Scorpia Rising

for a couple of days and he doesn’t know anything else. We think he’s telling the truth. But the main questions we have to ask ourselves are—who would want to kill Alex, and why now? And more to the point, how do we stop them from trying again?”
    Alex examined the head of MI6, who was sitting on the edge of the sofa with a very straight back, as if he were determined not to make himself comfortable. As usual, Blunt was completely businesslike, dressed in a slate gray suit with steel-rimmed spectacles and highly polished black leather shoes. Despite what he had said, he had somehow made it clear that it didn’t really matter to him if Alex lived or died. This whole thing was just a nuisance, something else to be dealt with in a busy day.
    “They think I’m dead,” Alex said. “The sniper told the pilot. He said ‘mission accomplished.’ I heard him.”
    “That may not necessarily be the case,” Mrs. Jones said—and once again she half glanced at Blunt as if she wasn’t sure she should continue. “First of all, we have to assume that the sniper was aiming at you. This will have been a very risky and very expensive operation, so whoever was behind it must have a very serious reason to wish you harm. It’s clear from what you say that the sniper lied to his employers, but even so, they probably guessed you’re alive. And when the helicopter crashed five minutes later, they’d have known it for sure. Whichever way you look at it, Alex, you’re probably still in danger, and I’m afraid it’s going to be out of the question, your going back to school, until we’ve sorted this out.”
    “How long will that be?” Alex asked with a sense of despair. Some people might have thought him mad, wanting to go back to school. But he’d been enjoying the term. Everything had been going well for him. He wanted to be with his friends.
    “It’s impossible to say. We have no idea who the enemy is or even why they’ve chosen this moment to attack you. Right now we have no clues. We’re as much in the dark as you.”
    “So how are you going to keep Alex safe?” Jack demanded. “How are you going to stop them from trying again?”
    Blunt and Mrs. Jones exchanged a look, and at that moment Alex knew they had already worked this out, that they had known what they were going to say before they had walked through the door. The same thing had happened after he had been attacked while he was surfing with Sabina off the Cornish coast. They had used the situation then. They would do the same now.
    “I think Alex has to leave the country,” Blunt said.
    “No way!” Jack exclaimed.
    “Please, Miss Starbright. Allow me to finish. He can’t go back to Brookland and he can’t stay here. As Mrs. Jones just said, it’s too dangerous.”
    “You could give him twenty-four-hour protection.”
    “We’ll have people watching the house tonight—but in the long term, twenty-four-hour protection doesn’t exist. If an enemy is determined enough, he’ll break through the tightest barrier no matter how carefully it’s been constructed. No. While we investigate this business, Alex would be much safer with a new identity somewhere far away.”
    “Do you have somewhere in mind?”
    “As a matter of fact, I do.” Blunt coughed delicately, his hand forming a comma in front of his mouth. “I want him to go to Egypt,” he said.
    “Egypt?”
    “To Cairo, to be precise. It just so happens that I needed to send one of my people out there anyway—”
    “Alex isn’t one of your people!” Jack cut in.
    Blunt ignored her. He turned directly to Alex. “I wasn’t going to involve you, Alex. You’ve made your feelings very clear and of course I’ve tried to respect that. But circumstances have changed. You need our help. We need yours. I have a job that is ideally suited to you. At the same time, it’ll take you far away and keep you safe.”
    “What job?” Alex asked. The two words fell heavily from his lips.
    “Alex, no!” Jack whispered.
    Alex avoided her eye. “What job?” he asked a second time.
    “It’s just a question of being in the right place and keeping your eyes open for us. All we want you to do is report back and we’ll do the rest.” Blunt paused, waiting for any argument, and when none came, he went on. “The place is a school . . . a very good school, as it happens, so you won’t even need to miss any of your studies. It’s called the Cairo International College of Arts and Education, but