I should have brought the human with me, he told himself. So many mistakes made in the name of science. There’s nothing to be done about the past, however. The starbird worked, and nothing would bring the human back.
With a little luck, he thought, it will fly again, too.
“Now you just need to get it to Ape City, Doctor,” Zira said.
“That is my assertion, as well, Doctor.” Milo nodded.
Cornelius raised a brow. “How do you propose to do so, Dr. Milo? The horses would never survive the strain of pulling—”
“My good doctors,” he said calmly, with a hint of a smile, “why pull when we can fly?”
“You aren’t serious,” Cornelius said, his eyes wide.
“Hmph,” Milo responded, “am I not?” He gestured to the desert before them, which had been so meticulously cleared of rocks and debris. “It’s a pathway for the starbird,” he affirmed. “Given enough speed and momentum, this vessel will soar into the sky.” Then he looked down, and his shoulders slumped. “If we can just determine the command sequence.”
“The, uh, command sequence.” Cornelius’s nose twitched. “I am unfamiliar with that.”
“It’s like a lock on a door.” Milo attempted to pull an engine throttle. While it moved freely, it seemed to serve no purpose other than to activate a flashing red light on the console, demanding that the command sequence be engaged. A dull alert chime accompanied it. “It’s to prevent someone without authorization from attempting to fly this machine.”
“What kind of sequence?” Zira asked. “Numbers? Letters?”
As the lever continued to ignore him, Milo sighed. “It would be a series of control switches flipped in a particular order. It is something the crew themselves would have memorized, and something that is apparently unique to each vessel.” As he spoke, Zira surveyed the cabin as if she recognized something.
“The book that contained the sequence for this craft was…” Milo floundered. “…uh, missing.”
Let me see if I can’t help you with that, Doctor,” Zira said, and her eyes flashed with excitement. Rummaging through her carpet bag, she unearthed the notes she had taken, describing Landon’s post-surgery behavior. Studying them, she made her way to the beds located near the back of the cabin.
“Which one of these was Landon’s?” she asked.
“Ah, he was their navigator, so…” Milo thought about it before indicating top and to the right. “This one.”
Now she understood why Landon hopped every time he got off and on the examination table—his bed was elevated. Zira lay in Landon’s tube, then dropped to the floor and retraced the steps the astronaut had taken in the wine cellar. She took fifteen paces over to the stations to flick switches and turn knobs, just as Landon had plucked and grabbed at the air.
When she did, the flashing red light on the command station showed a steady green. An intrigued Milo reached forward and pulled the engine lever that had previously done nothing. This time, there was an audible click. The cabin’s cacophony ended as the cockpit hummed and purred. Her husband shook his head. Milo’s eyes danced.
“You were right, Cornelius.” Zira wrinkled her nose in delight. “Landon was trying to get home.”
Barely able to contain his enthusiasm, Milo motioned toward her notes.
“Doctor Zira, if I may?” She nodded and handed Milo her notepad. As his eyes greedily consumed what lay there, she continued.
“I can only assume the rest will get this contraption in the air,” she exclaimed.
“Yes,” Milo said, though she wasn’t certain he had heard her. “And perhaps more. The entire progression begins and ends with him going to sleep,” he noted. “Doctor Zira, I—” Milo began, but he seemed at a loss for words.
“Thank Landon, not me,” she insisted. “And your cousin Liet, for liberating him.” She looked across the cabin at her doubting husband before adding, “And thank Cornelius, too.”
“Me? What did I do?” Cornelius was confused. “I handed you a measuring stick. You were the one who wrote all that down.”
“I recorded Landon’s movements, but it was your remark—about Landon trying to fly away—that made me do it in the first place.”
“Then, well done, Doctors,” Milo said earnestly. Cornelius nodded, and Zira smiled. “Now, about Ape City…” He stood and paced the cabin. “Dr. Lykos will be my co-pilot.” He leaned back against the control dashboard, a smile creeping across his face. “But Seraph has declined to fly. There is room for two more, if you would like to accompany me.”
“Ah, no.” Cornelius chuckled nervously. “No, thank you.”
“Cornelius!”
“No, thank you, Zira!” he exclaimed. “First of all, we have no idea what this death trap will do.” He gestured widely. “It might explode before it even makes it down the pathway!” Embarrassed, he turned to Milo. “No offense intended, Dr. Milo.”
Milo nodded in kind. “None taken, Dr. Cornelius.” Looking relieved that he had not perturbed his colleague, Cornelius continued.
“Secondly, we just escaped from Ape City. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to go back to the place where you, my dear, have a warrant for your arrest.” He looked his wife once over. “A death warrant, I might add!”
* * *
Milo was becoming exasperated. They were always bickering.
Why would anyone want to be around someone who always argues with you? he mused. I’ll never understand love, and will be the better for it.
Abruptly, he realized the cabin had gone quiet. Both husband and wife were looking to him for comment.
Blast.
“All valid points, of course.” He indicated to Zira, “But please, I believe a rebuttal is in order.”
“Cornelius, don’t you see?” she fretted. “This ‘starbird’ changes everything! It’s the proof that man came first. I say we fly it over the gorilla army in the desert, and then land it smack in the center of Simian Square. Let’s give the Citizens’ Council something to really get up in arms about!” As she spoke, she was gaining steam. “Ursus and Sabian’s government wouldn’t last long, then.”
Cornelius crossed his arms.
“I won’t.”
Zira scoffed.
“And no, Zira, you will not either.”
“Excuse me?”
“You are my wife.” He leaned in to whisper to her, though Milo could hear quite clearly. “And we have other considerations to think about.” His eyes dropped to her belly. His point made, Cornelius shook his head. “I am putting my foot down. We carry on past the Forbidden Zone. Find the jungle Dr. Zaius believes exists on the other side.” He sounded wishful now. “We’ll find Taylor and Nova, and Brent, and start again.”
Zira boiled over. “You… you—”
Milo interrupted. “Excuse me, Doctors, but we might have something more pertinent to worry about.” Outside the starboard viewport, a gorilla troop on horseback emerged from the valley, riding hard toward them.
“I believe you were followed.”
* * *
“In the name of Reverend Minister Sabian, High Patriarch and Pontifex Rex,” Chief Cerek proclaimed, “I have come seeking the chimpanzee fugitives Zira and Cornelius.”
“They aren’t here,” Seraph offered. “They aren’t part of our expedition; we have been here for weeks—”
“Stop,” Sub-Chief Xirinius cut her off. He stared past the chimpanzee female, at the large metal object. “What is this thing?”
“It is an artifact we discovered,” she answered. “A remnant of an ancient culture.”
To Cerek, that sounded dangerous—like something Sabian wouldn’t want to have dug up.
“What is that sound?” Xirinius scratched at his ears. “Like a humming in the air.”
* * *
Inside, Cornelius and Zira crept low.
“I should go out there—” Milo started.
“Forgive me, Dr. Milo,” Cornelius interrupted
, “but I think it might be best to not draw attention to the fact that there are apes within this monstrosity, lest they decide to look inside for me and my wife”—he indicated the ship’s lit-up control panels—“or take a truncheon to the very pretty and very delicate machinery you’ve just gotten running.”
Milo hesitated and then nodded. “Most prudent of you, Dr. Cornelius.” He looked down at the space suit he wore and had an idea. It wouldn’t protect the ship’s controls, but it just might protect his friends. Milo moved to the storage lockers in the chamber beyond the sleep capsules.
“Here.” He passed them two of the remaining space suits. “Change your clothes. Put these on.” As the startled couple stood and stared, Milo tossed each of them a helmet. “Put these on and close the face shield.” He picked up his own helmet and slid the dark faceplate down. “Like so.” He lifted it back up, and continued.
“If the gorillas come aboard,” Milo said, “hide in the storage locker in the back. If they even make it back there, with a little luck they will think we are just strange suits standing in a closet.”
The costumes were bulky enough that it just might work. Cornelius looked at Zira. “It’s better than nothing,” he offered. Zira huffed and started taking off her clothes. As Cornelius began to unhook his own tunic, he noticed his chimpanzee friend was absentmindedly watching them. “Ah, Doctor, if you don’t mind.”
Milo felt the heat of his blush.
“Of course, Doctor.” He turned his attention back to the scene unfolding outside. “But do hurry, if you please.”
* * *
Cerek wanted answers. “Why are you here in the Forbidden Zone?”
“Archeological dig.” Seraph stepped forward and produced a small scroll. “We have a permit, signed by Dr. Zaius himself.”
Cerek looked it over. Something wasn’t quite right.
“This is not Zaius’s signature,” he said. “Whatever you are doing, I order you to stop.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Lykos said. “This is important to all of apekind. We must not stop.”
Xirinius shoved Seraph out of the way and spat in Lykos’s face.
“Then we will stop it for you!”
Cerek had also had enough of upstart chimpanzees. “Take it apart!” the chief called to his gorillas. “Rip out its innards, smash the machines! Wreck it all!” Cerek urged his horse forward, but Lykos stood his ground.
“Stop!” the elder chimp commanded. He stepped in front of Cerek and his riders. “Stop in the name of sci—”
His words were cut short by trampling hooves. Cerek hadn’t pulled back on his reins in time.
With a gasp of terror, Seraph rushed to Lykos’s side.
“Is he…?” Cerek murmured.
Seraph lay the elder chimpanzee’s head down gently and stood tall.
“He is dead.”
Dr. Pinchus picked up a rifle and aimed it at Cerek.
“Stop this, now,” he ordered. “Haven’t you done enough?”
Xirinius slid his pistol from his holster and fired. Pinchus let loose one shot before clutching his chest and doubling over. Cerek’s horse took the bullet in the shoulder and threw him from his saddle. The rest of the gorillas acted on instinct and fired into the chimpanzee crowd.
“Wait!” His leg broken, Cerek tried to be heard from the ground. “Cease fire!”
Ape shall not kill ape, he thought furiously. What have I done?
As the gorillas assaulted the chimpanzees, Seraph ran for Liberty 1.
* * *
Inside the cabin, Cornelius and Zira had just finished putting the suits on. While Milo watched, all hell broke loose outside. After Cerek’s horse ran over Lykos, there was shooting and mass chaos. Seraph ran toward them, heading for the external booster control.
Looking up at Milo, she smiled before pulling the lever.
“What is she doing?” Zira asked.
“Seraph,” Milo yelled. “Don’t—”
Liberty 1’s thrusters ignited. Thrown across the cabin, Milo struggled to regain his balance and seat himself in the vacant command chair. Within an instant they were racing down the runway. If he didn’t punch in the proper lift sequence from Zira’s notes, the craft would simply run out of clean ground and slam into the desert.
“Strap yourselves in,” he shouted, “and get those helmets on!” Milo entered the code and reached for the control stick. It was time to apply some lift.
As they neared the end of the runway, Milo felt her nose rise into the wind.
Liftoff.
And then, they were arcing through the air.
CHAPTER 32
ESCAPE
Taylor had been shot. It was a chest wound, and from what Brent could tell, it was bad. After all he had gone through, his mission was going to be a failure.
Filled with rage, Brent’s aim was true.
The bullet pierced a weak spot in Ursus’s armor, right between two of the ceramic plates. The shot hit the general in the shoulder and proceeded downward, piercing his heart. Clutching at his back, Ursus plummeted off the pulpit and landed face-first on the floor below.
* * *
Aurelios sprang into action, Jaffe close behind.
First the human cut down Ursus, then Dangral. As the beast continued to fire at the unorganized gorillas, the lieutenant tried to assemble a squad to take him out. At the same time, Jaffe traded his rifle for a discarded submachine gun, took aim on Brent, and fired.
Nothing happened.
Unfamiliar with the weapon, the boy struggled to find the safety.
* * *
Brent knew how to use a rifle. He was a better shot than Taylor, too—but as Ursus fell, the gorilla army was on him.
Nevertheless, the astronaut was in a frenzy now, taking out an ape with each shot. As gorilla soldiers fell to his left and his right, he felt the rifle click with no report.
Can’t be out of ammo, he panicked, that wasn’t a full clip.
He looked closely, and found a single shell bent in the chamber. He had to eject it—and quickly. But the momentary distraction was all the apes needed to organize. Regrouped, they emptied their automated weapons into him. The force of the assault threw Brent back against the wall.
One of the bullets struck him in the head.
Thank God.
The nightmare was over.
Not that any of it had been real.
It’s hibernation psychosis. I’m still in cryo-sleep aboard the Liberty 2.
Brent’s vision went dark as he slid wetly down the wall.
Now, I can wake up.
* * *
In space, Liberty 2’s stardrive waited. Half asleep, she drifted lazily in orbit, firing the occasional reaction control thruster to correct her course and keep her from spiraling down to the planet below.
Then another craft approached. Liberty 1. Secondary protocols took effect—automatic rescue parameters. As Liberty 1 sailed toward a group of dwellings on the surface of the planet, the stardrive reached out to her. Override codes took effect—codes known only to the mission commanders and the ANSA team back on Earth.
Without those codes, Liberty 1 would be hijacked by the stardrive, mated, and sent back home, regardless of the condition of the crew. The inherent goal was to save their lives.
* * *
Milo felt the controls seize. Panicked, he looked at the reading on the control boards.
“What’s wrong with the starbird?” Zira said, fear edging her voice. But it wasn’t a malfunction.
“I’ve lost control of the craft. It”—Milo blinked, twice—“it’s flying itself.”
Curving up and away from Ape City, leaving behind it a loud BOOM, Liberty 1 pushed its way toward the stars. Before long the blue of the sky spilled past the viewports to expose a dark canvas peppered by a splatter of white sparkles. One of those glints of light grew larger by the second.
It’s not a star, it’s much too close, and, Milo calculated, it’s moving. As if it had notice
d their approach, the object was swinging around to greet them. To intercept them. It began to expand, like a frilled lizard making a threatening display to mark its territory.
What have I gotten us into?
Small thrusters appeared in the winglets on either side of Liberty 1’s cockpit. They pivoted and fired, slowing the starbird and changing her course. She somersaulted with grace as she spun around to face the planet. The chimpanzee scientists were too rapt to give in to fear. From what they could tell, she was backing slowly toward the front of the fanned ship.
“Hold on to something!” Cornelius shouted.
KLANG!
Liberty 1 struck the other ship, but not fast enough to cause any damage. The sound reverberated through the hull, and formed a hypothesis in Milo’s mind. The frill had not been an indication of a threat. Instead, it was more like the fanning feathers of a gigantic bird. It had been a mating display, and the courtship was over.
“I believe we have become attached to another ship.” He squinted his eyes, nodding approval at his own diagnosis. “An engine, if you will—like the damaged one we found in Dead Lake.”
“Brent!” Zira exclaimed, and he agreed entirely. It must have been part of Brent’s starcraft—one that had been left in the sky. Somehow it had been waiting for them, and now it was entirely in control. New boards of indicator lights leapt to life before them. The engine alive, powering itself up—but for what?
Where could it take them?
A planet of… humans?
* * *
“Tay-Lor!” Mungwortt had watched with horror as the general shot his friend. Wounded as he was, however, the man pulled himself up like some kind of living dead, clutching his bleeding chest.
The hybrid looked down at his own wounded arm—the one Tay-Lor had wrapped for him in the park.
If I can get to him in time, he rationalized, I can bandage him up like he did me! The human would be good as new.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, the other human shot the general, and all hell broke loose. Gunshots rang out everywhere, and they gave Mungwortt his chance. As gorillas ran amuck, he weaved his way through the pews. He saw Tay-Lor, arguing with Dr. Zaius—the orangutan who had exiled him and Zao in the first place.
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