Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception by Colfer Eoin

Author:Colfer, Eoin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Children's
Published: 2006-03-12T05:00:00+00:00

Some time later, Artemis and Holly were stirring in their seats. Scant helped them back into consciousness with a couple of jolts from a buzz baton.

‘Welcome back to the land of the condemned,’ said Opal. ‘How do you like my shuttle?’

The craft was impressive, even if it was ferrying Artemis and Holly to their deaths. The seats were covered with illegally harvested fur and the decor was plusher than your average palace. There were small entertainment hologram cubes suspended from the ceiling, in case the passengers wanted to watch a movie.

Holly began to squirm when she noticed what she was sitting on.

‘Fur! You animal!’

‘No,’ said Opal. ‘You’re sitting on the animals. As I told you, I am human now. And that is what humans do, skin animals for their own comfort. Isn’t that right, Master Fowl?’

‘Some do,’ said Artemis coolly. ‘Not me personally.’

‘Really, Artemis,’ said Opal archly. ‘I hardly think that qualifies you for sainthood. From what I hear, you’re just as eager to exploit the People as I am.’

‘Perhaps. I don’t remember.’

Opal rose from her seat and fixed herself a light salad from the buffet.

‘Of course, they mind-wiped you. But surely you must remember now? Not even your subconscious could deny that this is happening.’

Artemis concentrated. He could remember something. Vague, out-of-focus images. Nothing very specific.

‘I do remember something.’

Opal lifted her eyes from her plate. ‘Yes?’

Artemis fixed her with a cool stare. ‘I remember how Foaly defeated you before with superior intellect. I am certain he will do it again.’

Of course Artemis had not truly remembered this, he was simply repeating what Holly had told him. But the statement had the desired effect.

‘That ridiculous centaur!’ shrieked Opal, hurling her plate against the wall. ‘He was lucky, and I was hampered by that idiot, Cudgeon. Not this time. This time I am the architect of my own fate. And of yours.’

‘And what is it this time?’ Artemis asked mockingly. ‘Another orchestrated rebellion? Or perhaps a mechanical dinosaur?’

Opal’s face grew white with rage. ‘Is there no end to your impudence, Mud Boy? No small-scale rebellions this time. I have a grander vision. I will lead the humans to the People. When the two worlds collide, there will be a war and my adopted people will win.’

‘You’re a fairy, Koboi,’ interjected Holly. ‘One of us. Rounded ears don’t change that. Don’t you think the humans will notice when you don’t get any taller?’

Opal patted Holly’s cheek almost affectionately. ‘My poor, dear, underpaid police officer, don’t you think I thought of all this while I stewed in that coma for almost a year? Don’t you think I thought of everything? I have always known that humans would discover us eventually, so I have prepared.’ Opal leaned over, parting her jet-black hair to reveal a magically fading seven-centimetre scar on her scalp. ‘Getting my ears rounded wasn’t the only surgery I had done. I also had something inserted in my skull.’

‘A pituitary gland,’ guessed Artemis.

‘Very good, Mud Boy. A rather tiny, artificial human pituitary gland.

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