Land of the Apes. - Around the Bend

A very angry General Urko returned from Shadowspine Pass to his still-smoking Strategic Defense Headquarters. Immediately, he had his officers assemble all the soldiers in the stronghold. They formed four long lines before him and stood at rigid attention.

The bulky general paced back and forth in front of his troops, mumbling sometimes to himself, sometimes shouting to his men or to his officers.

"It was no humanoid, blue-eyed or otherwise, who stole that truck, and carted away my humanoids! It was a renegade gorilla---some traitor to apekind! ----who stole that truck. And who stole my sky craft!"

Urko stopped, turning toward the ranks of black furred, black-leather-uniformed gorillas. His bloodshot eyes swept over them viciously.

"Never have I been so humiliated!" he continued, slamming one leather-gloved fist into the other. "And to think, there I was---on the brink of total power! Total control of Apedom!" The big gorilla then pointed a finger at a nearby group of wary officers. "I want the air machine returned, do you understand? I demand that it be recaptured at once!"

Colonel Telfar twitched. "We're---we're doing the best we can, sir..."

"No! That doesn't cut it with me, colonel!"

"But sir," Major Lothian whined, "you can't track a flying machine! Where do we start looking?"

"We have patrols everywhere, general," Colonel Telfar added.

"We are doing the best we can," another major whimpered.

"Your best just isn't good enough! How do you explain allowing the flying machine to be stolen from under your noses in the first place?"

"We're narrowing down our list of suspects, sir," Colonel Telfar said nervously. "Generals on a rampage frightened him, and General Urko on a rampage was especially frightening. I'd rather go into combat, he thought.

"To me, you're all suspects!" Urko roared. "How do I know it wasn't one of you who betrayed me?"

"Sir, why would we do that?" Major Lothian asked nervously. "We're on your side, sir---and the side of, uh, you know, gorillas, and, uh, apes in general, general."

Urko ignored him. "This entire mess reeks of an inside job! After all, the existence of the air vehicle was classified information. Officially, it didn't even exist!"

Colonel Telfar cleared his throat. "Um, sir....sir....Well, someone on the outside must've found out about it!"

Urko growled. "I want an immediate review of all security protocols! And I hereby offer a reward to the patriotic ape who turns in the guilty party!"

Nobody said anything.

He's tearing us apart! thought Telfar. If it ISN'T one of us, then this spying on each other will tear us apart, anyway! Telfar had been one of the battered officers who had heard Zaius talk about not being fit to command. He had resented it then. But now the first cracks in his old convictions were beginning to show. And he himself felt some disloyalty to his general.

Colonel Telfar spoke up. "The army is ready, sir! All units have been alerted and are prepared to march!"

Urko slammed his hand down on the fragile table. "Good! What I need is a stunning victory to restore my reputation as a military genius!"

"We understand, sir," Major Lothian added quickly.

“We’ll search every one of the humanoid beasts’ lairs,” Urko said loudly, his voice filled with menace. “And if they’re hiding the culprit—or culprits—I’ll see to it they’re punished with them. All of them!"

"Yes, sir!" the officers chorused.

"All right," Urko barked. "Signal the troops to move out according to Plan A!"276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUzsWxzjDg
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It was dark, but the moon had not yet appeared on this second day of their trip. Steve Burton crept along the riverbank and slid into the cold water with almost no noise. He waded to where Dan and Betty held the raft steady by poles stuck into the river mud. Barry sat cross-legged near the front of the raft, close to the stacked supplies, absently tracing circles on the rough bark with one finger as he kept glancing toward the riverbanks. Valerie was just behind him, seated on a rolled bundle of blankets, her arms resting loosely around her knees as she watched the passing landscape in silence. Fitzhugh stood dramatically near the center, one foot propped on a crate, scanning the shoreline with exaggerated intensity—his “laser” clutched in both hands like a ceremonial sword. Every so often, he adjusted his stance, as if preparing to deliver a speech no one had asked for. At the rear of the raft, Mark gripped the tiller, his eyes locked ahead. He shifted his weight occasionally to counter the raft’s drift, quietly focused, letting the others talk while he kept the awkward craft moving steady and straight down the winding river.

Just minutes before, Steve had caught the faintest glow flickering across the treetops—an unnatural, amber shimmer that pulsed against the dusk-darkened sky. It wasn’t moonlight or fireflies. It was fire—controlled, steady, and high. A camp. And given the tension in the air and the recent patrol sightings, there was no doubt in his mind: it had to be the Ape Army. He leaned in close to Dan, lowering his voice to a near whisper, lips barely brushing his ear. “We’ll go on—but quietly. The gorillas have a camp just over the hump. On the right, so shove out and get as far to the other side of the river as possible.”

Dan nodded once and moved toward the pole without a word. Steve crept back to the rear of the raft, crouched beside Mark, and tapped him twice on the shoulder. Mark glanced up, and Steve gave a subtle hand signal—cut left, stay silent. Mark immediately adjusted the tiller, angling the raft toward the far bank.

Steve dropped into a crouch beside the cargo, one hand resting lightly on the raft’s bark surface. The creaking of the wood beneath them, the whisper of water sliding past—every sound seemed louder now. The current took hold again, pulling them gently forward. The castaways moved like shadows, not speaking, hardly daring to breathe, as the raft slipped farther downstream—silently drifting past danger they could feel but not yet see.

Quietly and with agonizing slowness, paddling and poling their way noiselessly over to the opposite side of the river, the rafts moved on. As the river curved, they saw the campfire plainly. Five or six gorilla soldiers were standing or sitting around it, and Steve could make out the oblong shapes of at least that many more wrapped in their sleeping bags. Little pyramids of stacked M-16s stood close at hand. A raucous burst of laughter rang out as one of the apes took a good-natured swing at a fellow soldier.

The raft drifted slowly by the gorilla encampment, and Steve all but held his breath. Even with Fitz's laser they might not wind, if the well-trained troops were to discover them and open fire with all their armament.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvVhl8k8ItX
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Decius lay huddled in his sleeping bag, well away from the others. But he couldn't sleep: the voices of his fellow soldiers penetrated, even though he pulled the bag up around his ears. His part-chimpanzee blood was revolted by the lack of consideration the gorilla troopers showed anyone who wanted to sleep.

Ligon was retelling the story of his most recent drunken binge from the umpteenth time! That'd undoubtedly stimulate Kor into telling his dull little tale about the bloody encounter with a leopard, from which he emerged victorious! Or Ubar would talk about his nights, winning, at the casino gambling tables in Chalo.

Decius sighed. Soldiering was so dreary---the same thing day after day. Even this chase they were on for the past few days, hunting for humanoids, was monotonous. Of course, that one time---when he found the strange firing device among the rocks in the Forbidden Zone---that time was glorious! But he was now sure he'd never gotten credit for the discovery. If Ligon or Ubar or Kor had found it---or even my sole gorilla friend, Ooka----they would have been given a medal! But not me, Decius mourned, not me! And just because I've got a few drops of chimpanzee blood in me. Just a few insignificant drops! And I really don't even look that different from the o ther soldiers!

Decius turned over restlessly, facing the river. Sometimes, he thought, I'd just like to float away---like that flotsam out there on the river---disappear downstream and never come back. I might, perchance, go to some far land to the south, or west, someplace that hasn't been explored yet. I can see myself tramping through the jungle and meeting some other great explorer who's come from the opposite side of the world. "Dr. Livvo, I presume," I say as we meet. And he reaches out to shake my hand. We've charted a continent!

Or, he sighed again, more deeply, maybe in some foreign land I might meet a beautiful simian princess! An ape-enchantress with the softest fur and the nicest leathery lips. And she might believe me to be the greatest ape in the world! As Mama always said, "Behind every successful ape lies a female ape." Unless it might be more peaceful for me if I found a lost city with countless old books. I could sit around reading them, and listening to the birds make music among the ruins of ancient buildings.

Like those pieces of wood floating on the river out there, my life would just go on peacefully undisturbed, and I wouldn't ever have to worry myself about humanoids or General Urko or Sergeant Brutus....276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiK8T3tT6ts
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Dripping wet, Steve pulled himself onto the raft. "We slipped by them," he said as Dan arrived, "but if it hadn't been night and if you hadn't seen the reflection of their campfire..." The blonde aviator let the sentence hang in the air, the unspoken consequences heavy between them.

"Everyone will have to stay alert," Steve said. "We can't do any better than that."

The raft sailed down the murmuring river while the castaways debated traveling at night.

"It's risky, but then so is day sailing," Mark said.

"But rocks, rapids, sunken snags... And the next gorilla camp might have no fire to warn us, and a more alert guard." Steve's voice held a note of worry.

Dan shrugged. "If we get too cautious, the ape forces might catch up, and then where are we...?"

Steve nodded in agreement. "Night sailing and day sailing are both evils, but night sailing is the lesser of the two, I guess."

Dan grinned at his shipmate in the dark. "Okay, Philosopher First Class, for that you get the watch. Wake me up after the moon is up!"

Steve climbed to the top of the pile-of-baskets and skin bags. He checked to see that Valerie, who was helmsman, hadn't fallen asleep before he settled down. Now his blue eyes continuously scanned both sides of the river.

Where are we going? he wondered. What's going to happen to us?276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOCYWo0hhj

The raft drifted on, carried by the gurgle and swirl of the river, drifting into the unknown.276Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMDsBCpOnqZ

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