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 analyzer scrutinized Spiro’s accent, timbre, and intonation. Once the computer had verified all this information, the alarms were deactivated and the secondary door slid open, revealing an expansive vault.
In the very center, in the middle of a custom-made steel column, rested the C Cube. It was encased in a Plexiglas box 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 gibe. “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 Plexiglas 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 U.S. On the West Coast though, somewhere with sun.
Juliet and Holly were circling the Spiro Needle in a blacked-out minivan. Holly sat in the back, watching video 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 to enter 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 body-slam the guy who shot my brother.”
“Not so fast. This building has the most sophisticated Mud Man security system I’ve ever 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 horsy guy, surely?”
“Yes, 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’d better give him backup. 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 a spare helmet’s handheld computer. 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, plucking the C Cube from its pressure pad. “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.