When, at last, Steve, Valerie, and the others had shaken off the icy grip of shock from their brush with death, Fitzhugh was the first to find his voice. “I’ll tell you one thing,” he said, his tone as sharp as broken glass. “This blasted range of rocky cliffs is far south of where we ever came before. We’ve miscalculated—badly! And if we don’t realize it soon, the next mistake might be our last.”
“I think we’ve gone too far, too,” Dan replied, gripping his pole and eyeing the jagged walls around them. “But no apologies are necessary. We’ll just have to turn northwest from here….”
Fitzhugh cut in sharply. “If we can ever get out of this canyon. I’m no mountain goat!”
The castaways exchanged uneasy glances.
“Though Nova might be,” Valerie offered. “She’s lived in caves and climbed many an escarpment, I’d say. Why not ask her to help…?”
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Nova stepped lightly onto the uneven stones near the gorge wall, her bare feet gripping as if the rock were an old friend. Her dark eyes moved over the jagged face, scanning every crack, ledge, and shadow with the cool precision of a hunter reading tracks in the dust. She tilted her head, studying a slanted ridge where scrub clung stubbornly to the cliffside.
Steve and Dan caught her attention and, with broad, deliberate gestures, mimed climbing motions—pointing from her to the cliff, then up toward the sky. Steve cupped his hands in a lifting gesture, as if urging her to rise above the canyon’s prison.
Her gaze lingered on the possible route for a long, silent moment. Then she looked back, gave a single, decisive nod, and began to test the first handhold. She moved with the unhurried certainty of someone who had done this all her life. Her fingers probed each grip before trusting it, her bare toes seeking the smallest purchase in the weathered stone. Loose grit trickled down from her movements, pattering against the faces of those below.
Steve followed directly behind, his hands raw from gripping the rough rock. Dan was next, keeping one wary eye on the drop beneath them, then Valerie, Barry, Mark and Dan, in single file. Fitzhugh brought up the rear, muttering between gasps about “mountaineering being for lunatics,” though his white-knuckled hands clung as tightly as any.
From her high vantage, Nova glanced back once, the wind tugging her hair away from her face. Her eyes urged them upward without a word, and she pressed on, leading them along a narrow, tilted shelf that snaked toward the light above the gorge. Step by careful step, the Spindrift party climbed, their breath harsh in the echoing canyon, every inch a battle between gravity and will.
“Wow!” Barry exclaimed. “Look how far we’ve climbed! The raft must be no bigger, to us, now than a Triscuit squares”
“Don’t look now, Barry,” Valerie teased, “but the raft is long gone—swallowed up in that black hole we would have fallen into if luck hadn’t been on our side!”
A sudden exclamation from Steve made everyone’s heads snap forward again, in his direction.
“Damnation!” Steve shouted once more as the others, following close behind, brought up Nova’s rear. “The cliff is just as high—and just as steep—on this side. And, worse luck, a landslide has evidently wiped out the trail downward. Unless…” His eyes narrowed as he scanned the jagged slope. "Unless we make our own way down."
From the back, Fitzhugh gave a knowing little chuckle. “I was just thinking the same thing, my dear fellow,” he said, brushing dust from his jacket as if preparing for an evening soirée. “And by sheer coincidence, I happen to be in possession of the finest piece of landscaping equipment in this hemisphere—my trick laser. If the mountain won’t give us a trail, I shall simply carve one for us. Stand back and admire the artistry.” Fitz spend a minute or two carefully checking the power levels. Then: "Here we go!" he said, aiming the laser and starting to slice a new trail into the side of the cliff.
His first cut exploded rock out into the broad canyon below, and it fell in a rattle and roar. Fitzhugh kept slicing in steady, short bursts to outline a trail on which they might have adequate footing on their descent.
Hot rock showered and slid noiselessly for nearly a half hour, until Fitzhugh was sure he'd cut a safe pass for his shipmates.
At length, as he thumbed on the safety and set the laser down he said, “Let’s allow that rather overenthusiastic molten rock a moment to compose itself and cool, shall we? No sense in singeing our boots when we can descend in style.”
"This is one hot country we're in now," Dan remarked as he sat down to wait.
Betty squinted up at the blazing sun. "And getting hotter," she muttered. "You'd think we were at the Equator." A sudden thought brought Betty's head back around to her seven friends. "Is that what happened? The earth tipped it's orbit? By some fantastic explosion, or an atomic war, or something....?"
Dan shook his head. “I don’t know. It seems unlikely. Maybe this whole planet took one cataclysmic punch after another—tidal waves a thousand feet high pounding the coasts, whole continents shuddering and cracking under earthquakes that split mountains in half, volcanoes turning daylight into a choking red twilight for months. And then—after nature had her turn—man finished the job with his nuclear war. Whatever was left standing must have been ground down and twisted into the bizarre world we’re walking through now.”
"Wouldn't this heat....?" Valerie started to ask.
"We don't really even know what time of year it is," Steve supplied. "Metropolis used to get pretty hot in the summertime, remember?"
Barry cleared his young throat of dust. "Um… in science class, they said the Earth’s tilted, like, twenty-three and a half degrees… but I don’t really know if that’s right."
"Maybe with some instruments… We'd still have to know the time of year it was," Steve replied. "We could find that out from Cornelius and Zira, I suppose, or do a lot of measurements over a year or more. But I think we'll be doing a lot more important things—like survival—over the next year!"
Mark agreed. "Right. Just staying alive and free is taking up so much of our time that, well, I think we'd better concentrate on that for now. If Urko or any of his gorilla goons catch us, I don't think we'll have to worry about much of anything after that!"
Dan sighed and peered around at the new trail. "It looks cool enough now," he said. "Why don't we give it a try?"
Mark stepped carefully out onto the new trail. The rock was hot, but not too uncomfortable. "C'mon!" he called to the others. "It's fine!"
Fitzhugh, never missing a beat, slipped the disguised laser back into his belt, masquerading as a plain old screwdriver. He shot Betty and Valerie a dirty scowl, his eyebrows arching just so. "Quit worrying, both of you," he said with exaggerated sass, flipping his hair back like the world’s most dramatic stage actor. "Think about all those people back in 1983 who dreamed about living in the future… and here we are! Don’t tell me a little trail is going to scare you now!"
Motioning to Nova behind them, Valerie just grunted at Fitzhugh. "Shut up and move, philosopher!"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkohdi4ktZi
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The sun was a blistering sore in the sky.
The ragged band of humans headed by Steve and Dan was staggering across the desert that had begun soon after their decent from the rocky cliff and the several ridges that followed it. The gorge was far behind them. They were tired and half blinded by the glare.
All at once, Valerie stumbled and fell to one knee. Steve caught her arm and lifted her up again. "The heat…" she choked, "it's… it's like… a furnace!"
Impatiently, Steve turned to look at her. "But......we've got to....go on!"
"We've reached—and passed the point of—no return." Dan's throat was raw and dry. "Going… ahead… is better than… going back…" He coughed. "We know… what's back… there."
Nova stumbled and fell. Mark stopped to raise the young woman's head out of the dust and sand. Her raspy whisper caught his attention.
"Ahbah....ahbah...."
"Here, gorgeous, have.....some water."
Nova swallowed gratefully.
"Take it easy, Mark said, "It....won't be....much longer." Mark trained his red-rimmed eyes on the distant, dusty horizon. "Oh my God!" he muttered to himself.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmZpiHN3mE
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The Ape Army stood poised, an iron fist ready to close on the humanoid community—not to destroy it, not yet, but to rip it apart in the search for the air vehicle thieves. Captain Sovak stepped forward and snapped a crisp salute. “The troops are in position, sir! We await your command.”
Urko looked up from the map he had been studying. “Good!” He straightened and patted the revolver at his waist. “We’ll search every lair in this miserable settlement—and if we find the culprits, we’ll destroy them, along with anyone who’s hiding them!” Stepping past Sovak, he stared at the ring of soldiers facing the caves, poised to advance. “And in the process, I will restore my authority and reputation!” He turned back and jabbed a finger toward Sovak. “Commence the search!”
The aide-de-camp whirled and shouted to the other officers: "Proceed!"
The several lines of gorilla soldiers and vehicles bristled with readiness, poised to storm the humanoids’ caves and begin the search. In the front, the first ring had already surged forward, closing the distance to the cave mouths. Behind them, orders were repeated down the lines, and a roar of approval rolled through the ranks. Soldiers sprang into motion—motors coughed and growled to life, jeeps and trucks lurching forward as if straining at the leash. With a guttural growl of armed might, the vehicles roared ahead and the soldiers on foot broke into a run.
The raid came with the cold precision of a nightmare. Gorilla soldiers poured toward the rocky cliffs between the caves, their boots pounding the ground like war drums. Humanoids lingering outside the cave mouths were seized, shoved roughly to their knees, and held there at gunpoint as others leaned around the jagged stone with gas grenades gripped in their leathery fists. Without hesitation, the grenades were hurled deep into the shadowed caverns. Muffled thuds echoed inside—then pale, choking clouds began to billow outward. The front line of gorillas, moving with grim efficiency, pulled on their gas masks, the glass lenses glinting coldly in the dim light as the hiss of the gas filled the air.
Gorilla Sergeant Gor hurled his last canister into the darkness of a cave, his voice dripping with mockery. “Come out, you air-vehicle thieves!” he bellowed. “Come out and face your masters—if you dare!” The canister clattered against stone, rolled deeper inside, and erupted with a sharp hiss. Moments later, thick, stinging vapors poured outward, and from within came the sound of coughing, gagging, and the frantic scuffle of feet. Humanoids stumbled into view, clutching at their throats and eyes, only to be met by the rifles and booted kicks of the gorilla soldiers closing in.
Inside the smoke-hazed caves, gorilla soldiers stormed through the narrow passages with brutal efficiency. Heavy boots crushed clay bowls and woven baskets underfoot. A weaving rack, still strung with half-finished cloth, was ripped apart and hurled aside. One soldier kicked over a crude cooking hearth, sending embers skittering across the dirt floor. Another bent, sneering, to snatch up a child’s roughly carved doll—then snapped it in half and flung the pieces into the shadows. The air was thick with dust, gas, and the terrified cries of the humanoids as their few possessions—tokens of a meager life—were smashed, scattered, or stolen in the relentless search for the air vehicle thieves.
From his vantage point on a rocky rise, Urko watched as tanks, troop-carrier trucks, and jeeps rumbled into position, their engines snarling like caged beasts eager to be unleashed. The tightening ring of steel and muscle left no escape. Urko’s lips curled into a triumphant snarl. “I have them now!” he barked, his voice cutting through the clamor of engines and shouted orders. He swung his gaze toward Captain Sovak, eyes glittering with satisfaction. “You see, Sovak? My strategy is flawless—soon, the thieves will be in my hands, and the council will have no choice but to recognize my superiority.”
A nearby major grinned up at his commander, who was proudly standing on a rock. "Sir, you are bound to go down in simian history as the greatest military leader of all time!"
Urko was not one to disagree with an observation that favored him so. "That I will, major, that I will...."
Captain Sovak gave the opportunist major an inquisitive look. Did he mean that, or was he just greasing up the general?
Urko saw Sergeant Gor running back from the caves and up to his observation point on the rock. The gorilla noncom was breathing hard, his hairy chest heaving as he came to a salute.
"Well?" the general asked the out-of-breath soldier.
Sergeant Gor yanked off his gas mask, his chest heaving from the exertion of the raid. “Ngh—General… we—huff—searched every cursed hole,” he admitted, wiping sweat from his brow. “They’re not here… we didn’t find ’em.”
Urko blinked at him, his expression incredulous. "What---?"
Sergeant Gor shook his head, still panting from the fumes and the chaos of the search. “No sign of ’em anywhere, General—no fugitive apes, no spare parts, no magazines—nothing,” he said bitterly. “Either they were never here… or they’re ghosts.”
Urko’s eyes blazed as he wheeled on his officers. “Fools! The lot of you!” he roared. “Did anyone think to question the apes living near these caves? Or are you all too busy congratulating yourselves on failure?” His glare locked on the major who had so recently praised him, burning with barely restrained fury.
The major stiffened under Urko’s glare. “There are no known ape neighborhoods anywhere near here, sir. No one we could talk to. We… we assumed—”
“Assumed?” Urko cut him off sharply, his voice like a whip crack. “A good soldier never assumes!” With a sudden, predatory lunge, he leapt down from the rock, boots striking the dirt with a thud, and seized the edge of the major’s hard leather breastplate in a fist that could crush stone. “A good soldier operates on facts—facts!” he snarled, shaking the major once before shoving him back. Urko spun on his heel and glared down into the valley where the humanoids’ caves sprawled in a jagged horseshoe of rock. For a moment, his eyes narrowed, remembering. “The troops we sent around the back of the mountainside,” he barked suddenly, “to check the holes—the same cursed holes those beasts used to escape last time. What was found?”
Captain Kog came pounding up to the general at exactly that moment. “General—” he gasped, chest heaving, “we had the holes covered. We waited… nothing came through!” He swallowed hard, still winded. “I even sent a squad to climb up inside them—every last tunnel, every crevice. It was useless. No one was hiding there. No tracks, no scraps, no sign of apes at all.” He shook his head in disbelief, his voice cracking with frustration. “It’s impossible!”
Urko snapped out more orders: "Sovak, take some men and double-check those caves! Captain Kog, get some of your men on those clifftops! See if they can find any sign of those flying machine thieves.
Kog saluted and ran quickly to obey his orders. Urko fumed and paced. The rest of the men kept away from him if they could.
Captain Sovak was the first to stride up to Urko, snapping a salute before speaking in his clipped, military tone. “General, if the thieves were ever hiding among the humanoids in those caves, they’ve long since cleared out,” he reported grimly. “They’ve taken everything with them—no scraps, no tools, no supplies left behind. The place is stripped clean.”
Colonel Trafu reported from his riverbank position, below Urko. "There seems to have been quite a bit of activity at the riverbank, sir. Lots of footprints, a dropped skin of berries..."
"What were they doing at the river? Swimming?" Then he looked suddenly shrewd. "Did they cross the river, or go into it and come back out further down---or up?"
The colonel shook his head. "There are no indications of a river crossing, sir. I have scouts going up and down the banks, looking for signs, but so far none have reported finding any place where they came out!"
General Urko tugged angrily at his glove, then once more exploded with an idea. "Wait a minute! A raft! They must have chopped down some trees and built a raft!" Urko's voice was now a frenzied shout. "They're trying to escape by the river! After them! After them!"
The general started down the steep hill toward the water, then stopped when he realized his officers weren't moving.
"But, general, we're not prepared for river travel," said Trafu.
Urko screamed at the colonel. "Not prepared? In the name of the Sacred Scrolls, why not...?"
The gorilla officer was trying not to cower under the full weight of Urko's wrath, but he couldn't help it. "Sir, uh, we didn't bring any amphibious craft with us, and...."
"Fool! I am surrounded by fools!" Urko turned to Captain Sovak. "Radio Strategic Defense Headquarters and have riverboats brought up!"
Colonel Trafu raised a hand in protest, then dropped it fast, but the angry Urko had seen his gesture.
"What is it, Trafu?"
"Um, sir, I---I believe we must first secure permission from the Council of Elders for any kind of amphibious operation. You see, sir, according to the Book of Military Procedure..."
"Damn the Council of Elders! Damn the Book of Military Procedure AND The Book of Simian Prophecy! The Elders are nothing but a bunch of creaking old apes!" Urko slammed a fist into the palm of his other hand. "If it weren't for those accursed orangutans, I'd have rid us of the humanoid problem years ago. You can be sure of that!"
Colonel Trafu was shocked. "But, sir....general, the Book is quite clear. The rules, sir, are very strict!"
Urko was simmering with anger and frustration, but he was starting to get himself under control.
"All right....I know, I know! Major Zurg"---the major had just run up----"you will call SDH for the riverboats. Captain Sovak, come with me, Trafu, keep the army in full readiness! I'll push this thing through the council, no matter what kind of threats I have to make!"
Urko strode quickly back to his jeep, shouting for his driver. Captain Sovak ran after him and jumped in just as the vehicle roared off in a choking cloud of dust.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡra2iuwxW9F
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