Get Smart 4 - Max Smart and the Perilous Pellets by William Johnston Read Free Book Online Page B

please!
    (crackling sounds)
    Lance Chalfont: Lance Chalfont, silent birdman, here.
    Max: Lance, this is Max Smart!
    Lance Chalfont: No kiddin’. How’d you get inside that itty-bitty radio, Max?
    Max: Now, listen carefully, Lance. I am not inside the radio. I am on the roof of the KAOS Science Laboratory. 99 and I are trapped out here. We want you to rescue us.
    Lance Chalfont: Well, I’ll try, Max. How do I get there? Is there some kind of a ladder?
    Max: No, but there’s a stair. You take the corridor to— No, Lance, what I mean is, I want you to use the helicopter to rescue us.
    Lance Chalfont: Max, you know how big this helicopter is. I couldn’t get it up no stairs.
    Max: Think, Lance. What does a helicopter do? It flies, right? I want you to fly the helicopter to the roof, pick us up, then fly away. Got that?
    Lance Chalfont: Nobody don’t have to draw no pictures for Lance Chalfont. I’ll be there in a jiffy, Max.
    (crackling sounds)
    Operator: How did I do, Maxie?
    Max: Excellent, Operator. If we escape, it will be your doing.
    Operator: Then do a little favor for me, Maxie, will you? Don’t get sand in our shoe.
    Max: I promise, Operator.

    Max hung up.
    “Max, the guards are breaking down the wall,” 99 said. “Where is the helicopter?”
    “Well, according to my calculations, the heli—”
    There was a roaring sound overhead.
    “—copter ought to be arriving right now.”
    “Max! The wall!”
    As the wall gave way and a flood of guards poured onto the roof, the helicopter settled down beside Max and 99.
    Max and 99 scrambled aboard. There was the sound of a volley of shots. Bullets pinged by their ears.
    “Upward and onward!” Max cried.
    The helicopter zoomed heavenward. A moment later it was safely out of range of the guards’ rifles.
    “That was close!” Max breathed.
    “Got the job done, though, eh?” Lance Chalfont said. “Planted that itty-bitty pea just like you was told to, right?”
    “That we did,” Max smiled.
    “Howja do it?” Lance Chalfont asked.
    “Actually, it was very simple,” Max replied. “We—” He turned to 99. “How did we do it, 99?”
    “Well, Max, you remember that necklace I presented to Dr. Yeh!?” 99 replied. “Did you notice anything familiar about it?”
    “Familiar? No. Frankly, it wasn’t to my taste, though. It looked like a bunch of strung-together peas.”
    “That’s it, Max. It was. I strung some pellets together, making a necklace of them.”
    “Then—”
    “Yes. Dr. Yeh! is wearing the explosives around his neck,” 99 said. “I imagine that as soon as he gets to his quarters, he’ll put the necklace in his jewel box, and . . . our pellets will be planted.”
    Max turned back to Lance Chalfont. “See? I told you it was simple.”
    “Max,” 99 said, “shouldn’t we check in with the Chief?”
    “Right,” Max replied, removing his shoe and dialing.

    Operator: One moment, please. I am ringing your helicopter.
    Max: No, no, Operator. That emergency is over. I want to talk to the Chief, now.
    Operator: One moment, please. I am ringing your Chief.
    Chief: Control. Chief speaking.
    Max: Chief, it’s me. I am happy to report that the first explosive has been planted. Anything new at Headquarters?
    Chief: Only this, Max. The KAOS agent has also planted his first pellet. He was observed slipping away from our Science Lab. We’re making a search for the explosive, but we don’t have much hope of finding it.
    Max: In other words, Chief, at this juncture, the race is a tie.
    Chief: Yes, that’s the way it stands, Max. Haste is all important now. The fate of Control depends on it—and on you and 99, Max.
    Max: We’re already speeding to the next KAOS installation, Chief. I’ll call you when I have something further to report.

    Max hung up, then settled back in his seat. “I told the Chief that we’re speeding to our next destination,” he said to 99.
    She nodded. “I heard you.”
    “I heard that, too,” Lance Chalfont