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Dan ran down the slope and caught himself handily on a tree. Looking back, he saw Nova coming and snagged her with one arm. They stood in darkness beneath the shade and looked down the wooded slope toward the beach, and across the moonlit lake to the far shore. Beyond that shone the lights of Ape City, and both he and Nova stared in wonder at the splendor of their illumination.
Then they heard the sounds of distant sirens and the rumble of heavy engines. Dan soon made out lights along the shore, those perhaps of parked trucks and the smaller lights of search parties.
”I wonder what—-or who—-they’re looking for,” he muttered. “From the looks of it, though, it must be something they want very badly.”
Dan tugged at Nova’s arm. “C’mon, Nova, let’s go down to the shore. I want a better look.” She resisted, her eyes wide and frightened. “Come on, baby,” Dan insisted, “all the searchers are way over there, across the lake. Maybe we can get a better view or hear something down below.”
Nova suddenly. Let him pull her away from the tree and they half ran, half climbed down the side of the thickly forested hill.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBW5GpH0S6w
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Steve lay flat in the grass, for once grateful for the camouflaging qualities of his dark furs and dirty body. The line of apes had just passed along, down from the road, but had missed the culvert. He had crawled out behind them and now lay at the edge of the sand, barely hidden, watching them bend over the figure of the sentry he had downed.
”Dead!”snapped the sergeant. “That damn humanoid has killed one of us!” The other gorillas growlers and the sergeant called for silence. “Thark, go back to the truck and radio the Lake Patrol to get along here. Arka, you and Pliny taken this body up to the truck.”
”Where do we search now?”a gorilla soldier asked.
”Farther along the shore. Get going!”
Steve waited until the soldiers had trudged away and were lost in the gloom; then he crept out silently and slipped, eel-like into the cool water, keeping low until he had enough depth to submerge. Finally, he took a deep breath and slipped quietly beneath the placid surface.
Far up the lake, a pair of patrol boats came around a point of land, their searchlights skimming the surface of the water.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ycxm7cWx7
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Dan crouched in the reeds at the edge of the lake. Nova was huddled next to him. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the lights of Ape City, and the wonder of it had blinded her twice, causing her to fall noisily to the ground.
The black aviator peered out at the two boats that were patrolling the opposite shore. Then he saw another one coming down from an anchorage farther up the lake; it came fast and passed up the closer two to patrol the lake’s entire opposite shore.
Suddenly Dan stiffened. He reached out and grabbed Nova’s shoulder, pressing her warningly. She seemed to shrink, to blend into the reeds and wild growth near the water’s edge. They heard more rustling and Nova gripped his arm tightly.
Dan put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, “I hear it! It must be an ape patrol! Quick! Follow me! We’ll slip back and get up in one of those trees!”
But Nova was more experienced than Dan at moving stealthily, and she quickly led him back through the reeds and into the underbrush of the forest. Dan boosted her up into the crotch of a tree and waved her to limb higher, which she did. Dan jumped up at a lower limb, but missed his grasp in the intense darkness. He fell back from the big sprawling tree and crouched, alarmed at the noise he’d made, even though it wasn’t loud. In the night and in his state of anxiety, the sound had seemed like dropping a load of glass.
Dan peered around and noticed a single dark figure emerge in from the bushes at the edge of the lake. The being started to move stealthily and steadily along the shore, then angled up toward the trees on the slope above. Dan was unsure whether the figure was aware of his and Nova’s presence or not, but he had to do something.
Quickly reconnoitering the shoreline, he saw only the one figure moving toward him. It’s an ape soldier, Dan thought. I’m gonna have to take him out.
Quickly, he felt around the tree for a rock or a fallen limb to use as a weapon. He found a stone about the size of a softball and gripped it tightly in his hand. Slipping close to the tree trunk, he gave Nova a Quick look and a wave, then watched with one eye from in back of the tree trunk as the figure moved closer.
Dan saw the figure stop and look behind at the patrol boats now quartering the lake and at the distant searchlights and swift movement of the truck headlights. Then the figure moved again, climbing steadily up the slope—-precisely toward the trees on behind which Dan was hidden.
The black fugitive took another grip on the stone and readied himself for combat. The figure, even less distinct now because the moon was obscured by a cloud, moved steadily closer. When the mysterious being had come close to the tree, Dan leaped out, brandishing the stone and bringing it down hard on the head of the figure.
The stranger dodged, and the two grappled desperately, their feet sliding on the slope and their bodies straining.
Almost at once Dan knew that something was wrong——not only was the stranger soaking wet, but his clothing was the fur and skins of a humanoid, not the leather=bound ape uniform he had expected.
”Steve?”
”Dan! That you, Dan?”
The two former Spindrift pilots gaped at each other in the dark, then started to laugh, but then quickly choked off their hilarity, cautioning each other to keep quiet.
”Steve, what are you doing creeping up….”
”You old goat, I heard something up here and I…”
”What happened to you?” Dan asked in a fierce whisper, gripping Steve’s arms. “The damn apes took you away and…..”
”No time for that now,” Steve said. He pointed at the patrol boats, which were now circling closer to their side of the lake. “They’re right on my tail. They’ll soon figure out where I went. C’mon, let’s go!”
He started climbing the hill.
“Wait!” Dan ran over to the tree. “C’mon down,” he whispered urgently.
There was a scraping noise, and Nova slipped down, held on to the bottom limb for a moment and then dropped lightly to the ground.
”Nova!” Steve exclaimed softly.
He hugged the girl briefly; then Dan pulled them apart.
“Which way?” Steve asked Nova. “Which way?”
Nova started up the slope, gesturing for them to follow. The two astronauts gave a last look at the lake, with its bustling patrol boats and lakeshore lights, then followed her up the hill.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLxmtlzhd3J
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Zira sat nervously in her r chair, twitching and picking at its fabric. Her nose wrinkled anxiously as she watched the round TV screen where a simian newscaster was giving the news.
”…..The wildfire which has been plaguing outlying Bazra Province is now under control, according to fire officials. But there is, as yet, no estimate to the damage to this vital watershed….”
Cornelius entered from their little kitchen, crossed the apartment in his hurried shuffling gait, and handed a steaming mug to his wife.
”Anything more on Blue-Eyes?”
Zira took the mug and looked up at him sadly. “No, just the initial report to all citizens to be on the watch. Oh, Cornelius, I wonder if we did the right thing?”
Her husband looked around quickly, his face twitching with nervousness. “Yes, Zira, but let’s watch the news. Maybe there’ll be something diverting on.”
”Cornelius, I don’t want to be diverted. Well, oh, all right….”
Cornelius sank into his favorite chair and reached out to pat Zira comfortably. The screen suddenly showed a photograph of Zivius, the current sensation in the small but growing simian film industry.
".... Everyone's favorite, Zivius, has announced his next cinema project will be Nazrat of the Humanoids, from the best-selling book about an ape raised by a band of primitive humanoids to become the Lord of the Forbidden Zone. In an interview today, Citizen Zivius said he hopes that this will be just as great a success as his popular Apes of Wrath, last season's hit. He anticipates no trouble working with humanoids and says that their trainer has done remarkable work in preparing the tribe of beasts that for their roles....In other news, crop failure in Obmwa Province has brought new difficulties in..."
The newscaster hesitated, glanced offscreen, then took a sheet of paper handed to him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I've just been handed a late report," he said. "Everything possible is being done to apprehend the escaped humanoid beast reported earlier. General Urko, of the Ape Army, has given his personal assurance that the beast will be captured."
Zira's hand trembled and she sloshed her hot drink onto the floor near her chair. Cornelius grabbed for the mug but tried watching the screen.
"....Meanwhile," the broadcaster continued, "all non-essential simians are ordered to stay indoors. The curfew imposed on Ape City by Dr. Zaius remains in effect!"
"Damn!" Zira sighed.
"...And that's the news for tonight. Up next: an inspirational message from the Council of Elders. The title of tonight is 'The Need for a Brotherhood of Apes."
Music was beginning when Cornelius jumped up to turn the set off. He stood for a time, his back to Zira. At last, he turned, his worried eyes meeting those of his wife.
Zira was pulling at her fingers and her nose was twitching involuntarily. "Oh, Cornelius....do you think we did the right thing in letting Blue-Eyes go? I keep asking myself that question over and over. Maybe he is dangerous, maybe he will cause some harm to somebody. I just can't help thinking that we'll be held responsible if he does."
Cornelius knelt by his wife's chair and took her hands in his, stroking the fine fur on the back of them. "We did the right thing, Zira. There is no use going over and over it. We did what we had to do....the only thing we could do."
But he looked worried, so worried that Zira broke out of her own frenetic state and put a hand to his face, petting him, looking deeply into the familiar face.
"Even though they're only animals," she said softly, "humanoids have the same rights to live as we do."
Cornelius looked at his wife, sighing. "You feel that way. I feel that way. But General Urko and his gorillas don't think so. Neither does Dr. Zaius, though I suspect he has reasons of his own...." The chimpanzee scientist bit at his lip for a moment. "But killing for the sake of killing is wrong, Zira. Wrong. Whether Urko does it....or Blue-Eyes....."
The two scientists looked into each other's eyes with renewed worry while their hot drinks cooled and the searching troops rumbled through the night in jeeps, tanks, boats, and armored cars.
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The wind stirred the tall, dry grasses on the ridge, making them rustle and scrape together. Steve crept along on his belly, keeping his head low until he could see down the steep ridge at the prison stockade in the valley below. He studied it for a second or two, then motioned to Dan and Nova to join him.
The black airman and the mute humanoid came up fast, bending low, below the tops of the yellow-brown grass. Dan rested on his elbows a foot or so away and Nova rigged in between the two men.
”Looks like we lost ‘em,” Dan muttered, looking around carefully.
”Hope so,” Steve said with feeling.
They were silent for several minutes, studying the layout of the military post below. Wagon cages were lined up just inside the high stone walls of the compound and two of the Ape Army troop-transport trucks were parked nearby, devoid of their hairy passengers.
”This must be where they keep the humans they’re going to use in their war games,” Steve said, his voice tight with suppressed anger.
Dan nodded his head. “They’re dead meat, Steve.”
The white man looked at his co-pilot. “We’ll just see about that.”
Abruptly, they started to slide back from the top of the ridge when they saw a plume of dust on the road below. Waiting, they watched the cloud until it resolved itself as a jeep and driver with an officer in command. The vehicle came to a dusty halt before the gate, where two gorilla guards stood watch.
Steve and Dan strained their ears to hear what was being said, and were helped by the natural bellowing voices of the gorilla soldiers.
”Sentries,” the officer shouted, “you’re needed for search details.”
One of the gorilla guards relaxed from the posture of rigid attention he had been holding since the officer’s arrival. “With respect, sir, we’re the only guards. Here…”
”Don’t worry about those dumb beasts!”the officer growled. “They’re locked in for the night!”
Reluctantly, the guards climbed into the jeep, giving each other worried glances. The jeep made a fast turn and roared off in another cloud of dust.
Steve and Dan looked at each other and broke into wide grins.
”I was wondering how we were going to pull it off,” Dan said happily, “and they handed it to us on a silver platter!”
”Let’s not get too reckless, buddy. We’ll approach the stockade as carefully as if it was fully guarded.”
Sliding back from the crest of the ridge for a moment, the three got to their feet.
”Besides,” Steve said, “they may have meant only the guards on duty outside!”i
The two pilots, along with a scared but willing Nova, skirted the hill and approached the stockade on a blind side, away from the gate. Steve and Dan slipped around the corner of the stone wall to peer over at the gate; Nova stayed hidden.
They noted that the gate was made of thick timbers, bound by metal bands and studded with great bolts. It was secured on the outside by a heavy steel bar laid horizontally across it, anchored in thick wooden brackets.
Steve now signaled to Dan, just behind him, and they dashed to the gate to throw all their weight and strength into raising the heavy crossbeam. Their muscles bulged and strained and Steve grunted, “Those damn gorillas must be awfully strong to handle a thing like this without help!”
”Shut up and lift!” Steve gasped.
The heavy steel bar slowly rose, then slipped suddenly out of their grasp and down again. But it was held now only by one of the brackets in the stone buttresses that flanked the gate. With a few more heaves, Steve and Dan had slid the heavy bar free.
Their fingers quickly pried at the middle crack between the two halves of the massive gate, pulling at it with all their strength.
”Just a little more, Dan,” Steve said, straining hard.
”We’ll make it!”
The doors creaked open enough to permit Steve to stick his head through. He spotted no one, and they shoved the gate open still more.
”Go!” Dan urged.
Nova ran up to them, looking inside with anxious fear. Then the three of them cautiously entered the compound.
”Those must be the quarters for the guards,” Dan said, pointing at a barracks set into the wall of the prison.
”And that,” Steve said, pointing at a two-story stone structure with barred windows that ran across the back of the compound, “must be where the prisoners are!”
They sped across the hard-packed earth of the prison yard and up to the single door of the cell block. It was a steel door, well-reinforced, with a large keyhole but no handle or knob.
”It’s locked!” Steve croaked, pushing at it.
He hooked a finger into the keyhole and pulled, but the door was solidly locked.
”Let’s find the keys!” Steve ordered, and they ran back to the barracks.
But their frantic searching produced nothing.
”Looks like they took the keys with them,” Dan said angrily, striking the fender of one of the trucks outside the barracks. “No wonder they didn’t mind walking off and leaving them here!”
Steve was meanwhile looking around the enclosure. He walked back to the prison door and eyed the keyhole a moment; then he said to Dan, “Let’s find a chain, something that’d go through that big keyhole. And a steel bar of some kind. I got an idea.” Several more minutes of searching produced a heavy tow chair from one of the trucks and a tire-changing tool from other other. Though not that big, together they were too big to go through the keyhole.
”We’ll look for something else!” Steve said and the search resumed.
”Work fast! They might come back,” Dan said, “or some new ones could come along!”
”This might work!” Steve exclaimed, dragging a smaller chain out of the carpenter’s shop at one side of the compound.
Steve took the tire iron and slipped the iron through an end link of the chain, bending the chain to lie along the tire iron, then started stuffing the apparatus into the keyhole.
”It’s a tight fit,” he said, “but. It’s working!”
”I’ll back up a truck,” Dan said. He had quickly grasped what his captain was trying to do.
Steve had got the chain and tire iron partly through the huge keyhole, still holding the tip of the rod. Then he took a deep breath and gave the rod a final shove so that it went all the way through, pulling the chain after it. Quickly he yanked the chain back. He heard a clang and held the chain taut. The tire iron formed a T-bar with the chain inside the door. Steve watched as Dan backed the truck up to the prison door, then shouted a halt.
Dan ran around to the back and Steve advised him, “You fasten it on. I’ve got to maintain a pressure or that iron bar will slip through and drop.”
”Right,” Dan replied, scooping up the loose part of the chain and bending to fasten it to the rear bumper of the troop-transport truck.
As Dan was fastening the chain, Steve scanned the barred windows of the cell block. Grimy hands and confused faces crowded every window.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1vioTDZEx
Dan was finally ready. He sprinted around the truck and hopped into the driver's seat. 25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIe1FfrlgkS
"Let it out easy," Steve shouted as the truck began inching forward. "Easy....Easy....When the chain grew taut, Steve cried out, "Okay! Hold it!" He ran over to Nova and hugged her in his arms, leading her behind a second truck. "Let 'er rip!" he shouted to Dan.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUl1uXKXvwk
The big truck ground into low gear and started forward. The big wheels spun at first, and there was the whine of tortured metal. The knobbed military wheels dug smoky ruts into the hard-packed surface of the prison yard. The big engine raced frantically and dust obscured Steve's vision of the cell-block door. Then he heard the slow scream of ripping metal and the snap-pop of breaking stone. At the sound of a loud crash, the truck lurched ahead, stalled, and stopped. The door lay bent and battered against the back bumper of the truck, and bits of broken stone from the door casing littered the yard.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgb94pTKaFs
Steve let out a cry of triumph and Dan leaped down from the cab of the truck with a big grin on his face.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnusW1tDO6b
"Burton and Erickson, jailbreakers par excellence! " Dan said with a smile. 25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6hk4XKSJZD
Disconnecting the chain and prison door from the truck's bumper, the two astronauts leapfrogged the stone fragments over to the shattered prison entrance. Peering into the dark, dusty interior, they saw frightened humanoid faces.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡogqmcj02L1
But getting the humanoids to leave their prison was no easy task. Even with Nova helping, Steve had a hard time persuading most of them to come out. They stared at him, questioned his talking mouth, and retreated to hug each other.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEA7CVbWgae
The sight of the terrified dumb creatures---who looked so human---horrified Steve. He was nevertheless determined to get them out of bondage. Forced to shout at and pummel the slower ones, he at length managed to clear out the whole cell block.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VBfoj4CN0
Dan was herding them into the two trucks when Steve and Nova emerged at last.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc5djIasQsp
"That's the lot," Steve said. He started shoving the last of the frightened creatures into the trucks.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEg2FQc7F70
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General Urko's jeep roared over a hill and screeched to a halt next to an officer who, from the comfort of a shade tree, was observing his men scour a field. The officer came to rigid attention, saluted, and started to report.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUevhfeK6B
"General Urko, there's nothing in this sector to...."25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmyxHjIG0ui
However, the general's radio buzzed just then, and the frowning commander snatched up the receiver before his aide could get to it.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5BpSz7yhK
"Urko here! What is it?" The heavy-set gorilla leader's face turned ugly as he listened; then he blew up. "What do you mean, the beast has got clean away? Are you telling me one stupid humanoid escaped my whole army!?" He paused a few seconds, listening, then bellowed into the radiophone, "Well, find him! Do you hear me? That's an order!"25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv1Knv6Hlf8
Urko slammed the radiophone into its cradle and sat down abruptly. The driver was looking warily at him as the beefy field officer motioned him to go ahead. The jeep ground into gear with an ear-grating clash and roared off down the hill.25Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpohxJV0PGG
