Land of the Apes. - Steve Burton Escapes

The distant sirens brought a halt to the questions that Zira had begun tossing at Steve Burton. Her head went up and her nose twitched.

"Cornelius!"

"Yes, dear?" He was beginning to regain his composure.

"See if the guards are out there. In particular, see if there's anyone beyond that door!"

Cornelius trotted away and returned in a moment. He shook his head. "Yes, I fear one of them was listening. They do that," he said to Steve. "They are spies as well as guards and assistants." He shook his head in disgust. "Brutal oafs!"

"Never mind that!" Zira said.

She was unlocking the door of Steve's cage, and Cornelius jumped to stop her.

"Zira! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to let him go, that's what I'm doing, Cornelius. Now let me do it!"

"But, Zira....! He wrestled with her briefly. "Maybe we should leave him for...."

"No!"

His wife's fiery retort was too much for Cornelius and he stepped back. Zira completed the unlocking and Steve shoved open the cell door before they might change their minds.

As the 20th century man jumped out of the cage he asked, "What's all the racket out there?"

"I'm afraid the sentry must have heard you speak and went to report it to Zaius." She bit her lip. "They hate the idea of a humanoid with any kind of intelligence at all! They're coming to kill you!"

"You don't know that, Zira!" Cornelius said.

She turned to him. "Oh? And what do you think they'll do when they find out Blue-Eyes can talk?"

Cornelius blinked his eyes several times and then nodded. "You're right, of course." He sighed. "Well, there's only one thing to do." He started running to the back of the zoo-like laboratory. Then, stopping his shuffling pace, he looked back at them. "Well, come on!' he said.

Steve and Zira scampered after him. They ran past empty cages and into another room with more cages, except that these contained five humanoids----part of the recent allotment that had been given to Zira and Cornelius.

The ape scientist kept running, but Steve stopped to unlock the cages.

Zira grasped his arm. "No! No!"

"They're humans like me!" he said, fumbling with the strange lock.

"No, they are not like you! The authorities are only after you, Blue-Eyes! These humanoids will be safe with us! If you release them, they will be escapees and will be run down and killed without mercy!" She tugged hard at him. "You would be the case of their death!"

Steve stopped trying to open the cages. The humanoids were cowering against the bars at the back, their eyes big at the sight and sound of a being like themselves who talked and who even seemed ready to defy an ape master.

"Will they really be safe here?" he asked.

Zira nodded. "Yes, yes! Now come on! We don't have much time! The soldiers will be here in moments!" She handed him his caveman furs.

With a final glance at the cringing humanoids, Steve started running after Cornelius, who was waiting at a door. With Zira urging him on, Steve ran to it and, following Cornelius through, crossed a darkened storage room to where a ladder led up to a trapdoor that opened out on the laboratory's roof.

"Hurry!" Cornelius cried. "They're getting closer!"

"Up the ladder!" Zira commanded.

"This is the only escape route I can think of," Cornelius said. "Go up to the roof. You might be able to get away from there. A heavy power cable runs to a pole hidden in the trees to the north of the lab. The pole is well insulated. Maybe you can crawl away that way."

Steve hesitated. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Zira asked.

"Endangering yourselves by helping me get away."

Cornelius glanced at Zira, who was pushing at Steve. "I---we're not really sure. But---I somehow feel that killing you is wrong," he said.

"Of course it's wrong! He's intelligent! He talks! Now get up that ladder, Blue-Eyes!"

"What about you two?" Steve asked.

"Don't worry about us," Cornelius told him. "We'll think of something...."

"And the sooner you get up and away, the sooner we can start thinking of that something," Zira said, pushing at Steve.

"Till we meet again," Steve quirked.

"Maybe," Cornelius murmured, his ears cocked now for the sound of vehicles and the muted shouts of order-givers.

"I'm sure we will, Blue-Eyes," Zira said, her voice suddenly soft. "I'm positive we will. Now, off with you!"

Steve began a rapid climb to the roof. He looked down once, but the two simian scientists were gone. As he unlatched and threw back the trapdoor, he heard the loud sound of sirens and the rumble of heavy vehicles, and already advance soldiers were marching along the street.

Steve waited no longer. He slid back from the edge, rose, and ran toward the other side, bent so as to give as little a silhouette against the starry night as possible.

He hunted along the edge of the building for the cable the chimpanzee scientists had mentioned but could not find it. And suddenly he heard trucks arriving, their brakes squealing as the vehicles came to a halt. He pulled his furs over the T-shirt and trousers.

"Surround the building! Amos, take your men that way!"

The orders were brisk, but the words only a bit muffled by the bulk of the building between Steve and the troopers.

He hastily scouted along the edge of the roof once more and suddenly saw the cable. It entered the building several feet below the roof's edge, which was why he had missed it. Bill slid his legs quickly off the edge of the building, his feet searching for the cable.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ZBuEr9Joq
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On the other side of the laboratory building, Dr. Zaius and the Elders arrived in a cloud of dust, climbing down from the two jeeps they'd commandeered. They were quickly surrounded by a cordon of gorilla soldiers.

Zaius pointed at the lab. "Hurry! Into the lab!"

A flying wedge of massive apes ran ahead of Zaius, smashing the heavy wooden front door of the behavioral studies lab, then standing aside as ZAius and the Elders entered.

The council hurried through the outer rooms and into the main lab quickly, but Zaius stopped just inside its door.

Stunned, his voice sounded sick as he groaned, "Oh, no!"

The Elders crowded in behind him and several of the gorilla soldiers shouldered past them. But Zaius only looked at the cage that had contained the humanoid Blue-Eyes only a short time before.

Its door was locked and inside, pretending unconsciousness, lay Zira and Cornelius.

Zaius went to the cage, grasping the black steel bars, and groaned again. "The humanoid beast has overpowered them and escaped!"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJv6dgcK8I
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Steve's foot touched the thick cable, and he lowered himself carefully, holding onto the slippery edge of the roof. Then, feeling for the cable with one hand, he finally let go the roof and grabbed at the cable beneath him with both hands as he lost his balance. But his grip was good. He held on as his body swung into the darkness and the sudden full weight almost pulled his arms out of their sockets.

He swayed for a moment, then started going hand over hand quickly along the cable. His head snapped around as he heard a squad of gorilla soldiers approaching the corner of the building, but he had no option except to continue and he gave that his full attention.

"Hey, sergeant, it's dark back here!" one soldier complained sullenly. "How 'bout some light?"

"Shut up, Waco. Spread out along here, men. Keep in sight of one another."

"How are we gonna do that, sergeant, when we can't see anything?"

"There'll be some lights here in a minute. Just spread out and shut up. Listen for that blasted humanoid. He might try to get away from the roof."

The gorilla sergeant looked up, scanning the dark roofline, squinting his beady eyes to see better. The side of the big building was dark, and the noncom did not see the now quivering cable that stretched into the night away from the structure. Furthermore, with all the noise of truck sand tanks and the shouted orders of his officers, he could not hear Steve moving along toward the support pole hidden off in the trees. And Steve was moving as fast as he could.

By the time the sergeant had secured the perimeter of the lab and had looked off into the darkness of the trees and brush beyond, Steve was sliding quietly down the power pole into the security of the thick brush.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQtioSD0Ab
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The lab interior was filled with buzzing and agitated simians of all kinds, from the orangutan Elders to sullen and suspicious gorilla soldiers and chimpanzee reporters. Several of the reporters were interrogating Zira and Cornelius, who'd pretended to come dizzily out of consciousness.

"How did this humanoid escape?"

"Did he have accomplices?"

"Do you think this signifies a general revolution of the beasts?"

"Was there anything odd about this particular humanoid, Dr. Cornelius?"

Cornelius swayed, holding a hand to his head. "Wha---? Where....Who are you? Zira, what happened?"

"Dr. Zira, what is the significance of this escape?" one reporter asked.

"Why are the Elders so concerned?" another inquired.

"There must be something odd about this humanoid to bring out the whole militia. C'mon, doc, spill it!"

"Robmat, are the cameramen here yet?"

"Orra, where's a humanoid? Maybe we can recreate the escape for the cameras."

"Dr. Zira, what do you think about...."

"Please, please," Cornelius finally interrupted, shooing them away. "Can't you see my wife is ill? Go away, go away!"

Dr. Zaius stood in the center of the furor, his face drawn into a seething scowl.

The Elder called Thadeus walked up slowly and looked at him quizzically. "What now, Dr. Zaius?"

Zaius showed his teeth, and his nostrils quivered. "The humanoid beast needs to be captured at once!" he proclaimed vehemently. He grasped Thadeus's coat, pulling him close and hissing angrily into his face. "At once, do you hear me? Our civilization's survival depends on it!"596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIFyhEisIhG
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The foliage parted before his hands and Steve looked out on a large lake. A half-moon silvered the night surface of the water. Beyond the lake he made out forested hills, shadowed and dark. Farther away there seemed to be mountains, and Steve's heart pounded.

The forest stretched down to the lakeshore in several spots and Steve scouted the terrain between where he was and the sandy shore, his eyes straining in the dimness. The water seemed to stretch a long way in either direction. There was no easy way around it: his only way was straight across the lake.

He listened and could hear the sound of moving vehicles in the cool night air. Behind him he could still see lights, and some were moving!

The shore seemed vacant, and Steve crept out cautiously, knowing he was exposed but not wanting to run right into the water and make a big splash. He hoped the slip silently into the water and dive beneath the surface only when he was far enough away so that his splashing might not be heard.

"Hey! You there!" a gruff gorilla voice roared out of the darkness behind him and made Steve start. "You! Humanoid! Stay right where you are!"

Steve whirled around and saw a black silhouette bearing down at him from the right. Moonlight glinted off the steel barrel of the rifle the figure was holding. The aviator gave a quick look around and saw no other sentries. He felt stupid for having missed this silent one but had no time for self-recriminations.

Instead of running away---or even standing still in shocked surprise, as the sentry expected a humanoid to behave---Steve shocked the soldier by running toward him. The lean aviator ducked under the rifle, giving the charging warrior a solid body block. They went down to a gasping tumble, but the heavy gorilla was strong. He struck out with his rifle butt and hit Steve heavily in the side.

Grunting, the Earthman rolled in the sand, spitting some of it out of his mouth noisily, then getting lithely to his feet.

The gorilla now kicked out hard at him, but Steve evaded the movement and started to move in again. Another vicious swinging blow was aimed at his head, however, forcing him to dodge and ruin his timing. The gorilla lunged to his feet, his thick hands fumbling at the rifle, trying to find its trigger.

Steve charged at once, feinted one way, then struck at the leather-clad sentry from another, then struck at the leather-clad sentry from another. The gorilla clumsily tried to bring the M-16 to bear, but Steve scooped up a handful of sand and threw it into the ape’s face. At the same time, he struck away the M-16 and gave the ape warrior a solid blow to the head.

Blinded and dazed, the gorilla dropped the M-16 to claw at his face, but quickly struck out blindly at his opponent. Then he charged Steve with arms wide, his powerful muscles set to crush the smaller human, his growl indicating his savage desire. Steve ducked under him, throwing his shoulder into the ape’s midsection, and using the gorilla’s momentum to lift the beast into the air.

The simian sentry let out a cry of rage and fright as he sailed through the night sky. Crashing to the ground, his head struck an outcropping of rock with a sickening crunch. The big gorilla groaned, tried to rise, waved his long arms jerkily, then fell back to lie very still.

Breathing heavily, Steve started once again for the nearby water, but stopped suddenly as he heard the shouts of approaching search parties. Not wanting to be caught in the open, he leaped back into the dubious shelter of the thick brush that lay between the sandy beach and a banked military road. He soon saw lights coming and burrowed deep into the brush to hide.

Wiggling back until his feet were against the crushed stone of the side of the roadbed, he then inched sideways toward thicker weeds farther along, until his feet suddenly pushed against nothing and he felt an emptiness!

The prostrate aviator looked back of him to see that he was in front of a stone culvert which went under the military road. Quickly crawling into it, he lay silent as he heard a pair of jeeps screech to a halt almost above him, approaching each other from different directions.

Steve recognized the throaty voice of the orangutan leader calling out with great urgency, “Have you located the beast yet, General Urko?”

Urko’s voice came back harsh and uncompromising. “Not as yet, Dr. Zaius. I have my soldiers well deployed, however. It will never escape.”

Zaius said something that Steve didn’t catch and the gorilla commander growled back, “If you had called on me, my dear Dr. Zaius, to command my troops properly——instead of running off with them yourself, haphazardly——none of this search would have been necessary.”

”There was no time to get you, general,” Zaius said calmly.

The gorilla snorted in contempt. “No, but now there is time to go hunting all through the night, all over Ape City, all over the countryside!”

Zaius didn’t answer, and Steve heard Urko’s engine rev up and then the jeep race off. In a moment, the vehicle carrying Zaius also started up, turning around to follow the gorilla general. Steve had started to creep out of the culvert when he heard a truck arriving. It stopped a short distance down the road and he heard a sergeant ordering his men out.

They’ll find the sentry! Steve thought.596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUefm9nkk4

”Disembark and deploy! Get off, come on! Spread out!” The gorilla sergeant was ordering his men into position along the road. “Belarus, take your squad that way! The rest of you follow me!”

Steve heard the clatter of hobnailed boots on the roadbed overhead, then the swish and crunch as they moved off into the thistles and tall grass.

Another truck arrived with a squeak of brakes. The sergeant called out to them. “Delos, fan out over there. Search every inch of those fields away from the road. We’ll take the lakeshore. Get moving!”

Steve edged to the end of the culvert, peering cautiously through the weeds and thistles. He could see t he line of gorilla soldiers threshing through the brush to his left and more soldiers coming along the road toward him. In mo ments, they would march into this strip of brush fronting the beach and find him. 596Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeq0MX2CPCN

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