Take a moment, thought Artemis as the suit’s outer skin vibrated and
activated the glow orbs at his temples, fingertips, and knees. Don’t
count, don’t organize, just do as Butler advized and focus.
He did not feel underwater, though he knew he was. His body did
not experience the expected resistance from the ocean, there was no
dulling of the motor skills, and he felt as though he could move with
the same fluency as he always did, though Butler would argue whether
his movements were ever fluid.
Which would have been great, had not the giant squid, whose
territory he had just invaded, wrapped this glowing intruder in ten fat
limbs and whisked him off toward his lair.
Ah, the mythical giant squid. Genus Architeuthis, thought Artemis,
strangely calm now that he was faced with a catastrophe worthy of all
the worrying he’d been doing. Not so mythical anymore.
…

Artemis Fowl felt the tentacles of the giant squid tighten around him.
Saucer-sized spherical suckers latched on to his pressure suit,
slobbering on the surface, searching for purchase. Each cup was lined
with rings of razor-sharp chitin teeth, which gnashed viciously on
Artemis’s protected limbs and torso.
Eight arms, if I remember correctly, thought Artemis. Which is two
fours. Die! Die!
Artemis almost giggled. Even in the death grip of the biggest squid
ever to be seen by a man, he was persisting with his compulsive
behavior.
It won’t be long now before I am counting my words again.
When the squid’s biting suckers could not gain access to the tender
meat inside, it held Artemis away from the giant mantle.
The next stage of the squid’s assault was to batter Artemis with one
of its two longer tentacles, which it swung like a mace. Artemis felt the
jarring blow, but his suit did not rupture.
“One two three four five,” shouted Artemis defiantly. “Wear the suit
and stay alive.”
Number poetry. Back to square one.
Three times more, the squid struck and then it drew Artemis close in
circling bands of fat tentacle and took his entire head inside its
gnashing beak. The noise was exactly what Artemis had always
imagined it would sound like if a giant squid tried to crack his sea
helmet.
If I get out of this, I will start thinking about girls like a normal
fifteen-year-old.
After several heart-stopping minutes, the squid apparently gave up
and dashed Artemis down in a nest of bones and sea junk that it had
assembled on a high shelf at the side of an underwater cliff.
Artemis lay on his back and watched as the creature expanded its
mantle cavity, filled it with hundreds of gallons of seawater, then
contracted the mantle, shooting itself into the near pitch black of deep
water.
Artemis felt that in the circumstances, a slang word was justified.
“Wow,” he breathed. “Of all the things that have almost killed me,
that was the most fearsome.”
After several minutes, Artemis’s heart rate slowed enough to
extinguish the flashing heart readout on his suit, and he felt that he
could move without throwing up.
…

As it turned out, something did happen: the squid came back, and it
bore in the grip of its larger tentacles what appeared to be the space
probe’s nose cone.
I wonder what he wants that for? wondered Artemis. It’s almost as if
he’s actually manipulating a tool.
But to what end? What nut would a giant squid wish to crack?
“Me,” Artemis blurted. “I’m the nut.”
Artemis could have sworn the squid winked at him before bringing
the five-ton chunk of spacecraft swinging down toward the morsel of
meat in its blue shell.
“I’m the nut!” Artemis shouted again, a little hysterically, it must be
said. He backpedaled along the ledge, the suit’s motors lending him a
little speed. Just enough feet per second to feel the force of the swing,
but not the metal itself. The probe’s prow cut through the rock like a
cleaver through soft meat and carved a V-shaped trench that ran
between the soles of Artemis’s feet.
So much for being a genius, thought Artemis bitterly. One grand
gesture and I’m fish food.
The squid yanked its weapon free from the rock and raised it high,
pumping its mantle cavity full of water for the next effort. Artemis’s
back was literally against the wall. He had nowhere to go, and made an
easy target.
“Butler!” called Artemis, purely out of habit. He had no real
expectation that his bodyguard could miraculously materialize at his
side, and even if he did, it would just be to die there.
The squid closed one huge eye, taking careful aim.
These things are smarter than scientists think, thought Artemis. I do
wish I had been able to write a paper.
The prow came hammering down, compressing water then pushing
it aside. Metal filled Artemis’s vision, and it occurred to him that this
was the second time this particular prow had almost crushed him.
Except this time it’s not almost
But it was to be almost. An orange circle pulsed in Artemis’s helmet
readout, and he prayed that it was a sign that an electromagnetic
connection had been established between his suit and the ship.
It was. Artemis felt a gentle tug, then a fierce one that yanked him
off the ledge straight up toward the hovering mercenary craft. In the
light of his suit beams he could see a magnetic plate in the ship’s belly.
Underneath him the squid abandoned its improvised mallet and
bunched itself for pursuit.
I’ll probably slow down before I hit that plate, Artemis thought
hopefully.
He didn’t, but the impact hurt a lot less than a blow from an armed
giant squid.
Generally, the diver would be taken inside immediately, but in this
case Holly decided that it would be best to leave Artemis where he
was, and put a little distance between them and the squid, which
Artemis would later agree was the correct decision even though at the
time he was screaming. Artemis craned his head around to see the
massive dome of the squid’s head jetting after him, tentacles behind
rippling like skipping ropes—skipping ropes with razor-lined suckers
and enough power to crush an armored vehicle, not to mention the
ability to manipulate tools.
“Holly!” he shouted. “If you can hear me, go faster!”
Apparently she could hear him.

- The Atlantis Complex, Chapters 8 and 9