As she stood waiting, Scarlett looked out over the ocean that spread before her. Highspeed hadn't been at school that day, and she wondered if he'd make it. She looked over the pier itself, seeing people going about their day, enjoying the beginning of summer. She sighed, looking at her watch. It was almost eight o'clock, and there was no sign of him. She looked back over the water, watching as the sun set over the horizon. As she looked down on the beach, a voice asked "Waiting for someone?" She turned round, seeing a young man, at least twenty, standing behind her. She sighed again "Yeah. A boy I know from school." The man asked "What does he look like?" and Scarlett said "You couldn't miss him. He has blue hair, deep, ocean blue eyes and he only wears blue shirts and jeans." The man says "I think I saw someone like that over in the parking lot on his way here. If you come with me, we might find him." A little hesitant, Scarlett follows him into the parking lot.

As they walk across the car park, the man leads her behind the restrooms. She looks around, seeing nothing. She gets ready to say there's no-one there, but her eyes widen when she sees the man running straight at her. She lashed out by a roundhouse kick, barely hitting him. She gets ready to scream, but can't get it out as the man's hand clamps over her mouth, with the other hand holding her arms behind her back. She tries to break free, but the man keeps her pinned, showing no hope of escape. As she looks round, she sees a van backing towards them. She feels the man moving her forward as the driver and passenger get out. As the two others move in, she manages to kick her captor in the leg, making him let go. She tries to run, but she feels something hit her in the back. Her legs give way, as if they were made of paper, and she falls to the ground. She tries to get up, but can't move her arms. She feels all her strength flow out of her as the men grab her. She sees one of them pull a dart from her back, tossing it in the van. She tries to move, but can't move as they throw her into the van. She lands on a mattress laid down for her, and then watches as the close the doors. She feels the van move away, lying there completely helpless.

As they return from Amsterdam, Highspeed looks over the pen drive, seeing it shine in the setting sun. As they land, Highspeed runs off on his way to the pier. As he runs there, he decides to make a stop at Alan Blunt's office. As he stops outside the Royal and General, his communicator beeps, indicating there's a message. He looks at it, finding it's from Alex. He finds it reads "Get here, NOW!" Abandoning his original plan, he heads for Alex's house, barely avoiding oncoming traffic on the way. He runs in through the door, finding Alex and his guardian, Jack Starbright in the living room, standing in front of a new wide screen television. He looks to Alex with a look of surprise, then notices the web-cam on top of the television. As they look at it, Jack turns it on.

As the screen flickers on, a picture of Cray appears, causing Alex and Highspeed to step back. As they look at Cray with expressions of anger and hate, Cray, who is surprisingly calm, begins "Ah, Alex Rider. And you must be Highspeed. What a pleasure to meet you. I trust you had a safe journey back from Amsterdam." Not interested in small talk, Alex and demands "Where's Sabina? What have you done with her?" Cray, who's still calm, answers "Well, I guess I could let you see her," and the picture changes to Sabina, looking frightened and confused, standing in the middle of a small room. The picture changes back to Cray, and almost immediately, Highspeed almost shouts "Where's Scarlett?" Cray mocks a puzzled voice "I don't think..." but Highspeed cuts him off, growling "Where...is...Scarlett!?" Cray, looking a little less calm, answers "I guess you can see her," and the picture shows Scarlett, her long, black hair all over her, lying on a bed, only just starting to wake up. Cray's picture fills the screen again, with him saying "I think you know what you have to do if you want to see them again. Bring back the flash drive and pen drive you took from me, or else, they both die. If you tell your little friends at MI6 about this, then I'll kill them both. You have till ten o'clock tomorrow," and the image disappears.

Jack, now starting to look worried, says "We can't give him what he wants," and Highspeed replies "We can't let Sabina and Scarlett die either. If I ever get my hands on Cray I'll..." but Alex cuts him off "We can't tell MI6, but we can tell the others. Maybe Shadowspeed could sneak in and help them." Highspeed shakes his head, saying "Who knows where Shadowspeed is. He was given some assignment before me and the others were anywhere near the complex." He activates his com-link, saying "Let's hope I can come up with a plan that'll work"