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Steve lay on his bunk, his arm across his face to cut out the ever-present light that hung in a wire cage in the center of the cell's ceiling.
"What do you think Mendez did to Barry?" he asked.
Dan who was sitting on the edge of his bunk, looked over at his blond friend. "Some sort of 'mind control,' I expect. God only knows how he does it, though. Drugs, maybe..."
"We've got to get the passengers out of here, Barry first," Steve's voice was determined.
Dan, staring at the floor blankly, but his mind working in deep concentration, answered, "But first we've gotta get us out."
"You will never escape the Below World!"
The new voice, coming from beyond their cell door, startled both astronauts. They had been so deep into thoughts of escape that they hadn't heard the virtually silent approach of the robed figures who now stood outside. Dan jerked his head around and Steve sat up on his elbows.
"Nobody ever has," one of the white-robed figures said in a hollow voice. "No one. No one ever will...." Steve and Dan looked at the two figures, trying to think of something to say, but the Underfolkers turned and left.
"Must've been checking on us," said Dan.
"I think that's just some kind of psychological number they laid on us to keep us from trying. It'd make their job easier if prisoners never tried to get out." Steve sat up and put his feet on the floor. "But it was certainly discouraging."
"Well, they've got us pretty good," Dan admitted, gesturing all around them. "Solid rock---God only knows how thick!---all around us in every direction, and a Flash Gordon zapper on the door. I'd say Mendez was fairly straight with us: I don't think you get out of here unless they let you."
Steve shook his head. "You disappoint me, Dan. I thought surely you had a lockpick hidden in one boot heel and a disguise kit in the other. Next time, I'm going to pick a more resourceful companion to take on my adventures."
Dan grinned at him. "Okay, hero, you get us out! Reach right through that force field or disintegrator net or whatever it is and overpower the guards. If you were a real hero, you'd do it in three moves."
Steve nodded. "You're right, but I never got Lesson Ten in my mail-order 'Hero Course.' That was the one about how to get out of high-security cells run by the bad buys. Lost in the mail, I guess."
"Do you want to be dubbed an 'underachiever'?" Steve asked. "Improvise! Use these lumpy mattresses and my belt buckle and make us a geodesic unilateral matter converter that'll let us walk right through the walls."
"No can do," Steve said. "Corporate told me there were some things man wasn't meant to know. Lumpy mattresses were high on the list, I remember that clearly. Right after 'How does the refrigerator light know when to come on?" He shook his head. "No, I pass the hero bit over to you, ole buddy. It's time you black guys had a shot at heroing."
Dan grinned and started to return Steve's quip when he heard a noise in the passage leading to their cell. He cautioned Steve with a gesture as they waited expectantly.
A robed figure glided into the light that spilled into the passage from their cell. It was a blue robe, and both pilots jumped to their feet as they realized it was Barry.
"Barry!" Dan whispered fiercely.
"I'm come to let you go," he said in a low voice, glancing back over his shoulder as both men moved toward the doorway.
"Barry, what happened to you?" Steve asked. "You were---well, like you were hypnotized."
Barry flashed him a quick smile. Then he looked at Dan. "Chipper's dog tag did wake me up. But I had to pretend to stay Baruk......or Mendez would've noticed."
"But you're all right now?" Dan asked anxiously.
"Yes, but Mendez's power is very strong." He looked again over his shoulder, his expression worried. "Sometimes.... I...."
Steve leaned toward him, dangerously close to the invisible force field of the door. "Barry! What is it?"
He stared at them, anxiously, but gave them a quick, reassuring smile. "It's nothing!" His manner then became all business. "I'll disrupt the main power source so the force field here will break."
"How will we know?" Dan asked.
"The lights here will dim."
He turned to leave, and Steve called after him. "Barry!" He turned back to look at them. "Careful, son."
He nodded and pointed at the door. "Remember, when the lights dim it's safe to come through."
Dan's eyes widened as a sudden realization struck him. "Wait a minute—what about the others? The rest of the passengers, still in those glass tubes? Are they going to be freed, or are they just going to be left there? And if they are freed..., where do we all meet?"
"They'll be freed. Don’t worry. They’ll be waiting for us in the subway tunnel, at the station above." He hesitated, then added, "It’ll be easier for me to go straight there than to come back here first."
"All right, but don't take any unnecessary risks," Steve called after him as he disappeared down the passage.
"Good luck!" Steve said, but he was gone.
The two men looked at each other, their faces hard and worried, all traces of levity gone.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzfjDzTBga
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Barry pulled the hood close around his face, then pressed the button that opened the door into the central converter room. No one seemed to pay attention to him as he walked in. With lowered head, and each arm tucked in the opposite sleeve in the approved manner, the young boy from the 20th Century walked diagonally across the vast room to the elevator, entered it, and rose to the highest level. He walked quickly across the platform where the hatch from the subway tunnel opened into a red-lit room and then the cavern.
Prying loose a rather large chunk of rock from the rough-cut wall, he carried it laboriously out onto the catwalk. Looking over the edge, he positioned herself almost directly over the miniature of the huge atmospheric collector that drank from the desert air. Taking aim and holding his breath, he threw the rock down.
A startled figure on a lower level caught the movement and cried out, "What are you doing?!"
But the chunk of stone was hurtling toward the multi-tiered converter far down below.
The man who'd spotted him shouted, "No!" in an agonized voice.
Unfortunately, the rock missed the converter and bounced once to fall against the base of the huge transformer nearby. Barry bit at his lip and turned to run toward the rock wall to obtain a second missile. He heard the elevator start up and cursed himself for forgetting to lock it off at his level until he had destroyed the atmospheric collector.
His fingers tugged at a second stone outcropping, the sharp edges cutting his fingers, but the rock was too firmly attached. He looked over his shoulder, saw the elevator stop at a lower catwalk, where several white-and-orange robed men were crowding around it.
After renewing his fruitless efforts to loosen the new rock, he desperately tugged at another rough outcropping. He could now hear the elevator rising, pick the humming of its machinery out of the myriad noises of the big echoing cavern. He also heard shouts on the floor far below, commands to somehow protect the delicate mechanism of the converter from falling rock.
Almost crying in desperate effort to loosen the third rock, Barry lurched back from the wall, his eyes searching for something else to use.
And then he saw a hinged cage alongside the railing that surrounded the railing that surrounded the platform. It was sometimes used to lower loads brought in by way of the subway tunnel which were too heavy to carry across the catwalk.
His feet rang on the metal grating, and he heard several of the adults cry out and start running faster from the far side of the walk. Reaching the middle, he heaved the cage up onto the railing and positioned it over the dish far below.
"Don't!"
"Stop! You know not what you do!"
Ignoring their voices and knowing he had only this one chance, Barry took careful aim. Estimating the weight of the cage and how far out the dish was from directly below her, Barry gave the metal-mesh cube a shove.
There came a gasp from the men running toward him and they stopped to grasp the railing, staring with horror as the cage tumbled toward the priceless converter.
It clattered into the energy converter with a sharp impact, and for a moment, time seemed to slow. The converter, a multi-tiered marvel of Underfolk technology, was composed of concentric rings of glowing, crystalline panels. The stone ricocheted off the innermost tier, its impact echoing as it bounced onto the next layer—a shimmering band that pulsed with energy. With each rebound, the stone gained momentum, striking successive tiers that glowed more intensely until it finally smashed into the outer extremities, shattering the delicate latticework of the converter. In an instant, the entire unit convulsed; sparks flared, and a cacophony of metallic screeches filled the air as the structure began to crumble, its once-precise design dissolving into chaos and ruin.
The figures near Barry on the catwalk were horrified and tried to run back to the elevator, their faces white with shock. Alarms were ringing and the cavern lights flickered. One of the machines shorted and arced across the floor, biting another, and Barry heard a scream as someone was knocked out or killed by an electric shock.
The men who had at first tried to stop him seemed now to have forgotten Barry entirely as they crowded back into the elevator. Below, flashing lights on the control panels warned of serious trouble in the Below World, and a large light started blinking, red, red, red, red....26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwALPIE8D3
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The command jeep tore across the dusty ground, its tires spitting up a cloud of dirt and gravel as it skidded to a jarring halt. The gorilla troops, who had moments ago been kneeling in solemn reverence before the great statue of the Lawgiver, froze in place, their expressions shifting from pious devotion to wide-eyed shock. Murmurs of confusion rippled through the ranks as the sudden intrusion shattered the ceremony’s sanctity. General Urko shot to his feet, his heavy boots scraping against the metal floor of the jeep. With a swift, practiced motion, he yanked his field glasses up to his face, his thick fingers tightening around them as he scanned the horizon. His breath came in short, angry bursts as his sharp eyes took in the unfolding disaster. Then, with a deep, guttural growl, he spat out a furious oath. “By the Lawgiver’s beard—what treachery is this?!”
Captain Sovak raised his own field glasses, his brow furrowing as he focused on the bizarre, impossible sight before him. The massive statue of the Lawgiver—so solid, so eternal—wavered as though caught in a heat mirage, its form flickering in and out of existence. One moment, it loomed over them in all its solemn grandeur, and the next, it seemed to dissolve into the desolate landscape beyond.
Sovak’s grip tightened on the binoculars as the very ground itself appeared to waver. The ruins, the cracked earth, the jagged remnants of the world that had always been—gone in a blink, then back again. His breath caught in his throat as he struggled to comprehend what he was seeing. Was the land itself an illusion? Was the Lawgiver even real? His hands trembled slightly as he lowered the glasses, turning to his commander, but before he could find the words, Urko’s guttural snarl cut through the stunned silence.
"That way! There it is! An entrance to the Below World." He waved at the column of vehicles. "Forward! Captain, keep your eye on that spot! It's our path to the Underfolk!"
The jeep slammed into gear and shot off in a cloud of choking dust. The column of trucks and tanks that were in the general's section roared after him.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSD3qgOSR2w
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When the lights dimmed, Steve and Dan were ready. To be sure, Dan threw several stones through the doorway; they fell outside in the passage with a clatter.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFfMInVrJ8
"He did it!" Steve yelled. "Let's go!"
The two pilots leaped through the doorway and into the dimness of the passage, turning toward where they believed the cavern exit was located. Sprinting along the rock passage, they skidded to a halt when they found they had come to a section they did not recognize.
"That last turn!" Steve gasped. "Back to it!"
They turned and ran back swiftly, nearly colliding with three robed figures running from the opposite direction.
Without a moment's hesitation, Dan gave the first man an uppercut that staggered him. Steve threw a punch into the belly of the second white-robed figure, then kicked at the kneecap of the third. Dan then gave his adversary a fast left and a hard right hook, and the man staggered and fell heavily. Steve had already sent the second man reeling so hard that his head struck the rock wall, and he fell, dazed. Both Steve and Dan punched the third man into unconsciousness, then stood breathing hard.
"Come on!" Steve said, tugging at Dan's arm.
"No," gasped the black pilot. "Let's use their robes!"
"Gotcha!" Steve agreed and quickly started stripping a robe off one of the men. In moments the two pilots were tugging the garments down over their heads and pulling the hoods and inner head caps around their faces.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnfoyy2b4or
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The council room was a cavernous chamber carved from the ancient bedrock of the Underworld, its vaulted ceiling lost in the dim glow of recessed luminescence. Massive pillars, their surfaces etched with symbols of forgotten knowledge, lined the chamber like silent sentinels. A circular table of polished black stone sat at the room’s center, its smooth surface reflecting the flickering light of votive flames burning in iron sconces. The air was heavy with incense, curling in ghostly tendrils from braziers placed at equal intervals around the room’s perimeter.
Mendez sat at the head of the table, his dark robes draped heavily over his thin frame, fingers steepled in deep contemplation. To his right, Albina stood with an air of regal confidence, her pristine white robe flowing in perfect contrast to the rich violet plumes adorning her hood. Her pale hands were folded before her, but her piercing gaze—sharp and inquisitive—missed nothing. Across from her, the Negro, his face severe and his broad shoulders squared, listened in silence, his own robe—deep crimson—pooling around his seat like drying blood. The Fat Man, his corpulent form nearly filling his chair, shifted uncomfortably, dabbing at his forehead with a trembling hand. His robe, a shade of dark umber, clung to his round frame, the fabric strained at the seams.
The heavy doors groaned open, and a robed acolyte entered, bowing low before addressing the council. His voice trembled with urgency, the terrible words of his report hanging in the air.
Mendez's face was flaring with anger, and he brushed past the acolyte to active one of the plastic screens. It slid smoothly upward, exposing a control panel.
Albina's eyes narrowed as she watched Mendez at the exposed control panel. Her voice was measured but firm. "Mendez, what are doing? The power is failing---we must act before all is lost."
"First we must determine if the external defenses are in danger," he said. "Then we will deal with the internal problems."
Mendez pressed a button marked SITUATION, which keyed his remote panel to the main defense controls. At once, one four screens before him lit up and at that moment an alarm started to sound.
Impatiently, he cut off the alarm and studied the picture before him. Dialing for the hidden cameras to magnify, he then tracked what he saw.
The dimly lit council chamber was silent except for the soft hum of machinery. The four figures stood in a semicircle, their pale robes catching the flickering glow of the monitor. On the largest screen, the motorized column of the Ape Army sped forward, kicking up clouds of dust as they roared toward the seemingly barren hillside. Jeeps and armored carriers jostled for position, their mounted guns glinting ominously in the dim light.
Mendez, his expression unreadable, reached out and pressed a cluster of worn buttons on the console before him. Another screen flared to life, showing a different angle of the same scene—a higher vantage point revealing the disciplined advance of Urko’s forces, the gleam of their helmets, the rhythmic churn of their war machines.
“The crevice is deep, the path is narrow," Black Man said grimly. "If they do not know it is there, some of their machines will surely tumble in. It may delay them… but not for long.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QU6Prw9FT
Fat Man shook his head, uneasy. “Delay them, yes. Stop them? No. The gorillas are beasts with the scent of blood in their nostrils. They will find a way across, no matter the cost.”26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiGEUWn8dML
Mendez now snapped off the screens and turned quickly as the plastic screen slid down to cover the controls.
"Our defenses against the Above World are in danger!" He pointed out the door. "Prepare the Chair of Power!"
Albina narrowed her eyes. "Mendez, you risk too much!" she said in a sharp voice. "The Chair is not some idle relic---it drains as much as it grants! If you miscalculate, it will take your life!"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDOH8WTtg9k
Black Man crossed his arms. "The power surge could destabilize everything we have built," he said grimly. "If the conduits fail, our entire world could collapse around us!"
Fat Man, his voice trembling, sweat beading on his brow, said, "Even if you survive, what then? That kind of power leaves a mark---on the body, on the mind. You may not be the same when you rise from it....if you rise at all!"
Mendez pushed by them, striding out the door and down the rock passage. "I can sustain the defenses for a short time, he said to the two who followed. "At least until repairs are made. We must prevent the apes from finding that faulty mirage door. Hurry! Prepare the Chair!"
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