Road to Rhohas – Chapter 5
Galen leisurely rolled onto his back allowing the warm touch of the sun to welcome him to the new morning. He held his eyes closed as he stretched with the luxury of a full night sleep. The chimp bolted upright and jerked his head to the place where Burke lay on his side, unmoving, several feet away. A tan woven blanket, roughhewn and stained with wear was pulled to his shoulders exactly as it had been hours ago when the chimpanzee had drifted to sleep. He panicked. He threw off his blanket and crawled to Pete's side pulling him onto his back.
"Pete! Pete!"
Brown eyes popped open, and Burke jolted up as did the other human in the campsite. Alan tensed in a crouch on one knee.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
"Did you hear something?"
Both men kept their voices low while looking in all directions and back to the chimp.
Galen lowered his head, an embarrassed squint to his eyes. "No, it's nothing. Pete, are you all right?" He directed his attention to the younger man.
"I was until you scared the shit outta me." His friend tilted his head, raising a dark eyebrow in question. Alan dropped back on his heel with one hand held out, palm up asking for an explanation.
"Pete, you, um…. slept all night…"
The young man chuckled, letting out pent up breath. Galen was right. If nightmares came, he had no recollection. "Ya know, Galen, I think I did. Yeah, I'm golden."
The words renewed the panic as the chimp's one hand flew to the man's forehead and the other to his chest. "Does that mean you are like the sun? You have fever? You have burning?"
"No, no," Pete maneuvered the furred hands away gently. "No, buddy, it means I'm five-by-five, um—good. It means I'm good. Didn't you hear—I mean, not hear? Not a single scream in the night. Food stayed right where I put it. Head stayed on with nary a sign of an exorcist taunting demon twisting it around."
Alan shook his head at them, shifted himself up and disappeared through the rocks attending to his own personal needs. Pete watched him go as his face began to cloud. Alan was still disappointed in him. Once they got back from the spring last night, Pete felt Alan waiting, expecting something more from him. Wanted things Pete just didn't have it in him to give.
Talk. The colonel wanted him to talk. Why couldn't he make Al understand that he had no words in him worth sharing? Urko and his goons, he remembered. The big, mean gorillas beat him. What's to talk about? Cason was different. A kind gorilla. Who knew? And beyond that acknowledgement, there was nothing more to say about that.
Wanda. When he tried to put that whole shit into context, it was like he was hanging over a spinning black hole, every memory sucked into its gravitational pull with claws that struck out allowing a glimpse of what he lost even as they snatched another piece to drag back into the darkness. How could he talk about something he couldn't put in words?
He dropped his eyes with a sorrowful sigh, feeling like he had failed his friend. Pete looked back up at the ape who studied him with concern.
"I'm good. I promise," he said. Galen glanced back in the direction the older man had gone.
"You know Alan wants to help," the chimp tried to sooth the hurt he saw in his friend.
"I don't need any help, Galen. I'm handling things just fine."
"Our definitions of 'just fine' are not the same," the chimp tapped at his friend's chest with his folded fingertips.
"Look, Galen," Pete voiced softly, pushing himself back a little by folding his knees in front of his chest. "I appreciate that both you and Alan are there if I need you. I don't need you—I mean, I do need you," the human adjusted to the stricken look on the chimpanzee's face, "but not right now anyway. Both of you have enough of your own shit to deal with. I'm not dumping my shit on your plate, too."
"Ugh, sounds far too disgusting for this early in the morning."
"Right. And you are my friend, so I won't do that to you." The half-smile was gentle. "Look, it's getting better every day. You worry too much."
"Pete, it is not a worry. It is being your friend."
"And being my friend, honestly, I just need you to back off a little. Both of you. Today's gonna be a good day. You'll see—"
It was not a good day. In fact, it was a terrible day.
Urko slammed the jail door behind him loud enough to draw the attention of a passing chimpanzee, his arms folded over long rolls of bound papers. His eyes widened at the sight of the Central City visitor; he tucked his head and quickened his pace toward his own destination.
"Hmph," the gorilla gruffed. At the moment, Urko had no destination. He only had anger. His arms, elbows cocked, twisted back and forth at his side. At the far side of the Rhohas Square, the brown tail of Vulko's horse flicked as the mine overseer galloped away. Bringing him here had been a mistake but at the time, Urko wanted to keep the human prisoners under his watchful eye. There could be no escapes. No rescues. No damnable chimpanzee throwing himself at his lieutenant allowing the astronauts to skitter away…
Vulko came prepared. He was calm. Confident. The gorilla could prove his iron fist controlled the mines and all the human laborers banded to its caverns. Quotas within margins. New veins opened for ore extraction. Acceptable attrition rate. Not that Urko cared about that. All the vermin should be marched into the underground, and he'd raise a stein as it was imploded burying the pestilence in its bowels. Get the damnable chimps and orangs off their gilded cushions and put their backs into a real day's labor. The interview was useless. Urko should have attacked him unannounced to bring the accusation of human rebellion within the mines into his investigation.
And Meelar? What by all the fires was Bulta thinking? His assistant, and decades old friend, typically provided Urko with sound advice and meticulous strategies to navigate the complicated political machinations of Central City and the ape-controlled State. With far too many orangs doing the controlling for Urko's taste. Bulta had suggested Meelar to finesse the inclusion of the mines into his investigation to earn the favor of Warsa, an influential orangutan with his fingers and toes firmly entrenched in trade throughout the State. The mine at Rhohas was one of his many operations, and the quelling of a human uprising through the diligent oversight of the Chief of Security was intended to elevate one grateful orangutan as Urko's staunch and vocal supporter.
Urko had not remembered the trooper when he initially came to him. It was the first night after they had left the City on the way north to the Borderlands. He sought an audience. Bulta had given Urko the name, so he was admitted into his tent. He had pushed through the flaps with a misplaced arrogance for a middle-aged gorilla with no officer stripes on his vest. He presented himself as the liaison for the Rhohas mine, the words stiff on his tongue so obviously scripted by Bulta. The Chief had acknowledged him, telling him to be prepared to begin his work the same day that they reached the town. The fool then attempted to engage him in ridiculous friendly banter. That's when the Chief remembered him.
Several years back, he had stood at the edge of a human village stricken with disease, watching the flames rise, listening to the screams accompany the burning of the meeting lodge where the vermin still breathing had been tied and locked inside. Through the smoke, on one side of the clearing, he saw a squad of six troopers carry two trunks and roll a barrel out of the village. Meelar was among them, slapping backs and joking at their plunder.
"Bulta," Urko lowered his voice to a dangerous tone.
"Yes, General." The then trim, active-duty colonel straightened next to his commander.
"Those fools need to be reminded that this operation is the cleansing of a quarantined site."
The gorilla nodded curtly and took steps in that direction.
"Bulta," the General called to him again. "I expect it to be memorable."
"Yes, sir."
Urko had no faith that Meelar was capable of achieving the ends he desired, but until he determined a better strategy, he left him in place. Perhaps Bulta knew something he did not. He would give him today to prove himself. The imbecile was going back to the mine later this afternoon. Perhaps Bulta had given him a workable plan.
The Chief stopped at the cage gratified to see his two troopers on guard duty were properly attentive, and the six humans he continued to hold balk and shrivel away at his approach. His anger sparked as he found Burke and Vir— no, Travvan and Benn or Pimn and Draylus or whatever they were called—huddled together against the wood frame. Their injuries were less pronounced this morning. He would have to do something about that later today, too. That miniature female chimp who had goaded him into losing his temper, and his strangle-grip on Osmur, must have been here again.
The Prefect had clucked about like a proud rooster ever since Urko had slipped and provided grounds for appeal to any charges the Chief tried to pin on him. It was further exacerbated by his smug cockiness that he couldn't be touched, thinking he had something to hold over Urko. THAT needed to change. He wanted an excuse to attack Gressa, the relative of the traitor Galen, but her food was too damn good, and any action toward her would have to wait until he left. He would be eating trail food again soon enough. The female would share her husband's disgrace at Urko's convenience.
For maximum effect, Urko walked slowly around the edge of the cage. One human whimpered out loud, ducking into a ball as if that could make a difference. The gorilla stopped and looked down at the pale and dark heads of his targets, seated side by side, both suitably stooped at his presence. He leaned down so that his mouth was level with their ears and hissed, "I will be back for you." Urko chuckled at the Burke-like move as the one wrapped his arms around his chest, and the other mirrored Virdon, gently patting the younger on his leg. He took it as a sign, spun around, and walked straight through the building alleys, determined to move out of the town, giving himself time to plan.
The annoying orangutan, Judan caught sight of him and began an awkward trot in his direction. Urko threw up a definitive hand warning the functionary to keep his distance. The Chief was pleased to note he had enough sense about him to stop dead in his tracks, beating his fists together nervously. He had hovered about the rest of last evening, and all of this morning, effusively attempting to please him. He was the epitome of everything Urko hated about the species. It was not lost on the gorilla that the young ape hoped to garner favor with designs to escape this miserable town. That knowledge alone gave the gorilla the patience to tolerate the fawning. He may have need of him to bring Osmur down.
Urko stomped through the town, his arms swinging broadly, an occasional grunt keeping any he passed at a distance. None seemed in a hurry to approach him anyway. Without conscious awareness, he slowed his pace as he left the last of the buildings and came into an open meadow. On the far side of the ankle tall grass, a series of stones in a roughly circular design rose incongruously in the otherwise flat ground. That alone may have piqued his interest, but the lone human sitting among the rocks, holding a contraband item recognizable even at a distance, increased his pace once more.
As Urko neared, he could see this was a young human, a kid, and the experienced soldier knew that unless invoking fear was the goal, unlike adults, fear was a poor method to obtain information from children, even human kids. The gorilla altered his pace into a leisurely stroll and painted what he considered a pleasant smile on his face. He stepped between a set of the flat stones, a few down from where the male kid sat, his bare heels absently rocking against the stone as he concentrated on his task. The stones did form a circle—like benches—with three additional boulders flattened to the height of a table set in the center. The gorilla saw several tracks in the dirt, the width of wheelbarrow or small cart, where the grass had been worn away by regular passage leading into the meadow. This area showed signs of heavy use with the chaotic passage of footprints, and the scrub beaten down to nubs.
As Urko suspected, the kid held a knife—forbidden to humans in public places unless supervised—in one hand, a wooden cup in the other. The tip of the blade moved along the surface of the wood carving away the dark brown exterior leaving a pale yellow beneath. The gorilla was surprised to see a purposeful design forming in the wood.
The ape could not deny the sense of amusement he felt at the kid's devotion to his task, his tongue moving along his lips in rhythm with his hand, oblivious to his arrival. Elta, his wife, often commented that all babies are cute, even humans. He did not consider even ape babies cute, but he recognized the ease with which he could manipulate them. Careful not to startle him, Urko waited until the blade was away from the surface of the cup before clearing his throat.
The kid glanced up, gasped, and immediately jumped to his feet, lowering his head. His thin arms jerked back and forth as he awkwardly moved his hands unsure what to do with the objects he held, and finally stiffened them at his sides. His tongue darted out against his lips as he waited for the gorilla to give him permission to speak. Urko begrudgingly acknowledged that unlike Galen, who allowed Virdon and Burke to act with constant insolence, Osmur controlled his humans well.
The Chief approached the small human and sat on the bench next to where he stood. He leaned over to better study the carving on the cup and was impressed by the intricate design of interwoven lines taking the shape of a blooming flower.
"Hold that cup up where I can see it, boy."
The kid responded quickly, taking side glances toward him, but keeping his face down.
A rose, perhaps? Elta knew about flowers. Urko only knew that she knew about flowers.
He waved his hand toward it. "My wife would like that," he said. The kid, properly, remained quiet. Urko smacked his lips as he studied the whelp. Brownish hair, pale skin, a green shirt too big and tan shorts too tight. His bare feet were dusty. His toes wiggled nervously while he concentrated on holding himself still.
"What is this place?" his baritone filled the area.
"The Circle, sir," his tiny human voice squeaked.
"What is it for?"
"What is it for, sir?" The kid glanced his way briefly, unsure.
"What do you do here?" Urko cooed patiently.
"Oh!" The whelp's face brightened and looked at the shaggy gorilla with a smile. "We learn."
Urko returned the smile as his day finally improved.
Ahh. Osmur. I have you now.
"How much farther?" Pete asked absently, just to make conversation, as they kept a steady pace north. The three walked in a jagged line, Alan slightly in front, Galen in the middle.
"About an hour closer than the last time you asked," Galen teased.
"Are we there yet?" Alan let slip with a grin. Pete chuckled.
"Maybe another couple of hours," Galen gestured ahead. "We'll want to veer off the main road soon. To go to the woods."
As promised, it had been a good day. Other than a nagging pain in his left temple, Pete's vertigo remained quiescent and his nausea absent. They had passed the morning with sporadic conversation about the attributes of Rhohas and Galen's tales of exploration while he was there, had a reasonably filling lunch without having to stop to scavenge due to the younger man's ill-gotten gains and to Galen, the feel of 'normal' was returning, although he unobtrusively maintained his position between the two humans to lessen the chance for confrontations.
They came to the peak of a tall hill and continued a slow descent on the other side. They were a little less than halfway to the base when Pete felt a twinge between his shoulders, and the hair on his arms stood up. The echo of running horses shifted through his hearing. He blinked rapidly, stopping to turn on his axis to look behind him, seeing nothing but gently waving grass and puffs of white clouds floating lazily overhead. His heart began to palpitate as the urge to flee tingled through his entire body. Pete turned back to resume his walk but froze mid-step as the image of six gorillas on black horses, galloping down the hill towards them, a net strung between two of them, slammed into his head.
After him! After him!
"Pete?" someone spoke.
He started to turn to the sound as Wanda's face spun through his head causing him to jump back. She leaned forward, inches from him, so close he felt her breath against his cheeks, smelled the odor of her fur, heard the voice that overwhelmed every other sound around him. She reminded him, "Zaius has given you back to me." A jolt ran through his body.
"Pete?"
Images and sounds whirled together, pounding at him. A torrent of fists, the jangle of horses' bits, net tangled over his head tripping him, a long triangle shaped bit of stone on the ceiling that stayed still as everything around it spun and spun, manacles snapping shut against his ankles, leather thongs digging into his raw wrists, his face slammed by vicious slaps—from far away, drawing near—that voice, her voice—Tell me the names… the Names… the NAMES…
Pete pressed his hand against his temple, his left eye shut, the other half-lidded open. His entire head began to throb as his vertigo began a pulsating spin on the periphery of his vision. The determined clip of hard soled shoes sounding on stone headed toward him. Closer now—Tell me the NAMES… the NAMES… the NAMES…
He blinked rapidly, sucking in short gasps of air. Her smell, building in his nostrils, choked him. A gag reflex caught in his throat.
"Pete?"
"I have to go," he garbled the words before he even understood them. "Need to run. Gotta clear my head."
Dodging Alan's outstretched hand with a full-turn twist, Pete ran.
"What the hell! Pete!"
"Have to run, Alan!" his voice was more clear as the constriction in his throat relaxed. "Meet you at Galen's river!"
"BURKE! You're not going to have any ass left for me to chew!" Alan screamed out, both hands cupped at his mouth as the younger man sped away from them. Pete raised his right hand in acknowledgment but shifted into a racer's speed as if gorillas were on his tail instead of Alan.
"Damn it!" The man raked his hand through his blond hair. "Sometimes I think he's daring the apes to come after him."
"Do we need to go after him?" Galen asked, agitated, unsure, his face twitching excitedly.
"That guy was born with jets—He's really fast," Alan responded to the chimp's perplexed look. "We couldn't catch him if we tried."
"What should we do?"
"Look Galen, whatever he needs, he can get it from me but I'm not gonna force feed it to him. If he wants help, he's gotta ask. Right now, I think he needs to start acting like he cares as much about us as we do about him—," the colonel's biting words were contrary to the worry that filled his eyes.
"Alan—." Galen shook his head gently, watching Pete disappear over the rise of the next hill.
"I mean it. I know he went through something, but we all depend on each other, literally for our lives. He can't keep pulling stunts like this and think it's all okay. I know he needs time, but we don't have the luxury of soft music, sipping tea, and dipping cookies in milk for him to work through—whatever it is he won't talk about. He needs to get it together."
"Maybe this is his way of 'getting it together,'" Galen's genial words were spoken with a sad smile. Silence settled between them.
"I just feel lost, Galen—," Alan finally admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.
I think he is just as lost as you are, Galen thought to himself.
"—but sometimes you just have to get over it. If he won't let us in, I don't know what else we can do."
The chimp looked down at his feet then back to the empty hill in front of them.
"We can keep walking to Rhohas and meet Pete at the river."
Alan looked at him with a scowl.
"And then we can… chew his ass? Together. Sounds a bit unappetizing but I expect it would be."
"Unappetizing as hell but overdue." Alan kicked at the grass and resumed walking. "Looong overdue."
Fight or flight, as instinctual as breathing. Pete had nothing to fight, so he flew.
His arms pumped in steady rhythm with his legs. Air sucked in and out through his nostrils; his mouth clamped shut. The thud of his heartbeat in his ears pushed out the voices. His eyes darting swiftly ahead for the safest place to land his next stride forced the images back into the dark places of his lost memories. He ran. Like his life depended on it. He believed it did.
The hills rolled in front of him for miles. Quick glances back revealed no sign of Alan and Galen, and no gorillas. He knew he would catch hell when Alan saw him again, but better Alan's hell than the one in his head. He settled into a steady pace which he knew he could maintain for hours even with the pack on his back, the straps digging into his shoulders. That was okay. Here and now pain kept the other away. He would reach Rhohas before long anyway.
He remembered Galen saying they needed to move away from the main road, so he diverted his path slightly toward the west. Or maybe he could just run forward for a while longer then turn back and find his friends before they got to the woods. Alan's scowling face popped in his head. Maybe not. He ran faster.
As he got closer to Rhohas, the hills grew father apart, but taller. Large boulders broke through the ground with greater regularity. He knew he had to be getting close enough that he needed to stop, turn around or find the woods, the river. A lone human, he couldn't just trot into town saying his master would be along in a minute. His mouth dry, his head wet, he spied a series of tall boulders in front of him, one that reached up about thirty feet then spread out like a bird's wings. He ran toward it.
Digging the toes of his shoes into the jagged nooks and crannies, it was an easy scale. Free climbing was one of the extreme sports he pursued to fill his constant need for an adrenaline high, at least until ANSA made it off limits for him. Too risky for the face of the program to fall to his death on his off day. But Alan had let him climb under the pretense of training and share what he knew to help his superior officer and Jonesy pick up some skills. Of course, Virdon made him pay for the privilege by doing it after a grueling full uniform, full pack run. A real sadist. Masochist, too, since he was right there with them. The best C.O. he ever had. And Pete owed him his life.
Pete dropped his pack as he reached the top and walked a few feet along the flat surface. He sat with his open canteen in his hand, holding the water in his mouth for a few seconds before he swallowed. When he finally convinced himself that he had no reason to panic about the amount of water that remained, he lowered himself to the rock and stretched out on his back, spread-eagle, taking measured breaths. The white stone was warm. He closed his eyes and drifted awhile. He might have slept. He thanked whatever gods cared about such things that no one in his head joined him.
When the voices did come, he lifted his knees and dug the heels of his hands into his eye sockets until he realized the sounds came from below him, not from within. The nicker of a horse and cough floated up.
Damn it!
Pete rolled to his stomach and shimmied forward to the edge. What little spittle remained in his mouth dried completely as two gorillas came into view. One wore the familiar black vest with maroon sleeves and trousers of Urko's guard. The other, the coughing one, was dressed in a brown pull-over tunic, sleeves cut off above the elbows. Darker brown pants slid into knee high brown boots scuffed with white- and rust-colored marks. And he was huge. Even on horseback, he towered over the trooper. The mines? A gorilla from the mines?
"I read it," the oversized ape snarled. "I don't understand it! What's the profit?!"
"Explosion's needed to prove that rebels are stirring trouble in the mines," the trooper explained.
"What rebels?! You keep speaking nonsense. Our banded labor is contained!"
"Urko has proof that rebel humans are in Rhohas. They're caged up to be executed."
Pete clamped his eyes shut. He forced himself to focus on the words and not the cold knot of fear that squeezed in his chest when he heard the name of his enemy, the gorilla that wanted him dead, but not before he beat the living shit out of him—again. Urko was here? Damn it to hell!
"The General knows that your leeches are also resistin' and plannin' an attack. He wants to hit 'em first, 'fore they can act."
"To explode the mine kills labor and production!" the mine ape argued.
"And perhaps your Overseer…" the trooper left the words dangling.
Burke tucked one hand beneath his chin and chewed at the thumbnail on the other. He could see the large gorilla narrow his eyes even at this distance.
"Urko and Bulta support having Vulko… removed?"
"Urko—and Bulta—want an successful investigation. And a small explosion that kills your rebels," was said with a shrug. "No one said it had to be inside the mine," the trooper pointed out.
"Inside their quarters."
"What?"
"I have some rebels for you. Lazy. Weak. Sickly. The replacements tend to be strong for a few weeks. They will blow themselves up after they steal the explosives. When?"
"Tonight, or early morning would be best. Urko plans to execute the humans in the town soon. He needs to get back to Central City as quick as he can. There was this… unfortunate incident. Made some in the Council question whether he's still strong enough to head security. Gossip in the City ain't exactly in his favor either. He's going back with proof that he's the only one who can keep the leeches under his heel. Losin' one wanted human is nothin' compared to destroyin' a whole rebel force." Pete caught his breath as his eyes widened. Urko was planning a political stunt because of them? Him!?
"And he plans to remove Vulko for his failures?" The large gorilla coughed and spit as his horse pawed at the rocky ground.
"And the Prefect. Consequences," the trooper chuckled.
"And profits?"
"Rewards," the trooper amended. "The Overseer position will be openin' up once the General gets his way. Bulta will persuade Warsa, yer boss, to give you the promotion."
"And then profits." The huge gorilla's deep laugh rumbled through the rocks like the sound of an earthquake.
And in the overhang above them, human eyes burned with the fury of a raging fire.
Pete Burke didn't mind running. Never did. There was an internal peace in it. Escapism. Took him away from dark places. Hated that closet. Wait, what closet? He shook his head. Used to be running was just running. Getting some miles logged. Part of practice. Part of training. Something required to get you to the fun stuff. Oh, he complained, but that was just part of it, too. If you talk about nothing, they don't ask about—they don't ask about that. You do something to your arm? How'd you get that bruise? Have you been crying, Petey? Now running was all about survival, and finding his friends—
The necessity of stopping on the brink of every hill was messing with his rhythm. Made breathing harder. Also, not the smartest strategy according to the chapter in The Time Traveler's Guide on "Gorilla Patrols and How to Avoid Them," especially when Urko was in town. Gorillas weren't the brightest bulbs in the box, but he could say the same about a lone human silhouetted on top of a hill, gripping his knees to catch his breath while scanning the countryside for a chimpanzee and human traveling together. He didn't have much of a plan on how he was going to find Galen and Alan, run easterly and look for them was about it. He figured they wouldn't be past him yet. Galen was both slow and lacked the stamina. He had gotten better since they hooked up though.
His tired heart leapt when he caught sight of them. He crested a hill that overlooked a long open patch of grassland shimmering gold in the afternoon sun. Just two friends, or master and servant depending on who you were talking to, on a casual walk with no place to hide should the gorillas come-a-callin'. He found speed from somewhere and took off.
Galen lifted his head and pointed. "Is that Pete?"
Alan squinted in the direction of the extended finger and just made out a patch of blue on the lone figure approaching them.
"I think so. And he's in a hurry. C'mon." The human tapped his friend's shoulder and skipped into a jog.
"You know I never had to run anywhere before I met the two of you!" the chimp called after him, then followed with a groan.
Both Alan and Pete skidded to a stop next to one another. Pete dropped his hands to his knees, pulling in long draughts of air while Alan placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Urko," Burke forced out between breaths. "He's here."
"Are you sure?" Alan straightened and looked in the direction Pete had come.
"Urko?" Galen caught up, winded by the run.
Pete nodded his head, sweat dripping to the ground. "Heard two gorillas talking." The young astronaut saw his commander open his mouth to start asking questions so held up his hand to forestall him. "Trying to prove a point. Since we got away. Embarrassed him. In Rhohas to prove there's a human rebellion. Gonna start the executions. Make him look good. Wants to take out your cousin." Burke pointed his chin toward the chimp.
"Gressa?" Worry flooded Galen's face. Pete shook his head.
"The Prefect."
"Osmur. We have to stop this!" the chimp demanded.
"How?" Alan interjected. Pete straightened.
"We do have to stop this," Burke agreed, taking a half-step toward Galen. "It's because of us. He also plans—"
"We can't do anything until we know the situation," the colonel interrupted. "About how much farther, Galen? Is there a way to get in to see what is happening? Can you get to your cousin?"
"Rhohas sits in a large valley. You can see the entire town from the hills."
"Okay, we'll start there. Pete, are you up to another run?"
The younger man gave a brisk nod. "But Alan, the mi—"
"Later. We need to get to the town first and then decide the next step. Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about you, Major," Alan sternly advised, putting a finger in his face. "Let's move out."
These moments, these ingeniously contrived moments—if he was on speaking terms with Burke, he would have told him to call it political theater—reminded Urko that he could play Zaius's game when he chose. He stood, his fists planted firmly at his hips, his back to the gate of the cage. Prefect Osmur and his wife, Gressa, stood nearby. Judan, the assistant to the Prefect, adjusted his position as required, attempting to be the one closest to him. Lieutenant Ullic waited dutifully at the gate itself. His armed troops were assigned by squad throughout the square—keeping the peace. He had put the worthless Meelar near the cage on guard duty to teach him a lesson on using strategy to achieve his commander's objectives. Urko even allowed Balden, the garrison commander, and his soldiers to take up positions. They needed to maintain order when he left, after all.
The apes who lived in the town gathered in a large ring surrounding the cage. Urko saw the small chimpanzee veterinarian, Kaykos, shove her way to the front. Good. He intended to make her feel needed by providing work for her soon. Behind the apes, humans pressed as near as they dared, desperate to see what he intended. Urko did a cursory glance for the male kid from the circle of stones. If the whelp was there, he didn't find him, but the crowd made it hard enough to distinguish one ape from another, much less the vermin. The six humans in the wooden cage were arranged in a line at the center of the structure. He allowed the voices surrounding them to whisper and speculate, all eyes watching, ears waiting for him to speak. Waiting for him to act.
"Lieutenant Ullic," Urko's booming voice reached all present in the square. The quiet which descended was palpable.
"Open the cage."
His assignment understood, the gorilla marched to stand by the line of humans.
"As Chief of Security and Chief Investigator, I have uncovered proof regarding a plot by human rebels in Rhohas, a savage plan to attack their Ape Masters."
Osmur frowned thinking Urko intended to end the charade and divert his attention to the mines for his sham, especially following Kaykos' discovery regarding his ridiculous attempt to blame him for the gorilla's own failures regarding the notorious fugitives. He felt Gressa's hand slip into his as she moved closer to him.
Ullic grabbed the first man's arm as Urko did a slow turn to face the circled crowd. "Release him!" he shouted. A cheer went up at the back of the Square which was quickly hushed by those in the area.
Osmur allowed a smile to nibble at the corner of his lips and relaxed when Urko continued through the line and released the fourth man. The gorilla decided to show good sense after all. The Prefect absently rubbed at the letter tucked inside his vest addressed to High Council Chair Zaius detailing the Security Chief's lapse in judgement due to an unhealthy obsession with the renegade chimpanzee Galen and his humans, Virdon and Burke. It was prepared should it be required. His frown returned as Lt. Ullic stepped out of the gate while the Chief of Security entered the cage to stand in front of the two remaining humans, Trayus and Phyn. Both waited respectfully, heads down. The Prefect noted the dark-haired boy flinch as the gorilla drew near but otherwise held his folded hands at his waist.
The Security Chief turned back to the crowd and made direct eye contact with the Prefect as he stated, "This town harbors secrets."
He let the words hang as tension rolled back through the gasping crowd; pressure heightened crushing hope as if death had arrived in a plague wagon, and each wondered who would be loaded up and dragged away.
Urko turned slowly to face Trayus and Phyn once more. Their heads remained down, but both lifted their skittish eyes in his direction.
"And you are going to reveal them to me," he hissed.
Phyn had been struck by apes before. Of course, he had. All humans had at one time or another. But he obeyed. He was respectful. Shoves, kicks, glancing blows. He was slapped several times across his back with the reins of a horse once. As Urko's fist smashed into his solar plexus sending him to the ground in spasms, he fully understood that he had never been beaten by an ape before.
The repeated blows and kicks were beyond any pain he had known. The gorilla would hold him erect to slap at him or yank him from his knees to open up a new space on his body to strike. As Phyn groveled on the ground, begging him to stop, Urko would kick his midsection between his desperately curled arms and legs. Or pound a fist into the small of his back causing him to arch backwards only to slam his fists into his belly to reverse the motion. There was no place to hide from his attack.
But it was the whispers in his ear as the gorilla tugged him close that haunted him.
"If only you were Burke."
"Next time, Burke."
"I will find you, Burke."
"You will beg for death, Burke."
Phyn hated Burke.
The Security Chief never asked him questions. Never gave him a chance to speak. Maybe it was for the best. Phyn wasn't sure he could hold his tongue to protect The Circle as Trayus did.
He realized as he lay on his back gasping for air that Urko had moved back to Trayus, the Circle Guide, his teacher, giving him a reprieve from punishment. Trayus was the man who taught him how to maintain a wagon, care for the oxen and horses who pulled it, the most efficient way to position a load as well as ways to do simple counting in his head and recognize common words on orders. Trayus identified the skills he had and taught him how to have a decent life in a mining town.
It wasn't just the shipping trade. Trayus understood cutting of gems, weaving of fabric, milling of stone, and growing of corn. Even beyond skills a human might need, he understood trade and barter, supply and demand. And what he didn't know, he drew from the knowledge of those who did. Listening, watching, practicing so he could pass new skills along. He gathered the kids of the town every day at the stones he had built. The Circle. And Trayus was The Guide. The little ones learned the importance of washing themselves to keep away sickness. Cleansing their mouths to prevent rotted teeth. Cooking food for better taste and avoiding stomach cramps. As Trayus watched them grow, and learned about them, he directed their minds and their hands to jobs and labor that best suited them.
But humans were not supposed have a guide, especially not a human one. They were to know only what was required, and their Masters would show them. The Circle should not exist.
Learning was forbidden.
"What secrets do you hide, human?!" Urko shouted loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I am loyal, sir," Trayus murmured. Phyn winced as the gloved hand struck the older man's face again, sending droplets of blood on him where he lay at their feet.
"You plot against your Masters!" Urko struck the other side.
"No, sir."
"Tell me where you meet in secret!" The gorilla wrapped both hands in his shirt and shook him causing his head to jerk back.
"No secrets, sir—"
Those were the words all could hear, but Phyn slowly blinked when the ape leaned into the Guide's face. Urko whispered in Trayus' ear, too, although the phrases were different.
"Virdon, I know it was you who took Burke."
"Do you think bested me, Virdon?"
"You can't hide forever, Virdon."
"You cannot escape me, Virdon."
The gorilla released Trayus, and he fell to his knees next to Phyn. He used the stump of his left arm to staunch the blood coming from his nose.
Urko walked with deliberate steps, observing the crowd. Some had pushed forward, others back. Ullic kept guard at the gate, his rifle in his hands. The Chief of Security locked his gaze on the Prefect. Osmur's face was stony, still. The eyes of his wife gave away both angst and fear. Was that a hint of a smile on the young orangutan? Maybe he wasn't so useless after all. The little vermin-healer chimp made no attempt to conceal her rage.
The gorilla flipped back to the blond human, knocking him to the ground with a solid punch to his cheek. He strolled around him kicking at his legs, his back, walking on his hand, a booted toe catching his chin.
"Tell. Me. Your. Secrets!" he shouted with each blow.
A female human screamed from behind the cluster of apes. "I will tell you! I will tell you!"
Urko lowered his boot that had paused just above the blond head. He glanced at Ullic with a hint of a smile. "Bring her!" he shouted.
One of the troopers pulled the woman of similar age to Trayus to the bars of the cage. The blond human opened a blue eye, and muttered, "Please don't—"
The general tilted his head in the woman's direction. The square could have been empty—the only sound was the sorrowful howl of distant creature. The woman clasped her hands at her waist, her eyes darting anxiously toward the humans laying at the gorilla's feet.
"Speak, human!" Urko ordered when it seemed she would not.
Although her face was pale and her voice trembled, she found the courage to ask, "If I tell you, will you let him live?"
Urko moved with a feral swiftness. Trayus was lifted up by a fistful of his shirt, his toes scraping the ground, a cocked pistol pressed against his temple.
"Tell me or watch him die," the deep voice spoke in silky tones. The woman gasped, then the words tumbled so fast most did not hear. Urko did. He watched with a wicked grin as Osmur's skin faded to a sickly white.
"The kids gather in the Circle. They are guided, but not to rebel—never to rebel—but to give better servants to our Masters!"
"So, you are saying they go to this circle to…" the gorilla coaxed.
"Learn. They go to the Circle to learn…," her voice trailed off into tears.
The gorilla threw Trayus to the ground and yelled to his platoon to disperse the crowds. The trooper roughly jerked the woman away, dragging her through the apes back to the humans in the square. Urko strolled to the bars staring at the Prefect and his teary-eyed wife.
"Osmur," he offered in a honeyed tone, "Gressa appears to be overwhelmed by the unpleasantness of this investigation. Take her home. We will talk tomorrow."
The chimp stared back, his nose moving slowly. Finally, thinking of nothing better to say, he muttered, "Thank-you, Chief Urko." He placed his arm tenderly around his wife and started across the square. Judan took the opportunity to move forward and stand next to the bars opposite the gorilla.
"Can I be of service, Chief Urko, while the Prefect is unavailable?"
"Not tonight, Judan." Urko's attention was drawn to the determined approach of the tiny chimpanzee holding her medical bag in a fisted grip. He made a motion to Ullic, and the trooper stopped her at the gate. "I have a bit of business here after which I shall retire, I think," he spoke as much to himself as the orangutan.
Phyn heard the crunch of the gorilla's boots on the hard ground. His body began to tremble. He knew. He knew what Urko intended.
Several minutes later, the voice of the guard, the one with the white V on his black vest, interrupted the whisperings of the silverback gorilla in his ear as he found new ways to bring him pain—his voice sounded very far away—
"Chief Urko, if you kill him now, you can't execute him later."
"Hmph," was the only response. His body was released to crumple to the dirt.
The Security Chief leisurely left the cage with a nod to Ullic, and an almost negligible wave to allow the veterinarian to enter. Urko heard her call to some nearby humans to bring fresh water from the well, and he idly thought he should have told the annoying orangutan to remind someone to bring his dinner to the guest quarters.
"Do you see what I see, Alan?" Pete hissed between grit teeth as Urko entered the wooden cage surrounded by over a hundred ape and human observers. The pair lay on their stomachs on a high grassy hill giving them a view of the Rhohas town square—close enough to see the light-haired man and the dark-haired man imprisoned there bow as the gorilla stopped in front of them.
"I see it, Pete."
"So, what are we gonna do about it?" he demanded.