Several random mid-level authority figures in the United States and Great Britain are brutally murdered by Islamist extremists, all of whom seem to have been radicalized by the online sermons of a mysterious veiled man known only as "the Preacher".
[3][4] The Tracker's investigations are slow to progress until he recruits a young and very skilled aspyish computer hacker he codenames "Ariel" to act as his tech support.
Meanwhile, a band of Somali pirates belonging to another clan of Muslim extremists headed by a sadistic sheikh, capture a Swedish cargo ship.
The video has the desired effect: the Preacher is unsettled and attempts to flee, allowing Ariel to follow both him and Opal via satellite.
The Preacher buys the Swedish boy from the sadistic sheikh, intending to personally behead him on his next livestream to make his followers believe in him again.