“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. “He’s your responsibility, isn’t he? So, you go get him.”
The KAOS agent at the controls spoke up. “If we send him out there, we’ll lose them both,” he said. “It wouldn’t look too good on our records.”
“Sidney,” the first man replied, “is that all you ever think about is your record? What do you want? You want me to go out there? You know I could get killed? Is it worth it, Sidney? A life-a human life-just so you can look good on the records? Sidney, we’ve been working together for almost ten years-a team-but sometimes I think I don’t know you at all. On the outside, you’re such a nice guy. You’re a family man. You got sufficient insurance to cover your wife’s and kids’ needs in case of an unforeseen and unfortunate accident. On top of that, you got a savings account, in which you save for a rainy day. You like animals. Many a tree you’ve climbed to rescue a pussy cat, Sidney. And who is kinder to his mother, Sidney, than you? But, inside. . I don’t know, Sidney. There are times, when I get a glimpse into your real heart of hearts, Sidney, and I wonder. What’s the answer? What are you? Who are you?”
“I’m Rodney,” the second man replied. “Sidney didn’t come with you this time. He’s on vacation.”
“That explains it,” the first man said. “Sidney would never-never in his life-ask me to step out that hatchway and risk my life.”
“I wouldn’t either,” the second man replied. “What I had in mind was for you to push that Control agent out the hatchway and hold onto him by the feet. He can grab hold of the other guy and pull him back in, and that way we won’t lose nobody. It’ll look better on the record.”
The first man beamed. “Glad to have you aboard,” he said to the second man. “That dumbhead Sidney would’ve never thought of that. He’d’ve sent me out the hatchway to my certain death.” He then turned to Max and gave him a shove.
Max tumbled backwards out the hatchway-then suddenly halted and dangled again, as the KAOS agent caught him by the ankles.
“Okay, now do like Rodney said,” the KAOS agent shouted to Max.
Max began swinging, back and forth, back and forth, gaining momentum. Finally, he was able to reach von BOOM. He got hold of him by the wrists and hung on.
“Pull us up-like Rodney said!” Max shouted.
The first man tugged. But Max and von BOOM together were too heavy for him.
“You and your big fat ideas,” the first man said disgustedly to the second man. “I can’t pull them up. And I can’t hold onto them much longer, either. Boy-if Sidney were only here!”
“Cool it, baby,” the second man replied. “I’ll fly back to the ship and land on the deck and then everybody but that Control agent can get back in and we’ll take off again.”
“Man, I’m glad I got you this time instead of Sidney,” the first man said. “You know what Sidney would have suggested?”
“What?”
“Nothing. He never had any ideas. I always had to do all the thinking for both of us. You know why Sidney has insurance and a savings account? Because I told him to. Sidney is so dumb, he couldn’t rescue a pussy cat out of a tree without directions. One thing I’ll admit, though-he’s good to his mother on his own. But what did it ever get him?”
“There’s the ship,” the second man said. “Can you hold them for another couple more minutes?”
“I can do anything,” the first man replied. “With you as my partner, I’m inspired, Rodney.”
The helicopter hovered a few feet above the deck. The first man released his hold on Max’s ankles, and Max and von BOOM dropped to the deck, then scrambled out of the way as the helicopter landed.
99 rushed up to Max and von BOOM. “You’re safe!” she cried happily.
“Not quite yet, 99,” Max said.
The KAOS agents were climbing down from the helicopter, guns in hand.
“Let’s get them, Max!” 99 said.
Max looked at her, hurt. “99, that’s my line. I say ‘Let’s get them,’ and you say, ‘With you, Max!’ Okay?”
“Sorry, Max.”
“Just don’t be a Sidney, 99.”
“A what, Max?”
“I’ll explain later. Right now-let’s get them, 99!”
Max dived at the first KAOS agent and tackled him below the knees. Surprised, the man threw up his arms to try to keep his balance, and his gun went flying. Meanwhile, the second KAOS agent had stopped to assist his comrade. His concern was an error. For, as he. started to drag Max away, 99 caught him from behind with a karate chop. Hitting the deck, the second man lost his gun, too.
Max jumped to his feet, pulled his gun, and held it on the two KAOS agents. “Well, it looks like the tables are turned,” he said crisply.