Get Smart 7 - Max Smart - The Spy Who Went Out to the Cold by William Johnston Page A

cried.
    Desmond’s eyebrows shot up. “Jove! Did you hear that? It came from this other mummy case, didn’t it?”
    “Wouldn’t that be a bit of too much, chap—two mummies in one day?” Archie replied. “No, I rather suspect that the truth of the matter is that this one—” He indicated Max. “—is a ventriloquist.”
    “Throwing his voice?”
    “Let’s just open up this other case,” Archie said, “and I think we’ll find that it’s— Well, well, what have we here?” He smiled. “And I suppose, my dear, that you’re a Control agent, too, eh?”
    “99,” 99 nodded.
    “Looks like we’re going to have a busy day on our hands, Des,” Archie said.
    “Really? How so?”
    “Well, that first one identified himself as 86, and this one claims to be 99. Obviously, that means that these other cases contain 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98. Rather a haul, I’d say.”
    “Deuce!” Desmond grumbled. “We’ll be tied up ’way past tea time.”
    “Will you muttonheads listen!” Max said angrily. “We’re American secret agents. We were kidnapped by river pirates. They’re on their way to send a ransom telegram now. And if you two don’t get us—and yourselves—out of here, we’ll all soon be in the same kettle of fish!”
    Desmond and Archie looked at each other once more.
    “He could be telling the truth, Des,” Archie said. “Unlikely, of course, but possible.”
    “Terrible thing if we made a mistake,” Desmond nodded.
    “Very British of us, though—and therefore forgivable.”
    “I rather think I have the solution to the matter, chap,” Desmond said. “Let’s transport them back to Alexandria, shall we? There, we can show them to the authorities and get an expert opinion on their story.”
    “Brilliant—so un-British of you, Desmond. Although, we may have a bit of a time, carrying them back, cases and all, on our motorbike.”
    “Wasn’t that a houseboat we saw down by the river?” Desmond said. “Perhaps we could commandeer it.”
    “Pardon, old boy?”
    “Steal it.”
    “Now then, that’s the Desmond I know,” Archie beamed.
    The two archeologists removed Max and 99 from the cases, then unwrapped their legs so that they could walk, leaving them bound above the waist. They then picked up the cases, and the four set out for the river.
    “I say, Des, why are we bringing the cases?” Archie inquired.
    “For identification purposes, old boy. As I understand it, it’s very difficult to tell a mummy without its case.”
    “Jove! What one learns in the course of— I say! There’s the houseboat. And that must be the captain there on deck.”
    “Max!” 99 said. “It’s von BOOM!”
    “No need to shout,” Desmond said disapprovingly.
    As they neared the houseboat, Professor von BOOM called out to them. “There you are!” he said crossly. “Where’ve you been?”
    “Just over yonder in the tomb, old fellow,” Desmond replied. “Terribly decent of you to worry. I didn’t even think you saw us when we passed this way before.”
    Baffled, von BOOM looked at Max.
    “You wouldn’t believe it,” Max said glumly. “They think we’re mummies.”
    “As a matter of fact, the case is still in court,” Archie said. “The evidence seems to indicate that they’re mummies. We discovered them in these cases, swathed in tape. That certainly has a mummy ring to it. However—”
    “They’ve cooked up a bit of a story,” Desmond said, taking over. “Outlandish. Claim to have been American secret agents at a time when America hadn’t even been discovered yet. Consequently, we’re transporting them to Alexandria to have them authenticated.” He smiled broadly. “That’s why we’re commandeering your boat, old fellow.”
    “Pardon?” von BOOM said, still puzzled.
    “Stealing.”
    “Say—are you two British?”
    “Let’s the cat out of the bag every time, doesn’t it, Des,” Archie mused.
    “If you two will just listen for a minute,”