Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl. The Opal Deception

A few more sums. ‘Hundred and fifty-five miles.’ Opal pinched her nose. ‘It could work. Presuming they have both charges, the resulting explosion, even if not directed as we planned, may be enough to blow a crack in the wall. It’s our only option. If it fails, at least we have time to regroup. As soon as they hit one zero five, send the detonate signal. Send it continuously. We may get lucky.’

Merv flipped a plastic safety cover off the detonate button. Only seconds to go.

Artemis’s insides were trying to force their way out through his throat.

‘This heap needs new gyroscopes,’ he said.

Holly barely nodded, she was too busy concentrating on a particularly tricky series of jinks and loops in the chute.

Artemis consulted the dashboard’s readout.

‘We’re at a depth of one zero five now. Opal will be trying to detonate. She’s closing fast.’

Mulch stuck his head through from the passenger section. ‘Is all this jiggling about really necessary? I’ve had a lot to eat recently.’

‘Nearly there,’ said Artemis. ‘The ride is just about over. Tell Butler to open the bag.’

‘OK. Are you sure Opal will do what she’s supposed to?’

Artemis smiled reassuringly. ‘Of course I am. It’s human nature, and Opal is a human now. Remember? Now, Holly. Pull over.’

Mervall tapped the readout. ‘You’re not going to believe this, Op— Miss Koboi.’

The merest hint of a smile flickered across Opal’s lips. ‘Don’t tell me. They have stopped.’

Merv shook his head, astounded. ‘Yes, they are hovering at a hundred and twenty-four miles. Why would they do that?’

‘There’s no point trying to explain it, Mervall. Just keep sending the detonation signal, but slow us down. I don’t want to be too close when we get a connection.’

She drummed her nails on the hand-held communicator left behind by the dwarf.

Any second now.

A red call light flashed on the communicator, accompanied by a slight vibration.

Opal smiled, flipping open the walkie-talkie’s screen.

Artemis’s pale face filled the tiny screen. He was trying to smile, but it was obviously forced. ‘Opal, I am giving you one chance to surrender. We have disarmed your charges and the LEP are on their way. It would be better for you to turn yourself over to Captain Short than shoot it out with an armed LEP ship.’

Opal clapped her hands. ‘Bravo, Master Fowl, what a wonderful fiction. Now, why don’t I tell you the real truth? You have realized that the charges cannot be disarmed.

The mere fact that I can receive your communication’s signal means that my detonation signal will soon penetrate your shields. You cannot jettison the explosives or I will set them off in the chute, exactly as I had originally planned. Then I will simply fire a few heat-seekers at your craft. And if you attempt further flight, then I will follow and penetrate your shields before you clear the parallel stretch. You are not in communication with the LEP. If you were, we would have picked up your broadcast. So your only alternative is this pathetic bluff. And it is pathetic. You are obviously attempting to stall me until the orebody passes your depth.’

‘So you refuse to surrender?’

Opal pretended to think about it, tapping her chin with a manicured nail. ‘Why, yes. I think I will fight on, against all odds. And by the way, please don’t look directly at the screen, it’s bad for my skin.’

Artemis sighed dramatically. ‘Well, if we have to go, at least we’ll go on full stomachs.’

This was an unusually cavalier comment to make with seconds to live, even for a human. ‘Full stomachs?’

‘Yes,’ said Artemis. ‘Mulch took something else from your shuttle.’

He picked up a small chocolate-covered ball, wiggling it in front of the screen.

‘My truffles?’ gasped Opal. ‘You took them. That’s just mean.’

Artemis popped the treat into his mouth, chewing slowly. ‘They really are divine.

I can see why you missed them in the clinic. We’re going to have to work really hard to eat all we took before you blow us to smithereens.’

Opal hissed, catlike. ‘Killing you will be so easy.’ She turned to Merv. ‘Do we have a signal yet?’

‘Nothing, Miss Koboi. But soon. If we have communications, it can’t be long now.’

Holly squeezed her head into the viewfinder. One cheek was swollen with truffles. ‘They really melt in the mouth, Opal. The condemned crew’s final meal.’

Opal actually poked the screen with her nail. ‘You survived twice, Short. You won’t do it again, I guarantee it.’

Holly laughed. ‘You should see Mulch. He’s shovelling those truffles down his gullet.’

Opal was livid. ‘Any signal?’ Even now, with certain destruction only moments away, they were still mocking her.

‘Not yet. Soon.’

‘Keep trying. Keep your finger on that button.’

Opal unstrapped herself, striding through to the lounge. The dwarf couldn’t have carried all the truffles and the explosives. Surely not. She had been so looking forward to a handful of the heavenly chocolate, once Haven was destroyed.

She knelt on the carpet, worming her hand underneath the seam to the hidden catch. It popped beneath her fingers, and the booty box’s lid slid up and back.

There was not a single truffle left in the box. Instead, there were two shaped charges. For a moment Opal could not understand what she was seeing. Then it became terrifyingly clear. Artemis had never stolen the charges, he had simply told the dwarf to move them. Once in the booty box, they could not be detected or detonated. As long as the lid was sealed. She had opened the box herself. Artemis had goaded her into sealing her own fate.

The blood drained from Opal’s face. ‘Mervall,’ she screamed. ‘The detonation signal!’

‘Don’t worry, Miss Koboi,’ the pixie shouted from the cockpit. ‘We just got contact. Nothing can stop it now.’

Green countdown clocks activated on both charges and began counting back from twenty. A standard mining fuse.

Opal lurched into the cockpit. She had been tricked. Duped. Now the charges would detonate uselessly at seventy-four and a half miles, well above the parallel stretch. Of course, her own shuttle would be destroyed and she would be left stranded, ready to be scooped up by the LEP. At least, that was the theory. But Opal Koboi never left herself without options.

She strapped herself into a seat in the cockpit.

‘I advise you to strap yourselves in,’ she said curtly to the Brill brothers. ‘You have failed me. Enjoy prison. ’

Merv and Scant barely had time to buckle up before Opal activated the ejector gel-pods under their seats. They were immediately immersed in a bubble of amber impact-gel and ejected through panels that had opened in the hull.

The impact-gel bubbles had no power source and relied on the initial gas propulsion to get them out of harm’s way. The gel was fireproof, blast-resistant and contained enough oxygen for thirty minutes’ shallow breathing. Merv and Scant were catapulted through black space until they came into contact with the chute wall. The gel stuck to the rocky surface, leaving the Brill brothers stranded, thousands of miles from home.

Opal, meanwhile, was rapidly keying codes into the shuttle’s computer. She had less than ten seconds left to complete her final act of aggression. Artemis Fowl may have beaten her this time, but he wouldn’t live to gloat about it.

Opal expertly activated and launched two heat-seeking plasma rockets from the nose tubes, then launched her own escape pod. No impact-gel for Opal Koboi. She had, of course, included a luxury pod in the ship’s design. Just one, though, no need for the help to travel in comfort. In fact, Opal didn’t care what happened to the Brill brothers, one way or the other. They were of no further use to her.