemis a fairy communicator.
‘OK. I call from time to time. Just to keep an eye on him. For the greater good.’
‘Whatever your reasons,’ said Vinyáya, ‘we need you to contact him again. Go to the surface and find out how he can predict demon appearances so accurately. According to Foaly’s calculations, there isn’t a demon appearance due for six weeks, but we would like to know where exactly it’s going to be.’
Holly took her time to think about this.
‘In what capacity would I be contacting Artemis?’
‘Full Captain, your old rank. Of course, now you’d be working for Section Eight. Everything you do for us would be hush-hush.’
‘A spy?’
‘A spy, but with excellent overtime and medical insurance.’
Holly jerked a thumb at Mulch. ‘What about my partner?’
The dwarf jumped to his feet. ‘I don’t want to be a spy. Far too dangerous.’ He winked slyly at Foaly. ‘But I could be a consultant, for a fee.’
Vinyáya scowled. ‘We’re not prepared to grant Diggums a surface visa.’
Mulch shrugged. ‘Good. I don’t like the surface. It’s too close to the sun and I have sensitive skin.’
‘But we are prepared to compensate him for loss of earnings.’
‘I don’t know if I’m ready to put on the uniform again,’ said Holly. ‘I like working with Mulch.’
‘Let’s call this mission a probationary term. Do this one for us. See if you like the way we operate.’
Holly mulled it over. ‘What colour is the uniform?’
Vinyáya smiled. ‘Matte black.’
‘OK,’ said Holly. ‘I’m in.’
Foaly hugged her again. ‘I knew you’d do it. I knew it. Holly Short cannot resist adventure. I told them.’
Vinyáya saluted stiffly. ‘Welcome on board, Captain Short. Foaly will complete your briefing and get you kitted out. I expect you to make contact with the subject as soon as possible.’