Get Smart 4 - Max Smart and the Perilous Pellets Read Online Free

is commanded by the infamous Dr. Yeh! Oh-oh!”
    “What is it, Max?”
    “Well, apparently the infamous Dr. Yeh! has been stationed in the desert too long. He thinks he’s a sheik. And he runs the KAOS science lab like a sheikdom.”
    “Sahara Desert below!” Lance Chalfont called out.
    Max and 99 looked out the window.
    “But that’s water down there,” Max said.
    Lance Chalfont frowned. “Accordin’ to my calculating that’s the Sahara Desert,” he insisted.
    “Look for yourself,” Max challenged.
    Lance Chalfont peered out his window. “That sure is wet sand, ain’t it!” he said. “A fella’d have trouble, all right, keepin’ it inside a sandbox.”
    “Let’s keep going for a while,” Max suggested. “When you see some dry sand, sing out again.” He turned back to 99. “We better think up a story,” he said. “Something logical. If we show up in the middle of the Sahara Desert claiming that we took a wrong turn in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the KAOS people are liable to be a little suspicious. Now, think, 99, what can we use for an excuse?”
    “Tell ’em you’re a couple secret agents,” Lance Chalfont said. “In the long run, honesty’s the best policy. When you lie, boy, speak right out, tell the truth. People’ll respect you for it.”
    Max ignored him. “We could claim to be camel-herders,” he said to 99. “We could say that we’ve lost our herd.”
    “Very good, Max,” 99 said. “It’s logical, at least.”
    “Then that’s it,” Max said. “We’ll—’”
    “Thar she blows!” Lance Chalfont bellowed.
    “What blows?” Max asked.
    “The sand! See it down there? Blowin’ all over the place!”
    Max and 99 looked out again. “Yes, that’s it, all right,” Max said. He reached into the black satchel, got out a map, and handed it to Lance Chalfont. “This will give you the exact latitude and longitude of the KAOS science lab,” he said.
    Lance Chalfont tossed the map back to him. “Can’t read them things,” he said. “They got lines drawed all over ’em. Every time I look for a place I want to go, it’s got a line drawed through it.”
    “Then how do you find your way?” Max asked him acidly.
    “Usually, I just stop at a fillin’ station and ask,” Lance Chalfont replied. He pointed. “There’s a fillin’ station up ahead. We’ll stop there.”
    Max raised up and looked out the front window. “That’s an oasis,” he corrected.
    “Call it anything you want,” Lance Chalfont replied. “To me, it’s a foreign fillin’ station.”
    Lance Chalfont landed the helicopter near the oasis, then got out and walked to the well, where an Arab was watering his camel. He spoke with the Arab, then returned to the helicopter.
    “What did he say?” Max asked, as the helicopter rose into the air.
    “It’s just over that next hill,” Lance Chalfont replied.
    “Dune,” Max said.
    “I’m doin’ the best I can. Don’t rattle me with all that yammerin’. Know why I’m called a silent birdman? ’Cause when I’m zeroin’ in on my destination, I want a lot of silence from you birds!”
    “Yes. Well, we’ll—”
    “There she is!” Lance Chalfont pointed.
    Max and 99 looked out the front window. They saw an enclave of cement buildings surrounded by a high cement wall.
    “Land behind one of those dunes—uh, hills—and we’ll approach the installation on foot,” Max said. “A couple camel-herders flying around in an atom-powered helicopter might be just a wee bit much. Undoubtedly, it would cast some doubt on our story.”
    “Max, you think of everything,” 99 smiled.
    “It’s the little things that count,” Max said.
    Lance Chalfont landed the helicopter behind a dune, and Max and 99 got out. “Wait here,” Max commanded.
    “Better shake a leg,” Lance Chalfont said. “I’m gonna keep the meter runnin’.” He grinned. “That’s a silent birdman joke, boy.”
    Max nodded. “Very funny.” Then he and 99 set out across the