Disclaimer: Artemis Fowl is the property of Eoin Colfer. I am not Eoin Colfer, nor do I own rights to any of the characters, settings, or events recognizable from his works.

Chapter 2

At this point, some information has to be given about the Abandonment Clause. As every fairy (and three Mud Men) knew, the Book of the People was a magical Bible containing the history of the fairy race, the rules each fairy were bound under, and the ways their magic might be used. What very few fairies (and one Mud Boy) realized is that if the rules and uses for magic listed in the Book were all that magic could do, then most of the history listed in the Book was literally mythology. Either the People had lost their ancient magicks or the history written in the Book was incorrect.

Some theories had been created about this loss of magic. The main theory was that since the People were not meant to live belowground, they had lost access and knowledge of magicks that belonged above ground. The Dwarves were held as an example, since the burrowing race had many abilities that seemed to appear spontaneously whenever needed. The Dwarves privately laughed at this theory, since they knew they had their secret abilities naturally (due to evolution) and didn't require magic of any sort to use them. If they were getting extra underground magic, then cave-ins would be far less deadly.

Another theory is that the war against the People was so violent and brutal that the magic inside them broke and was now healing. There were two sides to this argument, debating whether it was the violence done to the People or by the People that caused magic to be so damaged. Many a warlock's apprentice would embarrass themselves by mentioning it this theory to their master. Warlocks knew that magic was as fine as it ever had been, using spells and devices to measure and compare magic to recordings from long ago. If anything, magic was getting even more powerful, growing as all living things do.

Many warlocks subscribed to the theory that, like humanity, the People were becoming less dependent on magic, so therefore their bodies were growing less capable of wielding the extreme examples listed in their ancient history. It must also be said that the history was written by the victors, so therefore the events may have been exaggerated somewhat.

The least popular theory was created by a centaur, a member of the only Fairy race that didn't have magic. He theorized that the Book itself had been changed by the Fairy Geis that the Elvin King Frond had created during his reign. In that case, the Fairy Geis was the source for the loss of power and knowledge, while also adding new rules like the Rule of Dwellings. Of course, no magic-wielding fairy believed that their source of knowledge was a trap. Foaly actually had to dodge a punch from Commander Root when he had mentioned the idea to him.

Whatever caused the loss, amongst those rules of the Book was the Abandonment Clause. It was one of the newer rules of Fairy life imposed by the Geis, but ironically was the only optional one. The basic text said that if the Fairy People were to abandon one of their own to the Mud Dwellers, then the abandoned one could choose to renounce their People and their Book would be 'cleansed of all magicks, bathed in an arcane fyr.' This was generally taken to mean that the Book would spontaneously combust, while taking away the magic of the fairy in question.

As no one wanted to lose their magic and their People (especially all at once), no fairy had ever renounced the People, even after a betrayal. Thus the general interpretation was never proven true… or false.

Commander Root had just arrived at the Council building. Already, news crews were swarming the upper floors. Worse of all were the sprites, flitting around with cameras, looking for a person to interrogate on the status of the 'Fowl Fiasco.' One made the mistake of trying to interview him. The Commander didn't even look as he grabbed the sprite by the ankle and threw him into the crowd.

"SHUT UP!" he bellowed. And there was silence. Partially because of Root's temper, but largely because he might give them the news first.

"Now, I need you all to go to the public entrance for the Council Meeting. I've called an Emergency Public Meeting to … discuss the events of the past night. You will not make a sound while the Meeting is on-going, or I will have a whichever fool who did thrown out of here. No exceptions. Now get out of my way!"

The assembled newsfairies promptly disassembled and left the area for a different entrance. The Commander stomped over to the entranceway to the Council and violently shoved the door open. Once the door was shut behind him, he was able to cool down a little. He checked his wrist-comp for any updates: Foaly was back in Operations coordinating Retrieval Two's (nicknamed 'the Day Squad') surveillance of the Fowl estate. They already detected a single resident inside, but they appeared to be asleep. No other information was detected and no signals were permitted to leave the grounds.

With the update received, Root proceeded to stalk through the halls until he reached the Council Room. Already he could hear the reporters buzzing in the wings. He slammed the door open, looking for a fairy to throw out, but there had been instant silence from the news pens as soon as the doors had opened.

Root glared around the council room. Aside from papazatsi, there were only a few people. Several witnesses of the prior night were there. Foaly would be giving testimony remotely, since he had set up the time stop and was in charge of the technical side of the operation. Both Captain and Corporal Kelp were there, in case they need to provide information on their encounter with the Mud Man known as Butler. Private Cudgeon would have been there as well, but he was still unconscious and apparently suffering from side-effects from mixing the tranquillizer with another drug (Foaly had privately told him that the only known drug that could cause his face to melt like that when combined with the sedative was a type of illegal mind accelerant). And finally, at the front of the room was the Fairy Council.

Most days, the Council put up a front for the public. One of benevolence and self-control and, most of all, unity. And although Root was sure that was what everyone else in this room saw, he knew better. Wing Commander Vinyaya was definitely upset with her fellow councilmen. Council leader Cahartaz flinched in guilt when he met Root's gaze. And the other council members seemed tense. In fact, Lope was so tense that Root could see beads of sweat drip from his forehead.

On the far side of the council room, the speaker of the council stood to start the council meeting.

"We are now gathered for an emergency Council meeting, as called by LEPrecon Commander Root. As part of the meeting summons, Root has declared this meeting to be open to the public. To ensure that the proceedings are not disturbed, a sound shield has been raised. Aside from the Council members and the aforementioned Commander Root, there are present, the centaur Foaly, a technical consultant for the LEP, LEPretrieval Captain Kelp, and LEPretrieval Corporal Kelp, who witnessed the events of the incident. Also present is LEPinternalaffairs Commander Ark Sool, who is the leading investigator in this incident. Will Commander Root now state for the records the reason for tonight's meeting."

All eyes were now on the Commander. All, save the Commander's own. That was why the Commander was the only one to see the nervousness of the Council members. Root's eyes narrowed. They were guilty, and he would make sure that they told him the truth behind the fake gold.

"Abandonment," the Commander said coldly. The Council flinched collectively and the Commander was sure he heard the citizens gasp, even though the sound shield was active. "I've called this meeting, to investigate the Abandonment of former LEP Captain Short to the Mud Man known as Artemis Fowl. The Abandonment that was instigated and carried out by this Council."

The Council Speaker gulped quietly, but continued speaking as tradition dictated.

"As the reason for this meeting has been stated, this meeting of the Council can now begin."

"And first off," said Commander Sool. "I want to hear a full recounting of the event, in order to fully understand the accusation that you've made against the Council."

Root growled internally, the pompous gnome was wasting time on purpose. But there was no way he could deny the request. So, grudgingly, Root began his recount of the night's events.

Artemis could hear someone calling him. There was a face as well, but it was too blurry to recognize. Perhaps…?

"Father?" The word felt wrong in his mouth. Like it was a mistake to use it now. Artemis blinked and opened his eyes.

Butler was standing there. "Artemis. Are you awake?"

"Ah. Yes, Butler, I'm awake. How are you doing?"

Butler narrowed his eyes at his charge.

"I'm fine, but Juliet was lying drugged on the longue until the Captain healed her. I need an explanation for that."

Artemis got up, dizzy due to the sleeping pills. He almost expected Butler to help him, but had heard the disapproval in Butler voice and realized that it was aimed at him. Juliet was sitting on a chaise longue, with sharp and narrowed eyes observing him.

"It was just sleeping pills, borrowed from Mother's doses. Harmless."

The manservant's eyes narrowed further.

"Artemis, you had us trapped in a Manor under siege by fairies who had stopped time around us. And your response was to drug me and my sister. According to Captain Short, a missile was launched into this manor when you drugged yourself and her. I demand an explanation now!"

Artemis was put under the unusual situation of being ordered to do something by his own Butler. He almost declined automatically, but then he realized that he was acting childish. An explanation was necessary for everyone.

"Very well, you're right. I do owe you the truth. Though I must ask where the Captain would be, has she left already?"

"No, Mud Boy. I'm still here," said a voice floating above and behind Artemis. "But if you are going to share the plot, you better get a move on. The LEP will be back tonight. Since no actual gold was involved this event is not over yet."

Artemis turned towards the wayward elf and bowed his head.

"I am truly sorry for what I have cost you Holly. Please let me know if there is anything I can do."

Holly scoffed at the offer, but inside her feelings were a jumble. The human was still the mastermind who had captured her, who had actually set everything in motion, but he was also the only one in the room likely to know what she had lost. She felt a little warmer that someone was there who understood somewhat.

"As for the sleeping pills, it was the only way to escape the time-stop. I didn't tell you about them because you would fight them. It's part of your training to resist any such medication in order to protect me, and it was imperative that we all went to sleep immediately."

"And the rest of last night?"

Artemis lowered himself gently into an armchair.

"The time-field was the key, to both the fairies continued success and to my plan tonight. It's what made the People unbeatable and kept them safe for all these years. Any situation could be contained in past, with only LEP support able to arrive from the present. And with the bio-bomb, it allowed them to easily deal with a situation in the past while not allowing any potential fallout to escape the target area."

"And how does drugging us come into it?"

Artemis grimaced. Butler was still upset.

"I had to come up with a way to escape the time-field. I searched through the Book –"

"And doesn't that remind me of a few questions I have for you," Holly interjected.

"But," Artemis continued, shooting Holly, not a glare as would be expected, but a quick glance for the interruption, "The People themselves hadn't invented a way to escape it. Not aside from their own entrance. So I went back to their Old Testament, when they were more dependent on magic and the lives of humans and fairies were more connected. Back to when they used the Time-Stop before the invention of the bio-bomb. Back then, the fairy people would grant magical favors in return for the protection of their fairy forts. I searched through any part of their history for stories of the Time Stop. Imagine my surprise when I discover that one of those stories was about Santa Claus."

At this, Butler's eyebrows jumped up to his hairline. Juliet sat up suddenly and stared surprised at Artemis. Holly though, gave a quiet chuckle.

"Really? You escaped the time stop because of old King D'Klass?"

Artemis gave her a shrug and then turned back to Butler. "I understand your disbelief; I was somewhat surprised myself. Apparently, the idea of Santa Claus doesn't come from a Turkish saint, the story is in fact based of the legend of San D'Klass, third king of the Frond Elfin dynasty."

Holly snorted again. "You give him too much credit. The king was a naïve idiot." She turned towards the Butlers to tell them more about it. "He apparently thought that humanity could be bribed into good behavior, so every year he had all the great warlocks cover his own country in a Time Stop. He then had sprites go to the homes of all the Mud – humans – and leave magical and expensive gifts while everyone was asleep. He kept the tradition up for almost a full century. My own teacher told me he was frequently called San the Deluded."

Butler's facial features twitched in what almost was a grin. "Nice title," he commented.

"And what would keep them from waking up? The humans that is," asked Juliet.

"The Time Stop itself would," said Holly. "Time only really exists for the waking. It can barely can reach you when you are asleep. If you're asleep when the time-stop is put in place, then… Oh." Holly's face was suddenly comprehending.

"Indeed," responded Artemis. "If you are asleep during a time-stop, then you will wake up after the time-stop unaffected by anything that happened in it. If you are awake, then you are not only effected by the time-stop, but you can't fall asleep until the time stop is over. You probably had noticed that your fatigue was increasing these last few hours, but your mind wouldn't let you sleep. In fact, that may be why you were still… conscious when the Captain healed you. The time-stop wouldn't let your mind go."

Butler nodded. That did explain a few things, and more importantly it seemed that Artemis was getting to his point. Juliet though was staring at her brother anxiously, upset at the reminder that her brother had almost died before her mesmerized eyes.

"So, my theory was that if one was able to force themselves asleep (and a natural sleep was the requirement, we couldn't simply be unconscious), then we would be freed from the time-field."

Butler nodded again, but he was frowning slightly. "You risked an awful lot on that theory, Artemis."

"Not just a theory, we did have a test subject."

"What?" said Holly, looking over to Artemis in surprise. Butler was confused too, until he realized …

"You mean Angeline."

Artemis sighed. "Yes. My mother."

"Wait, you drugged your own mother for your scheme!?" shouted Holly. She had been (almost) prepared to like some of these Mud Men too.

Artemis winced, but bravely turned toward the upset elf.

"No, I didn't. You wouldn't know, but she hasn't been quite herself since my father disappeared. I can tell you more later, but the truth is my mother has been growing … erratic for the past year. She, occasionally mind you, even forgets where she is or who she's with. Child Services already has plans to remove me from her custody, which would also prevent me from searching for my father. It's why I came up with this 'scheme' in the first place. The sleeping pills are part of her daily treatment."

Holly Short was shocked, she hadn't really given thought to what would make a child, even a human child, desperate enough to try and kidnap a fairy for ransom. She understood quite a bit more now; she remembered how the loss of her own mother had inspired her to join the LEP. The Butlers were both surprised as well, though the elder Butler hid it better. Neither of them expected Artemis to have revealed to anyone, much less their recent hostage, anything about his mother's condition.

'And his father is missing as well, I don't know what I would have done in his place,' thought Holly to herself.

Artemis continued on, pretending to be unaware of how this news might affect the elf.

"In any case, mother did escape the time-field when it was first created. Otherwise, I would have simply surrendered and requested a mind wipe. Even then, there were other complications during the night. I will admit, escaping the BioBomb was a much closer thing than I would have liked."

"And it may not be the only time we'll need to dodge one," Butler replied. "They may be gone for now, but I would bet they'll be back tonight. They've been hiding themselves too long for them to let us go."

"That will likely be the case," Artemis reluctantly agreed. "If we had actually gotten the gold, they would have been forced by their own rules to leave us be. But since we didn't receive any Fairy gold, this case is still open for them. I may have to use one of my backup plans to get us out of this situation."

As Artemis frowned thoughtfully to himself, the other three people in the room shivered. If last night had been his best plan, just how badly could Plan B turn out. Artemis shook his head, as if to clear it and then turned towards Holly. He then sighed.

"In any case, Holly. You are still free to go. I never meant to separate you from your People for longer than a single night in any case."

Holly frowned, a mix of emotions playing on her face. Mainly anger and sadness, with a hint of desperation.

"I don't have anywhere to go; the People have abandoned me. I even told Commander Root that I was taking the Abandonment Clause."

Artemis took a long examining look at the elf.

"Obviously, you haven't chosen it yet. Your book is still present on you, and I see no sign of fire damage or burns."

Holly glared back at Artemis.

"But I can feel my Book, it's hot. Almost to the point of burning. I could lose it at any moment."

"Then there is still time. You are nearing the point of no return, you can still go home if you want to."

"I don't have a home!" yelled Holly. "The Council betrayed their promise to me. A promise they make to every member of the LEP, from the Commanders to down to the Privates on Traffic. A promise that has been made for almost ten thousand years. We were promised the Ransom Fund in case of capture by the Mud Men. And they LIED!"

"And yet you are still a member of the People. You could go back, expose them. Fix their broken promises so no one else would be betrayed. The Council may have betrayed you, but you can still serve and protect your People."

Holly stood silent, glaring at the ground while Artemis sitting there, staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

'I can't believe I'm listening to this Mud Boy. But he has a point. I could go back and try to expose the Council. The question really is can I still serve the People after this? Could I trust the LEP to support me against them? And on the other hand,' Holly thought with a grimace. 'Could I live with myself if I refused to try?'

Both Butler and Juliet were confused, but it was Butler who broke the silence.

"I'm sorry if I've missed something, sir, but it seems that you to are arguing about more than her return to the Underground."

Holly didn't react. She had grabbed her Book and was staring at it, as if blaming it for the events of the past night. After a moment, Artemis responded.

"We are talking about the Abandonment Clause of the Book. It deals with the consequences of a fairy being betrayed to the Mud Men by the Fairy People. If such a thing were to happen, then the fairy in question has a choice. Either they stay faithful to the People, or they renounce them. If they do renounce their People, then the Book states that 'they', assumedly the betrayed, would be cleansed of their magic and their book would burn. It has never happened before, but the immediate likely interpretation would mean that the Captain would lose her magic, as well as her People. She would be beyond the touch of Fairy law, forever."

Artemis shifted in his seat, and then stood.

"In any case, such a decision should not be reached with haste. If you would like, I could arrange for one of our guest rooms to be made available for you while you plan out your next steps. We have several you might use. Juliet," and here he turned to the youngest Butler, "the guest rooms are all prepared I assume?".

"Er… yes, Artemis, they are. I can double check to make sure they're still alright though. Big brother told me there was an intruder here earlier; who knows what he got up to before Butler found him." Juliet then stood up, only slightly wobbly since the Captain's healing had reversed most of the effects of thee sleeping pills.

"Thank you, Juliet. Please, help Miss Short with anything she requires. Also, check on my mother. She should also be waking up from her dose about now."

Juliet nodded to Artemis, but instead of leaving she walked over and gave her brother a hug. She whispered in his ear, "I forgive him, so don't get to upset on my account."

Butler was still upset with his charge, but he had reached much the same conclusion. In fact, the night's events could prove to be a good lesson to Artemis about these types of schemes. Provided of course, that they were able to remember the truth about these events before the day ended.

Root was barely able to reign in his temper. The only thing holding him back was the realization that if he attempted to blow through the proceedings, the Council might be allowed to get away with its actions.

They had already recounted the original mission to Italy, the troll capture that resulted in no deaths or serious injuries, that Captain Short had exhausted her magic and was ordered to perform the ritual, only to be abducted by two humans with alarming knowledge of fairy rituals and powers.

The Commander had given testimony about his encounters with Artemis Fowl, both at the whaler and the in person meeting. Captain Kelp also gave his statement, describing his teams disastrous encounter with the human 'Butler'. Foaly was then called forward to provide technical evidence and show the integrity of the time field deployed. Mulch's infiltration was also detailed by Foaly, who was the technical assistant directly assisting the convict. When Foaly revealed that the source of the human's knowledge was an actual copy of the Book, all the faces that the Commander could see in the news booth turned gray. That the copy wasn't in Gnomish, but had in fact been translated into English, was beyond disastrous.

Foaly didn't pause though, he continued on with Mulch's meeting with the hostage, who had apparently gotten loose and regained her magic (at this Councilman Lope twitched again, he had been counting on her loss of magic to prevent her from discovering the ruse). He briefly described Mulch's near-capture and escape from Butler, before giving the account of the cave in. Commander Root gave himself a moment to think about the loss of the reprobate.

It was then that Professor Argon gave a brief statement as to Artemis's mistake, providing a crucial detail that would allow the Captain to be rescued without exposing the People.

Root detailed the plan he made to have the ransom be paid, only to recover the gold after detonating the bio-bomb. He took particular note detailing Cudgeon's council-backed plan of releasing a troll inside the manor to procure an invitation inside. He enjoyed the looks on some council leaders faces as he explained how the troll didn't make any of the Mud Men cry for help, how said Mud Man was saved by Captain Short (as she had saved the lives of the restaurant owners earlier that same night from the same troll, and whose attempt at escape was now prevented by the need to make sure no one died), and how the Mud Man then proceed to completely take the troll apart (thus cementing Butler as the Mud Monster from the People's worst nightmares). He also made it clear that Captain Short was the only reason the troll was still alive, as the Mud Man had been preparing to kill it when she intervened.

Finally, he got to the real issue. The ransom. The thing he'd been trying to talk about since the beginning. Root was about to continue when the door behind him opened up.

"Excuse me," interrupted the elf, one Corporal Frond. "Commander, you wanted to be informed when Fowl Manor exited the Time-Stop. The report just came in; the Manor has rejoined normal time."

"Thank you Corporal," Root gruffly replied. The Corporal relaxed for a moment, a small smile on her face for getting a kind(ish) sentence from the Commander. She nodded and left the room.

"I would remind you that Council meetings are sealed once started, except in the case of council orders," Ark Sool said.

Normally Root would get angry at some questioning him, but he was saving his rage for other things at the moment and replied coldly.

"That is true, save for the case of an emergency. Which we are still in."

It took a moment for the gnome to realize the implication, and when he did he grinned a bit nastily.

"So, are you saying the Mud Man who kidnapped the Captain are still alive? That's a break of regulations, Commander. You should have ensured their deaths before releasing the time-stop."

"And I did," countered Root, eyes narrowed at the gnome across from him. "Soon after we sent in the gold, Fowl contacted us saying that the gold was a fake. Hol- Captain Short apparently proved this by exposing a bar to electricity. The ransom that was delivered in exchange for Captain Short was silicon pyrite."

Sool's eyes widened at this, and he gave a quick glance at the council. Root knew he had them then. Sool may have been a particularly annoying bureaucrat, one that frequently worked the political game and always covered his own ass, but that didn't mean he would betray the People he served. He knew that the LEPrecon needed some assurances to work properly, that even the 'out-of-control' nature of the current Recon was preferable to no Recon division whatsoever. And now, he knew that the council had betrayed a recon Captain.

"Just after the gold had been sent it, the council also sent an order. They wanted to be able to remotely launch the bio-bomb. It was an unusual request, but Foaly made it happen without compromising the time-field. And that's when Fowl and Captain Short contacted me."

"I confirmed it with Foaly, that the gold I had just sent in was silicon pyrite, well beyond the ability of the Mud Men to synthesize. Especially a metric ton of it. The Captain was so upset that she verbally delivered her resignation right than, …" Root paused here for emphasis. "… Under the Abandonment Clause of the book."

At these words, the other fairies in the room went pale. Sool was actually speechless, staring from Root to the council in shock. The fairies behind the sound shield were unmoving. And the council themselves were looking very sick indeed.

"It was at this point that I contacted the council, to determine why exactly this had happened. Imagine when, upon asking about the pyrite, the bio-bomb received the order to launch from underground."

It was very clear what had happened at this point. The council hadn't expected to be discovered, and decided to kill a fairy in order to cover it up. Even if this was the first time any fairy had claimed the Abandonment Clause since the Frond Dynasty, there was no excuse for ordering the death of an innocent fairy.

"If I didn't have hope that Holly was still alive, I wouldn't be calmly explaining myself now."

And it was with this comment that everyone, both in the council chambers and on their units at home, completely focused their attention on Root. Root left them silent, for a moment. But the instant it looked like someone was about to ask him the one question on everyone's minds, he continued.

"When we attempted to enter the Manor, our fairies on point all got violently ill. Instantly, three fairies started puking and cramping. They were unable to stand up. And Foaly compared the symptoms and found only one potential cause. Artemis Fowl had said that no fairy had his permission to enter as long as he was alive. And apparently, he was still alive. The Mud Boy, Artemis Fowl, had successfully escaped the time-stop. And if he could escape, so would have taken his two human companions with him. So it follows that he may have saved my captain as well."

There was silence in the chambers, and no one thought they could be more surprised. A human that could beat a troll in combat. An elven captain, betrayed by her People. And a human child, who was young enough to believe in fairies, ruthless enough to kidnap one, and brilliant enough to escape a time stop. The only reason anyone could believe this story is because Root was the one who told it. The Commander was so honest that he had reported his own brother for his crimes, and he was so loyal to the People that he had hunted his brother down and put him in prison. And now…

Councilman Lope was the first to respond.

"If they are still alive, then a team has to be sent again to deal with them." Lope flinched at the expressions being focused on him, especially Root's glare, but he continued speaking. "No matter what else happened, we cannot allow the humans to go free with fairy knowledge. And on her own, Holly Short is a risk to the People. She must be brought back underground, for her own good and the good of all the fairy People."

Root was about to interject (in a fashion more befitting a volcano erupting), but was interrupted by council leader Vaharaz.

"You do have a point there; we cannot allow the humans to go free. As for Miss Short, we can discuss her status as a citizen of the People properly. After all, I highly doubt that we could allow the Clause to be invoked in such conditions. Besides, it seems that the decision to send the silicon pyrite was the correct one."

At seeing the expression of anger on Root's face, he quickly decided to restate himself somewhat.

"I mean, if we had sent the gold, then by our own laws the situation would be ended. And the humans would be able to go free with their fairy knowledge. Now, at least, we have another opportunity to recover the Captain and deal with the humans before the information is released. What precautions are being taken to prevent this?"

Commander Root could hardly believe this, they were trying to sweep it under the rug, as the Mud Men might say, trying to distract everyone from their betrayal with the fact that the humans were still at large. But it made sense in a way; there was no way they could ignore the threat that Artemis posed to the People. The fact that the Council could not have possibly known or suspected that Fowl would escape was already fading from the People's mind as they realized how much danger the People were in of exposure.

Furious, Root gave his report on the current situation. "Retrieval Two is currently on site. Under LEP Consultant Foaly's direction, they have successful jammed and communications going into or leaving Fowl Manor. They are also under orders to stun any humans from a distance and not to allow any human within close-combat range. After sundown tonight, Retrieval One, led by myself will return to the surface to open communication with the humans and determine their current plans, demands, and the status of Captain Short."

"And it would help," and at this he glared at the Council, "if this Council would not try and provide misinformation or, gods above, fake ransoms without at least informing the Commander on the ground." By the end of the sentence, Root was almost growling at the Council.

"Unfortunately Commander, your closeness to this case may cloud your judgement. We would feel better if a different Commander was appointed-" Lope started, but Commander Root interrupted him.

"And unfortunately Councilmember, this Council's three previous attempts to kill my officer make me disinclined to allow YOU to appoint someone else to command the situation. I would permit," and here Root glanced across at Commander Sool, "an independent observer to be present to judge and advise me on the situation, but you have demonstrated that you have neither the hostage's interest, nor the People's interest, in mind during this operation."

And with that parting comment, Commander Root left the room. And if he just so happened to accidently deactivate the sound shield, well, no member of the media was going to give him flack about it. He permitted himself a single grin as he heard a roar of questions come from behind him, before he reminded himself of what was at stake. Captain Short was, 'is, D'Arvit' the Commander thought quickly, his best agent. And he would be damned if he failed her again.