Day: Unknown. Time: Unknown. Place: Unknown

Captain Hayes woke to the sound of voices and the occasional pounding coming from outside their ship. The other men appeared to be unconscious. Or even worse, dead. Hayes didn't have time to check. There was thick smoke and a number of small electrical fires in progress. If he hadn't been wearing his environmental suit he'd surely be dead from asphyxiation. If he didn't act quickly he was going to die anyway. Hayes removed his gloves and worked his way over to main command console. He moved Johnson aside who was still unconscious but appeared to be alive.

Hayes heard a faint voice outside saying: "I want inside that thing now." A repeating Thuuud, Thuuud could be heardamidst the faded but growing voices.

"Sir, we don't dare shoot. We might hit civilians." One voice cried.

"Then clear everyone away and burn that thing." The first voice roared. "Tow it out of the city and chop it into dust if you have to. Just open it up"

"English. That's English. Did we crash? How? We were light years from Earth. How did we get back? Why are they talking about shooting and burning the ship?" Hayes contemplated to himself, wondering if he was hallucinating.

The ship was in bad shape but Hayes was able to access the emergency safety systems. Main power seemed to be out but the back-up batteries were on line. The automated extinguishing mechanisms hissed & turned as they released their flame quenching spray. Another few minutes and the atmospheric systems vented the smoke. Once it was safe, Hayes removed his space-suit so he could function without the bulky restrictions. He was going for a med-kit when he heard a moan from Thomas March.

"Jon, Wh-what…" ~ cough ~ "What's going …on? Where are we?" March asked as he caught his breath. He was still light headed. "Uuuhhh" he mumbled to himself as he tried to stand. "Feels like someone beat me with a two by four. What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, Tom. The last thing I remember was reaching the barrier and then I woke up here. I just put out some internal fires and was about to tend to the two of you." Hayes answered.

"I'm fine, Jon. I just need a minute to clear my head. Check on the skipper. Once that's done I want you to get an estimate of the damages. See if you can get the CIS online. While you're doing that I'm going to see if I can open the shielding and determine where we are. And before you do any of that make sure you arm yourself. I don't know who's out there but from the sound of it they're not exactly the welcome party. If they get in and come at us, I want them introduced to a 9mm slug."

"Roger Sir. …Tom, are you sure you're ok? I can…" Hayes said.

"I'm fine, Jonny!" March interrupted. "Just do what I said while I figure out where in the hell we are."

Colonel Johnson was still unconscious. Whatever had affected the ship and its crew had taken the worse toll on him. Hayes unlatched Johnson's helmet and applied an oxygen mask. After about 20 seconds Johnson began to cough and his eyes slowly opened. He pointed to a canteen of water and motioned for Hayes to give him a drink. As the Colonel drank and regained his composure, Hayes filled him in on what had happened up to that point.

"Ok, it looks like the starboard shielding is fused but I think I've routed some of the existing power to the main and port shielding. Let's see where we are." Thomas March stated. He pushed a few buttons and the large metal shields began to retract. As March looked through the widow of the cockpit things suddenly started to fall in place. "What in name of… Jonny can you see this? We may not like how it happened but we just completed phase one of our mission. We're here." He said in stunned amazement.

Outside, apes busily did their jobs. Crews were clearing rubble and assisting the wounded while others attended to the dead. Fire control units were scrambling to put out flames and keep the civilian population from disrupting the flow of water. Lines of volunteers were passing buckets of water from local wells and the nearby river. Soldiers were shouting orders to their subordinates; calling for this and that in any attempt to enter the strange object from the sky.

The Apes had given up on pounding their way into…the…the thing; whatever it was. It was stronger than stone. It had appeared out of nowhere and lit the city up like it was mid-day as it fell from the clouds. It had destroyed several dwellings and buildings when it hit. Killed hundreds and wounded even more. Parts of the city were on fire while other parts were just gone. It skipped like a stone on a lake when it struck. Where was it from? What was it; sorcery? …Judgment from the gods in the clouds?

"Sergeant, I told you to tow that thing out of here. If you can't handle that task I'll get someone here who can." The young ape lieutenant shouted.

"Officers!" the Sergeant thought. "Damn incompetent fools…" Mustering as much self control as he could find the gorilla sergeant turned to the lieutenant and said: "Sir, with all due respect would you like me to put it in my pocket and carry it off or should I just let it rest on my shoulders?" Before the lieutenant could react, the sergeant continued. "…Sergeant Volker's crew is on their way with towing equipment but I doubt wagons, ropes and horses will…"

"Wait Sergeant …what's that noise? Those ….uh the …doors, they're moving." The ape lieutenant said trying to mask his uneasiness.

"Look! Inside! A Human! I thought they were all dead!" An ape child shouted. That caught the attention of every ape within earshot.

Turning to the closest ape soldier the lieutenant barked out: "Get her out of here! Now! And shoot those animals immediately."

The soldiers lifted their muskets, aimed and fired away in futilely.

The lieutenant ordered a courier to mount a steed, ride to the capital and report the, uh situation… This made no sense and the young ape didn't want any part of it. It was too overwhelming. Let someone with more authority handle it. This thing from the sky had hit the garrison and killed every soldier inside. He had been out on a routine patrol when the disaster struck. If he hadn't, he'd have met the same fate as the soldiers in the garrison.

The city's Governor was alive but had been fatally wounded. He was under the care of the local physicians. It didn't matter though. He'd be dead shortly. Like it or not he was the ranking authority. The ride from Arum to the capital city, Kawaka and back was a good ten days. And that was barring any bad weather. So, it appeared for now that this mess was solely his problem.

"Muskets? I don't understand. I have to be dreaming." March thought in bewilderment.

Colonel Johnson, who was now fully alert, interrupted his thoughts, stating: "We have a problem. The shielding buckled the emergency starboard escape hatch. We have about a six inch gap and it looks like there's stress on the seal. Jonny, can you access rail guns?"

"I don't know, Skipper. I'll see what I can do." Hayes said as he worked his way over to the tactical computer interface.

The gorilla sergeant had also noticed the opening. "You two, get over here!" he ordered. "Grab that…thing and tear it off. The soldiers grunted and leapt from where they were standing landing directly on top of he ship. The closest gorilla attempted to rip off the hatch using both his hands…and feet.

"My gosh! They're actually bending it. Skipper we need to find a way out of here." March said in a semi-alarmed tone. "What if we eject?"

"What would that get us? For one thing we don't even know if those systems are damaged. And if they're not and we were luckily enough not to hit a tree, we'd pop out and fall right into their laps. Even with muskets it would be a turkey shoot. Besides, that monkey must have jumped 25 feet without even trying. I don't think they'd have a problem reaching us no matter where we landed." Johnson answered.

"What if we arm ourselves with the M-103s and a few grenades maybe we can…" March said.

He was cut off by the sound of prying metal. A huge uniformed arm with a black fury paw was awkwardly trying to reach inside. The arm was too massive to completely fit but all the tugging was loosening the hatch more every minute. They could hear the sergeant ordering the musketeers to reload as he also shouted for a pistol. "If we can't shoot through this thing we'll shoot into it. If that doesn't work we'll smoke them out. By the law-giver we seem to have enough fire on hand." The sergeant growled as he motioned to a burning set of trees.

The ape lieutenant looked relieved to have the sergeant giving orders. He was well trained but the sergeant had experience and respect. He always seemed to have an answer for every situation. The lieutenant was a bit envious at how leadership seemed to come so effortlessly to some.

"Ok guys we need a plan and we need it fast. Tom, take your pistol and shoot anything that comes near that opening. Grab a smoke grenade and see if you can get it out that hole or through one of the ships waste releases. Hopefully that will confuse them long enough for us to figure something out. Captain Hayes, where are we with the rail guns?"

"Sir, we have full access to the port gun and targeting capability on two of our AA missiles. I also have thruster and engine control but we're on reserve power. If we start firing we're going to drain the batteries. This is a long shot but I think I have an idea. Radar scans confirm that there's a large lake approximately one and a half Klicks northeast. I think I can use the ships internal navigation computer to map a course to that will punch us into the lake. We can use the remaining power to thrust us into the air and fire a short engine burst that will jolt us forward." Hayes explained. "…I hope" Hayes thought to himself.

"That's your plan? To drown us in a lake? This ship is no condition to fly let alone plot a course and then land safely" Johnson said

"Skipper, we have enough fuel so that's not a problem…" Hayes's reply was abruptly interrupted by the sound of gun fire and what sounded like the roar of an animal wounded in a hunt.

Bam-bam-bam…Pop…Hiss "Smoke away skipper. I hit one of them but he's not down. Although, he won't be sticking his nose in here again." Thomas exclaimed. "We have got to move they're going to be back. And when they are they'll have that hatch off."

"Noted, Major. We're leaving before that happens." Johnson replied. "Ok Jon, what's your plan? Whatever it is we need to hurry."

"Skipper, like I was saying fuel's no problem I just need time to work with the navigation system and make my calculations. The ship is damaged beyond normal flight capability but lifting us up a propelling us forward will work. We'll also fry anything within 50 meters of the ship too. Those bastards will…" the sound of gun fire cut short Hayes statement.

Bam-bam… "The smoke isn't stalling them enough, Mark. They're regrouping and I think they're going to try and burn us out." Thomas shouted as he fired the two random shots.

"Then toss a grenade, just make sure it's far enough out not to kill us as well." Johnson said. He then pointed at Hayes. "Whatever it is Jonny; do it. Do it now. I'd rather die trying your plan then to sit here waiting for it to come from those animals." Johnson finished his statement and ordered Thomas to assist Hayes.

He grabbed a Munzenburger 103 from the equipment wrack, (M-103 for short). He flipped the latch from safety to semi-auto. The Munzenburger was a weapon adopted by both the US Army and the Marines. It was a tough, durable weapon and deadly accurate. The German gun maker; Well, West German gun maker at the time, Harold Munzenburger, had designed it during the German civil war. He'd used the original model when he fought the Cubans and Soviets back in the 60s.

"I just need about two minutes Skipper." Hayes said trying to sound as optimistic as his cynical inner man would allow. "Tom, please check the ejection equipment. It should be fine since it's not linked to the major electrical systems. Check the emergency equipment pod as well. Then strap in." Hayes then began to industriously plug away at the computer.

"Ok you freak bastards. Let's see how you like to be screwed with." Johnson thought to himself. The hatch was bent back and almost off but not enough for the massive gorilla's to fully get in. Johnson adjusted his position as close to the hole as he could. The smoke and gun shots from Thomas's pistol seemed to have the apes second guessing their current strategy. The smoke was beginning to clear and the sun had risen. Visibility was about 75 to 80%.

"All right Bo-Bo, try this one on for size." Johnson muttered.

The events that took place next lasted about 45 seconds but seemed more like 45 hours to Colonel Johnson. His heart began to pound as adrenalin coursed through his body. Though he often tried to ignore it he felt the fatigue of age tugging at his joints and muscles.

He employed a technique that the US Army Special Ops had taught him in his second year of training. It was designed to cause fear and confusion when exiting an area where a large population existed. He adjusted the site a bit and aimed the weapon at a random ape that was drawing a bucket of water. Pow… It wasn't a kill shot. It was designed to wound and draw attention to the victim. The intention was to create confusion and fear. The chimp went down and began to howl. The bullet had ripped through the animal's thigh and took a chunk of stone out of the well.

Before anyone could react he turned and fired at an ape clearing rubble on a roof top, and then shot at another chimp running for cover, then at horse the ape lieutenant was on. Both apes, as well as, the horse went down screaming like first.

"Random targets…then disrupt command and control." Johnson's mind whispered to him.

The smoke was all but gone and the shots had drawn the attention of the nearby soldiers. Especially since their commanding officer was yelling for help. They were starting to organize again. He fired at the closest gorilla and hit him directly in the chest. The beast staggered but astonishingly didn't fall.

"Amazing" thought Johnson. Just as he finished that thought he heard the gorilla sergeant start barking off instructions. Unexpectedly their eyes met. Without thinking about it Johnson switched from semi to full auto.

"I'll eat your dead carcass, human!" The ape shouted. It must have been twenty to thirty feet away yet it leapt towards him with the speed and grace of an eagle. Unfortunately the primate wasn't faster than the barrage of bullets that decapitated him in mid air.

Inside the ship Thomas March was already strapped in and silently praying. Hayes had finished his calculations and was also strapping himself in. "Ok Skipper, I'm ready." Hayes shouted.

Johnson never had a chance to answer. One of the ape soldiers had managed to flank the ship and climb on top of it. He fired a pistol into the open area and hit Johnson in the arm. Next, he managed to rip the already warped hatch door off of its seal. The beast reached down, snatched Johnson out of the ship, and tossed him like a rag doll.

"Colonel!" Hayes shouted. But his instincts told him it was too late. If he went out there he'd surely be their next victim. "Hold on Major. Here we go."