Agent 21: Codebreaker: Book 3

Home > Nonfiction > Agent 21: Codebreaker: Book 3 > Page 20
Agent 21: Codebreaker: Book 3 Page 20

by Chris Ryan


  ‘How’s he going to live? I mean, does he have any money?’

  ‘I don’t believe he’ll have too much difficulty making funds appear in his bank account, do you?’

  Zak shook his head, and couldn’t help a small smile. It didn’t last long. There was another question on his lips. It had been bothering him ever since that night, but he hadn’t found the courage to bring it up in front of Raf or Gabs. ‘There’s something I wanted to ask you,’ he said.

  Michael inclined his head. Zak had the impression he knew what was coming.

  ‘When they took Hendricks away, they were taking him to see . . .’ He looked at the floor. ‘To see someone called Martinez,’ he said quietly.

  There was a pause.

  ‘Martinez is a very common name, Zak,’ Michael said.

  ‘I know, but—’

  ‘Cruz Martinez is dead, Zak. You saw him fall into the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of a storm.’

  ‘But what if—’

  ‘Our intelligence networks are very thorough. If Martinez was alive we’d know about it.’

  ‘He’s clever,’ Zak muttered.

  ‘So are we. He’s dead, Zak. Put him from your mind. You have other adversaries now.’

  ‘Michael’s right, sweetie,’ said Gabs. Her eyes were wide with sympathy, and Raf’s solid, dependable face clearly showed that he agreed.

  Zak bowed his head. ‘Yeah,’ he said, ‘you’re probably right.’ He looked around the room. ‘I might . . .’ He jabbed one thumb in the direction of the door. ‘It’s good to see you, Michael.’

  His Guardian Angels said nothing. They just watched him leave. Zak felt their eyes boring into his back as he left the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

  Up in his room, Zak took his place by the window again. They were right, of course. He had seen Cruz Martinez plunge into the stormy waves of the Atlantic. No one could survive that. Why, then, did he feel so unsure? Why was his pulse racing and his skin prickling? Why was it that, as he looked out to sea, he had the unnerving sensation that, somewhere out there – who could say where? – a gangly young man with dark hair was thinking about Zak as intently as Zak was thinking about him?

  How long he sat there, these thoughts spinning in his mind, Zak couldn’t have said. All he knew was that the sun was setting by the time he closed the curtains and lay down on his bed to rest. Tomorrow was another day. Zak didn’t know what it would bring. He only knew he had to be ready.

  DECODING MESSAGES

  There are several instances of coded messages within the text where you might wish to check you have decoded them correctly.

  Turn over to see the decoding process.

  NOTE: don’t cheat and check out these pages first as you could spoil the story for yourself if you do so!

  NUMBERS FOR LETTERS

  The numbers are matched to letters as follows in this grid:

  CHAPTER 2: ADVANCE/RETREAT

  The original message sent, using the first random key, is ADVANCE, and the message is received as: JHCFLLH

  To decode this using the new key given, SDJOHLO, the calculations are as follows:

  CHAPTER 5: HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT

  Using the clues in the crossword grid to decode the message about the second bomb:

  CHAPTER 18: THE LONG-TAILED SHRIKE

  Decoding the message in the Nature Notes column.

  • Joined the SAS in 1984, serving in military hot zones across the world.

  • Expert in overt and covert operations in war zones, including Northern Ireland, Africa, the Middle East and other classified territories.

  • Commander of the Sniper squad within the anti-terrorist team.

  • Part of an 8-man patrol on the Bravo Two Zero Gulf War mission in Iraq.

  • The mission was compromised. 3 fellow soldiers died, and 4 more were captured as POWs. Ryan was the only person to defy the enemy, evading capture and escaping to Syria on foot over a distance of 300 kilometres.

  • His ordeal made history as the longest escape and evasion by an SAS trooper, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.

  • His books are dedicated to the men and women who risk their lives fighting for the armed forces.

  Also by Chris Ryan and published

  by Random House Children’s Publishers UK:

  The One That Got Away

  AGENT 21 series

  Agent 21

  Agent 21: Reloaded

  Agent 21: Codebreaker

  CODE RED series

  Flash Flood

  Wildfire

  Outbreak

  Vortex

  Twister

  Battleground

  ALPHA FORCE series

  Survival

  Rat-Catcher

  Desert Pursuit

  Hostage

  Red Centre

  Hunted

  Blood Money

  Fault Line

  Black Gold

  Untouchable

  Published by the Random House Group for adult readers:

  NON-FICTION

  The One That Got Away

  Chris Ryan’s SAS Fitness Book

  Chris Ryan’s Ultimate Survival Guide

  Fight to Win: Deadly Skills of the Elite Forces

  FICTION

  Stand By, Stand By

  Zero Option

  The Kremlin Device

  Tenth Man Down

  Hit List

  The Watchman

  Land of Fire

  Greed

  The Increment

  Blackout

  Ultimate Weapon

  Strike Back

  Firefight

  Who Dares Wins

  One Good Turn (Adult Quick Read for World Book Day 2008)

  AGENT 21: CODEBREAKER

  AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 409 02665 5

  Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,

  an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK

  A Random House Group Company

  This ebook edition published 2013

  Copyright © Chris Ryan, 2013

  First Published in Great Britain

  Doubleday Childrens 2012

  The right of Chris Ryan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS UK

  61–63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA

  www.randomhousechildrens.co.uk

  www.totallyrandombooks.co.uk

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

  THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Agent 21: Briefing Document

  Prologue: Northern Ireland, 1973

  15 June

  1. The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

  2. Advance/Retreat

  3. Green Light

  4. Room 7

  16 June

  5. Hidden in Plain Sight

  6. The Puzzle Master

  7. The Second Bomb

  8. St Oswald’s

  9. Casualty of War

  10. 00:00:00

  11. Dishonourable Discharge

  17 June

  12. NY Hero

  13. Liquid Lun
ch

  14. Tilt Switch

  15. Hangman

  16. Evorgdul

  18 June

  17. The Graveyard Shift

  18. The Long-tailed Shrike

  19. Chalker Mews

  20. Blackout

  21. Murder in his Eyes

  Epilogue: One Week Later

  Decoding Messages

  About the Author

  Also by Chris Ryan

  Copyright

 

 

 


‹ Prev