The water-powered car?
No, idiot. Not the water-powered car. The core probe. I know you have designed one. Quite a good design for a human, though I will be making changes.
The core probe. Impossible. Cant get through crust. Dont have enough iron.
We cant get through the crust. We dont have enough iron. Speak properly, for heavens sake. Its trying enough speaking Mud Man without listening to your gibberish. Honestly, you human geniuses are not all youre cracked up to be.
Zitos beleaguered brain made the effort. I am sorry, dearest Belinda. I simply mean that the core probe project is long term. It will have to wait until we can find a practical way to gather the iron, and cut through the Earths crust.
Opal looked at the dazed Sicilian. Poor, dear, stupid Daddy. You developed a super laser to cut through the crust. Dont you remember?
A dewdrop of sweat rolled down Zitos cheek. A super laser? Now that you mention it
And can you guess what youll find when you do cut through?
Zito could guess. Part of his intellect was still his own. A haematite orebody? It would have to be massive. Of very high grade.
Opal led him to the window. In the distance the wind farms blades flashed in the starlight.
And where do you think we should dig?
I think we should dig under the wind farm, said Zito, resting his forehead against the cool glass.
Very good, Daddy. If you dig there, I will be ever so happy.
Zito patted the pixies hair. Ever so happy, he said sleepily. Belinda, my little girl. Papers are in bureau.
The papers are in the bureau, Opal corrected him. If you persist with this baby talk I will have to punish you.
She wasnt joking.
E7, BELOW THE MEDITERRANEAN
Holly had to stay out of the major chutes on her way to the surface. Foaly had sensors monitoring all traffic through commercial and LEP routes. This meant navigating unlit, meandering secondary chutes, but the alternative was being picked up by the centaurs bugs and hauled back to Police Plaza before the job was done.
Holly negotiated stalactites the size of skyscrapers and skirted vast craters teeming with bioluminescent insect life. But instinct was doing the driving. Hollys thoughts were a thousand miles away, reflecting on the events of the last twenty-four hours. It seemed as though her heart were finally catching up with her body.
All her previous adventures with Artemis were comic-book escapades compared to their current situation. It had always been happy ever after before. There had been a few close calls but everyone had made it out alive. Holly studied her trigger finger. A faint scar circled the base, where it had been severed during the Arctic incident. She could have healed the scar or covered it with a ring, but she preferred to keep it where she could see it. The scar was part of her. The commander had been a part of her too. Her superior, her friend.
Sadness emptied her out, then filled her up again. For a while, thoughts of revenge had fuelled her. But now, even the thought of dumping Opal Koboi into a cold cell could not light a spark of vengeful joy in her heart. She would keep going, to ensure the People were safe from humans. Maybe when that task was done, it would be time to take a look at her life. Maybe there were a few things that needed changing.
Artemis summoned everyone to the passenger area as soon as he had finished work on the computer. His new old memories were giving him immense pleasure. As his fingers skimmed across the Gnommish keyboards, he marvelled at the ease with which he navigated the fairy platform. He marvelled too at the technology itself, even though he was no stranger to it any more. The Irish boy felt the same thrill of rediscovery that a small child feels when he has chanced upon a lost favourite toy.