Stormbreaker

how much pleasure it would give me to kill you. You’re just like the boys I was at school with. Nothing has changed.”
    “You haven’t changed,” Alex said. His cheek was still smarting where Sayle had hit him. But he’d heard enough. “I’m sorry you were bullied at school,” he said. “But lots of kids get bullied and they don’t turn into nutcases. You’re really sad, Mr. Sayle. And your plan won’t work. I’ve told M16 everything I know.
    They’ll be waiting for you at the Science Museum. So will the men in white coats.”
    Sayle giggled. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” he said. His face was suddenly stone. “And perhaps you forget that I warned you about lying to me.”
    Mr. Grin took a step forward, flipping the knife over so that the blade landed in the flat of his hand.
    “I’d like to watch you die,” Sayle said. “Unfortunately, I have a pressing engagement in London.” He turned to Mr. Grin. “You can walk with me to the helicopter. Then come back here and kill the boy. Make it slow. Make it painful. We should have kept back some smallpox for him, but I’m sure you’ll think of something much more creative.”
    He walked to the door, then stopped and turned to Alex.
    “Good-bye, Alex. It wasn’t a pleasure knowing you. But enjoy your death. And remember. You’re only going to be the first…”
    The door swung shut. Handcuffed to the chair with the jellyfish floating silently behind him, Alex was left alone.

DEEP WATER

    ALEX GAVE up trying to break free of the chair. His wrists were bruised and bloody where the chain cut into him, but the cuffs were too tight. After thirty minutes, when Mr. Grin still hadn’t come back, Alex had tried to reach the zit cream that Smithers had given him. He knew it would burn through the handcuffs in seconds, and the worst thing was he could actually feel it, where he had put it, in the zipped-up outer pocket of his combat trousers. But although his outstretched fingers were only a few inches away, try as he might he couldn’t reach it. It was enough to drive him mad.
    He had heard the clatter of a helicopter taking off and knew that Herod Sayle must be on his way to London. Alex was still reeling from what he had heard. The multimillionaire was completely insane. What he was planning was beyond belief, a mass murder that would destroy Britain for generations to come.
    Alex tried to imagine what was about to happen. Tens of thousands of schoolchildren would be sitting in their classes, gathered around their new Stormbreakers, waiting for the moment—at midday exactly—
    when the prime minister would press the button and bring them on-line. But, instead, there would be a hiss and a small cloud of deadly smallpox vapor would be released into the crowded room. And minutes later, all over the country, the dying would begin. Alex had to close his mind to the thought. It was too horrible. And yet it was going to happen in just a couple of hours’ time. He was the only person who could stop it. And here he was, tied down, unable to move.
    The door opened. Alex twisted around, expecting to see Mr. Grin, but it was Nadia Vole who hurried in, closing the door behind her. Her pale round face seemed flushed, and her eyes, behind the glasses, were afraid. She came over to him.
    “Alex—”
    “What do you want?” Alex recoiled away from her as she leaned over him. Then there was a click, and to his astonishment, his hands came free. She had unlocked the handcuffs! He stood up, wondering what was going on.
    “Listen to me,” Vole said. The words were tumbling quickly and softly out of her yellow-painted lips. “We do not have much time. I am here to help you. I worked with your uncle—Herr Rider.” Alex stared at her in surprise. “Yes. I am on the same side as you.”
    “But nobody told me—”
    “It was better for you not to know.”
    “But…” Alex was confused. “I saw you with the submarine. You knew what Sayle was doing…”
    “There was nothing I could do. Not then. It’s too hard for me to explain. We don’t have the time to argue.
    You want to stop him or no?”
    “I need to find a phone.”
    “All the phones in the house are coded. You cannot use them. But I have a mobile in my office.”
    “Then let’s go.”
    Alex was still suspicious. If Nadia Vole had known so much, why hadn’t she tried to stop Sayle before? On the other hand, she had released him—and Mr. Grin would be back any minute. He had no choice