“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.”
Max and 99 sauntered on.
When they got out of sight of the gate, they left the the road and entered the underbrush. Macy and Gimbel were still where they had left them, still bound and gagged. Max and 99 released them.
“Did we pass the initiation?” Macy grinned.
“With flying colors,” Max replied. “Now, you’re free to go on to the school and take up your studies. In fact, you’re expected in The Professor’s class. He’s conducting a lecture on modern weapons systems.”
“You better hurry,” 99 said.
Macy and Gimbel darted off through the underbrush.
“A word of advice!” Max called after them. “Don’t volunteer for anything!”
But they were out of earshot.
Max and 99 returned to the road. The helicopter was hovering overhead. Max signalled to Lance Chalfont, and the helicopter began descending.
“This is certainly going to be a banner day for that sentry,” Max smiled. “Imagine! Three sets of Macys and Gimbels in one morning!”
8
As soon as Max and 99 were safely back aboard the helicopter, Max got out the fact sheet on their next destination, the KAOS Old Agents Home.
“It’s in Minnesota,” Max said to Lance Chalfont. “Can you find Minnesota?”
“Is it anywhere near Minniehaha?” he asked.
“Not far from there,” Max replied. “If you can find Minniehaha, you can find Minnesota.”
