Shot outside the offices of MI6 and left for dead by Scorpia, Alex Rider awakens in a top-secret hospital, glad simply to be alive. But danger has a way of following Alex, and when the boy in the next room is the victim of a kidnapping attempt, it is Alex who saves him; only to be kidnapped himself. The man behind the kidnapping? None other than Nikolei Drevin, wealthiest Shot outside the offices of MI6 and left for dead by Scorpia, Alex Rider awakens in a top-secret hospital, glad simply to be alive. But danger has a way of following Alex, and when the boy in the next room is the victim of a kidnapping attempt, it is Alex who saves him; only to be kidnapped himself. The man behind the kidnapping? None other than Nikolei Drevin, wealthiest developer in the world, and the man who single-handedly is funding the first luxury hotel in outer space, Ark Angel. Yet the project is hemorrhaging millions of dollars along the way, and Drevin will stop at nothing to cease the bleeding. Even if it means blowing up Ark Angel. Even if it means sacrificing his only son. . . .