by Titan Books
Burke wondered how Galen felt now. Did he hope that Virdon somehow might be able to convince Zaius and Urko that humans presented no threat to the apes’ way of life? Did Galen hope that the apes would welcome Galen back to his old life? None of that seemed at all possible; for one thing, Virdon and Burke wanted nothing more than the liberation of the human population, who were exploited as cheap labor by the overlord apes. Galen knew that; but Galen also understood that Virdon could never convince the ape leaders that ape and man could co-exist peacefully. There were too many shattered cities, too many examples of man’s innate destructiveness, to lull the apes’ suspicions. And, Burke thought, perhaps they were right. “We’ll scrounge around for the stuff to make a battery,” said Burke, avoiding the deeper questions, concentrating on the here and now problems that needed solving.
“I don’t care about batteries!” shouted Galen. He picked up a shard of concrete and threw it against the wall in frustration. “I don’t care about the knowledge you keep talking about. I care about what’s happened to Alan!”
Burke was genuinely moved by this expression of a concern which, of course, he shared. He put his hand on Galen’s shoulder and spoke gently, trying to reassure the young, still-immature chimpanzee. “I know,” said Burke softly. “You’ve got company.”
“Then let’s do something,” said Galen.
Burke looked around himself for a moment, thinking. “We’ve got about an hour to go. We’ll use it looking for him. Is that all right with you? But if we come up empty— well, let’s not get into that. Come on, let’s get a move on.” Burke steadied Galen’s arm as the chimpanzee climbed over a large chunk of stone. Together they went out into the cool air of the morning. The ancient, dead silence of the city struck at them almost like a physical thing.
* * *
Not far away, down a few streets and across town about three quarters of a mile, in the headquarters of the gorilla garrison, the answers to Burke and Galen’s unspoken questions were being formed. Zaius had seated himself, while Urko studied the map on the wall. The door opened, a hanging of cloth that one of the gorillas had placed across the open entry at Urko’s order. Virdon stepped through, followed closely by the Sergeant and the Captain of the gorilla guards, each with hand guns drawn. Virdon limped, a fact that was not lost to Urko’s keen, observing mind. Urko walked over to confront Virdon.
It was obvious that Urko was enjoying himself. He had been hunting Virdon, Burke, and Galen for a long time. They had not met often in that time. “Virdon,” said Urko, drawing out the name with relish. “Good to see you again. You should be very flattered. We dropped everything and rushed here as soon as we heard that you were sighted.”
“Captured,” said Virdon flatly.
“Detained,” said Urko, raising his eyebrows.
“Captured,” said Virdon.
“Certainly,” said Urko, laughing softly. “If you insist.” Urko waited for Virdon to say something more, but there was only a tense silence in the room for a moment. “Let’s not waste time, then, fencing with words, eh?” said the gorilla-general. “Where are the renegade ape and your friend, Burke?”
Urko waited for another moment, but Virdon still didn’t answer. Urko, seeing that Virdon was still favoring his injured leg, took a step forward. Then, without warning, the gorilla kicked out at the injured leg. Virdon crashed painfully to the floor.
Urko studied the writhing human for a few seconds. Zaius, shocked by Urko’s brutality, started toward Virdon, but stopped at Urko’s curt gesture. Urko turned to the Captain and the Sergeant. “Help him up,” he said.
Zaius stood off to one side, watching, still disapproving, while the Captain and the Sergeant quickly moved forward, dragging Virdon up to his feet again. He collapsed between them, and the two apes had to hold the astronaut upright.
Urko stepped very close to Virdon. They stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment. There was nothing but pure hatred in the expression of either. “Now, simply, honestly,” said Urko, “tell me where they are.”
“I don’t know,” said Virdon. “That very well could be the truth.”
“But it isn’t,” said Urko. “It never has been. You must have made contingency plans when you split up.”
“Ah,” said Virdon with a wry smile, “I knew we forgot something.”
The Sergeant slapped Virdon for the man’s insolence, as the gorilla guard had slapped Kraik the day before. Urko reacted with anger. He turned to the Sergeant. “Never do that again,” he said, growling. “Never. This is not just a human being. He is an astronaut.” Urko shook his head. “Whatever that is,” he muttered.
Urko was determined to learn the information he knew
Virdon was concealing. “Where are they?” he shouted.
“I just told, you,” said Virdon helplessly. “I don’t know. Or would you rather that I made up some place, instead?”
Urko cut his answer off with a sharp gesture. “Where are they?” he said, his voice quiet but hard in tone.
“You know,” said Virdon wistfully, “after being on this Earth for I don’t know how many millions of years, this situation always goes on exactly like this. You ask me. I deny everything. You get mad. I get tortured. Either you get the information, or you don’t. Or you get it and don’t believe it. You’d think there would be something new, here. You’d think someone would solve the dilemma after all this time.”
Urko stared at Virdon, saying nothing. An idea was forming. Something new. Just what Virdon wanted. Something new.
* * *
The city looked just as it had for the last two thousand years. Oh, every few months, some worn-out facade crumbled a bit more, tumbling down a crashing weight of stone and brick to the sidewalks and streets below. But these minor tragedies meant nothing. The city itself did not change. It was a skeleton, and its dead bones would remain throughout eternity as a grim reminder.
Burke and Galen walked the streets of the city silently. It was difficult to believe that this place had been such a vibrant, exciting center of human life. Its present condition seemed more like a stage setting rather than real life. But the overpowering drama and sweep, the vast scale of the disaster, at last convinced Burke. He shook his head. “A needle in a haystack,” he said.
Galen glanced at his companion, puzzled. “Hm?” he asked. No matter how long they kept together, the humans always managed to drop in phrases from their past, idioms which Galen could not puzzle out.
“Nothing, nothing,” said Burke apologetically. “It was just an old expression. It means something like—” He broke off suddenly seeing movement among the low hills of rubble about them.
A human scavenger came out of a building, evidently unaware of Galen and Burke’s presence. The man walked innocently into the street, then stopped and froze in his tracks, staring at the astronaut and the chimpanzee in stunned surprise.
“Wait,” cried Burke. This might be the opportunity they were seeking, to find clues to Virdon’s disappearance. “We’re looking for someone—”
The human suddenly turned and darted into the nearby ruins, disappearing from sight; he left Burke and Galen standing there helplessly. “My own people,” said Burke disconsolately. “Human beings. If you can call them that.”
“Have they changed so much from the old times?” asked Galen innocently.
Burke stared at him for a moment. “I don’t want to answer that,” he said. He looked around him, at the ruined buildings, at the timid, rarely spotted human denizens of the forbidden city. “In a haystack,” he said helplessly.
* * *
The center of the gorilla garrison in the city had been taken over by Urko, Zaius, and their small entourage. The Captain, who had always been in charge, felt a little disgruntled about the brusque way Urko had demanded and received every attention from the soldiers. After all, the Captain told himself, didn’t this go against everything that Urko had written himself, concerning military conduct? But the one thing that the Captain wa
s sure of was that he couldn’t very well say anything.
Urko was planning a massive search of all the ruins in the extensive city, a search on a scale never before heard-of. The Captain had his doubts, and the Sergeant was exasperated—he knew who would have to do all of the leg-work—but neither gorilla said anything.
Urko gestured, and the two subordinate officers left the office. Urko and Zaius were alone, eating a meal. At least, Urko was eating. Zaius’ food was untouched on the plate in front of him. He was deep in thought. Urko never noticed. Urko always ate with great appetite.
The meal progressed a little while longer, until Urko, too, had a thought. He jumped to his feet and shouted. “Captain!” he called. The Captain came into the small office from the hallway outside.
“Yes, sir,” he said.
“Bring the prisoner back when I’ve finished eating.”
“Yes, sir.” The Captain turned and moved back to the hallway through the cloth hanging.
Urko gave no further thought to his plan. He went back to finishing his meal as quickly and efficiently as possible, taking not the least pleasure in doing it. In fact, if Urko could find a way of eliminating meals altogether, it would please him to save the time. Zaius watched him, thoughtfully.
“Look, Dr. Zaius,” said Urko, “why don’t you eat? You complained just a while before that you were hungry and tired. You need to eat. We’ll be going to work soon. I’m starved.”
Zaius waved away all of Urko’s suggestions. “Are you planning to beat the prisoner again?” he asked quietly.
Urko never slowed the progression of food from his plate to his mouth. The idea of beating Virdon didn’t strike him as unpleasant. “If necessary,” he said simply, and quickly, in order to spoon in some more food before he was required to say more.
“You’ll kill him.”
“If necessary.”
Zaius pushed his chair back from the table and sighed. Urko’s methods were unarguable. He had no authority over Urko. Urko had no authority over Zaius. Technically, the President and Chief Minister of the Supreme Council could direct the actions of Urko and his men—but he could just try it some time! “If you kill him,” said Zaius, “it would be too bad.”
Urko paused, a spoonful of his food held between plate and lips. “You’re mourning for a human?” he asked, in horror.
“No,” said Zaius cryptically, “I mourn for Urko.”
Urko put his utensils down and listened to what Zaius was saying.
“I mourn for you and the strong influence you have— you had—built up in the Supreme Council.”
Urko laughed. He stood from his place at the table and began pacing the room, slapping a glove into his palm. “I’m not worried,” he said. “My influence will go on growing stronger.”
“Whenever you begin pacing like that,” said Zaius, “it shows that you are nervous. You should know yourself better. But, anyway, your influence, such as it is, cannot be increased by killing humans. We’re not concerned merely with the death of this prisoner. We must be more farsighted than that. We must consider the reactions to our deeds. We must make permanently sure that his dangerous ideas do not infect the domesticated humans. To this end, I believe we—”
Urko made a loud, raucous laugh. He had found nothing funny in what Zaius was saying, but the laugh served its purpose. It silenced Zaius for the moment. “I will make certain,” said Urko, in his overriding manner. “Ideas die with the man.”
Zaius shook his head doubtfully. “I sometimes wonder,” he said. “If you kill a man, his followers make a martyr out of him. Then the problem is many times worse. In any case, eliminating Virdon is useless, if his companions are free to spread the poison. Urko, your prisoner—alive—is the surest way of capturing the other two.” Urko was about to explode, but he controlled his anger. He stared at Zaius for a beat. “Why do I always have to take military advice from you?” he asked.
“Because sometimes your eyes are blind to your best interests,” said Zaius simply.
“Or are they blind to your best interests?”
Zaius shrugged. “They could be the same thing.”
“And now I see that the wise Zaius has his own plan for getting the information from the prisoner.”
“I have been thinking about it,” said Zaius quietly.
“And so have I. We will not kill the prisoner. We will do something else, instead.”
“I am glad of that,” said Zaius. “You are using your mind.”
Urko paid no attention. A grim smile formed on his lips. “We will try… something new.”
* * *
In the city streets, Galen and Burke continued to move up a street, still searching for any sign of Virdon. The people they met at rare intervals, without exception, refused to speak to them.
Their position was almost hopeless, and they knew it. But they would not stop.
In Urko’s commandeered headquarters, Urko and Zaius were present as the Captain entered with the blonde woman who was captured along with Virdon. Arn was plainly terrified. She did not expect to live much longer.
The Captain threw her roughly into the room. She fell against the table, hurting one of her legs, but she did not cry out. Zaius went across the room to help her up.
“She was Tomar’s woman,” said the Captain scornfully. “He was a rebel. He isn’t a rebel any longer. He is dead.” Arn winced, but she wouldn’t let these, apes have the benefit of seeing her cry.
“All right,” said Zaius, “Urko, if you have some kind of new technique, let’s get on with it. So far, all I’ve seen are examples of the old technique, and I know those sickeningly well.”
Urko stared at Arn judiciously. “When you capture a rebel it’s probably better to kill his whole family,” he said blandly. “Those around him are usually infected.”
Arn was amazed by the ferocity of Urko’s words. “Please,” she begged, weeping, “I didn’t mean to do anything wrong—”
The Captain of the gorilla guards caught up on Urko’s technique. They would be rough on the woman for a while. He went over and forced Arn to stand upright. “Quiet!” he said.
“In this case,” said Zaius, “it’s as well you didn’t kill her. She will serve a better purpose.”
Arn had no idea of the conflict that the two ape leaders were engaged in. “What are you going to do with me?” The Captain took her roughly by the arm again.
“Come along,” said the Captain viciously.
After Arn had been disposed of according to the agreement reached between Zaius and Urko, the Captain and his guards silently stalked through the same streets where they had last seen the boy, Kraik.
Kraik was hidden behind the rubble pile, scared now as he realized that someone was moving nearer to him on the street. He listened hard for another moment, then turned and ran off in the opposite direction.
As the poor boy turned to run, he careened right into the arms of a waiting gorilla who’d been stationed there some time earlier by the Captain. The gorilla grinned and picked up Kraik. The boy struggled, kicking and thrashing and swearing, but he was helplessly caught.
“Let me go!” screamed the boy. “I haven’t done anything! Let me go!”
The Captain and two other gorillas rushed up toward the boy and his captor. The Captain stopped when he faced the still-screaming Kraik.
“Stop fighting,” said the Captain in his oiliest tones. “You’re in luck. As I see it, you have the chance to earn more food than you’ve ever seen before.”
Kraik stopped his struggling, dangling helplessly in the gorilla guard’s grasp at arm’s length. “What do I have to do?” he asked doubtfully.
“It’s very simple,” said the Captain. “Just keep asking the right questions of the right people and tell us the answers.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” asked Kraik.
The Captain only shrugged.
* * *
The city’s streets were silent, as always. They had been silent for thousand
s of years. They had been silent for a longer time than they had been filled with human racket. Therefore, according to some scale, the natural state of the city was silence. Human population had been an infestation, quickly and totally suppressed, although a few scavenging vermin still lived within the city’s boundaries.
Burke and Galen moved through the oddly shadowed’ squares and open places among the fallen-down buildings, among huge mounds and piles of rubble. They studied a building across the street from their present position. Galen carried a couple of flat rocks in his huge shaggy hands.
Across the street from the fugitives was a large, solid-looking building, evidently built with a mind toward natural (or unnatural) disasters. It had weathered them all, and stood alone on the street as a tribute to the foresightedness of human scientists, a quality that was as rare as any other goodness in the human race. It was the Headquarters of the Scientific Institute, the main coordinating building of which the Institute the three fugitives discovered was only a subsidiary. Now it looked as though the Headquarters had been taken over by the gorillas. A uniformed guard stood outside. There was the flag with the three interlinked circles above the door. There was no sense in approaching the building from the front. Galen and Burke shrugged helplessly, but they said nothing. They moved away.
A few yards down the street, behind a protecting pile of debris, Burke spoke in low tones to his chimpanzee comrade. “As soon as I get into position,” he said. Burke looked back in the direction of the Headquarters building. He was tense, worried, and helpless with his. lack of information. But he hadn’t yet given up. He was only waiting for an opportunity.
