William Johnston - Max Smart and the Perilous Pellets

Max, stunned, dropped to the floor.

“Max!” 99 cried, rushing to him.

“Can’t beat old-fashioned dependability,” The Professor cackled. To the group, he said, “Take five. Then, after recess, I’ll demonstrate the rest of these weapons. I think you’ll be particularly interested in our new white corpuscle destroying machine. It has an intriguing boxing glove attachment. Dismissed!”

The freshmen straggled out, followed by The Professor.

“Max! Wake up!” 99 pleaded, patting Max’s face.

Max stirred. “What’s the next question?” he said fuzzily.

“Are you all right, Max?”

“I don’t think I know the answer to that. Do you have an easier one?”

At that moment, Frank Sadwell returned to the room. He was carrying a pail of water. “The Professor asked me to revive him,” he explained to 99. “He wants him to be in shape for the next demonstration.”

“I’m revived,” Max said.

Frank Sadwell threw the water into his face.

“Why did you do that?” Max asked, annoyed and dripping.

“I always follow orders,” Frank Sadwell replied. “The Professor said, ‘Throw some water in his face and revive him.’ ”

“But, I told you, I was already revived.”

“That only covered the ‘revived,’ that didn’t cover the ‘water,’ ” Frank Sadwell said. “You should have said, ‘I’m already revived, and you don’t have to throw water in my face.’ How was I to know?”

“My apologies,” Max muttered.

“Outside,” Frank said to Max and 99. “The Professor wants you to get some fresh air so you’ll be in shape for the next demonstration.”

“Couldn’t we stay in here?” Max asked.

“The Professor wants-”

“I know, I know-outside.”

Max and 99 left the room, followed by Frank Sadwell. When they got outside, Frank moved on, and joined The Professor, who, a short distance away, was talking informally to a number of the freshmen.

“Max, how are we going to plant the explosive?” 99 said worriedly. “There isn’t any place out here to drop it.”

“99, I think the time has come to make a policy decision,” Max said.

“Yes, Max?”

“The question is, which is more important, planting that explosive or saving the life of Jack Sharp?”

“Who, Max?”

“Sorry. That beating mixed me up a bit. Max Smart, I meant to say.”

“I don’t think I understand, Max.”

“99, the only way we can plant that explosive is to return to the classroom. But, if we return to the classroom, The Professor will continue to use me to demonstrate the KAOS weapons. And, frankly, 99, I don’t think I’ll survive. Now, do you understand?”

“I think so, Max. But what’s the answer?”

Max threw up his arms, covering his head.

“I’m not the lie-detector, Max. I won’t hit you,” 99 said.

“Instinct,” Max explained. “From now on, whenever I hear that question, ‘What is the answer,’ I’m going to duck.”

“Then, what can we do? Is that better, Max?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t answer the question. Which is more important, 99? Planting the explosive, or my life?”

“Max, that’s easy. Your life is more important.”

“I tend to agree with you on that, 99.”

“But, on the other hand, planting the explosive is very important, too.”

“Yes, it’s a difficult decision to make.”

“It’s your life, Max.”

“That makes it easier,” Max said. “Let’s run.”

“We better not run, Max,” 99 said. “That might create suspicion. Let’s just walk.”

“99, this is my life. I say let’s run!”

“Let’s compromise, Max. Let’s trot.”

“That’s fair.”

Having reached the decision, Max and 99 trotted toward the gate.

“After we escape,” 99 said, “maybe we could drop the pellet on the school grounds from the helicopter. We might hit it, you know.”

“99, we couldn’t even hit the school grounds with two bodies,” Max said. “We tried it, remember? When we parachuted.”

“Well, we could try, Max.”

Max halted. “It’s no use,” he said. “Duty first. I can’t leave, 99, until after I’ve planted that explosive. Even if it costs me my life. We’ll have to go back.”

“Max… you’ll be in tremendous danger!”

“Yes,” Max replied grimly, “and hating every second of it.”

“But, if that’s what you want, Max…”

“Attenshun!” a voice barked.

Max and 99 found themselves facing a senior.

“Cough up,” the senior commanded.

Max turned his pockets inside-out. “You’re out of luck, fella,” he said. “Every cent I had is in the Fun already.”

“We’ll take anything of value,” the senior said. “What do you have in the black bag?”

“A change of shirts,” Max replied.

“Let’s see.”

“I don’t want to waste your time,” Max said. “If you’ve seen one change of shirts, you’ve seen them all.”

“I’ll chance it,” the senior said, taking the bag from Max and opening it. He frowned. “These aren’t shirts.”

“I must have picked up the wrong black satchel when I left home,” Max said.

The senior took out the packet of explosives. “What are these green gumdrops?” he said. “I’ve never seen green gumdrops shaped like this before. They look like peas.”

“It’s a new gimmick to keep children from eating gumdrops,” Max replied. “They think they’re peas and won’t touch them.”

“I’ll take a handful,” the senior smiled, taking a handful. “I’ll put them in the Senior Fun. With these gumdrops on hand, we won’t need money. That’s what we spend the money on, anyway, when we go into town-gumdrops.” He dropped the remaining pellets back into the bag. “I’ll stop you later and get the rest of them,” he said. “I don’t like to be greedy all at once.”

“The world could use more seniors like you,” Max said.

“Dismissed!” the senior barked. And he strolled away.

“All right, 99,” Max said. “Back to the classroom.”

“Max! No! We don’t have to now!”

“I’m afraid we do, 99. The decision has been made.”

“But, Max,” 99 said, tugging at him. “The explosive has been planted. Our mission has been completed!”

“Pardon, 99?”

“Those pellets, Max! That senior will put them in the Senior Fun. They’re planted!”

Max frowned thoughtfully. “It seems too easy.”

“But it’s true, Max. Now we can escape. You don’t have to sacrifice your life.”

Max looked a little disappointed. “I was getting used to the idea,” he said. “I thought I might even get a medal.” He shrugged. “Ah, well, easy come, easy go. Let’s go, 99.”

Once more, Max and 99 trotted toward the gate. A few moments later, reaching it, they were stopped by the sentry.

“Identification,” he ordered.

Max and 99 produced the identification papers they had taken from the real students.

“Now there’s a coincidence for you,” the sentry said. “Macy and Gimbel. It was only about an hour ago that another pair with those names came in here. And now, here you two are, leaving. It’s a small world.”

“I’ll bet a lot of interesting things happen to you, out here on guard duty,” Max said.

“Would you believe it?” the guard replied. “Just this morning, I saw two people jump out of a helicopter.”

“That’s a lit-tle hard to believe,” Max smiled.

“Suppose I told you they were wearing parachutes?”

“A bit far-fetched,” Max replied.

“And thumbing through a sheaf of papers on the way down?”

“You’re pulling my leg,” Max said.

“You’re too sharp for me,” the sentry grinned. “But you’d be surprised at the number of people who would believe a story like that.” He saluted. “Have a fun time in town,” he said. “Don’t eat too many gumdrops.”