Eoin Colfer - Artemis Fowl. The Lost Colony

Artemis gripped his knees tight. 'I can't allow this. I won't allow it.'

Holly placed a hand over his. 'We have no choice, Artemis. We're clear now. This is not our fight. I can't risk exposing Number One.'

Artemis's frown cut a furrow from his hairline to the bridge of his nose.

'I know. Of course. But, still, how can this not be my fight?' He glanced sharply at Butler. 'Will Kong kill that man?'

'Without a doubt,' replied the bodyguard. 'In his mind, it's already done.'

Artemis rubbed his eyes, suddenly fatigued. 'I am responsible, indirectly. I can't have a man's death on my conscience. Holly, you do what you have to do, but I need to save those people.'

'Conscience,' said No.1. 'What a lovely word. The sh in the middle.'

It was plain that the imp was not actually listening to the conversation, just picking up on certain words. The incongruity of this simple statement made Artemis look across. His eyes rested for a moment on No.1 's chest markings. And suddenly he knew where he had seen them before. A plan hit him like a bolt of lightning.

'Holly, do you trust me?'

Holly groaned. 'Artemis, don't ask me that. I just know one of your outrageous plans is coming.'

'Do you trust me?'

'Yes,' Holly sighed. 'I do. More than anyone.'

'Well then, trust me to get us all out of this. I will explain later.'

Holly was torn. This decision could affect the rest of her life, and the imp's too. And the effect could be to shorten them dramatically.

'OK, Artemis. But I'll be watching.'

Artemis spoke into his ring-phone. 'Foaly, can you put me through to Mister Kong's mobile phone.'

'Not a problem,' replied the centaur from Section 8 HQ. 'But it's going to be the last thing I do for you. Sool has tracked my line out. In thirty seconds I'm going to be shut down, and you'll be on your own.'

'I understand. Put me through.'

Butler gripped Artemis's shoulder. 'If you call him, then he has the upper hand. Kong will want to choose where to meet.'

'I know where we should meet. I just have to convince Mister Kong that the rendezvous point is his idea.' Artemis closed his fist, covering the phone. 'Quiet. It's ringing.'

'Who is this?' snapped Kong.

'My name is not important,' said Artemis. 'The important thing is that I have something you want.'

'How did you get this number?'

'I have a friend,' replied the mystery caller. 'He knows all the numbers.

Now, to business. I believe you're in the market for a demon?'

'So, you must be the great Artemis Fowl: Minerva's idol. I am so sick of you smart kids. Why can't you just boost cars or steal stuff like normal kids.'

'We do steal stuff. Just bigger stuff. Now, are you interested in my demon or not?'

'I could be,' said Kong. 'What do you have in mind?'

'A straight trade. I pick a public place, and we swap. My demon for your girl.'

'You're not picking anything, kid. I pick the rendezvous point. You called me, remember? What do you want with this girl anyway?'

'Her life,' said Artemis simply. 'I do not like murder, or murderers. You and your crew walk out of there with one hostage, and we do a swap.

It's a simple transaction. Don't tell me you've never released a hostage before.'

'I'm an old hand, kid. I've been picking up ransoms for years.'

'Good. I'm glad we can do business. Now why don't you name your preferred location. I'll be wearing a burgundy tie. Pay attention to that.

There are a hundred and one ways this could go wrong. If it does, the police could tie one of us up for a long time.'

In the getaway car, Holly frowned quizzically at Artemis. It wasn't like him to chatter. He calmed her with a look and a wave of his hand.

'OK,' said Kong. 'I just thought of somewhere. You know Taipei 101?'

'In Taiwan?' said Artemis. 'One of the world's tallest buildings? You are not serious. That's on the far side of the world.'

'I am deadly serious. Taipei is my second home. I know it well. You will have a tough enough time getting there by the deadline, so there will be no tricks. We will exchange on the observation deck at twelve noon, two days from now. If you don't show, then the girl takes the express elevator down. If you see what I mean.'

'I see. I'll be there.'

'Good. Don't come alone. Bring the ugly guy with you, or the female. I don't care, I only need one.'

'We have already released the female.'

'OK. The guy then. You see how easy it is to deal with me. I'm a reasonable man, unless I'm crossed. So don't cross me.

'Don't worry,' said Artemis. 'I won't.' And he said it with such conviction that, if you didn't know him, you would absolutely believe it.

taipei, taiwan

Taipei 101 is among the tallest buildings in the world. Some say it is the tallest, if the sixty-metre spire can be counted, but others argue that a spire is not a building, and so Taipei 101 can technically only be called the tallest structure in the world. In any event, there were four buildings in construction — two in Asia, one in Africa and the fourth in Saudi Arabia — with their sights set on the world's tallest building crown.

So Taipei's claim to fame could be a fleeting one.

Artemis and company landed in Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport barely three hours before the deadline in a rented Lear jet. And though Butler was a registered pilot, qualified for day and night flying in various aircraft, it was Artemis who flew most of the way.

Flying helped him think, he claimed. Also, no one would interrupt while he put the finishing touches to his audacious plan. Artemis was fully aware of the risks involved with this particular scheme. The pivotal element was purely theoretical and the rest was highly unlikely.

He briefed the others on the details in the back of a rented Lexus on the forty-minute drive from the airport to downtown Taipei. The entire group looked drained, even though they had eaten and rested on the plane. Only No.1 was in high spirits. Everywhere he looked there were new wonders to be gaped at, and he could not imagine that anyone would be able to injure him while he was under Butler's protection.

'The bad news is that we are running close to the deadline," said Artemis. 'So there will be no time to set a trap.'

'And the good news, Artemis?' said Holly grumpily. She was grumpy for a few reasons. She was dressed as a human girl, because Artemis had asked her to save her magic for when it would be needed. She had managed to boost her magical energy by burying a sealed acorn she kept round her neck, but there had been no full moon, so her power reserves were limited. Also she was completely shut off from the People, and to top it all she had no doubt that Ark Sool would have her up on charges if any of them did manage to survive the trade-off. After all, she had brought No.1 halfway across the world instead of escorting him safely to Haven City.

'The good news is that Kong can't be too far ahead of us, so it is unlikely he had time to set up any traps either.'

The Lexus entered the Xinyi district, and Taipei 101 rose from the cityscape like a giant bamboo shoot. The buildings around it seemed to shrink back in awe.

Butler craned his head back to see the top of the five-hundred-plus-metre building. 'We never do anything small, do we?

Why can't we for once have a meeting in a Starbucks?'

'I didn't pick this building,' said Artemis. 'It picked us. Fate has brought us here.'

He tapped Butler on the shoulder and the bodyguard pulled over into the first space he could find. It took forever. Taipei morning traffic was thick and slow-moving and spewed smoke like an irritated dragon.

Many of the thousands of pedestrians and cyclists had smog masks strapped across their faces.

When the vehicle had stopped, Artemis continued his briefing.

'Taipei 101 is a miracle of modern engineering. The architects took their inspiration from the humble bamboo. But this shape alone would not keep the skyscraper steady in the event of an earthquake or high winds, so the designers built it on a frame of concrete-filled steel-boxed super columns, and installed a seven-hundred tonne steel ball as a mass damper pendulum to absorb the force of the wind. Ingenious. The pendulum swings instead of the building.

It's become quite the tourist attraction. You can even watch it from the observation deck. The owners have covered the damper with fifteen centimetres of solid silver, which has been etched by the famous Taiwanese artist Alexander Chou.'

'Thanks for the fine-art lesson,' interrupted Holly. 'Now how about you let us in on your plan. I want to get this over with and take off this ridiculous tracksuit. It's so shiny, I feel sure I can be picked up on satellite.'

'I don't much like this outfit either,' complained No.1, who was dressed in a bonnet and an orange floral muumuu. Orange, he had decided, was definitely not for him.

'Your outfit is the least of your worries,' noted Holly. 'I'm guessing that we're about to hand you over to a bloodthirsty hit man, eh, Artemis?'

'That we are,' confirmed Artemis. 'But only for a few seconds. There will be little or no danger to you. And if my suspicions are correct, it is just possible that we may save Hybras.'

'Go back to me being in danger for a few seconds,' said No.1, his thick brow folding in a frown. 'In Hybras, a few seconds can last a very long time.'

'Not here,' said Artemis, in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. 'Here a Jew seconds is how long it will take you to open your hand.'

No.1 opened his fingers a couple of times experimentally. 'That's still pretty long. Any way to cut it down?'

'Not really. If we do, it means sacrificing Minerva.'

'Well, she did tie me to a chair.' No.1 glanced round at the shocked faces. 'What? I'm joking. Of course I'll do it. But no more orange. Please.'

Artemis smiled, but it did not quite reach his eyes. 'Very well, no more orange. Now, the plan. It is in two parts. If the first part doesn't work, then the second is redundant.'

'Redundant,' said No.1, almost unconsciously. 'Not needed, superfluous.'

'Exactly. So I'll explain that when necessary.'

'What about the first part?' asked Holly.

'In the first part, we meet a vicious hit man and his band of thugs and he will expect us to hand over Number One.'

'So what do we do?'

'We hand over Number One,' said Artemis. He turned to the slightly nervous imp. 'How do you like the plan so far?'

'Well, I don't like the first bit and I don't know the last bit. So, I'm really hoping the middle bit is exceptional.'

'Don't worry,' said Artemis. 'It is.'taipei 101

The group took a high-speed elevator from Taipei 101's cavernous lobby to the observation floor. Holly and No.1 had technically been given permission to enter the building by a small plaque over the main door which simply urged visitors to come and go as they pleased. And seeing as she did not feel the urge to throw up in the elevator, Holly guessed that the plaque counted as an invitation.

'Toshiba elevators,' said Artemis, reading from a pamphlet he had picked up at information. 'These are the fastest elevators in the world.

We are moving at eighteen metres per second, so it shouldn't take much more than half a minute to reach the eighty-ninth floor.'

Artemis consulted his watch when the doors dinged open.

'Hmm. Right on time. Impressive engineering. I may get one of these for the house.'

They stepped out into the observation area, which had a restaurant at the far end. From this lofty vantage point, visitors could walk all the way round the floor and shoot video of the panoramic view. From this height it was even possible to see China across the Taiwan Strait.