It was dusk in Ape City, capital of the nation known by its inhabitants as the Ape Commonwealth. For the second night in a row, Dr. Zaius, chief scientist and also Defender of the Faith, was sitting in the office of the President of the Ape Commonwealth. His presence here the previous night had been the result of an emergency meeting called by President Honorius in response to the sudden appearance of a new phenomenon in the night sky, a bright round object never seen before in ape history. Mandemus, another orangutan and the president's chief advisor, and Urko, a gorilla and chief of the army and police, had been present along with Dr. Zaius.
"Its difficult to say if it poses any danger, Mr. President." Mandemus had said. "We've all seen shooting stars, some of which actually land in the form of small rocks from time to time. And of course the comets with tails that appear every so often, and then depart. But this is something totally new. It neither grows closer nor moves away. All it seems to do is rise and fall slowly. But I do like the light it provides! Much easier getting around at night without a torch!"
"Indeed." agreed Honorius.
"It is easier for the night watch to patrol in this light. But will this light burn out after a while, like our torches do?" asked Urko.
"No, I don't think so General Urko. You see, unless I am much mistaken the light on that disk is reflected from the sun." responded Mandemus.
"Hmph" grunted Urko, who like most gorillas had not much use for learning beyond horsemanship and marksmanship. "Well, if that will be all Mr. President, I think I'll retire for the night. I'll be accompanying one of our long range patrols first thing in the morning. I'll want to be there to see the results of the hunt." Honorious gave his assent with a nod.
"I believe I will retire as well Mr. President, with your kind permission." said Mandemus.
At that meeting, Zaius had not been called upon to contribute much, as astronomy was not his field of specialty. Tonight however, Zaius found himself on the hot seat.
"Mr. President?" acknowledged Zaius. Also present at the meeting was Urko, Mandemus, and strangely enough, Dr. Galen, a chimpanzee and thus not a member of the military or ruling class.
"Dr. Zaius, I'll come straight to the point." began President Honorius. "Five years ago, ape civilization faced a potentially grave crisis with the sudden appearance of the intelligent human known as Taylor. At that time, you assured the general populace that Taylor was a freak, the result of unethical brain experimentation conducted by a member of your staff. Taylor was allowed to go free into the Forbidden Zone under the condition that he never again set foot in Ape City. My predecessor in this office agreed to this subterfuge for the common good, and all here were sworn to secrecy. For five years, all has been quiet. But now we may be faced with a crisis even more grave. General Urko?" he prompted the gorilla leader.
"Early this morning, we sent a long range patrol to our most distant agricultural settlement, to conduct reconnaissance and also see if we could capture any humans." said Urko "It was purely routine. As you all know, there has been these past two years a sharp and unexplainable decline in the human population bordering our agricultural regions. What our patrol encountered is undeniable proof of a human civilization living in the Forbidden Zone, and that an attack on us is imminent."
"General Urko, for the purpose of this meeting, please restrict yourself to reporting on the facts, and save the analysis for later." ordered Honorius wearily.
"Very well, Mr. President." said Urko. "Our gorilla patrol encountered at least three humans wearing strange clothes, and possessing weapons unlike any known by ape kind. They fired not bullets, but blue lightening which knocked twelve of my cavalry dead from their saddles."
"You yourself witnessed this?" asked Zaius incredulously.
"I swear by the Lawgiver!" said Urko. "Dr. Galen was working in the hospital, and examined the bodies himself. I asked that he sit in on this meeting to give his appraisal of what killed my soldiers."
Dr. Galen spoke for the first time, with some hesitation as he was a chimpanzee and thus, unaccustomed to sitting so close to the center of power. "Mr. President, I had time to examine to bodies of three of the dead gorillas before being called to this meeting. I confess I have no idea what killed them, other than to say it was not a bullet, blunt trauma, poison or any other means we are familiar with. There seem to be some minor burn marks on their chests, but certainly nothing that would cause death. Based on what the surviving gorillas told me, and my examinations, they just seemed to drop dead. What happened was medically impossible."
"There is more, Dr. Zaius. Urko's gorilla patrol managed to capture one of these humans." said Honorius. At Zaius' amazed look, he added, "Unconscious, but alive."
"Will he regain consciousness" Zaius asked Dr. Galen.
"I don't know. I have not been allowed to examine him yet. He is being held in the security compound." said Galen, with an ugly sidelong look at Urko.
"Mr. President, it is imperative that this human be given medical treatment at once, so that he can be properly interrogated. The information he has could mean the survival of Ape civilization." urged Zaius. "As minister of science and chief defender of the faith, I must insist that you release him into my custody."
"You are right, Dr. Zaius, except that if there are to be any interrogations, the military should be the one to conduct it." countered Urko.
"General, your methods are crude and unnecessarily brutal! " said Zaius.
"So now you're become a human lover." sneered Urko.
"The human is no use to us dead, Urko!" shot back Zaius.
"Enough!" ordered Honorius. "General, you will release the human to Dr. Zaius. When he is healthy enough to be questioned, naturally I will want the military present."
"Yes, Mr. President." conceded Urko reluctantly.
"One more thing. I want news of this human and these so-called lightening guns kept quiet. The last thing we need is a panic. General Urko, I expect your soldiers to remember their duty."
"Mr. President, you can always count on the loyalty of the army." said Urko with a thrust of his chest before departing.
After he left, Dr. Zaius turned to Honorius. "Let him say what he will, Mr. President, but news of this is bound to spread among the population. And with twelve dead gorillas, the call for a war of revenge cannot be far off"
"All the more reason to get a handle on things quickly. Gorillas are always calling for all out war against the humans living beyond the Forbidden Zone. If news of armed, intelligent humans slaughtering gorillas gets out, Urko may be able to persuade enough chimpanzees and orangutans to join with the gorillas to invoke Article 18 of ape prophecy and vote for a state of emergency in the assembly. Or worse, a vote of no confidence. From then on, it would be gorilla rule. Ape City will become a permanent armed camp. Our entire social order would be turned upside down."
"Surely you exaggerate, Mr. President. For that to happen, chimpanzee's would have to find common cause with gorillas!" Zaius had to suppress an urge to laugh.
"Ordinarily, that would be as likely as water flowing uphill, I agree." said Honorius. "But an existential danger to ape civilization in the form of an advanced human tribe living beyond the Forbidden Zone, might be just the thing to frighten enough apes into doing something rash, especially if Urko puts himself forth as the only hope for ape survival."
Zaius pondered this for a moment, and did not like any of the conclusions that sprang into his mind. "I'll take charge of the human immediately, Mr. President." he then rose to leave "Dr. Galen, please accompany me. I'll want you to work on this human personally."
Galen and Zaius walked out of the president's office quickly. They passed through several ante-chambers and offices, all of which were empty at this late hour. Even the president's chief of staff, Petronius, had gone home. They walked out through the main gate of the presidential compound. An honor guard of two gorillas presented arms as Dr. Zaius passed by. Only when they were well beyond the presidential compound and walking down a side street did Galen dare to speak.
"Dr. Zaius, I'm going to need some help with this human. A veterinarian would be preferable"
"I think I know just the ape you need. You go see that the human is transferred to the clinic, away from the gorillas. I'll see that your help meets you there." ordered Zaius.
"Yes, sir."