Planet of the Apes Omnibus 4

by William Arrow

  Mulla urged the befuddled Urko onto a rise of rocks where other stunned soldiers were standing, burned and wounded by flying droplets of lava.

  “Everything’s gone,” one soldier whined in a faint voice.

  “We’re stranded out here in the cursed Forbidden Zone.”

  “We blew up a volcano,” a dusty, bleeding gorilla corporal murmured in wonderment. “A volcano…”

  Urko lurched against a rock and sat down heavily. He stared at the flow of molten rock that had destroyed his armored column. “A volcano,” he whispered. “Not an illusion…”

  Captain Mulla flopped down near his commander. As he watched Urko, the dazed look receded and anger built slowly.

  “The Underdwellers!” Urko’s voice built to a shrill cry. “They have destroyed me!”

  * * *

  Bill and Jeff turned from the screen and grinned at each other.

  Judy clasped both men’s hands ecstatically. “You did it!”

  “No, we did only some of it,” Jeff said. “The gorilla barrage blew open a passage and the lava just went out the easiest way. But I’m a bit embarrassed,” Jeff acknowledged. “I, well, I thought I was aiming through the rock down into a subterranean fault—but I was only boring through to the outside, to the surface of the ground. The white light told me that. I—I don’t understand why the lava flowed out—”

  “Let me explain,” Krador interrupted gently. “At this point, my friend, the Underdwellers’ caverns face the edge of a plateau. We are, yes, underground. But the plateau which contains us ends there—where the lava flowed out—in a high cliff, down which it flowed to a lower level of the desert surface.” The commanding figure in pale blue turned to Judy. “Oosa… No, Judy… you are free to go.” He held out a hand in friendship to the two men. “And remember: if she, or you, ever need our help, we will serve you. You have saved not only us who dwell in the Below World, but perhaps all creatures on this planet.”

  “And I will keep my pledge,” Judy promised. “Send for me, Krador, if you or your people need me, and I will return.”

  Bill lifted the depleted laser. “Let’s move out! We’ve got to find that missing power cell if we’re going to cut some rock to fix the humanoids up with some kind of defensive wall when we reach the valley west of the Forbidden Zone.”

  “Go in peace and friendship,” Krador said, making a gesture in the air. “We will meet again.”

  Bill flashed a smile, then motioned for his companions to follow. “Come on, gang! We have a lot to do!”

  * * *

  The Senate of the Simian World was in session in Ape City. The Council of Elders sat at their massive table, faces grave and solemn. Dr. Zaius looked down at General Urko, who stood before the assembly in a somewhat battered condition. Much of his former arrogance was gone. His uniform was dusty and there were rents and scratches on his once-polished boots.

  Against the wall stood Captain Mulla and a few other gorilla officers. They were equally untidy. Two of them carried their burnt arms in slings, and another, his foot swathed in bandages, was on crutches. All looked sullen and unhappy.

  Zaius leafed through a slim file of papers on the top of the table. “According to this report, General Urko, you not only allowed the humanoid Blue-Eyes to escape—and I must remind you that this may be a talking humanoid—but you fired on an active volcano, resulting in the total destruction of all your military equipment as well as loss of life.”

  Urko broke in, his words confused and his voice almost apologetic. “But—but—how was I to know that?”

  He heard a light chorus of muttering. Some of it was in obvious amusement at the arrogant general’s discomfort.

  Dr. Zaius brought down the gavel in a single sharp rap, and glared at the Senate and at the news-apes seated in the Senate balcony. Behind him, the Elders, including old Zao, most aged in the council, were silent.

  “The Senate will provide money to replace your lost equipment, general.”

  Urko looked relieved, but there were a few murmurs of discontent in the lighter voices of the chimpanzee Senators.

  “But,” Zaius announced in a heavy voice, “but the main appropriations from this Senate session will be voted to scientific research!”

  Urko started to protest, but Dr. Zaius brought down the gavel with finality. “The meeting is adjourned!”

  “But—!”

  Urko stepped toward the platform, from which the orangutans were stepping down. He swerved around to look toward the Senators, most of whom were on their feet and about to follow the Elders out. He noted with irritation that practically everyone, gorilla Senators included, avoided his eyes.

  Urko shuffled toward his battered junior officers.

  Captain Mulla stepped forward. “I’m sorry, sir. They should not have been so harsh on you. You had no way of knowing that we were firing at a volcano!”

  Urko faced him with a grim expression. His confusion was being burned away by a growing anger. “Captain Mulla, find me a jeep! We are going to Strategic Defense Headquarters!”

  “To the hidden stronghold?” Mulla asked, unbelieving.

  “Yes—and be quick about it!”

  “Yes, sir!” Mulla liked the fiery tone that his commander was now using.

  “And radio ahead! I want to see the new secret weapon as soon as possible!”’

  “Right, sir!”

  Mulla saluted, and then wheeled and left the Senate Chamber at once. Urko held back, watching the Senators and the Elders file out, watching his junior officers leave.

  His brows lowered and his lips writhed. “Just you wait!” he said in a hoarse whisper. “Just all of you wait! Urko is not finished! Not by a long shot!”

  The gorilla general wheeled and strode out, proud and made even more dangerous by the defeat he had suffered.

  In the gallery, Zira and Cornelius sat smiling and looking fondly at each other.

  “‘The main appropriations will be voted to scientific research…’” Cornelius repeated. He touched Zira’s hand and they both sighed gratefully.

  * * *

  “It could only be in or around the camp where they were examining the laser,” Jeff insisted.

  He and Bill were standing on a rise close to where Red Leader One camp had been. Judy, her blue Underdweller robe pinned up to facilitate movement, was struggling up the sand dune behind them.

  “Or taken away by them,” Bill suggested, “or lost on the way, or—”

  “Okay, okay,” Jeff laughed. “But this is the first obvious place to look. Over there, on that little rise, that’s where the general’s tent was.”

  The three astronauts walked across the chewed-up sand to the rocky center of the former gorilla camp. Keeping abreast, their eyes never leaving the ground, they began to circle the slight rise.

  “It’s a little harder to spot anything here than out in the flats, or the dunes,” Jeff said.

  “Or they could have spotted it,” Judy reminded them.

  “I dunno,” Bill said. “They obviously cleared out pretty fast. Look at all that stuff lying about.”

  Empty ration packages, metal cans, a canteen, a half-used meat tip, tent pegs, a boot, and other objects littered the area.

  The three friends circled the hillock, then advanced to its summit. They noted where the radio had been set down, and depressions where the bunks and map tables had stood. They swept all the way from end to end, but found nothing.

  “Well, I guess that’s it,” muttered Jeff. “They found it and took it with them…”

  “No, let’s take another look. This time, let’s comb the sand a bit.”

  Bill and Judy got some tent pegs, Jeff found a broken tent pole, and they made another pass over the site again.

  “Hey!” Judy suddenly crouched and scuffed some sand off an object in the dirt. She held up the gray power cell triumphantly. “I found it!”

  Jeff quickly examined the cell and grinningly stuck it back into the laser. Looking around, he pointed
at some nearby rocks. “Let’s sit over there while it recharges.”

  The three astronauts trudged through the churned desert, and Bill and Judy dropped gratefully into the soft sand while Jeff slid back the panel in the stock of the laser. He took from it the folding solar reflector and the connecting wire, the set down the laser, carefully and ran the wire to the unfolded disk, which had its own miniature tripod. Aiming the disk directly at the brilliant desert sun, he pressed the “Charge” button and then joined the others in the shade.

  “It’ll take a while, but we’ll have a fully powered laser,” he said. “It’ll give us some kind of protection.”

  “We’d better keep a watch,” Bill said. “You two get some sleep. I’ll climb the pile of rock and keep an eye out:”

  Jeff nodded and closed his eyes. “As soon as it’s recharged, we’ll get the devil out of here!”

  “Jeff,” Judy said, “why does Krador call this the Forbidden Zone?”

  Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know—except that this desert that it encloses is pretty awful territory. Nobody would want to come out here on a bet! And we’ve got to climb those mountains southeast of here in the next day, or so! It means crossing a lot of sand dunes even to get to them!”

  “Thank the Lord that we’ve brought enough water and supplies with us!” Judy smiled. “And this time I’ll be in no danger of being swallowed up! I got kind of tired of playing that goddess role!”

  * * *

  Nearly three days later, Judy, Bill, and Jeff stood on the eastern slope of a mountain just outside the boundaries of the Forbidden Zone.

  “Whew!” Bill exclaimed with a sigh. “At least we’ll be into the foothills soon and can turn south. Our water’s about gone, and I could sure use some wild game—if you’re still willing to cook. Huh, Judy?”

  “Well, I’m a liberated woman, but after eating what you prepared last night, I’d do my chores willingly,” she chuckled.

  Descending the mountain, they soon found themselves among somewhat lower hills, green and tree-covered for a change.

  “We should still be on the lookout,” Jeff suggested. “Urko will be madder than all get-out now, and may have posted patrols all along the eastern edge of the Zone—”

  “What the—?” Bill gestured back to Jeff and Judy, interrupting the black astronaut’s last words. “Look!” he said as they came up to him.

  “It’s two humanoids!” Judy exclaimed.

  Far below them, in a clearing, were two motionless figures.

  Bill started to signal. “I’ll see if I can get their attention. They might know where there’s water and—”

  “No, Bill!” Jeff pulled Bill down. Silently he pointed over at the base of a tree-lined ridge. “Gorillas!” Several of Urko’s army vehicles were parked near the ridge. The trees had prevented Bill from seeing them at first glance. The three astronauts could make out a number of gorilla officers in black leather uniforms and green leggings standing about. A number of the drivers and other common soldiers were lying in the shade of the rocks or the vehicles.

  Bill spotted three officers examining something—an unfolded map?—on a portable map table. “That’s Urko, isn’t it?” he asked. “The big one?”

  Jeff nodded. “They have some radio or electronic gear, too. Look at that bunch—right there! See? Between the two round rocks?”

  “Get down!” Judy hissed, and her two companions dropped even lower. “See that one gorilla? He’s looking up with a pair of binoculars!”

  Bill studied the officer a moment. “I don’t think he’s focusing up here. He’s looking at the sky!”

  “Well, they’re up to something,” Judy whispered, even though there was no chance they would be overheard. “I don’t like it. Those humanoids out there on that clearing are in some kind of terrible danger. I just feel it! Why don’t they run?”

  Jeff squinted hard at the two figures. “They aren’t moving at all.”

  Bill stared hard at the two tiny figures. “Jeff—Judy—either those aren’t humanoids at all, or they’re dead.”

  Judy bit-her lip as Jeff said, “Maybe they’re dummies. For target practice.”

  Judy put out a hand and silenced the two men. “Shush! Listen!”

  They concentrated, their eyes scanning the sky and the surrounding terrain. “It sounds like…” Judy paused. “No, it can’t be—!”

  There was a growing roar, and the three astronauts shrank back behind a tree. They stared up in surprise as the sound of a propeller-driven airplane became still louder. Then suddenly the plane flashed by almost overhead. Dipping down toward the clearing, it then banked up and started circling around. They caught a glimpse of the pilot—a gorilla in a helmet and goggles. But it was the plane that astonished them.

  It was a World War II fighter plane.

  All three of the astronauts recognized its distinctive outlines at once. It was a P-40, made famous as a “Flying Tiger” by General Claire Chennault’s force, which fought against the Japanese for General Chiang Kai-shek. And in the “Flying Tiger” manner, a fierce face was painted along the nose and side, the open mouth framing the mouth-like air scoop. But the painted face wasn’t a tiger’s now. It was a ferocious gorilla’s!

  “Incredible!” Jeff cried.

  “A World War II fighter plane. I can hardly believe it. I flew one in an air show once, and it was considered almost a relic then,” Judy told the men.

  “But how did they get hold of one?” Jeff wondered aloud.

  “And what are they going to do with it?” Bill asked in a choked voice. “Cornelius told us no ape had ever successfully flown!”

  * * *

  The pilot’s voice came over the radio. “…This is Wing Commander Larko. Come in General Urko… Over.”

  Urko picked up the radio microphone, trying to keep his face from breaking into a smile of triumph. “Wing Commander Larko. All is ready. Make your pass now!”

  “Roger, general.”

  The P-40 banked high, leveled off, and circled over the clearing. Larko eyed the two motionless figures on the plain and banked his plane. He started the long, flat dive, and a feeling of fierce joy pulsed through him. Larko loved the screaming rush of the wind past the canopy and the high-powered sound of the fantastic motor. How he loved this “flying machine”! It was an incredible experience! Moreover, he knew he would be the commander of first a “group,” then an “air fleet” that would sweep the globe—winning more lands and territories for the greater glory of the Ape Nation!

  The gorilla pilot brought the motionless figures into his sights and began his final run. His hand was on the bomb release.

  To the underside of the. “Tiger”—or “Gorilla”—was lashed a curious, rather lumpy bundle. The plane’s bomb release mechanism had been altered to hold this oblong package. Larko’s fingers caressed the bomb release as the two motionless figures came into line, into the proper sighting ring, and then released the package.

  The P-40 banked and aimed skyward again as the package started tumbling toward the clearing. There was a giant pop, and the package opened. It spread out into a large, circular net—much like a parachute, only tougher and with weights suspended around the edge.

  The net spread, rotating to keep its shape, and sank down to cover the two figures. The weights, still circling, tangled the netting tightly around the figures.

  Urko’s men were all on their feet cheering.

  The gorilla general whispered fiercely, almost to himself, “I did it! I did it!”

  * * *

  “I don’t believe it!” Jeff whistled, staring at the trapped figures.

  Bill looked at the airplane, which had now turned and flown back the way it had come. “With that plane,” he said thoughtfully, “there’ll be no stopping the apes. Urko can locate and capture every humanoid on this planet!”

  “Worse than that,” Jeff added, “as soon as he learns what else a plane can do—strafing, bombing, scouting—well, he’ll soon rule this whole crazy pla
ce!”

  “We’ll have to find a way to destroy it,” Judy said.

  “Or steal it,” Jeff mused, stroking his chin and squinting at the distant plane.

  “Steal it?” Judy asked, “But how…?”

  * * *

  Urko sped through the guarded gates of his fortress stronghold in the rugged Mukalla Mountains, west of the humanoid caves and east of the Forbidden Zone. His jeep kicked up dust as it shot past the barracks toward the small airfield, and he gazed around with obvious pleasure.

  For years, the gorilla commander had siphoned off funds for the construction and maintenance of this almost-secret headquarters. The orangutan Elders knew he had a secret headquarters somewhere and the Senate knew he had a so-called Strategic Defense Headquarters where he trained troops, but none of them had been encouraged to visit. The roughness of the terrain and the discomforts necessary to reach it—and its proximity to the Forbidden Zone—had been exaggerated, so that few if any of the Senators had expressed a desire to come to see it, and none had ever made the trip.

  It was strictly a military base, a forbidding compound surrounded by barbed wire. There were barracks, tank parks, rows of jeeps and trucks, ranks of cannons, and watchtowers along the fences. Ammunition bunkers stood at one side—as far from the other buildings as possible. On the opposite side was the small airfield, recently constructed, toward which Urko now sped.

  Next to the field was a hangar and, beyond, a small factory. A railroad line ran alongside the hangar and into the factory. A railroad crane sat on the tracks, hooked to an engine, amid piles of heavy equipment in crates.

  Urko’s jeep swerved through piles of equipment and came to a stop on the edge of the flight strip. He jumped down, followed by his aide-de-camp. Before them sat the P-40, gleaming and perfect with its olive-drab warpaint and its ferocious gorilla head. The numeral “1” was painted on its tail and under its wings.

  Urko walked to it, virtually ignoring the two figures who quickly approached him from the hangar.

  Larko, the pilot, was the first to arrive. He was still wearing his bulky flightsuit and carrying his helmet. A long white scarf trailed dramatically from around his neck. He saluted smartly and stood with a wide grin on his dark-furred face. The second figure to arrive was the shambling Dr. Lykos, dressed in his usual white, knee-length lab coat. Captain Mulla watched Lykos carefully. He still did not trust the renegade chimpanzee scientist, although it was obvious that the scientist now pleased General Urko immensely.