Original subtitles

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.

Yeah.

All I keep thinking is, he's in a coma.

He's in a room, right?

If they wanted to finish the job, he'd be the easiest target in the world.

And Sabina has no idea.

Hey, Dad. Alex came to see you.

You remember him, right?

Runs like a lunatic.

We're going to get something at the café. Be right back.

I'll see you soon, okay?

What was your dad working on?

- Alex... - I know.

It was a gas leak.

But suppose it wasn't.

There wasn't any gas, was there?

I mean, we would have smelled it.

You said your dad was writing a book about the Feathered Serpent guy.

- Damian Cray. - Mm-hmm.

But nobody gets hurt because of a video game.

Yeah, but your dad was a journalist, right?

There must have been other stories.

He never told me. He never talked about his work.

He didn't want me to interfere.

Or maybe he was trying to protect you.

Are you gonna stay with your dad?

Yeah, for a while.

I think maybe someone should, all the time.

Why?

Just to be sure.

Stop it.

You're scaring me.

Hey!

What are you doing?

Hey!

Alex, what's going on?

What do we know about this computer hacker?

That he's very paranoid and very clever.

These are the codes from the Pentagon hack.

Now, there are all sorts of ways to write code.

Some are obvious. Some aren't.

Throw a technical problem at ten programmers,

nine out of ten will come back with the same plodding, obvious solution.

The tenth might just surprise you.

All of this is surprising and elegant and very, very clever.

But there's something...

Something?

I'm having the strongest déjà vu.

I could have sworn I've seen this somewhere before.

How is that possible?

Mm.

Leave it to me.

I'll make some calls.

So because of the House of Valois in 13th-century France,

women weren't allowed to succeed to the throne.

It's another lie.

No, mate. It's in here.

With Ian, it was a car crash. With Sabina's dad, it's a gas leak.

There was no gas. One of us would have noticed.

And there was someone at the hospital today,

trying to get into Ed's room.

Who was it? Yassen?

Mm-mm.

I've never seen this guy before.

But he ran as soon as he saw me and Sabina coming.

Clearly, Ed's been targeted.

And the department need to know about it.

Just when they've decided to go into hiding.

Maybe they haven't gone into hiding.

Maybe they all got fired.

Because of what they did to you.

Because, when you think about it, mate, what they did was basically

totally illegal, using you like that.

So maybe someone found out, and now they're all out on their ear,

you know, working as bouncers in night clubs.

Is that what ex-spies do?

I don't know. It's a job.

I don't think they've been fired.

I think they've just moved on and left me behind.

Even if you could get hold of Mrs. Jones, what would you do?

Tell them about the explosion, about Gregorovich. Get them on it.

Make sure Sabina's dad is protected.

And then, you'll leave them to handle it?

Yeah. Exactly.

That's what they're supposed to be good at, right?

The problem is, how do you find people whose whole thing is to not be noticed?

You know, I just realized I don't even know their first names.

I mean, they're spies, right?

Spies don't let people in.

Like, they don't let anyone close. Spies don't have friends.

Hm.

Wait. Spies don't have friends?

Sometimes they do.

Yeah, of course.

Whoa, sorry. Um, what did I miss?

Friends.

Pull!

- Hey, Dad! - Damn it!

What the hell?

Alex?

Alex Friend.

Son of Sir David Friend.

It was fun while it lasted.

What are you doing here?

Did Blunt send you?

No.

Kind of the opposite, actually.

Did Blunt ever get in touch with you after I went undercover at Point Blanc?

They never told us anything.

You went away with that awful woman, and that was the last we heard.

I suppose everything worked out all right?

Caroline and I were concerned.

Yeah, it was fine.

- It was just a school. - I see.

Well, good.

And now you're no use to him anymore,

Alan has just turned his back on you?

He's ghosting me.

Ignoring me. Hiding.

I need to find him.

No, you don't. I promise you.

Whatever it is that's the matter, whatever trouble you're in,

that man will just make it worse.

I don't have a choice.

Funny, isn't it, how that's often the way with Alan?

No choice at all.

- Do you have his address? - We don't exchange Christmas cards.

Phone number?

You must know something.

I read the briefing file, you know, when I was...

Pretending to be our son? Hm.

Yeah.

You guys were close, once.

You don't seem to understand. We were never close.

He's not that kind of man.

He just turns up when he wants something.

You don't go to him.

To be honest, I hardly know anything about him.

Not where he lives, not where he works, not even what he does, really,

except I suspect it's something that would keep decent people awake at night.

A long time ago, we went to school together. That's it.

We're not even members of the same club.

- Do you know which club he is a member of? - Alex...

Look.

A friend of mine got hurt.

Someone tried to kill him.

The only people that can help keep him and his daughter safe are Blunt and his team.

I wouldn't ask you if I had any other choice, but I don't.

I need your help. I really do.

If I'm so embarrassing to Blunt,

then wouldn't me turning up at his club really annoy him?

And wouldn't you kind of enjoy that?

Alex, these people are dangerous.

David.

Pull!

I can take care of myself.

I knew I'd seen him somewhere before.

Remember this chap? Aaron Limehouse.

Far-left political activist, freedom-of-information advocate,

not so keen on the British government's anti-terrorism laws?

Yes. Stole classified material and posted it on the web.

Did four years in Belmarsh and got out six months ago.

Now, ask me how he got his classified material.

He hacked the GCHQ computer system.

On the left, four and a half years ago, GCHQ Cheltenham.

On the right, six months ago, the Pentagon.

The digital fingerprints match. It's the same guy.

Limehouse is Smoking Mirror?

No, but he took credit for the hack.

No way has he the skill.

Limehouse employed Smoking Mirror.

How far can we go?

As far as you like.

- All right? - Yup.

Steph says hi.

Yeah?

Yeah, she also says, "Maybe Alex can run his own errands without your help, Tom,

given that you promised to go over the lines

for the school play with me this weekend."

But I convinced her you're basically helpless left to yourself.

Well, I got you out of Shakespeare.

- You should be thanking me. - Fair enough.

So where's this club?

Um...

- A little place in Pall Mall. - Hm.

Do you think they'll let us in?

Is this for real?

In what sense?

Silver spoons and chandeliers and gentlemen doing business.

Well, I thought it would be good to get to know each other a little better,

and this place is comfortable.

Comfortable for those on the inside, maybe.

Intimidating to those on the outside.

Oh.

One of the oldest tricks in the colonial-imperial playbook.

Don't worry, we do it too.

The whole of D.C.'s an exercise in architectural intimidation.

Hm.

We haven't worked together before.

- No. - I hear you're full of innovations.

New ideas.

Well, it's not just about boots on the ground anymore.

- Hm. - The way Russia and China are shaping up,

the CIA needs to be leaner, quicker, more responsive.

Part of my remit is clearing out dead wood.

Hm.

Well, I knew your old boss.

Yes, I know.

- You went back a long way. - He was a good man.

He was an old man.

You should try the rabbit terrine. It's very good.

Good evening, Mr. Limehouse.

Who are you?

What happened to me?

- I was... - You were in the shower.

I'm afraid you had an accident.

Yes, you slipped on the soap,

banged your head. You were quite badly hurt.

In fact...

it was worse than that.

So how do we even know Blunt's in there?

Because that's his car.

He gave me a lift once.

Okay.

So we wait. He comes out. And we doorstep him.

No.

It's not good enough.

What if he just blows me off, you know, and says,

"Oh, I can't talk right now," and just drives away?

Then I've lost him for good.

I need to know where they're operating.

That way, I can walk in the front door, and they have to listen.

Okay. So we follow the car.

- Yeah. - He's gonna see you.

I mean, he'll look in the mirror, and then there's just Alex on a bike.

Give me your helmet.

It's fake news, of course.

An ambulance came for you.

You don't remember. It brought you here.

- Where's here? - Doesn't really matter.

It's where you're going that ought to worry you.

- America. - Forced rendition. The flight's waiting.

What? Why?

Four and a half years ago, you hacked into GCHQ Cheltenham.

You stole classified information and posted it on the web.

I did my time.

Six months ago, just after you were released,

the same hacker, with the same digital fingerprint,

known as Smoking Mirror, broke into the Pentagon.

This time, the target was the nuclear codes.

- The Americans aren't too pleased. - Wait. This is crazy. I didn't do that.

- What are you doing? - Preparing you for your journey.

Guantanamo is a long way. You should sleep on the flight.

It wasn't me.

Not the Pentagon and not GCHQ either. I used someone. I paid someone.

- We know that's a lie. - I swear to you.

- Hold tight. - No, no, no, no, no! You can't do this!

It was Simon Marriat.

- He's Smoking Mirror. - Simon Marriat.

Goodbye, Mr. Limehouse.

- Take him home, put him to bed. - Yes, ma'am.

You know the President is due here in little over a week.

Yes. We, uh, we've got the bunting in.

But she's not here for more than one night, is she?

Mm.

Damian Cray is hosting a charity dinner.

Lots of important people digging deep in their wallets.

- Mm. - The President's the guest of honor.

Mr. Cray is a big admirer of the President, isn't he?

It's mutual.

Cray gave millions to the campaign fund,

millions more to the President's anti-drug initiatives.

He seems to think the war on drugs can be won, and he is the man to win it.

It's a message the White House is happy to get behind.

Anyway, I'm catching a lift

on Air Force One when the President leaves for Berlin.

I wanna be able to brief her on the plane about our Smoking Mirror issue.

It would be good to have something to say.

You can say that we've found him.

Alex, get ready. They're getting in the car.

Car cam is up and running.

Okay, go, go, go, go, go.

I've already lost him.

Don't worry. He went right up ahead.

Did you get a street name?

No, um, it's a big street. Um, it's got trees.

- They've all got trees. - Yeah.

- Um, go right. Go right. - Go right...

How did you find him?

We got a name and that gave us the address.

- We're about 15 minutes away. - Good.

Okay, he's just gone through a traffic light. It's turning red.

I see it!

Oi!

Talk to me.

He's just gone past a bus.

Can you see it?

Whoa!

Idiot!

Yeah. I saw that.

- Okay, he turned left. - Are you sure?

Yes. Go left.

Keep going straight.

We have units inbound.

We'll establish a perimeter, do a soft entry if we can.

All right. Keep me posted.

He turned left.

All right, I'm on Holdsworth Street. Where are they?

Um, I think you missed him. I think you've gone too far.

Um... there's a turning on the left.

Going left.

- It's an alley. - Go left.

Shit, Tom!

It's one way.

- What are you doing? - I'm trying to find another way.

- Just tell me where they are. - I'm trying!

I see it. I've got them.

- He's turning onto Eden Square. - Okay. Doing the same.

Great. Keep going straight.

All units, Simon Marriat is entering the property.

Hi, honey. I'm home.

Here we go.

All units, Control, position.

All units in position.

This is Blunt. We're here. Rear of property.

Suggest you leave the vehicle and join the tactical control van.

All units standby to commence operation.

All right. Remember. Let's try this quietly at first.

Unit one, proceed.

All other units, prepare for breach.

Yeah. Who is it?

Council sent me.

Been a problem with your rising main.

Yeah, just, um, give me a sec.

Okay, car's parked on the left next to some garages.

But they got out and walked away.

Strange place for their HQ. Good work, Tom.

Cheers.

- We're made. - All right.

Let's go in. Cut the power.

- We're in. - Okay.

Top floor clear of target.

Ground floor clear of target. Proceeding to basement.

There's no one here.

Okay, we're coming in.

Where are you, Simon?

It's definitely our guy.

- I thought you cut the power. - I did. Back-up units.

He was expecting us.

- Where is he? - He must be here somewhere.

This has been moved.

Give me a hand.

He went through here. Go!

Go!

All units, Control, he's mobile. We found a tunnel.

Hold the perimeter and watch for a runner.

Hey.

You.

Hey!

Stop! Stop!

He was ready for us.

Clearly expecting trouble. He prepared an escape route.

Don't tell me you lost him.

I need to get a good look at his setup.

Can you get me a bit closer, please? Follow the cables.

That's it. Keep going.

We have him.

Hello.

What the...?

Are you gonna tell these idiots to let me go or what?

What are you doing here?

Smoking Mirror?

No. There's been a misunderstanding.

Who's Smoking Mirror?

Follow the cables. Yep. That's it.

Everyone get away from the machines! Right now! Now!

- Get back! Get back! Get down! - Get down! Take cover!

How come you moved?

Health and safety.

- There was asbestos. - Ah.

He was driving a gray transit van.

The plate ended with the letters VRC.

And it had "Rob's Internet Services" on the side.

He must have placed a device in the house,

probably a bomb that made it look like a gas leak,

but it wasn't.

I mean, it tore everything apart.

There was smoke everywhere. It was on fire.

That's it. That's all of it.

- And you think that this man... - Yassen Gregorovich.

You think this man, Yassen Gregorovich, tried to kill your girlfriend's father.

She's not my girlfriend. We just met. But, yeah. Exactly.

Why?

- Why? - Why would he do that?

Because of something he was working on.

I don't know. You should find out.

What do you know about Yassen Gregorovich?

I know that he was in Point Blanc.

I know that you have his photograph on file.

I know that you know his name and I know that he's important to you.

When I told you about him, the man with the scar,

you recognized him at once.

Gregorovich works for an international organization.

They have their sights set on regime change, political murder,

global shifts in the balance of power.

They're professionals.

And their services are only available to a very tiny fraction of the world's elite.

Yeah.

Okay. So?

So they don't care that one of their agents saw you

in a corridor once upon a time.

You're not important to them. You're irrelevant.

- I never said this was about me. - Really? I thought it was all about you.

Your girlfriend, your holiday,

your insistence that this wasn't an accident

when everyone else says that it was.

We've seen the forensic report. It was a gas leak.

So they faked it.

That's happened before, remember?

You're just gonna believe whatever story they tell you?

I thought you were good at this.

We are. We've had Gregorovich under surveillance for months now.

He's on the other side of the world, in Myanmar.

Not in Cornwall.

Nowhere near you.

That's not possible.

You did a good job for us, Alex, on the Point Blanc mission.

Very good, for someone so young.

But I think that we dropped you into the deep end

of a world that you're not quite ready for.

And now you're seeing enemy agents around every corner

even when, in fact, there is nothing there.

I saw him.

- Aren't you supposed to trust your agents? - You're not an agent.

Go home.

What the hell are you doing?

- We have no idea where Gregorovich is. - Sit down.

He said it. Trust your agent.

You like him, don't you?

Yes. As a matter of fact, yes.

You need to be more objective.

He's jumping at shadows. Psychologically, he's not reliable.

And how are you sure of that?

Experience.

Well, he's our responsibility.

No, he's a liability.

We lost our man today because of him.

We have a job to do. From now on, Alex Rider is no part of it.

Clear?

Alex.

Wait.

What's the point?

- I want to say I'm sorry. - You're sorry?

Yes. I really am.

About your friend.

Her name's Sabina.

Her dad's called Ed.

And she doesn't know if he's gonna wake up or not.

Do you believe me?

Yeah. I have to go.

Where?

To do your job.