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Frustrated was a word that Holly could use to describe her emotions at this moment. But, the word didn't exactly match up to how she was feeling.
Everything was technically working out great for her within the last couple of months. She had been promoted to commander. She had won a golden acorn for helping to defeat Opal Koboi during the great technological crash. (Artemis was granted one as well but unfortunately was a few weeks into his mars expedition in space so he couldn't be here to take it, leaving Holly to hold onto the medal until he returned.) The world was finally at peace, both humans and fairies were slowly rebuilding their societies and She was currently talking to the council about letting more females join the LEP.
The only downside to being commander, was that instead of working on field, traveling and getting to physically work with her hands to make the world a better place; She was now stuck sitting in her own office, filling out financial information and trying to work out the money to pay for new Neutrinos for the officers.
Her office was deathly quiet, with only the soft hum of the fan and the scribble of pencil on paper to fill the empty space. The jumble of numbers on the page makes the room tilt and blur.
Sometimes she regretted taking the position.
When she was close to ripping the hair out of her head; there was a knock on the door followed by Foaly pushing the door open with his rear legs, his hands full with a box closed shut with tape.
“Foaly…I'm not in the mood for one of your inventions…” she muttered, her head hung low while she scribbled information.
Foaly snorted. “Really, even if it was a world changing invention? But anyway, no it's not anything to do with my inventions.” He strode forward and placed the box down onto her desk right in front of her, the box making a loud thud. Whatever was in the box, It seemed to be very heavy.
“Foaly, seriously I can't look at anything right now, I'm busy.”
“Even if it's a gift from Artemis?”
Artemis' name immediately pulled her eyes away from the papers onto Foaly's face, then to the box. Foaly gave her an encouraging smile and scooted the box closer. She glanced at Foaly's face suspiciously before tilting the box to see inside. The tape holding the top closed had been removed, leaving a small gap where she could fully open it.
She opened the top flap of the box and peered inside. There was one singular Neutrino that was covered by a layer of bubble wrap. However, this one was different from the others. For one, it was practically brand new with a glowing exterior and had all sorts of new buttons and improved nozzle that stuck out more like a rifle than a regular Neutrino. Beside the gun was a small sticky note attached to the gun. She picked up the sticky note and tilted the box back to its original position, leaning back in her seat and reading the note.
Dear Holly Short,
First off, I would like to wish you congratulations on your award and new promotion from captain to commander. Well done. I apologize that I could not be there for either ceremonies, but I am sure you, of all people know that I am very busy nowadays with my new mars project; which is going impeccably well. Thank you for asking.
In order to help you ease into your new management assignment, I would like to present you with a new and improved version of the LEP's Neutrino gun. Not only is the gun jam resistant, but there are now a nozzle with sixteen different types of shooting abilities such as: rapid fire, wide range and much more which I am sure you can figure out yourself. There will be more coming in as soon as they are finished by Foaly. And do not fret over the costs of the material, as I have paid for all of it myself.
I best be going now, but I wish you the best of luck with your new position.
Your dear friend,
Artemis Fowl II.
(P.S, do not try to pay me back.)
Holly couldn't help but smile at the gesture. Many years ago, Artemis wouldn't have dared pay for fairy technology unless it was for him to gain ownership over the item. Now Artemis had willingly paid for a new batch of Neutrinos to help the LEP. She looked up at Foaly, who had his arms crossed.
“I don't even understand how he got that message from light-years away anyway. Some sort of sorcery is what this is.” Foaly baffled on, slowly making his way out of the room still complaining.
Holly chuckled and pushed her chair back until it rolled into the wall. She turned and stuck the note onto a thumbtack on her personal bulletin board before glancing at the calendar. Fairy calendars were much different than human calendars, as humans went by years and fairies went by centuries. She flipped a handful of pages before finding the circled date for when Artemis was to return to earth.
It didn't seem like a long time to others. But for her, it felt like forever.
She couldn't wait until his return.