minister. He was the smallest—and in many ways seemed to be the least imposing—man in the room. And yet, at his single word, every head turned.
“Yes, Mr Kellner. We don’t believe the gold particles contributed to their death. But every single one of the players was the same…”
“Well, it all seems pretty obvious to me,” Kellner said, and there was a sneer in his voice. He stood up and looked around the crowded table with cold, superior eyes. Alex disliked him at once. He had seen kids like him at Brookland. Small and spiteful, always winding people up. But running in tears to the teachers the moment they got whacked. “All these people died at exactly the same time,” he said. “So it’s pretty obvious they were all poisoned at the same time. When could that have been? Well, obviously when they were on the plane! I’ve already checked. The flight lasted six hours and thirty-five minutes and they were given a meal shortly after they left Lagos. There must have been cyanide in the food and it kicked in just after they arrived at Heathrow.”
“Are you saying there is no secret weapon?” the deputy prime minister asked. He blinked heavily. “What do Scorpia mean by Invisible Sword then?”
“It’s a trick. They’re trying to make us think they can kill people by some sort of remote control…” Remote control. That meant something to Alex. He remembered something he had seen when he’d been inside the Widow’s Palace. What was it?
“…but there is no Invisible Sword. They’re just trying to frighten us.”
“I’m not sure I agree with you, Mr Kellner.” The medical officer seemed nervous of the director of communications. “They could all have taken the poison at the same time, I suppose. But each one of those men had his own metabolism. The poison would have reacted more quickly in some than in others.”
“They were all athletes. Their metabolisms would have been more or less the same.”
“No, Mr Kellner. I don’t agree. There were also two coaches and a manager…”
“To hell with them. There is no Invisible Sword. These people are playing games with us. They make demands they know the Americans can’t possibly meet, and they threaten us with something that simply isn’t going to happen.”
“That isn’t normally Scorpia’s way.”
Alex was surprised to see that it was Blunt who had spoken. The head of MI6 Special Operations was sitting on his left. His voice was quiet and very even.
“We’ve had dealings with them before and they’ve never yet made a hollow threat.”
“You were at Heathrow, Mr Blunt. What do you think happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, that’s very helpful, isn’t it? Secret intelligence comes to the table and doesn’t have any intelligence to offer. And since you’re here”—Mark Kellner seemed to have noticed Alex for the first time—“I’d be fascinated to know why you’ve brought along a schoolboy. Is he your son?”
“This is Alex Rider.” This time it was Sir Graham Adair who spoke. His dark eyes settled on the director of communications. “As you know, Alex has helped us on several occasions. He also happens to be the last person to have had contact with Scorpia.”
“Really? And how was that?”
“I sent him to Venice, undercover,” Blunt said, and Alex was surprised at how fluently he lied.
“Scorpia have a training school on the island of Malagosto and we needed to know certain details. Alex trained there for a while.”
One of the politicians coughed. “Is that really necessary, Mr Blunt?” he asked. “I mean, if it was known that the government was using school-age children for this sort of work, it might not look very good for us.”
“I hardly think that’s relevant right now,” Blunt retorted.
The police chief looked puzzled. He was an elderly man in a blue uniform with brightly polished silver buttons.
“If you know about Scorpia, if you even know where to find them, why can’t you take them out?” he asked.
“Why can’t we just send in the SAS and kill the whole lot of them?”
“The Italian government might not be too amused to have their territory invaded,” Blunt replied. “And anyway, it’s not as simple as that. Scorpia’s a worldwide organization. We know some of the leaders, but not all of them.
If we eliminate one branch, another one will simply take over the operation. And then they’ll come for revenge.
Scorpia never forgive or forget. You have to remember: they may be the ones who are threatening us, but they’ll be working for a client and it is the client who is our real enemy.”
“And what did Alex Rider find out when he was on Malagosto?” Kellner sneered. He wasn’t going to allow himself to be knocked off his pedestal. Not by Alan Blunt. And certainly not by a fourteen-year-old boy.
Alex felt all eyes on him. He shifted uncomfortably. “Mrs Rothman took me out for dinner and she mentioned Invisible Sword,” he said. “But she wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
“Who exactly is Julia Rothman?” Kellner demanded.
“She sits on the executive board of Scorpia,” Blunt said. “She is one of nine senior members. Alex met her when he was in Italy.”
“Well, that’s very helpful,” Kellner said. “But if that’s all Alex has to offer, we really don’t need him here any more.”
“There was something about a cold chain,” Alex added, remembering the conversation he had overheard at the Widow’s Palace. “I don’t know what that means, but it may have something to do with it.” In one corner of the room a young, smartly dressed woman with long, black hair sat up in her chair and looked at Alex with sudden interest.
