Ark Angel - Anthony Horowitz [105]
A splash. Steam. Waves lashing at the windows. Sunlight turning the water into diamonds.
And at last silence.
He was rocking back and forth, a hundred miles off the eastern coast of Australia. The wrong side of the world – but that didn’t matter.
Alex Rider was back.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I don’t usually include an acknowledgements page, but Ark Angel has been the most complicated Alex Rider adventure to write, and this time there are a lot of people to thank.
The last chapters couldn’t have been written without Professor George Fraser, director of the University of Leicester Space Research Centre, and Derek Pullan at the University of Leicester Research Office. Anyone with an interest in space should make a beeline for the Leicester Space Centre, where you will see a module very similar to the one in which Alex travelled. I was also privileged to speak with Dr Michael Foale, who has spent three hundred and seventy-four days in space.
Clare Hornick, the director of operations at the Hospital of St John & Elizabeth, gave me a bloodthirsty tour of the hospital and introduced me to the Magnetom. At the same hospital, Dr Roger Hayward, MD FRCP, provided the expertise that brought Alex back to life. Simon Greenberg, Chelsea’s head of communications, very kindly showed me round Stamford Bridge – even into the players’ showers. Simone Schehtman of Teamworks gave me a crash course in karting, and thanks to everyone at the Raceway in King’s Cross for lending me their track.
The gadget that Alex uses on page 235 was designed by Jonathan Bennett, the winner of a competition on the BBC television programme Blue Peter. I’m also grateful to Mark Greener, who shared his power kiting experiences with me; and to Marsha Brown, my assistant, who organized it all. And finally my thanks go to Jane Winterbotham, my editor at Walker Books, who had to read this book one hundred times without going mad.
Everything in this story is meant to be within the bounds of possibility, but please don’t try out the stunt in Chapter 5, as I can take no responsibility for broken arms, legs … or necks.
AH
Anthony Horowitz is one of the most popular and prolific children’s writers working today. His phenomenally successful Alex Rider series has sold millions of copies worldwide and Anthony has won numerous awards, including the Bookseller Association/Nielsen Author of the Year Award 2007, the Children’s Book of the Year Award for Ark Angel at the 2006 British Book Awards, and the Red House Children’s Book Award for Skeleton Key. Stormbreaker, the first Alex Rider mission, was made into a blockbuster movie starring Alex Pettyfer as the teenage superspy and featuring Ewan McGregor, Bill Nighy and Robbie Coltrane among the cast.
Anthony’s other titles for Walker Books include The Power of Five, a series of supernatural thrillers which he describes as “Alex Rider with devils and witches”; Raven’s Gate, Evil Star, Nightrise and Necropolis are the first four books of the series. He is also the author of the Diamond Brothers mysteries; Groosham Grange and its sequel, Return to Groosham Grange; The Devil and His Boy, The Switch; and Granny.
Anthony also writes extensively for TV, with credits including Midsomer Murders, Poirot and the drama series Foyle’s War, which won the Lew Grade Audience Award. He is married to television producer Jill Green and lives in London with his two sons, Nicholas and Cassian, and their dog, Loony.
To find out more about Anthony and his books, check out:
www.anthonyhorowitz.com
www.powerof5.co.uk
www.alexrider.com
For AC
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously. All statements, activities, stunts, descriptions, information and material of any other kind contained herein are included for entertainment purposes only and should not be relied on for accuracy or replicated as they may result in injury.
First published 2005 by