The Island
"It's too narrow, General. It was made for us skinny humans. It wasn't built with a ten foot, 800 pound, gorilla in mind." March stated, gesturing towards the small opening to the underground weather station. "Even if you can manage to squeeze into it, the ladder leading down is too corroded to hold your weight."
"I'll manage and I don't need that ladder. You two go on and stop worrying about what I can and can't accomplish." The General claimed waving them off with the whisk of his paw. His fascination with human technology was becoming an obsession. It reminded March of an addict in need of a fix. One way or another he was determined to get down there.
"If he gets stuck, I can jump on his head and help him down." Madera interjected with a snide smirk on her face.
March climbed down first and helped Hayes as his ribs protested in agony. He hated to push a wounded man but Hayes was the brains of the outfit. His abilities in mathematics, physics and, most importantly, their practical application, were his talent. March would need his help once they reached the futuristic equipment.
The men made it down the narrow hallway and across the broken door that had been kicked in earlier. The room lit up with light, just as it had the first time the two men walked inside. The rows of computerized equipment displayed similar images. There was the 3-D grid of the island on the radar display. Red dots represented each one of them, just as before. The digital screens were flashing away with dull lights that looked like a rainbow. Hayes had no idea what any of it meant but was fairly certain he'd figure something out.
"Ok Jonny, have at it. We need to find a way to convince that gorilla that we have …a tribe somewhere." March said rather pessimistically.
Hayes was seating himself at the communications consol when he head the grunting and groaning of General Grazot as he pushed his way down the narrow hall.
"Unbelievable, Tom. He actually made it." Hayes said chuckling as best as his wounded side would allow.
When Grazot finally entered the room he couldn't find the words to describe the wonder before his eyes. The temperature of the room was cool. Just like the human dwelling above. The air was crisp. Not stale and muggy as it was, in the passage, just a few feet back. The architecture of the equipment was astonishing. He'd asked himself this question a hundred times but again thought; how are such things possible? He passed his paw through the 3-D radar display and the gazed down at it as if something miraculous were about to occur. He reached out to touch one of the display panels but was abruptly interrupted by the voice of Hayes.
"Please don't touch anything, General." Hayes requested sternly. "This is highly sensitive equipment."
Grazot flinched like a schoolboy who had just been caught glancing at the test answers of a peer. "Uh, yeah, ok…" he replied, not really knowing how to react; a feeling that bothered the General greatly. He was determined to keep his wits but these awesome things the humans seemed to spring on him made him feel like he was in a dream. He was looking at technology and craftsmanship that seemed impossible. But again, there it was.
Hayes pushed buttons, tapped displays, flipped switches, in an attempt to manipulate the equipment. It was like probing for a doorway in the dark. He hesitated a few times giving Grazot a dirty look whenever he'd butt in with a barrage of questions. Amie's grandfather's cheat-card helped him fumble through a few of the system pass codes. Finally, after about 25 minutes he spoke up confidently.
"Ok Tom, I think I have it. This relay station links to a GPS feed that's similar to the field pads our military use." Hayes said referring to the 3-D radar station. "Although this one here seems much more efficient. Our field pads won't work unless they're in satellite range. This system seems to work regardless of satellite positioning. It's driven by a list of available menu options the same way the diary works. You tap on a location…like Detroit and…whaa-la."
Hayes tapped the screen. The radar screen blinked and hummed and a 3-D image of Detroit, Michigan appeared.
"It's in ruin" March said as he starred at the image.
"Yes Sir, but that's not my point. This station and the one over there have been jerry-rigged…" Hayes explained as he waved off Grazot's dumbfound expression from the use of the word; jerry-rigged.
"To put it in plain English; the radar will display whatever destination is picked from the list. It then feeds data to that device there, which appears to be some sort of, uh, radio receiver. It pulls data and displays it there. And it displays local data for the location selected" Hayes concluded as he pointed to the Holo device at the opposite end of the room.
"You mean if I select Cincinnati I can also get Cincinnati television and radio?" March asked.
Hayes walked over to March and went on. "In a word, yes, although there are no broadcasts from what I can tell. I think it's pretty simple, Tom. From what I've been able to derive from the diary entries, the world was at war and ape dominance was on the rise. Amie's grandparents and few other families managed to escape to this island. Once here, Amie's grandfather manipulated the weather and communications gear. The radar software monitors the island but allows one to use GPS to see other locations. The comm. equipment will only receive. The transmission capabilities have been disabled."
"They didn't want to be found but didn't want to be out here blind either." March said as the pieces slowly started to form in his head. "Grandpa was going keep his family safe but wanted to monitor what was going on in the world, in the event that things somehow stabilized. Can you fix this thing so that it transmits?"
"I don't think so Sir. The mechanics and software are years beyond anything I've every worked with. Maybe if I had 6 months and the…" Hayes answered.
"Ok humans, enough of the riddles. We have a deal. Your Tribe. Show me your tribe." Grazot interrupted. "I allowed you to delay our departure so that you could try and signal your people. Get on with it."
Hayes glanced at March who responded with; "Why not Jonny. Let's see if we can figure out what's going on in Washington."
Hayes manipulated the radar controls and pressed Washington. An image of DC displayed. "Ok Jonny, how do I pull in the local traffic?" March asked.
"I just push this button here and the images should appear there." Hayes said as he worked the controls.
The image of DC was similar to that of Detroit; ruin and rubble. Parts of the Lincoln Memorial and capital building were still recognizable. And there was definitely activity. Red specks were everywhere.
"Something's going on there. Look at all that movement." Hayes said.
"Can you pull in any traffic? Are they human, ape, both?" March asked in rapid sequence.
"This unit receives but I'm not sure how it deciphers sounds or pulls transmissions." Hayes answered as he attempted to filter the feed. "I think I can manipulate the GPS to concentrate on a specific area…by refining the…vicinity…to…ok, I think I have it. This should pull up an area of about one or two Klicks"
The Holo image hummed and a more detailed area came into view. Human soldiers were engaging their ape counterparts in a severe battle. The image reminded March of a silent movie.
"By all that's holy …That's General Narr's Contingent!" Grazot blurted out in surprise. "I recognize his field commander, Colonel Sark."
The image flashed as Colonel Sark and the surrounding apes were silently vaporized. It was the next scene that caught the astronaut's eyes. An aircraft of unrecognizable design and incredible speed burst through the image and disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
All three of them jumped as the imaged flashed through the display. March and Hayes looked at each other instinctively. The 3-D image hummed and faded. Once again the representation of the island appeared. Grazot was demanding that the men show him more but for the first time since their arrival the two felt hope and purpose tug at their spirits.
"That's our colony General. You help us get there and we'll see about arming you with whatever you need" March lied with convincing enthusiasm. "Let's get back to the house and make preparations to get off of this rock."
The two men and two apes returned to the old mansion. General Grazot had several territory maps laid out as he and the two men bounced various options and opinions off of each other. Grazot's maps stopped just shy of Toronto, so March filled him in with the help of a field pad.
Unfortunately, the field pad did not have a nuclear battery and was showing 'yellow' on the power status bar. The image of the Canadian Southeast and the American Northeast kept fading in and out. The unit was designed to recharge in the field, via solar power, but the process was an excruciatingly long one.
"…Piece of garbage!" March muttered in frustration. He instinctively rapped the side of the unit against his palm as he spoke, as if that would magically recharge it. "We grabbed this technology from the Russians back in '63. You'd think we would have found ways to improve it."
Grazot had become accustom to only understanding about 50% of what these men were talking about, but in this case he took in most of the meaning. "These territorial maps cover several days ride. The information on that thing can wait." he interjected as his stomach began to growl with hunger.
"You…" he went on as he looked towards Madera "what do we have to eat? What about that meat from that wild pig we killed earlier." The Gorilla was very condescending whenever he spoke to Madera. He never used her name, only referring to her as, 'you' or 'female'. It seemed to be part of their culture. What the General failed to realize was that Madera hadn't been part of that culture for over two decades. The General also failed to realize that he'd killed a human she'd loved as if he'd been her own father.
There had been more than one moment of tension between the two primates. The last time Grazot had demanded food, he ended up wearing it. He'd nearly wrecked the dining area on that occasion and Madera came close to getting the life choked out of her. He'd only spared her life for the sake of what he'd called their mutual interests. He'd made it clear that if she persisted to resist his authority he would permanently modify their agreement, starting with her.
March trumped in with, "Madera, if it isn't any trouble…" hoping to defuse some of the tension he could see building.
Hayes helped out by adding "I'll give her a hand, Sir. Come on Madera, I think there is some of that boar meat left." And the two of them walked out of the room.
March sighed within himself but felt as if he'd only put a bandage on a wound that was too deep to ever heal.
The men and apes worked out the details of Grazot's plan most of that day and into the late hours of the night. Next they gathered essential supplies and prepared for their departure and long journey ahead.
It was good thing they were leaving too, March thought. Grazot ate threes the amount of both Hayes and himself combined. And he ate everything too; Leaves, meat, wild vegetables. He'd even eaten some of their K-rations. Another week and there wouldn't be any on the island left to eat, except each other.
They were able to use a combination of debris from the old loading dock and pieces of furniture from the mansion to create a makeshift boat that would hold their supplies and equipment. Hayes had rigged a tow cable and stabilized it as best as he could. They were still pushing the weight limit of the survival raft but as March saw it they didn't have much of a choice.
After a long sleep and one final meal they set off for the mainland.