by Titan Books
The fight between the two men was fierce, but it was fought without weapons. The entire conflict was carried on with their bare hands alone, though brutally and without pity. First one, then the other was knocked to the ground. Neither seemed able to achieve a lasting advantage, however. Each managed to regain his breath and position before the other could close for the final blow.
“What do we do?” asked Galen.
“We watch,” said Burke softly. “We have the best seats in the house, we don’t know the champion from the challenger, we don’t have any idea who the good guy is, or who the bad guy is. Until somebody comes along with a scorecard, I suggest we mind our manners.”
In the clearing, the two men were locked in an almost motionless pose. They had grasped each other in the grip of two wrestlers trying to bring each other to the ground. Neither would give way. Their muscles bulged, and the hidden trio could hear both men panting and grunting with effort. Finally, there was a sudden movement by the older man, and the youth crashed to the ground. This time the boy did not move, lying as if stunned. The older man stood over him, then reached down as though to strangle the defenseless boy.
“I just changed my mind,” whispered Burke. He burst from his hiding place and ran into the clearing, startling both Virdon and Galen.
“Pete!” called Virdon, but Pete was beyond replying; he had suddenly decided that the fighting was within bounds, but that the older man’s effort to murder the dazed opponent was not, no matter what the original quarrel had been.
Burke rushed at the unsuspecting wrestler and knocked him off balance. Roaring with anger, the huge fighter turned to face Burke.
Virdon couldn’t control himself any longer, either, once he saw what kind of trouble his friend had gotten himself into. It was evident that Burke would be no match at all for the gigantic older man. Virdon, cursing under his breath, maneuvered himself within the edge of the clearing, in case Burke needed immediate help. He was of half a mind to let the impetuous astronaut take a bit of a beating first, though.
The younger man, still on the ground, his head beginning to clear, looked up and saw his former antagonist struggling with Burke. The younger man raised himself to his knees, trying to shake off the effects of his beating.
Burke and the older man had joined in combat, and Burke was being soundly beaten. The older man’s experience seemed to offset Burke’s more sophisticated techniques; still after a few solid punches to his body and a near-miss to the side of his head, Burke landed his first blow, a crushing shot that sent his foe staggering backward.
The youth watched this and jumped to his feet. He charged into the battle, but to both Burke and Virdon’s great surprise, the young man tackled Burke! This was in spite of the obvious fact that Burke had been trying to save the young man’s life. Together, the two former opponents faced Burke, who stepped backward, unsure of what he had rushed into.
Virdon was in the same predicament. For a few seconds, he was too surprised and confused to understand. Then, before he could make any judgment, the two giants were cooperating in beating Burke into unconsciousness. Virdon rushed in, charging the older man, who had stepped away momentarily to allow the younger man a clear shot of Burke’s unprotected body. Now it was two against two—-the two astronauts against the two massive men.
Galen was still hidden in the underbrush, watching worriedly. He had even less of an idea of what was happening than the astronauts, but he attributed that to the insanity customary when dealing with most humans. From the other side of the clearing, above the noise of the battle, the sharp-eared ape heard something that made him even more concerned, however. There came the distinct sound of horse’s hooves. As soon as he convinced himself of the approaching horse, Galen rose and called out, “Pete! Alan!”
The horse was coming closer. To Galen it was obvious that its rider, necessarily an ape, was coming along the narrow trail that cut into the opposite side of the clearing. Virdon looked quickly over his shoulder at Galen’s concerned call. “What?” he said, panting from his exertions. He ducked under a wide roundhouse swing from the older of the two fighters.
“A horse!” cried Galen.
“Let’s move,” muttered Virdon.
Quickly, both men disengaged from the battle, rolling suddenly out of reach of their huge antagonists. The astronauts got to their feet as swiftly as possible; the two giants, however, did not want to let them escape. Virdon and Burke shoved them aside, Virdon with a forearm across the throat of the younger man, Burke using the same forward blocking skill he had displayed as a college football player. Then, once clear, the astronauts raced madly for the cover of the underbrush and disappeared from view just as a horse and rider stepped into the clearing on the trail.
The rider was a chimpanzee of late middle age, wearing the insignia of prefect on his tunic. He reined in sharply and sat for a moment, watching the two giant men in the clearing. His gaze was cynical and clearly one of an ape accustomed to command.
Both of the large humans were panting from their exertions—from their own fight and their abbreviated battle with the astronauts. The chimpanzee dismounted and walked toward them. His expression changed to one of compassion. He was not an evil ape, not one that plotted in secret, like Aboro, or lusted for power, like Urko. He was merely a local prefect, and these two men were known to him. When he spoke, there was a tone almost of friendliness in his voice. “Training hard, I see,” he said.
“Let’s keep moving,” said Burke softly, from his prone position behind a large bush.
“Wait,” said Virdon. “I’m dying to find out what we just went through.”
“‘Dying’ may be the word, Alan,” said Burke.
“Quiet,” said Virdon. “You started it.”
“We were training well,” said the older man to the chimpanzee. “We have been training hard, Prefect Irnar, all morning, until two humans, strangers, not from the village, attacked us suddenly. Then, just as suddenly, they rail off. I don’t know what they wanted.”
The chimpanzee, Irnar, did not appear to be concerned. After all, the mere doings of humans were below his notice. Such a thing was for the gorilla police to attend to. His duties were purely administrative, not really concerned with chasing and apprehending every renegade human that crossed his district. Besides, the gorilla garrison guarded their power jealously and might look at any action by Irnar as trespassing.
“They were probably outlaws passing through the territory,” said Irnar. “Some of them are no better than wild animals. We have police and an army that are supposed to protect us from these humans. I’ll have the patrols watch for them.” Irnar grunted, dismissing the entire incident from his mind. “Well, now,” continued the prefect with keener interest, “the more important question, Tolar: Is he ready yet?”
The older man, addressed as Tolar, stepped back from the younger man, looking at him appraisingly. Irnar’s face was creased with a frown of concentration. “Almost,” said Tolar. “Dalton is almost ready.”
Irnar smiled. “Good, good,” he said. “You’ve done a good job teaching him. I can’t tell you how anxious I am to see him in action. If he shows half as much ability as you, Tolar, I will be greatly pleased.”
Tolar stood still, quietly proud and pleased by the ape’s compliment.
* * *
Virdon, Burke, and Galen had seen enough. There was no longer any reason for staying nearby, where they might easily be spotted and captured. It was certain that Irnar would not listen to any explanation from the astronauts with sympathy. And as soon as it was discovered that Galen was traveling with two human outlaws, their identities would be known. That meant one thing: they would be back within the clutches of Urko in a matter of days.
The fugitives moved as quietly as they could while they were in the immediate area of the clearing, trying not to disturb the brush and making as little noise as possible. With Burke leading them, they broke into a sprint through the forest after about fifty yards. As they ran
, Virdon suddenly became aware that the magnetic disk was missing from around his neck. He stopped suddenly and Galen almost ran into him from behind.
“Hold it,” called Virdon. Burke stopped and glanced back, startled. “Wait. I have to go back.”
“What?” cried Burke. “What are you talking about? We have to make tracks.”
“The disk,” said Virdon simply. “I dropped it.”
Burke’s shoulders slumped. “Alan!” he said. “We can’t risk going—” He never got the chance to finish, his sentence, because Virdon had already turned and was running back toward the clearing. Burke looked helplessly at Galen, who only shook his head. There was nothing to say and nothing to do but follow their friend, hoping that they would stay out of trouble.
Virdon arrived at their previous hiding place and peered out through the undergrowth into the clearing. Tolar was holding the reins of Prefect Irnar’s horse, while the chimpanzee himself stood a few feet away, glancing at Dalton.
“I expect to be proud of you some day, young man,” said Irnar to Dalton.
The young man wore an unreadable expression. “Yes, sir,” he said.
“You will be, sir,” said Tolar with a touch of pride, in his voice. “My son will give you everything you expect.”
Irnar grunted, then walked toward his horse. “All I can say is keep training, and keep me informed.”
“I will, sir,” said Tolar. He handed the reins to Irnar. Virdon watched and listened. He would have to wait until Irnar rode off and Tolar and Dalton left the clearing before he could begin searching for the disk. He was prepared to wait all day and all night, if he had to. While he watched, he was joined by Burke and Galen.
Irnar shook out the reins to his horse and was about to mount, when something attracted his attention. He bent down and stared for a few seconds, then reached down and picked up the shining metal disk on its leather thong.
“Guess what,” said Burke.
“Oh, no,” said Virdon, groaning. “Maybe he’ll drop it again.”
The astronauts were not to have that kind of fortune. Irnar straightened up, holding the thong and disk out at arm’s length. He looked at it with great curiosity. “Strange,” said Irnar. “Very strange, indeed.”
Almost instinctively, Virdon moved as though he were going to rush out and recover the disk. Galen reached out quickly and grabbed Virdon’s arm. With a crestfallen expression, Virdon, usually so cautious, realized that he couldn’t move. He could only watch, his expression tense.
Irnar put the disk into his pocket, mounted his horse, and, with a few final farewell words to the giant humans, rode off along the trail, out of sight. Tolar and Dalton followed on foot. Burke, Virdon, and Galen watched in unhappy silence.
Less than a minute later, Virdon slammed his fist into the layer of dead leaves on the ground. “I’ve got to get it,” he said.
Burke said nothing for a short time. His thoughts ran through several different emotions before he replied. His answer was simple. “You’re not serious,” he said.
Virdon, very clearly, was serious. “You know how I feel,” he said. “I’m getting it back, Pete. I don’t know how, but I’m not leaving without it. I don’t care about the danger. We don’t have a chance without that disk. You two can go on without me, if you want. We can meet somewhere away from here.”
Burke was clearly frustrated. “Don’t talk nonsense, Alan,” he said. “We’ll either stay together or leave together. None of this splitting up. But we have to talk this out, first. I mean, what difference does it make? even if we found a civilization that was able to interpret that disk, somebody would still have to be able to build a spacecraft, they’d have to guarantee that the reversal process would work—something that’s only your pet theory, up until this point, Alan—and even then, we’d end up back in the twentieth century again.” He said this last as though there was nothing in the twentieth century that made it any more attractive than where he was. “Do you think we’ll ever find a tiny pocket of humans who have hung onto all the facilities we had? I mean, a Houston control, and a Florida launch site, and a worldwide network of tracking stations, and all the rest? We’d need all that, don’t you think?”
“I’m aware of all of that, Pete,” said Virdon, obviously not willing to pay proper attention to the logic of Burke’s arguments. “But it’s all beside the point.”
“I don’t think so, Alan,” said Burke angrily. “I think it is the point. But I’m not going to persuade you.”
“Alan,” said Galen, “as much as I understand how you want to return to your own time, I can’t figure why you want to walk into this unknown risk. We don’t have any idea what we’re going to meet here.”
“I can’t just forget about that disk,” said Virdon. “It’s hope… home. I can’t forget it.”
* * *
There was a crude hut standing along a dusty country road. Behind the human habitation were a few fields, some filled with brown husks of the summer’s corn crop. Near the hut was a well. The human farmer was drawing up a wooden bucket from the well. A horse stood a few yards from the well; on its back sat Jason, the lieutenant of General Urko. The human filled a dipper from the bucket and handed it up to Jason. “Very few soldiers come this way, sir,” he said.
Jason ignored the human’s remark. “How far to the nearest village?” he asked, reaching down and taking the dipper. He drank from it.
“Half a day,” said the human. He looked up at the sun, getting an idea of the hour. “You should be there by morning.”
Jason finished drinking the water and tossed the dipper to the ground disdainfully. Without acknowledging the human’s directions or aid, Jason turned his horse and rode off, joining his troopers who waited on the road. The human glared after him with annoyance, picked up the dipper, and wiped it clean on his rough shirt.
* * *
It was night. A gibbous moon cast stark shadows on the uneven, ground outside the village of Kaymak. The village itself was mostly dark, its business of the day completed, its human inhabitants too poor and too weary to continue any entertainment much later than sundown. A few lights shone, but these came chiefly from the barracks of the gorilla garrison and the homes of the few ape inhabitants. At the edge of the village, where the main road became a narrow country track, there stood a large structure built of stone, instead of the more common rough-cut logs. In the darkness, it was impossible to tell what might lie within those damp stone walls.
Three figures ran quickly across the ground from the road to the shadow of the stone structure. Virdon, Burke, and Galen pressed themselves against the solid rock walls; the three were invisible to any eyes that might be turned in their direction. They held still for a full minute, surveying the area. Virdon gave a signal to the other two and they hurried away again.
They ran as fast as they could, Virdon in the lead, followed by Burke and then Galen, until they reached the safety of the shadow of the first of the village’s huts. They pulled up there, breathing hard from their exertion.
About twenty yards away stood a corral where the horses belonging to the gorilla garrison were kept. A gorilla, rifle in hand, stood guard at the corral’s gate. He yawned, clearly sleepy and bored. The horses whinnied nervously in the corral and the gorilla jerked upright, alert once again. He looked around in all directions, but he saw nothing; he leaned against the gate and yawned again. The two astronauts and Galen peered from behind the corner of the hut around which they had hurried at the sound of the anxious horses. Galen indicated the gorilla guard, then pointed up the road toward a well-lit house. “That gorilla is the only trouble I see,” whispered the chimpanzee.
“Yeah,” whispered Burke, “but he’s enough for now.”
While they watched, the gorilla turned completely around, resting his rifle on the ground, his two arms on the top wooden rail of the corral’s gate, and his head on his arms. If General Urko had seen that gorilla, the unfortunate trooper would have been dead before he could scoo
p his rifle up again.
Galen, Virdon, and Burke took advantage of the guard’s inattention to slip down the road and hide near the lighted building that had attracted Galen’s interest. In front of the hut was a flagpole; the trio could see a pennant with some insignia sewn on it flying from the pole; it was illuminated by light coming from the open windows of the hut.
“That’s a prefect’s house,” said Galen, indicating the insignia on the pennant. “That chimpanzee we saw talking to the two humans was wearing the same emblem. This is his house.”
“You’re sure?” asked Virdon.
“Alan,” said ‘Galen impatiently, “every once in a while—rarely, I admit, but every once in a while—I can contribute something to the success of our journeys Sometimes we come up against things that I know about even better then you. I was born here, remember?”
“I’m sorry, Galen, I really am,” said Virdon softly.
“All right, Alan,” said Galen. “I understand. Wait for me here.”
“Listen, Galen,” said Virdon. “Wait a minute. There’s no reason for you to risk your safety on my crazy account. The disk doesn’t mean a thing to you. Let me go get it.”
“Do you have a plan?” asked Galen. “Or are you just going to walk into a strange prefect’s house in the middle of the night and ask for it?”
Virdon began to reply, then fell silent. “No,” he said finally, “I don’t have a plan.”’
“Then let me go,” said Galen. “The disk is important to you. You’re my friend.”
“I know that, Galen, and I appreciate it. But still, I can’t ask you to endanger yourself for me.”
“I never heard you ask,” said Galen. “That prefect is a member of my species, Alan. I’ll have a better chance with him alone.”
Burke had followed the conversation with great interest. He, too, had wondered what they were going to do when they reached the village. He had hoped that Virdon had formed a more definite scheme; he was disappointed to learn that this wasn’t the case. “He’s right, Alan,” said Burke. “But I don’t think it’s worth the risk. Do you have a plan, Galen?”