“What happened exactly?” Bill asked. “If you’re not too tired to tell us now…?”
“Well… when I regained consciousness after the crash, I discovered my leg was broken… I was alone, of course… and unable to take care of myself. I had some painkillers, naturally, but, well, I could only make the crudest of splints…” Brent looked apologetic. “I kept passing out every time I tried traction. Things… got pretty hairy for a while.”
Brent gestured toward the sand-covered ship. “I had some water and rations, but they were running out fast… I made up a pack of what was left, and started crawling along the mesa there, trying to find water… or food… or whatever.”
Brent paused and looked at his fellow astronauts. “It was rather hard going. I couldn’t walk—and the pain! Well, I passed out a number of times… once, when I woke, there were people… like those… taking care of me.”
He gestured toward the line of humanoids, who had squatted in the sand and were watching with dull incomprehension.
“They were a tribe of wanderers who… seemed to be right out of prehistoric times. But they were friendly enough, and remained with me while I was convalescing… I met a girl child named Nova.”
Bill, Jeff, and Judy nodded knowingly, to Brent’s slight surprise. Before they could speak, he went on.
“Of all the cave people, she was the least… frightened when I talked. She kind of adopted me. After I was well enough to walk, I decided to accompany the tribe to, well, wherever it was they were going You see, where they found me was near an oasis that was on their migratory path…” Brent shrugged. “However, during a sandstorm—something like last night’s blast—I became separated from the group… and was never able to find them again!”
The agony of his years of loneliness swept over Brent for a fleeting moment and then he was calm again. “I… found my way back to the ship and made it my headquarters. It’s very handy in a sandstorm. I patched up the rips in the hull, and it’s snug enough. I get water from the oasis, where I grow a little food… and there are some traps I have out there for whatever desert rodents live there. One—a rat-like creature—is quite good! So, well, I’ve… I’ve been living alone in the desert ever since.”
“But didn’t you meet anyone ever again?” Judy asked.
“Yes, more of these human-types. But they ran from me as soon as I spoke… I guess Nova’s people, who found me unconscious and helpless, weren’t as afraid of me. Oh, over the years I’ve made some forays into the wilderness in each compass direction—even into some brush country north of here. I was hoping to find Nova’s tribe, or some tribe… but…” Brent paused and sighed sadly. “I had all but given up hope…”
Bill grinned and stuck out his hand. “Well, Ron, on behalf of all of us, welcome back to the human race. And it won’t be long, if all goes according to plan, before you see Nova again. She’s with the main group of her people at a temporary forest encampment north of here, and we expect to catch up with them soon. But Nova’s far from a little girl…”
“Of course, of course,” Ron said. Then his face seemed to melt and a wetness came into his eyes. “Thank you… thank you all…”
“You must have gone nearly crazy out here, all alone, with nothing to do,” Judy remarked.
“Well, there’s been a lot to do… just to stay alive. It’s a fine little trek to the oasis, and I have to watch my rather pitiful crops there. And the traplines… But the ship has some comforts. I managed to fix the solar generator to get enough power to run a few things—the Musicmaker mainly, and the fights. Thanks to the compactness of molecular recordings, I have quite a library in there… And, of course, I’ve been tinkering with trying to repair the ship…”
“But it’s so desolate here,” Judy said, gesturing around.
Ronald Brent nodded. “Yes. On the surface. But when you live as close to the basics as I have… well, the desert really isn’t all that empty! There’s an amazing amount of life out here, if you know what to look for. There are some birds—not much, different from buzzards—up there on the mesa. I’ve eaten their eggs… But, excuse me, I have not even asked you about… about the details of your own arrival here. Did… did you crash-land? And what are your feelings about the—the changes we see around us, here on Earth? Come up, come up into my ‘home’ and sit and talk to me. I’ve room enough—and a wine I’ve made from cactus plants to drink!”
* * *
“And so,” Bill concluded an hour later, “that’s our story and our guess about what happened to Earth. Which is as subject to doubt as yours!”
“But now, our immediate job is to reach the humanoids’ encampment, which we think is north of here, in a forest south of the Forbidden Zone,” Jeff urged.
“I know of the land in that direction, but I didn’t realize there was anything, but desert beyond it.” He shook his head. “I should have kept going, but it all seemed so… hopeless. And I didn’t want to get too far from the oasis and the ship…” Brent then squared his shoulders and grinned at the others through his grizzled beard. “But that’s all behind me now. Let’s get started!”
“Great!” Jeff said.
“Ron, is there anything in your spacecraft you want to take along?” Judy asked.
Ron thought a moment. “Nothing much in the way of weapons survived, really. And what did is too heavy. Except perhaps the self-destruct mechanism.”
“‘Self-destruct’ mechanism, huh?” Jeff looked at Bill, who nodded. “Let’s take it along. It just might come in handy someday.”
Both astronauts remembered how their own spacecraft’s self-destruct mechanism had saved them from certain death when an amphibious monster had attacked during their successful attempt to retrieve the laser from the Venturer.
“It won’t take but a few minutes to disengage it and rig a carrying harness for it,” Ron hastened to add.
“After we get settled in the New Valley, we’ll come back and get your solar generator and modular books—and your music system!” Bill promised.
Brent paused in the open hatchway and gave the blond astronaut a quick smile. “Excellent! It’s been my sole companion for so long that… well, I’m sure everyone—even the humanoids—will like the music!”
“What sort of music do you have?” Judy asked, following Brent deeper into the ship.
“The classics, mostly: Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, of course. Ravel, Respighi, Weiss, Thundercloud, Bartok, Strauss—Johann and Richard—Mahler, C-10, Berlioz, Stravinsky—”
“C-10…?” Judy asked.
Ron laughed as he pulled his tool kit from a locker. “I guess that was after your time. It’s music without the aid of any human musician.”
“Like the Moog synthesizer?”
“Oh, I remember hearing about that. No, far beyond the Moog.” Brent squatted down and began removing an access plate. “You know, the arts progressed right along with the sciences, Judy. Music was freed of a lot of restrictions by electronics… Oh, there are still a lot of human musicians—we’d never want to get rid of them—but that isn’t the only way to make music these days!”
His face clouded, and Judy had to ask what was wrong.
Brent grinned. “Oh, my time sense is all messed up. My ‘now’ is really years out of date…”
“So is ours! But, say, Ron, can we take along some of that delicious cactus brandy—as well as lots of water and food, of course?”
* * *
A buzz of subdued conversation filled the Great Hall of the Council of Elders, but this dwindled to silence when General Urko entered.
Dr. Zaius looked down from the high platform at the gorilla general and raised his eyebrows. “General Urko, we have called you back into this session of the Supreme Council after considerable debate.”
“And what is your decision regarding my requests?” Urko said. His manner was only faintly polite.
“General, it is the opinion of this council that your military leadership leaves a great dea
l to be desired—”
Urko broke in angrily. “How dare you question my ability? I am a general in the great Gorilla Army—the product of the Simian Military Academy, the son, grandson, and great-grandson of gorilla generals!”
Zaius sighed and waved down the murmurs of the council members. “That comes into serious question, general, when you spend a great deal of time publicly preparing to do a battle with an enemy you can’t even locate!”
Urko stepped closer to the Elder, his gloved fists balling and his deepset eyes flaring angrily. “Let the council only grant me permission to pursue the humanoid beasts. I will give you my oath—as a general, as a gorilla officer!—that I will take proper care to find and eliminate them!”
Zaius shook his head, making his long, fine golden-orange whiskers shake. “Frankly, we have absolutely no reason to place any confidence in your promises.”
Urko raised a balled, leather-encased fist, “Let me give them chase! I shall hunt down the humanoids and make you eat your words! I’ll not use boats, of course—since the Book of Military Procedure forbids that,” he half apologized.
The smile that crossed Dr. Zaius’s face was both sad and victorious. “If your recent performance is any indication, I rather doubt that, general.”
But then Zaius looked down the line of Elders, reading their expressions. “Very well, General Urko, permission is granted… But, you had better live up to your promise!”
Urko’s salute, a hard slap across his carved leather breastplate, was his only answer. He turned on his heel and marched out.
* * *
The reunion of Nova and the humanoids with the new arrivals from the desert lands to the south and east was a joyous one. A scout from the hills to the north, where the humanoids were hiding by Bill Hudson’s instructions, spotted the newcomers in the forest; and Nova led her half-fearful people into the old encampment to meet Bill and Jeff. To Nova’s surprise, there was a third talking human: Judy Franklin. But Nova was completely dumbstruck at seeing Ronald Brent again, after so many years.
“Br-rent!” she mumbled, and rattled the dogtags he had given her.
Brent, awestruck and overcome with happiness, had to fight tears that threatened to roll down his cheeks.
After only a moment’s rest, Bill commanded—and gestured to the humanoids—“We leave in a half-hour! We move on to the New Valley!”
* * *
Jeff stood on the rim of the valley, grinning foolishly. He looked back at the line of humanoids led by Brent, Bill, Judy, and Nova. “What a surprise they’re in for!” he muttered to himself, and waited impatiently as the line drew near.
“What’s ahead?” Ron called out.
“Look at that smile he’s trying to hide,” Bill said, the excitement growing in his voice.
“Are we there…?” Judy called eagerly.
Jeff’s answer was a sweep of his hand.
The astronauts climbed the final few feet of the grade and looked down.
“It’s… it’s…” Ron could only stammer.
“It’s… Shangri-la,” Judy whispered.
“New Valley,” Bill softly corrected her.
The valley was immense, surrounded on the nearest three sides by unscalable cliffs, but a sloping natural stone bridge near where they stood led down to a great fist of rock—high still, but offering relatively easy foot access to the valley floor.
“That bridge will be easy to guard and hold,” Jeff asserted.
“The valley is…” Judy seemed stunned. “It’s beautiful… simply beautiful…”
The astronauts—and the humanoids, too, who now lined the ridge, staring with wondering eyes—could see, below, the verdant woods and meadows, a small but plentiful stream obviously fed by several springs, and what appeared to be rich farmland theirs for the taking.
“This is everything you hoped it would be,” Ron Brent said.
“More!” Judy sighed. “Look—flowers! Birds!”
“I saw something that looked like a deer before you came up the rise,” Jeff told them.
“Now, if we can construct the proper, defenses,” Bill said, “perhaps the humanoids can finally find some peace and tranquility.”
“Soon, we’ll have to explore the other end of the valley—the open end,” Jeff put in, “but this end ought to be a cinch to fix up!”
“Come on,” Bill said, “let’s go see it close-up!”
The line of humans and humanoids weaved across the natural arch and gradually toward the lump of rock. With the laser, Bill once more created a suitable foot trail down the huge stone pile, and the weary group finally touched the valley floor.
Bees and butterflies and birds flew everywhere, undisturbed yet by the hands—or guns—of men or apes. Judy pointed out some berry bushes immediately, and identified two kinds of fruit trees.
As they moved along the valley, Jeff spotted a talus slope of rock, tumbled from the cliffs above. “Look at those boulders! The laser drill should be able to cut through them to make building blocks!”
Looking around, Bill pointed to a meadow near the rocky cliff; it was flat and dotted with only a few trees. “That would be a good place to start a village!”
As Judy directed the humanoids to drop their bags and baskets of food and primitive tools under the trees, Jeff, Bill, and Ron climbed the slope to the tumble of rocks.
“I’ll set the laser beam to the finest diameter,” Jeff explained. “That should give us the smoothest cuts.”
“Start with that one,” Bill suggested.
Jeff took aim and sliced neatly through a nearby boulder, giving it one very smooth, flat surface. Bill and Ron cheered and began dragging other rocks free so that the laser beam could slice them up without cutting into any others.
By the time Judy had brought a line of humanoids up to the rocks, Jeff had sliced a half-dozen boulders into neat rectangular blocks.
“I’ll go down and start tracing out the building plan,” Ron said. “Bill, why don’t you get a human conveyor belt running here?”
“Sounds good to me,” Bill said.
Within half an hour a smoothly functioning group was at work. Four male humanoids wrestled boulders into position, and Jeff, who was becoming expert with the laser, sliced them neatly into building blocks. Another team lifted the blocks and placed them into the four hands of the first couple of a long double-line that went down the slope to the meadow. The blocks were handed from couple to couple, like a fire-bucket brigade—until they were deposited in a temporary stack.
In the meadow, Ron had set out stakes, and another group of husky humanoids were now moving the transported blocks from the stack into place along the pattern the astronaut had outlined. Ron had determined that the walls of the houses would also be, in effect, the walls of the village—and that one wall would join another, compactly, for greater strength and the withstanding of an attack. The walls would curve, bit by bit, to fit up snugly, finally, against the cliff behind the village. The roofs of the houses of the village would be of wood, and Ron soon asked Jeff to cut down and trim trees for the rafters.
Judy had, in the meantime, organized the women and children into two groups: one, which went food hunting, and the other, which wove ropes and roof matting from the long, tough grasses that grew by the banks of the stream.
Jeff paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow, and gazed at the bustle of activity. The weariness of the long journey had dropped away once they had drunk their fill of water and had a job to do.
“This place might work,” he said to himself. “It just might work!”
* * *
Urko picked up a box of bullets and jammed them into his pocket.
He was fuming as he growled, “I’ll show that sniveling weakling Zaius a thing or two! Imagine him—a mere orangutan nothing!—doubting my ability! What insolence!”
Captain Mulla entered the general’s headquarters and saluted. “The motorized units are ready to move out, sir.”
Urko�
��s grin was instant and wide. “Excellent! Let’s go! On the double!”
Mulla exited and Urko took another quick look around his room in the Ape City gorilla headquarters.
“No, I have everything I need,” he muttered to himself. Everything but victory, he thought. And that is next!
* * *
“It’s a pueblo design,” Brent explained. “Fewest number of walls for the greatest amount of enclosed space.”
Judy smiled. “Looks like a fort, too.”
“It better! Still, you know, I really find it hard to believe what you’ve told me—intelligent apes and ape cities and ape armies and all!” He shook his head.
“It was hard for us, too,” Judy said. “But facts are facts. We still don’t know what happened to cause all this, but it certainly happened. Bill and Jeff saw the ruins of New York, and I saw the dead subway system. It’s Earth, all right.”
“Well, the way to handle it is to face the facts,” Ron said. “Just as I faced all those years in the desert.” He gestured around him. “And just a few days’ travel past where I stopped exploring before was all this! There was just no hint…”
“That’s fortunate,” Judy said. “If it was hard for you to find, and we didn’t see it until we were right on it, then it’s going to be hard for anyone else to find!”
“Well, at least from the direction we came. We still haven’t seen what lies to the north,” Ron said.
Bill walked up and dumped another pile of sharpened rafters on the ground. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” Ron replied. “The humanoids are quick to learn. All you really have to do is show them a time or two.”
“Here are the roof rafters you wanted,” Bill said. “And we can start laying out the next section of the village soon. Jeff really has the block-cutting down pat. He’s even learned how to make notches in the stone with a reduced power beam, so that we can lock the blocks together on the corners.”
Ron nodded. “Nevertheless, we’re working fast. If the humanoids stay here, in time they’ll want to rebuild this pueblo. It is rather hastily built.”
Planet of the Apes Omnibus 4 Page 45