The Mission to Find Max: Egypt (10 page)

BLAM!

The ropes immediately bounced off the protective halo and then changed direction. They were now heading back towards Jack, Max and Kate!

‘Run!' yelled Jack.

Massri laughed when he saw the three children scrambling for cover. ‘You'll never take the diadem from me!' he shouted. ‘It's my destiny to own it!'

His eyes grew cold, and he focused them on Max. He spoke – and the words sounded like they came from an ancient language. A bolt of fire darted out of the mouth of the cobra that decorated the crown.

HISS!

It blasted Max in the thigh and sent him spinning. Hurt and disoriented, he fell to the ground.

‘Max!' yelled Jack as he dived towards his brother. Max was still conscious, but barely. Quickly Jack turned to Kate. ‘Get him out of here,' he said. ‘Don't worry about me. I'll deal with Massri.'

Kate wanted to stay and help Jack, but she had no choice. Her mission was to save Max. She scooped the older boy onto the Flyboard and flew off.

Jack took his pocket knife out of his bag and waited. As the first rope reached him, he swung hard.

WHACK!

He cut it in two.

SLICE!

Jack struck yet another blow. The rope was now in four pieces. Luckily it was now too short to wrap itself around him. But the second rope was heading his way.

In the distance, Jack spied a solitary toilet block for tourists. If he could reach it, he might be able to shield himself behind the door. Jack made a break for it, but he wasn't fast enough. The second rope grabbed him by the foot and tripped him up. He fell to the ground.

In no time Jack was bound from head to toe. The rope left only two small holes over his eyes and mouth.

Massri came over, laughing.

‘Technology is no match for ancient power,' he said, then turned to his henchman. ‘Chai!' he ordered.

The next thing Jack knew, Chai was dragging him off into the desert. Through the small slit over his eyes, Jack could see a bit of where he was going. Ahead stood four makeshift tents.

Chai dragged Jack into one of the tents.

‘Thanks to you,' said Massri from behind Chai, ‘I don't have to waste my time tying you up.'

Then, laughing, the two men left.

Great
, thought Jack. This was probably the first time in GPF history that a secret agent had been nabbed by his own gadget. The other agents were going to have a laugh about this one.

Jack tried to wriggle free but, as he'd expected, the rope was too tight. He tried to get his teeth around it, but there was no way he was going to be able to eat his way out. With any luck, Max would recover from that nasty shock, then he and Kate would come to find Jack.

In the meantime Jack had time to think – and listen. Over the course of the next hour, several people came in and out of the tent.

‘How long until the President gets here?' said a man.

‘He'll be here within the hour,' replied a woman.

‘What about the secret service protecting him?' asked the man.

‘They'll be no match for what Massri has planned,' said the woman, and then they both left the tent.

Jack wasn't sure what they were talking about. But whatever it was, it wasn't good news. The woman had mentioned ‘the President'. Jack knew that there was a President in charge of Egypt.

Soon, other voices started whispering in the tent – children's voices.

‘Jack,' said one. It sounded like Max.

Jack peeked out of the small gap in the rope. Sure enough, it was his brother. He breathed a sigh of relief. Max had recovered quickly. He and Kate must have tracked him using the Agent Tracker device embedded in their Watch Phones.

‘We're going to cut you free,' said Kate.

Jack could feel rustling by his side, and soon the ropes around him relaxed. He shook his body, and they fell off.

‘Are you OK?' said Jack to his brother.

‘Yeah,' said Max. ‘Kate took care of me and revived me with some Time Release Vapors. Sorry it took so long.'

Jack noticed the backpack on Max's back.

‘We dug up your brother's Book Bag,' Kate explained. ‘We thought that three lots of gadgets would be better than two.'

‘There's a lot of commotion outside,' said Max. ‘Any idea what's going on?'

‘I heard some people talking,' said Jack. ‘The President is coming.'

‘What is Massri up to?' asked Max.

‘Let's check it out,' said Jack.

The trio sneaked out of the tent. The desert was crawling with people. There were workers setting up a podium and rolling out a red carpet in front of the Sphinx. News crews were scrambling everywhere. Snack stands were open for business. Whatever Massri was planning, it looked like it was going to be big.

‘Where's Massri?' asked Kate.

Jack opened his Book Bag and pulled out his Google Goggles. He placed them over his eyes, and switched the magnification to
ZOOM
. He scanned the desert, but there was no sign of Massri or Chai. He then switched it to X-Ray. Massri wasn't in any of the trucks or tents.

‘He's not here,' said Jack. ‘But the President's coming. He'll be here within the hour.'

‘Plenty of time for us to formulate a plan,' said Max.

Jack, Kate and Max discussed how they were going to capture Massri. By the end of the hour, they were ready.

A voice rang out from the crowd. It was an Egyptian man in a suit. He was listening to instructions from an earpiece in his right ear.

‘The President of Egypt is coming!' he said. ‘Everybody take your seats!'

Hundreds of people raced towards the stands. A black stretch limo pulled up to the red carpet. The President of Egypt stepped out of the car, with Massri and Chai walking behind. The fact that the President was standing so close to Massri complicated things.

‘We can't nab Massri without hurting the President,' said Jack.

‘Let's be patient,' said Max, ‘and see what happens next.'

Massri and the President walked up to the podium. Massri leaned towards the microphone, and the crowd began to cheer.