Get Smart 7 - Max Smart - The Spy Who Went Out to the Cold Read Online Free PDF Page B

BOOM.
    “This looks like them,” the first man said.
    The second man got a slip of paper from his pocket and studied it, then looked closely at Max, 99 and von BOOM. “Could be,” he said. “Let’s just check it out—one Agent 86, one Agent 99, and one old guy who looks like he needs a keeper. Check?”
    “Check,” the first man replied.
    The second man put the piece of paper away, then drew a pistol. “Agent 86 and Agent 99, you stay,” he said. “Von BOOM, you come with us.”
    “KAOS!” 99 cried.
    “Or . . . very large baby seagulls,” Max suggested.
    “With a gun, Max?”
    “99, tell me, exactly what proof do you have that there are no juvenile delinquents in the seagull family?”
    “Cut the chatter!” the second man commanded. He yanked von BOOM to his feet. “Let’s cut out, Pops!” he snarled.
    The two men backed toward the waiting helicopter, taking von BOOM with them, holding the gun on Max and 99.
    “Max! Aren’t you going to do something?” 99 urged.
    “Right now, there’s nothing I can do,” Max replied. “But I certainly know what I’m going to do when we get back to land.”
    “What, Max?”
    “Read up on seagulls.”
    The kidnappers and their prize reached the helicopter. They hustled von BOOM aboard, then closed the hatch. At that instant, Max leaped up and raced forward. As the helicopter rose from the deck, he lunged forward and got a hold on the landing gear. The helicopter soared upward—with Max dangling below.
    “Max! You’ll be killed!” 99 screamed.
    Max shouted back. But his answer was lost. The helicopter had already become a speck in the sky.
    Summoning every ounce of his strength, Max clambered torturously up the landing gear. In time, he reached the hatch and rapped on it.
    One of the KAOS agents opened it. “Yeah?” he said nastily.
    “Avon calling,” Max gasped.
    “Hold it,” the KAOS agent said. He turned to his companion, the KAOS agent at the controls. “Let me see that piece of paper with the description on it,” he said. “There’s an Avon lady at the hatch that I got a suspicion I seen before.”
    For the KAOS agents, the delay was costly. While the first man was checking the description on the piece of paper, Max pulled himself up into the cockpit.
    “How am I described?” Max asked, looking over the first man’s shoulder.
    Curiosity was a mistake. For Max, the delay was costly. The KAOS agent, recognizing Max, pulled his gun and got the drop on him.
    “Okay, you can go out the same way you came in,” the KAOS agent ordered.
    Max looked back. It was at least a thousand-foot drop to the ocean.
    Max addressed the KAOS agent who was acting as pilot. “Could you lower this thing a little?” he said. “That first step looks a teensy-weensy bit high.”
    “It’s an optical illusion,” the pilot replied. “But, if you’re afraid of the fall, I’ll give you a little tip. Hold your arms out like—”
    Von BOOM had risen from his seat. And, as the KAOS agents and Max watched, intrigued, he stepped through the open hatchway and plummeted downward.
    “What’s he? A nut?” the first man asked.
    “No,” Max replied, peering out at the falling professor, “I think he just had a sudden urge for a seafood dinner.”
    “Catch him!” the KAOS agent who was holding the gun barked at the KAOS agent who was at the controls.
    Instantly, the helicopter swooped into a dive, and a moment later it caught up with von BOOM. As the Professor descended, the helicopter flew next to him, falling at exactly the same rate of speed.
    “Get back in here!” the first man shouted crossly at von BOOM.
    The Professor tried to step back into the helicopter, but he made no progress.
    “I don’t think he’s really trying,” the first man grumbled. “I guess we’ll have to go out there and get him and drag him back.”
    “Yes, you go right ahead,” Max said. “I’ll wait here.”
    “When I said ‘we,’ I meant ‘you,’ ” the first man advised.