Chapter Six:

It was two weeks after Taylor had been rescued and Dr. Zauis had been with him nearly that full time along with Renna. They were good to him and treated him just like they would their own children. Taylor told them all about what had happened, though it was not real and an illusion, telling them of the torture he had gone through helped him get over much of it. Dr. Nova was there too and she comforted her husband the best she could. But it was the visit by Landon that Dr. Zauis had a feeling was going to come. Landon had gone off on his own, lived a solitary life Maryanne had gone on to marry someone else and was now a doctor at a hospital herself. Dodge had taken to engineering, something he loved and was good at.

"I was expecting you sometime." Dr. Zauis said, "you feel guilty about what happened?"

"Yes, you state nuclear war, but it was not was it?" Landon said, "there was a virus but that was an excuse for the war, the war of biologics."

"Yes, and most of humanity died as did apes, apes who were at that time not fully ape." Dr. Zauis said getting a shocked look from Landon, "you feel guilty so tell me your story."

"Very well, Dr. Hasslein was working on space travel this is true, but he also believed in creating a hybrid race." Landon said, "I never thought much of what he did, he claimed the Soviets already had created a slave race to justify what he did."

"And you know of it." Dr. Zauis said calmly.

"Look, they were not hurt, not really, the apes used, I saw them, the ones he created and they were not unhappy at all." Landon replied, "he treated them well, had them treated well." Landon said, "they learned well enough."

"Yes they did, we are here for it." Dr. Zauis said, "were you going to tell anyone this?"

"No, never got the chance before and now, well I don't know." Landon said, "what happened to Taylor should not have. He did not deserve to be brought into this mess."

"Was the spaceflight to go to another star?" Dr. Zauis asked.

"No, we were always to come back to earth in the far future, I was the only one that knew, I was to tell Taylor a week after we landed." Landon said, "that first time, but now, when we came here it was not needed."

"I see." Dr. Zauis replied, "I don't agree what my counterpart did to you, but you should understand what you did was wrong but you are paying for that with guilt."

"I should tell Taylor." Landon said, "he is going to hate me."

"Perhaps he will, but I know my friend, he is more likely to listen now." Dr. Zauis said, "I will have Sam and Tom near just in case."

Taylor came in clad in jeans and a tee shirt and sandals as it was a warm summer day. He saw Landon who was sunburned with his hair more gray now than blond. He sat down and Landon finally told him his story and how WWIII would really have started, that it would not have been a nuclear war, that the forbidden zone was contaminated with biohazards and chemical hazards from that war. When he finished Taylor understood how Lady Liberty could have been moved, radiation was very hard to remove after all but bio-chemical debris could be cleaned up. The nuclear war was not one of nuclear bombs but of bio and chemical warfare. That and Landon knew how the apes had been created, Taylor was taking that news very well.

"Yea well I figured that the apes here could not fully be apes." Taylor said, "what a wicked thing to do, good thing the great God allowed us to survive after all."

"Agreed." Landon said, "so you are not too upset?"

"No, good thing that the mutants got me instead of you, this world would be gone otherwise." Taylor replied.

"You were tortured." Landon replied.
"Yea but that always was something we trained for, though not that way." Taylor replied, "I think I did well."

"One should not have to survive torture!" Dr. Zauis said, "torture is wrong! For you to have training to withstand it, I am sorry you came from a world like that."

"Me too, but this future one seems to be doing well." Taylor said, "so any more secrets from Dr. Hasslein that might come up?"

"Unless Hasslein comes here himself, no Cornelus knew he had to die, so that is taken care of." Landon said, "did you feed the mutants?"

"Well we tried for a time, they never accepted our food, now we know why." Dr. Zauis replied, "anyway, they are gone now."

"What will happen to Caesar?" Taylor asked.

"Nothing, he lost his people, we will treat him well." Dr. Zauis replied. "Now, who wants to go to space?"

"What do you mean?" Landon asked.

"I mean research has shown we can travel faster than light, and come back and be in our own time." Dr. Zauis replied.

Taylor had a family and was content, but Landon and Brent did not. It was decided that they should go and see if this travel was something that was worthwhile. But first Brent had questions of his own. He liked Dr. Zauis as Dr. Zauis was open and friendly enough and liked to talk with others. He was nothing like what Brent would have thought apes would be if they were smart. To find out that these apes were in fact hybrids was not surprising, humans did like to do things that should not be done after all. Not that the apes that were alive did not deserve to be alive after all. He came to where Dr. Zauis was reading a book and took a seat at his feet.

"Dr. Zauis the history books say nuclear war, but why? It was a bio chemical war and why do that instead of nuclear?" Brent asked.

"Biological and chemicals can be cleaned up faster, or that is what those who did the fighting believed." Dr. Zauis replied, "that is not the case with the forbidden zone at all."

"Oh, well what were you talking with Landon about?" Brent asked.

"How our ancestors were created." Dr. Zauis replied, "it is of no matter now, humans are humans and apes are apes."

"So the mutants are a result of the bio-chemical war." Brent said.

"Yes, that is right." Dr. Zauis said, "now we are here and a bright future is before us."

"True that, so to the stars." Brent said.

"Yes, go out and see what there is to see." Dr. Zauis said.

Taylor went home to his now teenage children, he wanted to leave the horrors he had encountered behind and live out his life in peace. Brent and Landon were restless still and wanted to see if there was anyone out among the stars. Which was why on a cool summer day they blasted off into space to test out the faster than light drive. Two days later they were back and as they had not aged it was deemed a successful flight. Human and ape celebrated that victory together, they might have had a dark shared past but now they were working together as one people.

The years passed and Taylor was not getting older as he should have, Dr. Nova aged, Dr. Zauis died but he remained the same. Finally when he realized he was not going to age for a long time he got on board a ship and once more headed out to the stars. This time he would make it to his destination and this time he would find a new civilization that was waiting for him. His story would end there but on earth ape and human would continue to live together in harmony for the foreseeable future.