Snakehead

PHILOMEL BOOKS
A division of Penguin Young Readers Group.
Published by The Penguin Group.
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    Copyright © 2007 by Anthony Horowitz. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, Philomel Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014. Philomel Books, Reg. U.S. Pat & Tm. Off. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. Published simultaneously in Canada.

    Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Horowitz, Anthony, 1955-
Snakehead Anthony Horowitz. -1st American ed. p. cm.
> Summary: While working with the Australian Secret Service on a dangerous mission, teenaged spy Alex Rider uncovers information about his parents.
[1. Spies-Fiction. 2. Orphans-Fiction. 3. Adventure and adventurers-Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H7875Sn 2007 [Fic]-dc22 2007020505

    ISBN: 1-4295-7116-0

To B&CD.

ALSO BY ANTHONY HOROWITZ
    THE ALEX RIDER ADVENTURES:

    Stormbreaker
    Point Blank
    Skeleton Key
    Eagle Strike
    Scorpia
    Ark Angel

    THE DIAMOND BROTHERS MYSTERIES:

    The Falcon’s Malteser
    Public Enemy Number Two
    Three of Diamonds
    South by Southeast

    Horowitz Horror
    More Horowitz Horror

    The Devil and His Boy

Snakehead

DOWN TO EARTH
    S PLASHDOWN .
    Alex Rider would never forget the moment of impact, the first shock as the parachute opened and the second—more jolting still—as the module that had carried him back from outer space crashed into the sea. Was it his imagination, or was there steam rising up all around him? Maybe it was sea spray. It didn’t matter. He was back. That was all he cared about. He had made it. He was still alive.
    He was still lying on his back, crammed into the tiny space with his knees tucked into his chest. Half closing his eyes, Alex experienced a moment of extraordinary stillness. He was completely still. His fists were clenched. He wasn’t breathing. Was it really true? Already he found it impossible to believe that the events that had led to his journey into outer space had really taken place. He tried to imagine himself hurtling around the earth at seventeen and a half thousand miles an hour. It couldn’t have happened. It had surely all been part of some incredible dream.
    Slowly he forced himself to unwind. He lifted an arm. It rose normally. He could feel the muscle connecting. Just minutes before he had been in zero gravity. But as he rested, trying to collect his thoughts, he realized that once again his body belonged to him.
    Alex wasn’t sure how long he was left on his own, floating on the water somewhere…it could have been anywhere in the world. But when things happened, they did so very quickly. First there was the hammering of helicopter blades. Then the whoop of some sort of siren. He could see very little out the window—just the rise and fall of the ocean—but suddenly a man was there, a scuba diver, a palm slamming against the glass. A few seconds later, the capsule was opened from outside. Fresh air came rushing in, and to Alex it smelled delicious. At the same time, a man loomed over him, his body wrapped in neoprene,