It was late evening when the special plane landed Max, 99 and V. T. Brattleboro on the West Coast. As the Chief had promised, a helicopter was waiting. They boarded it and it immediately took off, headed for the island.
“You’ll find some survival kits there by your seats,” the helicopter pilot told them. “The kits contain everything you’ll need to survive in the jungle-theoretically, at least. Personally, if I were going to be dropped in a jungle, I’d rather have a good fast getaway car.”
“Couldn’t you drop us somewhere near the castle?” Max suggested.
“My orders are to drop you as far away from the castle as possible,” the pilot replied. “I said to them, ‘But they’ll never survive-they’ll be eaten alive by savage jungle animals, or they’ll succumb to thirst or hunger or the unbearable heat.’ But they had an answer for that.”
“What was it?” 99 inquired.
“They said I tend to exaggerate.”
“How far is it to the island?” Max said.
“About a thousand feet-straight down,” the pilot replied. “We’re over it now.”
Max looked out the window. “I don’t see a thing.”
“It’s one of those old-fashioned unlighted jungles,” the pilot explained.
A few moments later, the helicopter settled down in a small clearing. The pilot switched off the engine, then Max, 99 and V. T. Brattleboro jumped down to the ground, carrying their survival kits.
“That’s amazing,” Max said to the pilot. “You found this tiny clearing in total darkness! How did you do it?”
“I have the eyes of a cat,” the pilot replied. “I can see for miles in absolute blackness. Once, for instance, standing in Los Angeles, in the middle of the night, I looked east and saw that the beacon on the Empire State Building in New York was out.”
“Fantastic!” Max said.
“At least, I guess it was out. I couldn’t see it, anyway.”
The pilot started the engine. “Good luck with those survival kits!” he called. “Boy, you’ll sure need it!”
The helicopter rose, then disappeared into the night.
Max looked around. “I wonder where we are on the island?” he said. He squinted. “All I can see is what looks like the shapes of a bunch of palm trees.”
“I hear something,” 99 said.
“Yes-so do I. It sounds like. . gurgle, gurgle, gurgle. There must be a stream somewhere nearby. Either that, or-Brattleboro? Are you, by any chance, strangling?”
There was no reply.
“Brattleboro!” Max called.
Again, no answer.
“99, where is Brattleboro?” Max asked.
“I don’t know, Max. The last time I saw him was when we jumped down from the plane. He must be-Max, his survival kit is missing too! I think he’s deserted us.”
“99, that’s ridiculous. We’re working together. He probably just-”
A shot rang out! A bullet zinged past Max’s ear!
“Down!” Max shouted, flattening himself against the ground.
“He’s trying to kill us!” 99 cried.
“Wouldn’t you know it? Once a KAOS man, always a KAOS man!”
Another shot rang out. A bullet hit near them.
“Shoot back, Max!”
“At what, 99? I don’t have the eyes of a cat.” He raised himself on his elbows, peering into the pitch blackness. “Although, I
“The survival kit, Max-maybe it has a flashlight.”
Max zipped open his kit. “Yes, I think. . You’re right, 99. Here’s a flashlight.”
“Shield the light, Max. Don’t let Brattleboro see it.”
Max switched on the light, but kept a hand cupped around the beam. “Let’s see, now, what I can find in this kit,” he said. “It seems to contain a number of tiny capsules. Here’s a capsule of scrambled eggs. . good. . and a capsule of parsley. .
“How will that help, Max?”
“Well, it would be pointless to fire into the darkness with a pistol, when I can’t see Brattleboro. But with a machine gun I can spray the whole area with bullets and perhaps, if luck is with me, hit him by sheer accident.”
“I suppose it’s worth a try,” 99 said.
Max broke open the capsule and a full-size machine gun popped out. Gripping it tautly, he jumped to his feet. “This is it, Brattleboro!” he shouted. He began firing, turning slowly in a circle. Bullets tore into the trees and underbrush. And the trees, sliced away at the base, began falling.
“Max! Watch out! That tree!”
He dived out of the way just in time. Then, leaping to his feet again, he began firing once more. To the right, the trees fell! To the left, the trees fell!
“Max! Stop!” 99 cried. “You’ll get us killed.”
He lowered the machine gun. “99, you don’t seem to understand. I’m trying to get Brattleboro, not us.”
“But, Max, you’ve leveled all the trees already!”
Max looked around. “I guess I have, haven’t I? Well, that takes care of the man from KAOS.”
“How can you be sure, Max?”
“99, remember when we first met Brattleboro? He was posing as a painting. This time, unless I miss my guess, he was posing as a tree. And, as you just pointed out, all the trees are now lying flat on the ground. We’re safe!”
“Max. .” 99 said, looking worried. “Remember that gurgle, gurgle, gurgle? Listen-”
Max cocked an ear. “Yes, I see what you mean. It’s become a sort of brogum, brogum, brogum-and much louder.”
“Flash the light over in that direction, Max.”
He aimed the beam of the flashlight at the spot that 99 had indicated. They saw that a number of the trees had fallen across a stream.
“Max-the stream is dammed.”
“99! Watch your language, please!”
“No, Max, I mean the trees are stopping the water from flowing along the stream bed. That could be dangerous. It could cause a flood. If the dam breaks, all that water that’s building up behind the trees could-”
“99,” Max interrupted, “I think you have a tendency to exaggerate. Forget about the stream. Our problem now is to find that castle.”
“But, Max, listen-Now, the stream is going hargaber, hargaber, hargaber! I’m afraid the-”
“Forget it, 99! That’s an order!” He picked up the survival kit. “Do you suppose they included a map of the island in here? It would certainly be a help.”
“Max! Those tree trunks-they’re going skreek, skreek, skreek!”
“I think that’s what I’d do too, 99, if I were holding back a stream that was going hargaber, hargaber, hargaber.” He took a capsule from the kit. “Ah. . this is interesting, a capsule of paddles for a collapsible boat. I wonder if-”
“Max!” 99 said, shuddering, “Those tree trunks are going gramf, gramf, gramf!”
“Probably a speech impediment,” Max replied. “Yes, here it is,” he said, taking another capsule from the kit. “A capsule for-”
“Max! The dam is breaking!”
He looked up. The tree trunks had splintered, and a great wall of water was rushing toward them.
“Talk about the nick of time,” Max said. “I just found a capsule of collapsible boat to go with that capsule of
