Hey guys. Thanks for the reviews. Sorry about the spelling. I did it at about 11pm and didn't read it properly. i've fixed it now though. Hope you like the next Chapter.Bye...

A hundred miles off the eastern coast of Australia there was a large fishing boat hove to. They were just settling in for the nights work when they saw the large fire ball shot through the night sky and land in the black, inky ocean about 1km away. After a long debate, with arguments that could have worn down the devil himself, the sturdy, gruff looking fishermen opted to go and investigate.

They arrived at the landing spot to discover a capsule about 200cm x 80cm with the words Soyuz-Fregat on the side. It was covered in a layer of disgusting grey, almost black soot, probably caused by the fire. In some places where the water had been lapping, there were traces of the capsules original glory, where you could see some of the cream paint through the soot.

A man in his late 40's climbed down into a small work boat and motored over to the capsule which was bobbing up and down in the water. An operator moved the derrick over the bow and onto the water. When it got close enough to the capsule he lowered the hooktill the man in the workboat could reach it. The man, who looked terribly small out in the boat surrounded by water, hooked the hook onto the steel ring on the top of the capsule and waved back to the main boat before motoring back as quickly as possible.

The operator slowly pulled the capsule out of the water, the suction of the water resisting its pull, and brought it, swaying dangerously, over the railing. Men ran from all directions to help steady the capsule as it was let down to meet the deck.

After the hook was removed and it was tied firmly to the deck, the fishermen huddled around it like it was a fire in Greenland. There was a strange noise coming from inside it. Curiosity got the better of them and they got a crowbar and attempted to crack it open. They had not, of course, been expecting to find a boy inside the oddly shaped vessel when they picked it up, therefore, when they finally managed to open the tightly sealed door on the side of the capsule and Alex tumbled out, coughing and laughing uncontrollably and barely able to stand up, they didn't know what to think.

He looked human enough, but then so did Superman. He seemed to be around 15, with shaggy blond hair, sun-drenched skin and freckles, clutching his upper left side protectively. He was down on all fours, shaking in fits of laughter, like a kid who had just heard the funniest joke in the world. No, he couldn't be an alien. But then, where had he come from. No one would send a kid into space, and if this was a new sort of plane or something, then no self respecting engineer would test it on a kid. The men looked at each other uncomfortably. They didn't like not knowing and the boy still hadn't stopped laughing.

At last one of them worked up some courage and asked him his name. He was the tallest of the group and had short black hair, which he had covered with a red and black stripped beanie with the words "Go Swans" sewn on the front, a large nose that looked as if it had been broken recently and a beer gut. His name was Greg Grossman, and, though he was slightly nervous about the boy in front of him, he also felt sorry for him. After all, he probably didn't know where he was or what was going on; he also seemed a bit… simple.

The boy stammered something that sounded like Alik Riddle and dropped even closer to the oily surface of the deck. Greg decided to take charge of the situation sending orders in every direction, "turn back to Sydney", "Pull in the nets", and " someone get this boy some coffee". He then edged closer to the boy, who was now lying on his left side heaving with silent laughter, put his hand under his shoulder and slowly pulled him up until he was standing hunched over. The boy was starting to calm down slightly, so he took him into their make do kitchen and sat him at the hard plastic table which was screwed down in the middle of the room and sat down opposite him.

"So Alik, what where you doing out here, in the middle of nowhere."

"M..my name isn't Alik." His laughter was finally dieing.

"Well what is it then?"

"It's Alex. Alex Rider."

Greg Grossman relaxed a little. The boy, Alex, had an English accent and he had almost completely calmed down. He could see the boy's eyes now. They were brown and had a look that said he had seen too much.

"So then Alex, where are you from, and what are you doing here?"

Alex thought about it. He could tell him the truth, but he knew they wouldn't believe him. He wondered what he could say that would sound realistic enough without causing a search party. He could tell them he had been parachuting and the wind had taken him off course but that wouldn't account for the capsule they had found him in. No, no, he'd better stick with the truth.

"I'm from London, England, but I'm afraid I can't tell you what I'm doing here, but if you take me to the nearest British consulate they'll know what to do with me."

"Well, I will have to take you to customs first but I'm sure that, if you are indeed from England then that's where you will end up.'

"Thanks." The man nodded and started to leave, "Out of interest," he stopped and turned around, "where am I?"

"At the moment you're about 100 miles east of Australia, but we're taking you to Sydney. And, so you know I'm Greg Grossman, ask for me if you need anything. God knows the other guys couldn't understand you. You're lucky, my wife's English."