Alex Rider

I first saw him at the school.

And now, he's on the tube, in the supermarket...

He's following me.

-But not really. - No, not really.

Oh, no!

I was just trying to catch someone. Did you see him?

No, I didn't see anyone.

-So how much longer is this gonna take? -It will be very soon.

-I'm Sabina, by the way. -I'm Alex.

So what's your dad's book about?

Damian Cray.

The Feathered Serpent guy?

Dad.

Alex, no more stories about bombs or men with scars. Just the truth.

His name is Yassen Gregorovich.

You need to find him.

As long as he's around, none of us are safe.

Call this number.

The number you have dialed has not been recognized.

Hey, Mrs. Jones.

-What's that? -Nothing.

What I do want, and I wanna be clear about this,

I want a satellite retask for the next window.

Hey. Can you patch me through to the PFPA?

Yeah. I'm getting some timing errors in the main comms channel

that are slowing our transfer down.

I'm trying to run it down.

Hold that.

I've got a spike here.

-What? - No way.

No way.

-What is it? -We kicked to backup.

-What, is it a power failure? -No, it was deliberate.

Looks like it was external.

Well, that's impossible. We're bunkered.

I've got activity.

-What system? -STRATCOM.

Nuclear launch command.

Cut the satellite.

Now!

It's not on the satellite anymore. It's on the fiber link.

We're losing system control. We've got 20 seconds.

It's a hack!

Shut us down!

- Fifteen seconds, sir. -Nonresponsive on this terminal.

-I'm locked out. -Nothing here.

-I've lost control. -Did you try the override?

Ten seconds!

This is Brixham. Duty code delta-four-niner-zero-bravo-delta.

Request hard shutdown of the Ops Room, all portals, effective immediately!

Five seconds!

Shit.

How close a call was this?

Miss Byrne, I appreciate the interest,

and I know every new deputy director needs to look busy,

but it was a cyberattack.

We shut it down.

We have this under control.

We don't need the CIA's assistance.

I think it's best for both of us if I make that decision, Colonel.

How close?

Another five seconds,

and we would have lost control of our nuclear launch codes.

I may be a new face, Colonel,

but I was brought in because I'm quick on the uptake,

so let me save you some time right here.

You do need our help, and you need it badly.

-Do we know who it was? -Not yet.

But we believe we've traced a point of origin

-for the hack. -Moscow or Beijing?

London.

Alan.

-Jo. Very good to meet you. -Mrs. Jones.

-To what do we owe the pleasure? -Someone tried to hack the Pentagon.

Why don't you come inside?

What you're seeing is the Pentagon NMCC ops room.

- We got a spike here. No way. -This was six months ago.

And the Einstein detection system didn't register this as an attack?

Didn't blink an eye. This was very good.

-And what was the target? -Strategic Command.

The nuclear codes?

The ops commander saw what was happening and pulled the plug, but it was close.

How close?

Five more seconds, and they'd have succeeded.

We worked out pretty quickly that the origin was here in London.

Our forensic data specialists went through the logs of the attack.

We believe it's the work of one particular hacker.

We have no real-world ID on this guy,

but he was active on some dark web forums a few years back.

Some of his early posts include examples of code,

which is how we get a handle on his style of programming.

And there are fingerprints in the code of the Pentagon attack that tie it to him.

And it took you six months to think of giving us a call?

The trail went cold, until now.

He recently popped up his head for a minute, accessed some old files.

We think he's still here. We need to find him.

And this is your town.

Do you have anything for us that we can use?

He calls himself Smoking Mirror.

-Can I get one of these newspapers? -Sure.

It's 6p, mate.

- Cheers, mate. -No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Hey.

Are you gonna pay for that?

So what's your name? I can't keep calling you Smoking Mirror.

Who are you working for?

I'm not working for anybody. I'm a journalist, I told you.

I know your reputation.

I know who you are.

And I also know that you were hired to do a job, a really big job.

But the strange thing is,

there's a rumor out there on the dark web that the Pentagon got hacked.

It would have taken someone of considerable skill to pull that off.

I was thinking maybe that was you.

But what I don't understand is, the people who hired you,

why would they target the Pentagon?

-Come on. Talk to me. -I can't talk to you.

Yes, you can. That's why you're here.

-No. -Then why'd you come?

To warn you. You don't know what these people are like.

If you keep asking questions, they'll know.

And they'll find you, and they'll kill you.

And then they'll come for me too, whether I talked to you or not.

And I don't wanna die.

Trust me.

Leave this alone.

Alex? I wasn't expecting you.

I don't think we have an appointment today.

I need to talk to you.

That's not how this works.

I want to speak to Mrs. Jones.

I don't have the contact information for Mrs. Jones.

Not for any of the government departments who refer clients to me.

It's part of the agreement.

It protects you and your confidentiality.

-So how do you get in touch with her? -I don't.

She doesn't even call me.

So how do you get paid?

Bank transfer.

What did you think?

A suitcase full of used notes under a bridge at midnight?

You don't need to talk to Mrs. Jones.

You need to talk to me.

But when we have our scheduled appointment.

-Okay? -Sorry, but I don't think you can help me.

Thanks anyway.

It's me.

Alex Rider was here a moment ago.

No.

If anything, it's getting worse.

-Hey. -Hello.

-So how was Cornwall? -It was memorable.

-Did it rain? -No.

-Mm. That is memorable. -So did I miss any important legal stuff?

We had a briefing on the Home Office rulings.

The right to remain.

A fresh opinion has come in from counsel.

-I should have been here. -You had to look after your...

What is he exactly, your nephew?

We're not related. We're just close.

Well, you were missed.

I took notes, lots of notes.

It's pretty much all here.

Thanks, Dan.

I owe you for this.

I might hold you to that.

Where the devil should this Romeo be?

Came he not home tonight?

Not to his father's. I spoke with his man.

"Ah, that same pale, hard-hearted wench..."

Ah, that same pale, hard-hearted wench,

that Rosaline torments him so, that he runs mad.

"That he will sure run mad."

That, um...

Tybalt, the kinsman of old Capulet, hath sent a letter to his father's house.

Uh...

-"A challenge, on my life." -Right. Sorry.

It, uh...

-No. Let's just hold it there. -Sorry. Sorry.

Alex, it really doesn't help if you don't learn your lines.

Yeah. Sorry. I've just... I've got a lot going on.

Ah, yes. The mysterious dentist who's been taking up so much of your time.

We could recast the part if you don't think you're up to it.

Uh, no. No, I-I-I wanna do it.

Then learn your lines. Right.

Let's go to the nurse scene.

-Hey. -All right.

How's it going?

Still can't beat K7.

Stupid bloody game.

Listen. The Plantagenets. In history.

-What about them? -They're kind of a blur.

I mean, nothing they do makes any sense.

I was hoping I could come over to yours, and we could read some pages.

Sabina texted me.

They've moved her dad to a private hospital in London.

It's like a specialist place where they deal with coma patients.

I said I'd go over.

But, I mean, it's good, though, right?

Specialists, proper care.