“Thanks just oodles,” Max said grimly. “I’ll remember this when you come around to collect your guide fee.”
“Who needs it?” Abdul shrugged. “As of today, I’m out of the rent-a-guide business. I’m the agent to a Star.”
Max turned to von BOOM. “He is your agent?” he said incredulously.
“I gave him the job when we were lost out there on the desert,” the Professor replied. “As long as I was carrying him around on my back, anyway, I figured he might as well be my agent.”
“Don’t bother my Star with any more questions,” Abdul said to Max and 99. “He has to rehearse his line.”
Von BOOM wandered off.
This time, Max let von BOOM’s agent chase after him.
“Max, what are we going to do?” 99 fretted.
“We have no choice, 99,” Max replied. “I hate to be the one to destroy a career, but- Duty first. We have to get von BOOM back on the track. I’m going to snitch. I’m going to tell von Sydesheau that von BOOM is really a scientist.”
“Max, I’m not sure that will work. He found him out in the middle of the desert. Will he believe that he’s a scientist?”
“He found us out in the middle of the desert, too, 99, and he believed that we’re secret agents.”
“You’re right, Max.”
Max and 99 found von Sydesheau and informed him that, in fact, von BOOM was a scientist. Von Sydesheau threw back his head and roared with laughter.
“You don’t believe it?” Max said.
“As much as I believed that ridiculous story about you two being secret agents,” von Sydesheau replied. He winked at Max. “Spying on the sand, eh?”
Max and 99 retreated.
That night, when the camp was silent, Max and 99, by prearrangement, slipped out of their separate tents and met near the stern of the ship.
“So far, so good, 99,” Max whispered. “Everybody’s asleep, and, luckily, von Sydesheau didn’t think to post any guards.”
“It probably didn’t occur to him that we would try to kidnap his Star, Max.”
“I don’t know why not. That’s the way it would happen in a movie.” He motioned, then set out through the darkness, with 99 following close behind. “Von BOOM’s tent is just a short distance from here.”
“How will we know it, Max? In the dark, all these tents look alike.”
“There’ll be no mistaking it, 99. It-” he pointed. “There, shining in the moonlight. . see?”
“Oh. . yes. Isn’t that interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before. . a star on the flap.”
“All right, 99, from this moment on, let’s maintain absolute silence. If we create a commotion and rouse the camp, we may never get another chance to get von BOOM out of here.”
“Suppose he cries out, Max?”
“I’m going to gag him.”
“Please be gentle, Max. Remember, down deep, he’s on our side-he’s one of the Good Guys.”
“99, I don’t like doing this any more than you do. But our space program depends on it.”
“Max. . couldn’t we talk to him about it again? It wouldn’t hurt to try, would it?”
“Absolutely pointless, 99. We wouldn’t even know what he answered.”
“Why, Max?”
“Because he’ll be gagged. Now, come on, 99.”
Silently, they moved forward through the darkness. A few moments later they reached the entrance to von BOOM’s tent. Quietly, Max opened the flap. He crept into the tent, with 99 right behind him.
“Can you see him, Max?”
“Shhhh!”
Max moved on alone. A few seconds later, there was a sudden sound of scuffling, and a muffled outcry.
“Max-are you all right?”
“Not so loud, 99!”
“Sorry, Max. But are you all right? Do you have him?”
“Yes, 99-plus.”
“Plus what, Max?”
“Plus my left foot.”
“Max. . could you explain that?”
“First, 99, I gagged him, then I threw a blanket over him and gathered the blanket at the top to make a kind of sack out of it. But. . Well, after all, 99, I am working in the dark.”
“You have your foot in the bag?”
“If you want the whole story-my foot and my ankle.”
“Can’t you just take your foot out, Max?”
“To do that, 99, I’ll have to open the sack. And if I open the sack, he might escape. Frankly, 99, he isn’t too happy about this. He’s- Ouch! He’s twisting my ankle.”
“Wait, Max, I’ll try to help you. If I can just-”
There was a loud crash. Then silence again.
“Thank you, 99,” Max said. “That worked very well.”
“All I did, Max, was bump into something.”
“I know. But it helped. What ever you bumped into must have been fairly solid. It hit von BOOM. He’s unconscious-and I have my foot back.”
“Max! Is he hurt?”
“He’s fine. He has a good pulse and he’s breathing deeply and evenly. Now, for Heaven’s sake, let’s get out of here!”
Between them, Max and 99 lifted the sack. They left the tent, then the camp, and headed out into the desert.
“This is a snap,” Max said enthusiastically. “The weather is cool, the baggage is light, the moon is out, your daddy’s rich, and your mammy’s good-lookin’.”
“What, Max?”
“Sorry, 99-I got a little carried away.”
“But what about in the morning, Max, when the sun comes out, and the moon goes in? The weather will be hot, and the baggage will seem heavy.”
“What about daddy and mammy?”
“Max!”
“We’ll just have to rely on gumption and fortitude, 99. It will be tough, I know. But if we grit our teeth, keep our chins up high, and grin, nothing can stop us.”
“We have no water, Max.”
“We couldn’t drink it, anyway.”
“Why not, Max?”
“99, have you ever tried to drink while gritting your teeth, keeping your chin up, and grinning? It’s impossible.”
Through the rest of the night, they pushed on. By sunrise, they had left the camp far behind, out of sight. Gradually, the sun became hotter. Their pace slowed. Soon, they were scarcely able to drag themselves forward.
“Max. .” 99 gasped “. . couldn’t we put our burden down?”
“We can’t leave von BOOM here, 99. Not after carrying him all this distance.”
“Max. . I meant. . can’t he walk? Why do we have to carry him?”
“Oh. As a matter of fact, I was just going to suggest that.”
They lowered the sack to the sand, then Max opened it. From the blanket, Abdul Bim-Bam-Bom peered up at them.
“Talk about your mirages, 99,” Max said. “I’ll bet you can’t guess who the Professor looks like to me this morning.”
“Max! It isn’t von BOOM!” 99 wailed.
“I was afraid of that,” Max said glumly. He addressed Abdul Bim-Bam-Bom. “All right, fella, I think you owe us an explanation,” he said crossly. “What’s the idea of trying to pass yourself off as Professor von BOOM. You’ll never get away with it, you know. You don’t know a thing about rocket fuels.”
“Grgmpphblt!” Abdul replied.
“I think you better un-gag him, Max,” 99 said.
Max removed the gag.
“I’m an innocent bystander,” Abdul protested. “I was sound asleep when suddenly somebody gagged me and rolled me up in a blanket. I fought like a wildcat. I had him by the foot. But then I was hit by a truck.”
“Abdul, what were you doing in von BOOM’s tent?” 99 asked.
“That was my agent’s fee,” Abdul replied. “Instead of paying cash, he told me I could sleep one night in the Star’s tent. What a story to tell my grandchildren. Now, of course, it’s even a better story. There I was, sound asleep in the Star’s tent, when suddenly a gang of desert bandits fell upon me, gagged me, and rolled me up in a pure silk sheet stolen from the Shah’s palace. I fought like two-dozen wildcats. I had about nine of them by the leg-up to the kneecap. But then I was hit by a low-flying super-sonic jet. Well, I was stunned for a second. But I was a strong, healthy lad in those days-about six-foot-seven, enormous muscles-”
“Enough!” Max broke in.