The Arctic Incident

“She lost a finger?” echoed Artemis numbly.

“Not lost, exactly,” said the commander, waving the severed digit. “It poked me in the eye on the way past.” His eye was already beginning to blacken.

“If we go back now, surely your surgeons can graft it on?”

Root shook his head. “If we could go back now. I have a feeling that the situation underground is a lot different than when we left. If the goblins sent a hit team to get us, you can bet something big is going on underground.”

Artemis was shocked. Holly had saved all their lives, and this was how he had repaid her. While it was true that he was not directly to blame for the injury, it had been inflicted while trying to save his father. There was a debt to be paid here.

“How long?” he snapped.

“What?”

“How long ago did it happen?”

“I don’t know. A minute.”

“Then there’s still time.”

The commander sat up. “Time for what?”

“We can still save the finger.”

Root rubbed a welt of fresh scar tissue on his shoulder, a reminder of his trip along the side of the train. “With what? I barely have enough power left for the mesmer.”

Artemis closed his eyes. Concentrating.

“What about the Ritual? There must be a way.”

All the People’s magic came from the earth. In order to top up their powers, they had to periodically complete the Ritual.

“How can we complete the Ritual here?”

Artemis racked his brain. He had committed large sections of the fairy Book to memory in preparation for the previous year’s kidnapping operation.

From the earth thy power flows,

Given through courtesy, so thanks are owed.

Pluck thou the magick seed,

Where full moon, ancient oak, and twisted water meet.

And bury it far from where it was found,

So return your gift into the ground.

He scrambled across the flooring and began patting down Holly’s jumpsuit. Root’s heart nearly shut down there and then.

“In heaven’s name, Mud Boy, what are you doing?”

Artemis didn’t even look up. “Last year, Holly escaped because she had an acorn.”

Through some miracle, the commander managed to restrain himself.

“Five seconds, Fowl. Talk fast.”

“An officer like Holly wouldn’t forget something like that. I’d be willing to bet . . .”

Root sighed. “It’s a good idea, Mud Boy. But the acorns have to be freshly picked. If it hadn’t been for the time stop, that seed mightn’t have worked. You’ve got a couple of days, tops. I know Foaly and Holly put together some proposal for a sealed acorn unit, but the Council rejected it. Heresy apparently.”

It was a long speech for the commander. He wasn’t used to explaining himself. But a part of him was hoping. Maybe, just maybe. Holly had never been averse to bending a few rules.

Artemis unzipped Captain Short’s tunic. There were two tiny items on the gold chain around her neck. Her copy of the Book, the fairy bible. Artemis knew that it would combust if he tried to touch it without Holly’s permission. But there was another item. A small Plexiglas sphere filled with earth.

“That’s against regulations,” said Root, not sounding too upset.

Holly stirred, half emerging from her stupor.

“Hey, Commander. What happened to your eye?”

Artemis ignored her, cracking the tiny sphere against the carriage floor. Earth and a small acorn tumbled into his palm.

“Now all we need to do is bury it.”

The commander slung Holly over his shoulder. Artemis tried not to look at the space where her index finger used to be.

“Then it’s time to get off this train.”

Artemis glanced at the Arctic landscape whipping past outside the carriage. Getting off the train wasn’t as easy as the commander made it sound.

Butler dropped nimbly through the overhead hatch, where he’d been keeping an eye on the goblin hit squad. “Nice to see you’re so limber,”commented Artemis dryly. The manservant smile.“Good to see you, too, Artemis.” “Well? What did you see up there?” said Root, interrupting the reunion. Butler placed a hand on his young master’s shoulders. They could talk later.

“The goblins are gone. Funny thing. Two of them dropped low for reconnaissance, then the other one shot them in the back.”

Root nodded. “Power play. Goblins are their own worst enemies. But right now, we’ve got to get off this train.” “There’s another bend coming up in about half a klick,” said Butler. “That’s our best chance.” “So, how do we disembark?” asked Artemis. Butler grinned. “Disembark is a pretty gentle term for

what I have in mind.” Artemis groaned. More running and jumping.





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