by Titan Books
Sestus got down from the wagon. He was tired from the day’s excitement; he was thinking about unloading the wagon, and then eating dinner and taking a nap. He unhitched the horse from the wagon, completely unaware of the group leaving the house.
Fauna cautiously led the fugitives toward the cliffs. The farther they marched, the better were their chances of escaping without detection by Sestus. They entered the cool shade of the nearby wood, and followed a stream as it ran toward the sea. Finally, Fauna found the path she was looking for, and they followed it down between high banks, to a narrow beach lapped by ocean waves.
Fauna led them to a cave cut into the side of the cliffs; above the water. The cave could be reached only by a narrow ledge which ran from the sand upward at a steep angle. The cave was safe from discovery from above; only if someone followed Fauna’s secret path could it be seen at all. The entrance was obscured by foliage. Fauna moved forward, her stick touching trees and rocks, making her way quite surely, with obvious familiarity of each thing she touched.
Fauna moved to the cave entrance with Virdon, Burke, and Galen following at a safe distance. She swept back the foliage and led them inside the cave. Virdon was about to enter, when he stopped and looked around at the cave, the beach, and the ocean.
“Wait a minute, Pete,” he said. “I have the strangest feeling.”
“Do you think we’re in danger here?” asked Burke.
“No, no, it isn’t that. Does this place look familiar to you?”
Burke paused and looked around him. “Oh, good grief,” he said in hushed tones: “Hanson Point. We spent a couple of days here after the preflight indoctrination. I remember the cave. It didn’t have all that stuff growing in front of it. In fact, it wasn’t so high above the water then. And the beach was only a few feet wide at this point.”
“That was two thousand years ago, buddy,” said Virdon.
“Oh, man,” said Burke. He just stared at the cave mouth.
“See,” said Virdon, “it can hit you, too. You weren’t as alone in our world as you wanted to pretend. You had a date with that redhead, the same afternoon we got yelled at by that colonel.”
“I remember,” said Burke. “I remember that redhead. Two thousand years has done nothing to hurt my memory. Jan Adams. We carved our initials in this same cave. She may be the only woman I ever carved my initials with.”
“I wonder if they’re still in there?” said Virdon, smiling sadly.
“I’m almost afraid to look,” said Burke. “I wish she was still there.”
The two men looked out to sea, at the constant, yet ever-changing waves. After a moment of silent thought, they entered the cave.
They saw Galen standing just inside, and Fauna bustling about the small room. She was wiping off dust from chairs and table, dust which she couldn’t see but which she knew must be there. She reached up to a small shelf and brought down some small candles. She found some of the large, clumsy matches used by the apes, and lit a couple of the candles. “Ah,” she said. “I’m glad these are still here. I haven’t needed them for a long time. I don’t suppose this place would make a comfortable home for three apes, but it will do temporarily. It has a lot of wonderful memories for me.”
Burke was about to say something, about the cave and about memories, but something made him keep quiet.
Fauna took the rest of the candles down from the shelf. Galen took these from her and then lit them. The yellowish glow from the small flames illuminated the interior of the cave. It was larger than Galen had at first estimated. Even Virdon and Burke had forgotten just how large the cave was. There were chairs made of wood and carved from stone. There was a clutter of articles on the table, things which Fauna had made use of since childhood, plates, cups, bowls, and so on. Galen put the basket of food on the table while the others looked around.
“I used to come here with someone I grew up with,” she said, thinking back. “Someone I cared for very much. It was our secret place where we could hide and play and shut out the grown-up world.”
“You just can’t, shut out the grown-up world,” said Virdon. “No matter how hard you try. It’s always waiting, and it pounces on you, sometimes when you least expect it.”
Fauna was lost in her own thoughts; she didn’t seem to have heard Virdon. “He left here long ago,” she said in a melancholy voice. “When I became blind…”
There was a quiet moment, during which Fauna reached out her hands. “Pago…?” she whispered.
Burke didn’t recognize his assumed name for a few seconds. He, too, was lost in the surge of memories that the cave brought back; memories that, while different for Fauna, Burke, and Virdon, were equally strong in their poignancy. Only Galen had never seen the cave before. Only he had been spared its sentimental pull. Burke was tracing the initials P.B. and J.A. carved in the side of the cave. There were other initials carved there, too, most of which hadn’t been there before; he wondered whether human or ape hands had made them.
“Pago?” asked Fauna again.
“I’m here, Fauna,” said Burke.
She turned to the sound of his voice and moved closer to him. He backed instinctively to avoid the close contact, but quickly he found himself against the damp stone wall of the cave.
“Your voice reminded me,” said Fauna. “It’s so much like his…” She moved closer to Burke; the man sank down against the wall a little, but there was no chance that he could escape this time.
“I wonder,” she said awkwardly, but almost imperatively, “I wonder if I might touch your face…”
Virdon and Galen were alarmed almost beyond the breaking point. Perhaps Galen had been right—that the entire situation had been a mistake from the beginning. But now it was too late to back out gracefully. If there had been an error in judgment, and the humans were not certain, merely admitting to it would not save them now.
Fauna was not aware of the confusion and panic she was causing; “It would help me to know what you look like,” she said.
Slowly, she lifted her hand, moving it toward him. Burke was shaken, knowing that he couldn’t allow her to touch him without giving away the fact that he was human, and that he had wilfully deceived her. He was at the point of guiltily revealing his ruse when Galen moved noiselessly beside him and took Fauna’s hand. The chimpanzee guided the young female’s hand up to his own shaggy ape face, giving her the impression that she was actually touching Burke. Fauna examined the features of Galen’s face as Burke moved slightly out of the way. Fauna seemed to be very happy with the impressions she received. “It’s… very much as I thought,” she said. “A strong, handsome face.”
Her fingers touched Galen’s coarse simian features for a moment; Galen began to perspire nervously, hoping that Fauna wouldn’t ask “Pago” to speak. That would only necessitate another round of shuffling. Sooner or later, they would be trapped; and, as far as Galen was concerned, later was always better.
Slowly Fauna dropped her hand. Slowly Galen backed away sliding along the rough rock wall. After a few steps, he turned and walked somewhat noisily, indicating that he had joined his companions. For all intents and purposes, they had all reassumed their proper false identities. Fauna went to the entrance of the cave. She turned to face her new friends. “Please stay,” she said. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt that I could be useful. You’ll be safe here. I’ll come back in the morning with more food, after Uncle Sestus leaves for the village.”
She turned and went out of the cave. They could hear her steps fading away along the narrow ledge outside. There was a moment’s silence, while they waited for Fauna to get out of hearing range. Then Burke turned to Galen. “That was really close, buddy,” he said. “All she had to do was find out I’m a human.”
Galen nodded, but his expression was somewhat upset.
“I didn’t like doing that,” he said. “It wasn’t right to deceive her, no matter what our reasons were.”
Burke nodded his understanding. “Yeah,”
he said. They stood looking at each other. “Well,” said Burke, “where do we go from here? From what Fauna said, our chances of finding the killers are next to zip.”
“So we do the next best thing,” said Virdon. “We go after the Dragoons.”
“Wait a minute, Alan,” said Burke. “Chasing down two human criminals is one thing, but taking on the Dragoons? They’re not the Campfire Girls, pal. They don’t like us.”
“How on earth do you intend to accomplish that?” asked Galen.
Virdon chewed his lip thoughtfully. “One of the great accomplishments of human civilization was the vast stockpile of ancient wisdom we accumulated. For instance, an old human proverb: cut off the head of a snake and the body dies. Great old proverb.”
Burke grinned. “An all-purpose saying. It works for anything. That’s the trouble with you apes. You’re too specialized.”
“You just told me last week that we weren’t specialized enough,” said Galen. “Wait a minute. You’re both confusing me!”
Virdon thought for a few seconds more, straightening out the details of his scheme in his own mind. “Look, Galen,” he said, “if we can expose the Dragoon leader, or even maybe capture him, then Perdix will be forced to arrest him.”
Galen looked puzzled and doubtful. It wasn’t clear to him precisely why Perdix would be compelled to arrest the leader of the Dragoons; after all, while the Dragoons were an illegal group, apes rarely arrested other apes. The police were there to control the human population, generally speaking.
“The point is, Galen,” said Burke, “no leader, no Dragoons.”
“All right,” said the chimpanzee, “that sounds reasonable.” In his mind, though, the idea was still slightly less than that. “But, granted the logic of your plan, how do you propose to reveal his identity?”
“From the inside,” said Virdon. “Somebody will have to join the Dragoons and find out who he is. Once he’s exposed, the group will fall apart and this crazy killing will stop.”
Something in Virdon’s words struck unpleasantly. “Somebody?” asked Galen. “Who is somebody?”
There was an amused silence. After all, Galen had answered his own question.
“Me?” he cried. Virdon and Burke laughed; they had never seen quite so astonished an expression on the poor chimpanzee’s face.
The rest of the day passed slowly. Virdon, Burke, and Galen spent the hours trying to coordinate their roles in the plan to end the vigilante movement. There were so many variables: how long could their deception hold? Could they keep themselves hidden, even while they worked toward their goal? Would the apes of the Dragoons trust and accept Galen? And, the same question that disturbed their sleep, the same possibility they faced each day, but which they never discussed—what if Perdix or one of the gorillas recognized Virdon, Burke, and Galen from General Urko’s dispatches? It was possible that Urko had ordered them shot on sight.
After a little thought, the three friends began to realize that the odds against their success were piling up faster than any one could count.
They ate the food that Fauna had left them, and when it began to get dark, they closed up the entrance to the cave with branches and boughs. They talked for a while later, then blew out the candles and went to sleep.
The sun rose an hour after the chimpanzee, Sestus, had risen to tend to his chores the next morning. After finishing his work and eating a quick breakfast, Sestus prepared to leave for the village. Fauna walked with him to the wagon. Sestus gave the girl ape a kiss on the cheek, boarded his wagon, and drove it out around the house and toward the small community. Fauna waited a few seconds, then returned to the house. She was unaware that Galen had watched the scene from the safety of some nearby trees. He waited nervously as Sestus’ wagon approached him. Galen looked up toward Virdon and Burke, who had climbed a hillside overlooking Sestus’ house. They were concealed behind a low growth of bushes, with a good view of the scene below. They waved to Galen to get out into the middle of the road.
Galen looked away from Virdon and Burke, back toward the approaching wagon. He was glad to realize that the two humans couldn’t see how afraid he was.
Sestus was still unaware that anything unusual was happening. He drove with his chin sunk against his chest, his eyes half-closed. Suddenly he was brought completely awake as Galen jumped out, waving and shouting. “Stop! Stop!” shouted the chimpanzee.
“Who is this?” muttered Sestus to himself. Nevertheless, he reined up the horse and stopped the wagon. “What is it?” he asked. “What’s the matter?”
Galen took a deep breath. It was too late to back out now. He was committed to seeing the charade through. “Two humans,” he cried. “They attacked me! Took my horse!”
Sestus was instantly alert. “Where?” he asked, shocked.
Yes, thought Galen, where? “Uh, over that way, that way!” He pointed off in what he hoped was a likely direction. He wished that he could remember the geography of the area better; he might be pointing directly at the ocean. Well, if he wanted to go riding in the surf, that was his business. Sestus would believe him. After all, they were both apes. “Is there a village nearby where I can report this to the police?”
“Climb aboard,” said Sestus. “I will take you there.”
Galen climbed up on the wagon, and it rambled off down the road. When it rounded a bend, Burke and Virdon lost sight of it.
Virdon and Burke felt much the same as Galen, although their parts didn’t require them to become so intimately involved with the Dragoons. The wagon carrying the two chimpanzees was gone, its sound muffled by the distance and the foliage. Quickly the area regained its peaceful and serene mask.
“I never knew that there was so much ham in an ape,” said Burke thoughtfully. “It’s amazing how good an actor he is.”
“He thinks of it as lying,” said Virdon. “It makes him feel adventurous. Whatever it is, let’s hope it works.”
They turned and moved quickly along the hillside, keeping as low as possible to avoid detection.
Virdon and Burke began jogging on a narrow trail parallel to the road. They said nothing, but conserved their energy for the tiring job ahead. They had covered perhaps half a mile; each had relaxed a little, lulled by the stillness of the woods and the pleasant weather. Suddenly Virdon saw something moving ahead of them. He dropped to his stomach, lying flat on the ground. “Down, Pete!” he said urgently. Burke dropped to the ground before the words even left Virdon’s mouth.
Burke moved his head slightly, so that he could watch ahead of him. There was a gorilla on horseback moving at a steady pace along a path leading toward the woods. He didn’t seem to be aware that the two humans were nearby; Virdon and Burke did nothing to attract his attention. After a short while they felt that they had not been spotted, and that they could safely continue. They sat up in the prickly grass.
“Okay,” said Burke. “Hitch number one in our plans. Was that a Dragoon? Or was that Perdix, the police officer here? Or, what was his deputy’s name? Zon?”
Virdon shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s no way of telling. He could be a Dragoon. We have to realize that we’re operating completely in the dark. Our plans have to be flexible.”
“Yeah,” said Burke. “Flex us right into a firing squad. I suppose that we could follow him. Maybe we could find out something useful. We don’t have anything to lose. At least it would be a positive action.”
“All right,” said Virdon.
“We could tail him until—”
“Not we,” said Virdon. “Me. I saw him first. Anyway, you have to keep an eye on the store. We can’t let Fauna get suspicious.”
“Terrific,” said Burke. “This is the hardest thing I’ve had to do since we landed in this left-handed world. I have to spend the whole day waltzing away from that ape girl. I get tired.”
“It’ll get your legs back in shape,” said Virdon.
“Sure,” said Burke, frowning. “Don’t be gone long.”
He gave Virdon a quick slap on the back and smiled. Then he got up and started running, back to the cave. Virdon watched him for a moment, then he got up and started running after the gorilla.
* * *
The branches hung heavily above the road. The sun glared through the dark leaves, making bright, jewel-like beads of light that passed above Galen’s head as he rode along in Sestus’ cart. The birds and insects, whose sounds had cheered Galen earlier, were inaudible now beneath the racket of the horse’s hooves and the rumbling of the solid wooden wheels. The noise of the wagon was so loud that Sestus and Galen conversed in voices that grew hoarse from shouting.
Sestus was excited and disturbed by Galen’s story. The thing that he desired more than anything else was for things to stay the same; he hated interfering factors that created changes in his life. Still, Galen’s bad news was offset by Sestus’ acquaintance with the pleasant young ape. “You say that you were thinking about settling here, Phoebus?” he asked.
Galen made a wry face. “I was,” he said. “But if, as you say, the area is overrun with humans,” here Galen’s voice took on a strong overlay of disgust, so noticeable. that Sestus turned to glance at him with eyebrows raised, “I will definitely have to reconsider.”
“Oh, the community has its good points, too,” said Sestus.
“No doubt, no doubt,” said Galen. “I’m not trying to say anything negative about this area. After all, I haven’t yet seen the village or met your fellow residents. But just the smell of so many humans about must be overwhelming!”
Sestus laughed at the vehemence of Galen’s words. But after a moment he grunted his agreement. “What can you expect?” he said, shaking his head. “They’re nothing but animals.”
“That’s what I mean, precisely,” said Galen. “I take it that you have no liking for humans, either, Sestus?”