Read Online Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz - Free Book Online

weren't to have weapons. You're too young.”
    “So it's not really a hand grenade? Pull the string and run like hell?”
    “Certainly not. It's a yo-yo.” Smithers pulled out the string, holding it between a pudgy finger and thumb. “However, the string is a special sort of nylon. Very advanced. There's thirty yards of it and it can lift weights of up to two hundred pounds. The actual yoyo is motorized and clips onto your belt. Very useful for climbing.”
    “Amazing.” Alex was unimpressed.
    “And then there's this.” Mr. Smithers produced a small tube. Alex read the side: ZIT-CLEAN. FOR HEALTHIER SKIN. “Nothing personal,” Smithers went on, apologetically. “But we thought it was something a boy of your age might carry. And it is rather remarkable.” He opened the tube and squeezed some of the cream onto his finger. “Completely harmless when you touch it. But bring it into contact with metal and it's quite another story.” He wiped his finger, smearing the cream onto the surface of the table. For a moment nothing happened. Then a wisp of acrid smoke twisted upward in the air, the metal sizzled, and a jagged hole appeared. “It'll do that to just about any metal,” Smithers explained. “Very useful if you need to break through a lock.” He took out a handkerchief and wiped his finger clean.
    “Anything else?” Mrs. Jones asked.
    “Oh yes, Mrs. J. You could say this is ourpiece de resistance. ” He picked up a brightly colored box that Alex recognized at once as a Nintendo Color Game Boy. “What teenager would be complete without one of these?” he asked. “This one comes with four games. And the beauty of it is, each cartridge turns the computer into something quite different.”
    He showed Alex the first game. Nemesis. “If you insert this one, the computer becomes a fax/photocopier, which gives you direct contact with us and vice versa. Just pass the screen across any page you want to transmit and we'll have it in seconds.”
    He produced a second game: Exocet. “This one turns the computer into an X-ray device. Place the machine against any solid surface less than two inches thick and watch the screen. It has an audio function too. You just have to plug in the earphones. Useful for eavesdropping. It's not as powerful as I'd like, but we're working on it.”
    The third game was called Speed Wars. “This one's a bug finder,” Smithers explained. “You can use the computer to sweep a room and check if somebody's trying to listen in on you. I suggest you use it the moment you arrive. And finally ... my own favorite.”
    Smithers held up a final cartridge. It was labeled
    BOMBER BOY.
    “Do I get to play this one?” Alex asked.
    “You can play all four of them. They all have a built in games function. But as the name might suggest, this is actually a smoke bomb. This time the cartridge doesn't go into the machine. You leave it somewhere in a room and press START three times on the console, and the bomb will be set off by remote control. Useful camouflage if you need to escape in a hurry.”
    “Thank you, Smithers,” Mrs. Jones said.
    “My pleasure, Mrs. J.” Smithers stood up, his legs straining to take the huge weight. “I'll hope to see you again, Alex. I've never had to equip a boy before. I'm sure I'll be able to think up a whole host of quite delightful ideas.”
    He waddled off and disappeared through a door that clanged shut behind him.
    Mrs. Jones turned to Alex. “You leave tomorrow for Port Tallon,” she said. “You'll be going under the name of Felix Lester.” She handed him an envelope. “The real Felix Lester left for Florida yesterday. You'll find everything you need to know about him in here.”
    “I'll read it in bed.”
          “Good.” Suddenly she was serious and Alex found himself wondering if she was herself a mother. If so, she could well have a son his age. She took out a black- and-white photograph and laid it on the table. It showed a man in a white