Galen traveled quickly, skulking from tree to house to bush. He was exhausted. The fast pace of the trip to Central City, and the events just prior, were taking their toll on him. Galen did not look forward to the coming confrontation, yet he was filled with an urgency that would not allow him to rest.

He approached a small window set high in the back of his cousin's home and looked around warily, then whispered his cousin's name loudly. There was no answer. After repeated tries, he approached the window and leapt upwards, holding himself so that his head poked through the window. "Pergis!" he hissed.

There was sudden movement at his cousin's bed as Pergis sat up, startled.

"Shhh!" said Galen, before Pergis had time to utter a word. "It's me….Galen." He pulled himself through the window and dropped to the ground.

Pergis jumped up, exclaiming, "Galen!" and rushed to greet him. "Come here, sit down. I'm glad to see you…although surprised," Pergis added, guiding Galen to sit on the comfortable bed.

"Surprised, indeed," said Galen. "What do you think you're doing, Pergis? Besides getting yourself into some very deep trouble."

"Galen…" Pergis began. In the deep shadows of the room, he looked very young. "You of all people should understand what I'm doing. I'm trying to right a wrong. A wrong done to you and your friends by the apes in power," he said firmly.

Galen sighed. "Pergis, the last I saw of you, you were ready to turn me in. What has happened to change things?"

"I discovered the truth. Literally."

"Pergis," Galen said, warning. "I have traveled a long way today. I am extremely tired, and in no mood for guessing games. Tell me what you mean."

"I mean I broke in Dr. Zaius's home, and there I discovered the real truth. The books, Galen. Amazing, incredible books."

"You did what," said Galen, mouth gaping. "Were you spotted?"

"As far as I know, no. Now they have guards at the homes of both Zaius and Urko, but when I took the book, a few days after you'd left, there were no guards. It was late, and Zaius was asleep in his bed when I broke into his study."

Oh, Pergis, Pergis…do you know what you've done now? If they find you've taken a book, you are as good as dead." Galen sighed. "Where is the book now?"

"It's right here, actually. I just brought it home last week."

"From where?" asked Galen, horrified at the thought of Pergis roaming the streets freely with the book.

"I and the others have a secret meeting place," said Pergis, digging the book out from its hiding place behind the bed.

"Others? You mean the protestors?"

"Yes, of course. Students…friends of mine, many of them from that religion class you spoke of. You remember, the one that teaches 'drivel'," said Pergis, ironically.

"May the gods…may someone forgive me," exclaimed Galen, clapping a hand to his forehead.

"Oh, they're not the only apes who've come to believe. The word is spreading, as the lies of Urko and Zaius become evident. This is the proof, Galen," said Pergis excitedly, shaking the book. "Some of us have been arrested, but so far the punishment has been slight."

"It won't remain that way, Pergis. If some of you weren't from prominent families, I dare say you would be dead. And if they thought they could bury the incident altogether, I'm sure you'd be dead." Pergis handed Galen the book, and Galen gasped. "This is the same book that was discovered when my friends were first captured! The human that befriended Burke and Virdon had it in his possession when one of Urko's soldiers killed him, at the site of the crash landing," Galen exclaimed. Carefully he rifled the book's pages, remembering. This was the book that had started him on the treacherous path he now shared with Virdon and Burke.

Pergis looked excited. "The crash site? Do you mean you saw the ship the two humans traveled through space in?"

Galen looked irritated. "That's besides the point, Pergis. I'm here for one reason, and one reason only. To try and get you to use your common sense!"

"After all this time, I see the truth, Galen. The truth as you have known it for some time now. We have been lied to, all these years. Why? Can you tell me why?"

Galen paused, considering. "Zaius thinks he does this for the benefit of all apes. He believes that humans are evil. He believes we must be protected from them - he treats us as though we were children, not quite bright enough to decide for ourselves what to believe in. Both he and Urko would like nothing better than to see humanity exterminated from the face of the planet."

"And why would you want me to be silent about the truth, Galen? Don't you want everyone to know we've been lied to?"

Galen looked at his cousin's earnest face. His heart ached. "Yes, Pergis," he said slowly, "I'd like nothing better. But my point here is that you are a young chimp, with a full life ahead of you. Surely you must realize the consequences of what you do now!"

"Surely you must realize that the time has come to right these wrongs, Galen?" whispered Pergis softly.

"I wish it were the right time! You can't go against them like this, out in the open. You will lose."

"I can try, cousin. I can try," Pergis said.

"You can die!" Galen said passionately. "And I can't bear it, and neither can your parents… neither can mine!" he paused, lowering his voice. "I've traveled for days, Pergis, from a human village, burnt to the ground by Urko and his like, all because he knew they'd given us shelter. Do you want all humans to suffer the way they did? Go ahead, give Zaius and Urko the excuse they need to really, finally rid our world of them all!"

Pergis, stood, stunned. "Urko burnt an entire village?" he asked slowly.

"Don't act so shocked, Pergis. It's happened before, you know it…and worse."

"This is why I can't turn back, cousin. Don't you understand? The power of those two cannot continue, unchecked," Pergis said, pleading with Galen.

"Please… Pergis. If there is truly a way to stop them, I'd be the first to join you. But the only way we've found so far is to influence both apes and humans on a personal basis, as we come to know them. To show them the truth, not tell it. You can't shove it down their throats. They will turn on you. They are afraid." Galen said quietly.

"No, Galen. It is you who are afraid." his cousin whispered.

"Yes, Pergis. As you should be. You can't help change the world if you're dead." The cousins stared at one another as each came to the inexorable realization that one could not sway the other.