Planet of the Apes Omnibus 4

by William Arrow

  “Loyal to his ambition,” Zaius said. “He has no love for chimpanzees, and certainly no love for us orangutans, who have traditionally governed. He wants command of everyone—not just his brutal gorillas.”

  “That is a risk we must take,” an Elder said. “Urko has always been loyal. He has always obeyed the orders of the council before.”

  “He always had humanoids to play with before,” Zaius reminded him. “But you are right, perhaps, I think… It is a risk we can take, after all.”

  Zao now raised a finger and got the attention of Zaius. “And the work force? The toilers in the field? The harvesters, the cattle tenders, the gardeners? What of those who shape the stone that goes into our buildings and those who till the fields? Are we to take the sweaty place of the humanoids?”

  Expressions of distaste were on many faces as Dr. Zaius leaned forward. “If we must, yes. Bending your back freely in a field is better than living as the humanoids must live! Better than living in a cage! And better than living as our ancestors did—living out their lives as servants to the humanoids! And better than living as our ancestors’ ancestors did—ignorant, dumb animals scratching each other in zoos and jungles!”

  Zaius’s voice cut like a sword through the objections of everyone present. He looked at Zao, who nodded wearily.

  “I vote we destroy the humanoids at once!” cried Zaius. “If the beast can talk, I want immediate authority to allow me to have these animals hunted down and killed to the last cub!”

  Several of the Elders jumped to their feet with their enthusiastic votes. Zaius looked from face to face and got his answer.

  He turned at once and shouted, “Guards!”

  The door crashed open and two burly guards stood alertly, their eyes watchful, their hands on their weapons.

  “Place the militia on full alert!” Zaius ordered. “Surround the laboratory of Cornelius and Zira at once!”

  As the guards left, Zaius turned back to the council. Pointing, at them he said, “We must personally go and witness this so-called speaking humanoid beast!”

  The Elders got to their feet. Zao was last, but he, too, followed Zaius out of the Council Chamber. He gave one last look at the statue of the First Lawgiver, his wrinkled face inscrutable and his manner sad.

  Outside, the gorilla soldiers were quickly forming up into troops, their officers shouting commands. Somewhere a siren started its shrill cry and a number of jeeps, loaded with armed warriors, came into the central square with engines racing.

  Zaius stood with the Elders, listening to the clatter of hobnailed boots, the rattle of weapons, and the guttural commands that were being thrown about. A searchlight cut through the night sky and a klaxon sounded an alert.

  A gorilla captain waved his arm. “Surround the laboratory!” The gorillas began to march off at double-time, the Elders walking slowly down the steps behind them. Several tanks now rumbled into the deserted square and across the paving toward the street that led to the laboratory.

  * * *

  The distant sirens brought a halt to the questions that Zira had begun to throw at Bill Hudson. Her head went up and her nose twitched.

  “Cornelius!”

  “Yes, dear?” He was beginning to regain his composure.

  “See if the guards are out there. In particular, see if there is anyone beyond that door!”

  Cornelius trotted away and returned in a moment. He shook his head. “Yes, I fear one of them was listening. They do that,” he said to Bill. “They are spies as well as guards and assistants.” He shook his head in disgust. “Brutal oafs!”

  “Never mind that!” Zira said.

  She was unlocking the door of Bill’s cage, and Cornelius jumped to stop her.

  “Zira! What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to let him go, that’s what I’m doing, Cornelius. Now let me do it!”

  “But, Zira—!” He wrestled with her briefly. “Maybe we should leave him for—”

  “No!”

  His wife’s fiery retort was too much for Cornelius and he stepped back. Zira completed the unlocking and Bill shoved open the cell door before they might change their minds.

  As the Earthman jumped out of the cage he asked, “What is all the noise about out there?”

  “I’m afraid the sentry must have heard you speak and went to report it to Zaius.” She bit at her lip. “They hate the idea of a humanoid with any sort of intelligence at all! They must be coming to kill you!”

  “Zira, you don’t know that!” Cornelius said.

  She turned to him. “Oh? And what do you think they will do when they find out Blue-Eyes can talk?”

  Cornelius blinked his eyes several times and then nodded. “You are right, of course.” He sighed. “Well, there is only one thing to do.” He started running to the back of the zoo-like laboratory. Then, stopping his shuffling pace, he looked back at them. “Well, come on!” he said.

  Bill and Zira scampered after him. They ran past empty cages and into another room with more cages, except that these contained five humanoids—part of the recent allotment that had been given to Zira and Cornelius.

  The ape scientist kept running, but Bill stopped to unlock the cages.

  Zira grasped his arm. “No! No!”

  “They’re humans, like me!” he said, fumbling with the strange lock. “I want to release them, too!”

  “No, they are not like you! The authorities are only after you, Blue-Eyes! These humanoids will be safe with us! If you release them, they will be escapees and will be run down and killed without mercy!” She tugged hard at him. “You would be the cause of their death!”

  Bill stopped trying to open the cages. The humanoids were cowering against the bars at the back, their eyes big at the sight and sound of a being like themselves who talked and who even seemed ready to disobey an ape master.

  “They will be safe here?” he asked.

  Zira nodded. “Yes, yes! Now come on! We don’t have much time! The soldiers will be here in moments!” She handed him his caveman furs.

  With a final glance at the cringing humanoids, Bill started running after Cornelius, who was waiting at a door. With Zira urging him on, Bill ran to it and, following Cornelius through, crossed a darkened storage room to where a ladder led up to a trapdoor that opened out on the laboratory’s roof.

  “Hurry!” Cornelius cried. “They are getting closer!”

  “Up the ladder!” Zira commanded.

  “This is the only escape route I can think of,” Cornelius said. “Go up to the roof. You may be able to get away from there. A heavy power cable runs to a pole hidden in the trees to the north of the lab. The pole is insulated. Maybe you can crawl away that way.”

  Bill hesitated. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Doing what?” Zira asked.

  “Helping me to escape. You are endangering yourselves, surely.”

  Cornelius glanced at Zira, who was pushing at Bill. “I… we’re not really sure. But… I somehow feel that killing you is… wrong,” he said.

  “Of course it’s wrong! He’s intelligent! He talks! Now get up that ladder, Blue-Eyes!”

  “But what about you two?” Bill asked.

  He felt a sudden concern for his captors, knowing now that any talk of a brain operation had been done in ignorance of his true nature.

  “Don’t worry about us,” Cornelius told him. “We’ll think of something…”

  “And the sooner you get up and away, the sooner we can start thinking of that something,” Zira said, pushing at Bill.

  “I hope we meet again sometime,” Bill said.

  “Perhaps,” Cornelius murmured, his ears cocked now for the sound of vehicles and the muted shouts of order-givers.

  “Oh, I’m sure we will, Blue-Eyes,” Zira said, her voice suddenly soft. “I’m certain of it. Now hurry off!”

  Bill began a rapid climb to the roof. He looked down once, but the two simian scientists were gone. As he unlatched and threw back the trapdo
or, he heard the loud sound of sirens and the rumble of heavy vehicles. Sliding out onto the roof, he felt its welcome gritty surface beneath his hands. It was dark and he crept quickly toward the roof edge nearest the city.

  Raising his head cautiously, he looked over. In the night he could see Ape City, more and more of its lights going on as its citizens were aroused. Then he saw the lights of a line of approaching vehicles, and already advance soldiers were marching along the street.

  Bill waited no longer. He slid back from the edge, rose, and ran toward the other side, bent so as to give as little a silhouette against the starry night as possible.

  He hunted along the edge of the building for the cable the chimpanzee scientists had mentioned but could not find it. And suddenly he heard trucks arriving, their brakes squealing as the vehicles came to a halt. He pulled his furs over the T-shirt and trousers.

  “Surround the building! Armic, take your men that way!”

  The orders were brisk, but the words only a bit muffled by the bulk of the building between Bill and the troops.

  He hastily scouted along the edge of the roof once again, and suddenly saw the cable. It entered the building several feet below the roof’s edge, which was why he had missed it. Bill slid his legs quickly off the edge of the building, his feet searching for the cable.

  * * *

  On the other side of the laboratory building, Dr. Zaius and the Elders arrived in a cloud of dust, climbing down from the two jeeps they had commandeered. They were quickly surrounded by a cordon of gorilla soldiers.

  Zaius pointed at the lab. “Hurry! Into the lab!”

  A flying wedge of massive apes ran ahead of Zaius, smashing open the heavy wooden front door of the behavioral studies lab, then standing aside as Zaius and the Elders entered.

  The council hurried through the outer rooms and into the main lab quickly, but Zaius stopped just inside its door.

  Stunned, his voice sounded sick as he groaned, “Oh, no!”

  The Elders crowded in behind him and several of the gorilla soldiers shouldered past them. But Zaius only looked at the cage that had contained the humanoid Blue-Eyes only a short time before.

  Its door was locked and inside, pretending unconsciousness, lay Zira and Cornelius.

  Zaius went to the cage, grasping the black steel bars, and groaned again. “The humanoid beast has overpowered them and escaped!”

  * * *

  Bill’s foot touched the thick cable and he lowered himself carefully, holding onto the slippery edge of the roof. Then, feeling for the cable with one hand, he finally let go the roof and grabbed at the cable beneath him with both hands as he lost his balance. But his grip was good. He held on as his body swung into the darkness and the sudden full weight almost pulled his arms from their sockets.

  He swayed for a moment, then started going hand over hand quickly along the cable. His head snapped around as he heard a squad of gorilla soldiers approaching the corner of the building, but he had no option except to continue and he gave that his full attention.

  “Hey, sergeant, it’s dark back here!” one soldier complained sullenly. “How about some light?”

  “Shut up, Warka. Spread out along here, men. Keep in sight of each other.”

  “How are we gonna do that, sergeant, when we can’t see anything?”

  “There’ll be some lights here in a minute. Just spread out and shut up. Listen for that blasted humanoid. He might try to get away from the roof.”

  The gorilla sergeant looked up, scanning the dark roofline, squinting his beady eyes to see better. The side of the big building was dark and the noncom did not see the now quivering cable that stretched into the night away from the structure. Furthermore, with all the noise of trucks and tanks and the shouted commands of his officers, he could not hear Bill moving along toward the support pole hidden off in the trees. And Bill was moving as swiftly as he could.

  By the time the sergeant had secured the perimeter of the lab and had looked off into the darkness of the trees and brush beyond, Bill was sliding quietly down the power pole into the security of the thick brush.

  * * *

  The laboratory interior was filled with buzzing and agitated simians of all kinds, from the orangutan Elders to sullen and suspicious gorilla soldiers and chimpanzee reporters. Several of the reporters were interrogating Zira and Cornelius, who had pretended to come dizzily out of unconsciousness.

  “How did this humanoid escape?”

  “Did he have accomplices?”

  “Do you think this signifies a general revolution of the beasts?”

  “Was there anything unusual about this particular humanoid, Doctor Cornelius?”

  Cornelius swayed; holding a hand to his head. “Wha—? Where… Who are you? Zira, what happened?”

  “Doctor Zira, what is the significance of this escape?” one reporter asked.

  “Why are the Elders so concerned?” another inquired.

  “There must be something unusual about this humanoid to bring out the whole militia. Come on, doc, spill it!”

  “Tambor, are the cameramen here yet?”

  “Arro, where’s a humanoid? Maybe we can recreate the escape for the cameras.”

  “Doctor Zira, what do you think about—”

  “Please, please,” Cornelius finally interrupted, pushing them away. “Can’t you see my wife is ill? Go away, go away!”

  Dr. Zaius stood in the center of the furor, his face drawn into a seething scowl.

  The Elder called Zao walked up slowly and looked at him quizzically. “What now, Doctor Zaius?”

  Zaius showed his teeth, and his nostrils quivered. “The humanoid beast must be captured at once!” he proclaimed vehemently. He grasped Zao’s coat, pulling him close and hissing angrily into his face. “At once, do you hear me? Our civilization’s survival depends on it!”

  * * *

  The foliage parted before his hands and Bill looked out on a large lake. A half-moon silvered the night surface of the water. Beyond the lake he made out forested hills, shadowed and dark. Farther away there seemed to be mountains, and Bill’s heart pounded.

  The forest stretched down to the lakeshore in several spots and Bill scouted the terrain between where he was and the sandy shore, his eyes straining in the dimness. The water seemed to stretch a long way in either direction. There was no easy way around it: his only way was straight across the lake.

  He listened and could hear the sound of moving vehicles in the cool night air. Behind him he could still see lights, and some were moving!

  The shore seemed deserted and Bill crept out cautiously, knowing he was exposed but not wanting to run right into the water and make a big splash. He hoped to slip silently into the water and dive beneath the surface only when he was far enough away so that his splashing might not be heard.

  “Hey! You, there!” A gruff gorilla voice roared out of the darkness behind him and made Bill start. “You! Humanoid! Stay right where you are!”

  Bill whirled around and saw a black silhouette bearing down at him from the right. Moonlight glinted off the steel barrel of the rifle the figure was holding. The astronaut gave a quick look around and saw no other sentries. He felt stupid for having missed this silent one, but had no time for self-recriminations.

  Instead of running away—or even standing still in shocked surprise, as the sentry expected a humanoid to behave—Bill amazed the soldier by running toward him. The lean astronaut ducked under the rifle, giving the charging warrior a solid body block. They went down in a gasping tumble, but the heavy gorilla was strong. He struck out with his rifle butt and hit Bill heavily in the side.

  Grunting, the Earthman rolled in the sand, spitting some of it out of his mouth noisily, then getting lithely to his feet.

  The gorilla now kicked out hard at him, but Bill evaded the movement and started to move in again. Another vicious swinging blow was aimed at his head, however, forcing him to dodge and ruin his timing. The gorilla lunged to his feet, his th
ick hands fumbling at the rifle, trying to find its trigger.

  Bill charged at once, feinted one way, then struck at the leather-clad sentry from another. The gorilla clumsily tried to bring the rifle to bear, but Bill scooped up a handful of sand and threw it into the ape’s face. At the same time he struck away the rifle and gave the ape warrior a solid blow to the head.

  Blinded and dazed, the gorilla dropped the rifle to claw at his face, but quickly struck out blindly at his opponent. Then he charged Bill with arms wide, his powerful muscles set to crush the smaller human, his growl indicating his savage desire. Bill ducked under him, throwing his shoulder into the ape’s midsection, and using the gorilla’s momentum to lift the beast into the air.

  The simian sentry let out a cry of rage and fright as he sailed through the night sky. Crashing to the ground, his head struck an outcropping of rock with a sickening crunch. The big gorilla groaned, tried to rise, waved his long arms jerkily, then fell back to lie very still.

  Breathing heavily, Bill started once again for the nearby water, but stopped suddenly as he heard the shouts of approaching search teams. Not wanting to be caught in the open, he leaped back into the dubious shelter of the thick brush that lay between the sandy beach and a banked military road. He soon saw lights coming and burrowed deep into the brush to hide.

  Wiggling back until his feet were against the crushed stone of the side of the roadbed, he then inched sidewise toward thicker weeds farther along, until his feet suddenly pushed against nothing and he felt an emptiness!

  The prostrate astronaut looked back of him to see that he was in front of a stone culvert which went under the military road. Quickly crawling into it, he lay silent as he heard a pair of jeeps screech to a halt almost above him, approaching each other from different directions.

  Bill recognized the throaty voice of the orangutan leader calling out with great urgency, “Have you located the beast yet, General Urko?”

  Urko’s voice came back harsh and uncompromising. “Not yet, Doctor Zaius. I have my soldiers well deployed, however. It will never escape.”

  Zaius said something that Bill did not catch and the gorilla commander growled back, “If you had called on me, my dear Doctor Zaius, to command my troops properly—instead of running off with them yourself, haphazardly—none of this search would have been needed.”