Ark Angel - Anthony Horowitz [0]
Alex Rider’s sixth adventure sees Anthony Horowitz taking his hero to dangerous new heights. “The action includes a truly spectacular escape from a burning tower block and a high-speed chase on water (although Alex doesn’t have a boat…).” Speaking of the future for Alex, Anthony says, “I’ve always said that you’ll know you’ve come to the last book when Alex reaches his fifteenth birthday. I’m determined to give him a happy ending!”
CONTENTS
1 Force Three
2 The Boy in Room Nine
3 Emergency Treatment
4 Kaspar
5 Fire Escape
6 R & R
7 At the Waterfront
8 The Lap of Luxury
9 Short Circuit
10 Injury Time
11 Blue Murder
12 Expiry Date
13 The Biggest Criminal in the World
14 Flamingo Bay
15 Deep Trouble
16 Tropical Storm
17 Primary Target
18 Wind and Water
19 The Red Button
20 Ark Angel
21 Re-entry
FORCE THREE
The bomb had been timed to go off at exactly half past three.
Strangely, the man it had been designed to kill probably knew more about bombs and terrorism than anyone else in the world. He had even written books on the subject. Looking After Number One: Fifty Ways to Protect Yourself at Home and Abroad might not be the snappiest of titles, but the book had sold twenty thousand copies in America, and it was said that the president himself kept a copy by his bed. The man did not think of himself as a target, but even so he was always careful. As he often joked, it would be bad for business if he was blown up crossing the street.
His name was Max Webber, and he was short and plump with tortoise-shell glasses and jet-black hair that was actually dyed. He told people that he had once been in the SAS, which was true. What he didn’t tell them was that he had been dropped after his first tour of duty. In his forties he had opened a training centre in London, advising rich businessmen on how to look after themselves. He had become a writer and a journalist, frequently appearing on television to discuss international security.
And now he was the guest speaker at the fourth International Security Conference, being held at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the south bank of the Thames in London. The whole building had been cordoned off. Helicopters had been flying overhead all morning and police with sniffer dogs had been waiting in the foyer. Briefcases, cameras and all electronic devices had been forbidden inside the main hall, and delegates had been made to pass through a rigorous screening system before being allowed in. More than eight hundred men and women from seventeen countries had turned up. Among them were diplomats, businessmen, senior politicians, journalists and members of various security services. They had to feel safe.
Alan Blunt and Mrs Jones were both in the audience. As the head and deputy head of MI6 Special Operations, it was their responsibility to keep up with the latest developments, although as far as Blunt was concerned, the whole thing was a waste of time. There were security conferences all the time in every major city but they never achieved anything. The experts talked. The politicians lied. The press wrote it all down. And then everyone went home and nothing changed. Alan Blunt was bored. He looked half asleep.
At exactly two fifteen, Max Webber began to speak.
He was dressed in an expensive suit and tie and spoke slowly, his clipped voice full of authority. He had notes in front of him but he referred to them only occasionally, his eyes fixed on the audience, speaking directly to each one of them. In a glassfronted projection room overlooking the stage, nine translators spoke quietly into microphones, just a second or two behind. Here and there in the audience, men and women could be seen with one hand pressed against their earpiece, concentrating on what was being said.
Webber turned a page. “I am often asked which is the most dangerous terrorist group in the world. The answer is not what you might expect. It is a group that you may not know. But I can assure you that it is