There was a moment of awkwardness. Alex realized that he hadn’t even invited Sabina into the house. Worse than that, he was actually blocking the way. He stepped to
one side to let her pass. She smiled a little nervously and stepped inside. But the doorway was narrow, and as she came in, he felt her briefly against him. Her hair brushed his cheek, and he smelled the perfume she was wearing.
At that moment, he realized how glad he was to see her.
It was as if everything was beginning all over again.
Now she was in the hall and he was the one outside.
“Sabina . . . ,” he began.
“Alex,” she said, “I’m freezing. Why don’t you shut the door?”
Alex smiled and closed the door, and the two of them went in.
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
AS WITH ALL THE Alex Rider books, I’ve tried to make
Dr. Michael Foale at NASA spoke to me at length for a second time, and the opening chapter is largely based on his own experiences returning from outer space. The mechanism by which Major Yu brings chaos to the world was suggested to me by Professor Bill McGuire at University College London . . . he also came up with the planetary alignment that makes it feasible.
Panos Avramopoulos at CMA-CGM Shipping (UK) Ltd. kindly arranged for me to visit a container ship, and Captain Jenkinson allowed me on board. A few weeks later, Andy Simpson of Global SantaFe and Rupert Hunt from Shell gave up a whole day of their time to show me around an oil rig near Aberdeen. Neither of these visits would have been possible without Jill Hughes, to whom I am eternally grateful.
I spent a week in Bangkok, where I was looked after by the author Stephen Leather, who took me to all sorts of locations, many of which I wasn’t allowed to mention
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
in the book! He also accompanied me to the Thai kick-boxing fight that is the basis of Chapter Eight. I also want to thank Justin Ractliffe, who showed me around Perth and Sydney during a lengthy book tour.
Joshua King, Alfie Faber, Max Packman-Walder and Emma Charatan all read the manuscript and gave me great notes and advice. Not for the first time, my son Cassian suggested some major changes.
Finally, my assistant Cat Taylor organized everything and then organized it again when I changed my mind.
Justin Somper continues to be the guiding light behind much of Alex’s success. And my very lovely editor, Jane Winterbotham, spent hours trawling through some of the most painful notes ever to come out of a publishing house to ensure that all the dates and times make sense.
AH
