Colonel Neal's Command Post – 0500 the following morning

Narr, Grazot, and Ogden sat securely fastened to the steel chairs. March, Hayes, and Robbins entered the tent and were seated on opposite sides of the room. To the surprise of the apes the men were chained too. The human soldier inspected their cuffs. Once he was satisfied that they were secure, he informed the senior officers, saluted, and exited the tent. Neal's entire staff was present. There were also several armed guards stationed both inside and outside the tent.

"Ladies, Gentlemen…and um …Simians" Neal said as he struggled for just the right word to end the greeting. "Let me start with this", he began as he turned to the Gorillas. "I'm aware that you can probably break those restraints. If you do, these men and women standing against the walls have orders to shoot …and not in the knee either. …Am I clear?"

Narr glanced at his restraints, looked up, and nodded his head.

"Good" the Colonel replied. "Let's begin."

The questioning went on for hours. The gorillas were asked again and again about their home, how they got here, and why they were here. Their answers were consistent with similar interrogations that had taken place with the few captured survivors of his contingent. Neal's Staff compared notes, jotted down comments of their own, and cross referenced the information as needed.

"Umm…Narr is it?" the S-3, a Major Nate Childs, said. "How is it that you and these two survived the last attack while your entire Battalion…I'm sorry what did you call them…a Confederation …"

"It's called a Contingent, Major." Narr shot back. "And for the record it's General Narr. I assume you humans respect a chain of command and military courtesy …even if it does involve a foreign Confederation?"

"Fair enough, General. We do indeed …If what you claim is true. And on a personal note, Sir, I want to thank you for saving the life of that boy. That certainly is a first and carries a lot of weight as far as I'm concerned. Now, can you please answer the question?" Childs replied in a very genuine tone.

"General Voss specifically asked me to remain back. He claimed it was for better command and control. Truth is, I was more useful to them alive than dead. Troop Sergeant, Ogden was just lucky. When that …whatever it was… struck at my soldiers, he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. …And General Grazot, as I'm sure you know, wasn't there." Narr responded.

"And you're more useful alive …because…" A female Captain asked. She seethed with distrust and this wasn't the first time she'd interrupted to play devil's advocate. The woman was missing half of her left arm from a battle long ago. She looked weathered and bitter. Her hatred for apes was apparent and she didn't seem to take any of what they'd said at face value.

Regardless of her attitude, Narr had a hard time accepting females in general. It didn't matter if they were ape, human, military, or civilian. In his mind the male's role was to fight, lead and provide. Females cared for the sick and young, filling more of a supporting role. Ogden and Grazot held a very similar opinion. It took great control for him answer calmly but he managed to reply in neutral tone.

"Information. I had information they wanted." Narr replied.

"What kind of information, General? This inquiry deals with facts, not vague generalizations" The woman went on to say.

Narr shook his head as his impatience swelled. Up until now he'd carefully restrained himself but his frustration combined with his discomfort was beginning to surface, "…My formula for fish stew, that's what." He snapped back. "What do you think they wanted, female? Your lands are barren; your water supply is almost nonexistent. My home has these in abundance. Is that specific enough you furless excuse for a soldier?"

The remark didn't even faze the woman. In fact, she found it kind of funny and laughed a bit. She'd been through much worse in her life and it wasn't the first time an ape had tossed insults at her. She kind of enjoyed the fact that she'd riled the beast up a bit. Her reaction didn't help Narr's disposition at all. The Supreme General put both paws on the table in front of him and flexed slightly. Every armed soldier in the tent either raised their weapon or clenched it at the ready.

"Whoa …" Narr said loudly as he began to rethink his actions, "Take it easy. I'm just trying to get comfortable. We've been in irons for hours. We do get hungry, you know, and we also have the same biological needs as any of you. Unless you want a mess to clean up I suggest we address those needs"

Neal spoke up and told the guards to stand down. He leaned to his staff as whispers, nods and head shakes ensued. After about a half minute or so the Battalion Commander stood and addressed the prisoners.

"Listen carefully" Neal stated as he looked over at March and his chained comrades. "I'm going to have Sergeant Houdek unshackle you." He turned to the apes and added "…All of you. We're going to take fifteen minutes to get some food in here and allow any biological needs that require addressing, to get it. Let me stress again, if you try anything stupid there are more than enough armed soldiers that would like nothing more than to just shoot you and get on with our mission."

"I get it, Colonel. I heard you the first time …and thank you" Narr said.

Most of the crowd left the room but Neal kept his staff behind. As soon as the area was clear he spoke up, "I don't know what to believe. If it were simply corroborating stories, I'd conclude it was a massive ruse. But the supporting evidence is too large to ignore. No ape would ever kill one of their own to save the life of a human. Not even Voss would incorporate that in any scheme he had brewing."

The Colonel rubbed his temples and went on, "However there is misinformation that this Captain and Major told us last night. But it's as if they absolutely believe it. When we reconvene, I want to get to the bottom of it. Rick, go grab that old book we have from the archived documents; the one on early American history. Bring it here, please."

*** Approximately fifteen minutes later

The Colonel addressed the group once again and stressed to the prisoners that any attempts to escape would be met with an instant death.

"We've wasted enough time here." Neal went on to say. "I don't doubt your story General Narr. In fact, I think I believe it. Not all of your soldiers are dead. Some were captured and are in our detention camps. Believe it or not more than one of them backs up what you say. However, there isn't much evidence to support your associate, General Grazot. Oh a few did talk of rogue humans who burned a city but there are holes in the facts."

"What kind of holes?" Grazot yelled just as Yuden returned with the book.

"Not in your facts General, in theirs. It's easier to simply show you. …but first…" Neal stated.

He turned to Robbins and the two astronauts and continued, "Sergeant Robbins, just as General Narr's story contains credibility, yours does as well. In fact, there's a Lieutenant Evans outside who has already vouched for you. You're lucky; the One-Seventy-Fifth was operating to the east so we were able to get verification quickly"

As for you two gentlemen, I'd like to follow up on the conversation we had yesterday, "Captain Hayes, tell me again where you're from."

"A place called Michigan …originally" Hayes replied

"Your country, Captain. What country?" Neal asked not sure if Hayes was intentionally messing with him.

"The United States, Sir" Hayes answered bluntly as the few who understood it began to laugh.

"At ease!" Yuden shouted.

"Thank you Captain Yuden" Neal said addressing his G-2 officer "…Um how many States does this United States have, Captain Hayes?"

"Forty Eight." Hayes rattled off without even thinking.

"Forty Eight?" Neal replied. "This is an archived relic. It's rare and it's pre …whatever… There were so many conflicts back then no one really knows pre-what. However, according to this book; The First 375 Years of American History, the United States had 52 states."

Without hesitation he went on … "But in all fairness Puerto Rico wasn't added to the Union until the old calendar date of 2036. Swains was added in 2101 strictly for a military advantage and to quell territorial claims that both New Zealand and Tokelau were making at the time. However, even if we exclude those islands, that still leaves a two state discrepancy"

"I know where you're going with this Colonel and I can explain" …whether or not you'll believe it is a totally different story, he thought as quickly as he finished the statement.

"By all means, Captain Hayes; explain" Neal said wondering if he was finally going to get the truth.

Hayes glanced at March and said, "Tom?"

"Go ahead Johnny, tell him…tell him everything". March replied.

The truth Neal got left him and half the room looking at Hayes like he was off his rocker. Others were snickering or shaking their heads, including Robbins. Hayes spoke of his home, of the three apes that had arrived there when he was young, of their mission, their chance emergence on this planet, then of their journey through Grazot's country and he ended with their arrival here.

General Grazot didn't know what to believe. If Hayes was lying, he wasn't following it at all. He'd had conversations with the two men for months but never once had talk of movement in time or of duplicate worlds ever come up. He'd just assumed that these humans here were their people. The ape was no scientist and even if he had been one, he still wouldn't have been able to comprehend one one-thousandth of what Hayes had just spoken to.

"Do you have anything you'd like to add, Major?" Neal asked March.

"I understand the magnitude of what was said but unfortunately I can't offer any concrete proof." March replied.

"indeed." Neal said "I don't know what you two were subjected to while in captivity but whatever it was, it was effective enough to cause you to totally believe it. What eludes is the why in all of this."

General Grazot may have had difficulty following the recent statements but what Grazot did comprehend was; truth. These men first appeared in Arum; that was a fact. The Magistrate and Lord Prefect both fully believed that they'd arrived in some sort of flying apparatus. He'd personally witnessed the destruction of the city after their arrival. He'd seen evidence of the debris that had been recovered. Hayes was a chattering pain in his rear, but the man was anything but insane. In fact, Grazot found him to be the most brilliant individual he'd every crossed paths with.

"Colonel, if I may." Grazot blurted out.

Everyone paused at the gorilla's bellow. Neal sighed and reluctantly allowed Grazot to say whatever it was he had on his mind.

"Thank you." The ape General said. "The only holes here are in your perceived facts, Colonel Neal. We were not held prisoner for more than a day or two. I am who I claim to be and if you believe General Narr he can vouch for my validity. I've served under his command for almost half my life."

Grazot went on to fill the Colonel in on his role in the astronaut's travels. He spoke for several minutes and spoke convincingly. When he'd finished Neal's doubts surfaced yet again. For the first time, he asked himself if there could be truth in what he was hearing.

"Major March, I'm going to ask again. Is there anything, anything at all that you can say or produce that will support these …umm… astonishing claims?" Neal asked.

"Not unless you happen to have a spare probe and launch pad sitting around." March answered rather cynically. "Of course Humpty Dumpty never returned when we launched it but it did relay enough data to confirm the barrier was out there."

"What did you just say?" the female Captain asked in shock.

She rose from her seat and walked over to March. She cocked her head a bit and asked him again to reiterate on the remarks he'd just stated.

The bewildered Major began to repeat his statement but the woman stopped him by asking something more direct. "This thing you claim that was launched, what did you call it?"

"A probe…" March replied.

"No" she stressed along with a few four letter words "What was that name you used; the name!"

"Humpty Dumpty?" March answered. "Its shape was similar to an egg so we…"

"Stop!" She said waving her hands to and fro "I want to ask you something specific. This probe…what did it carry. I mean specifically… can you tell me if there was anything unique?"

"Umm, well it had a camera and recorder; no weapons. It had computer software that could break images down into a digital signal and bounce them back." March said still feeling perplexed.

"Anything else … anything unusual or unique?", she went on to ask.

"Unusual? Ahhh…Well, where I come from …I mean where we come from" March said pointing at Hayes and then at himself. "…it's customary to attach gifts or trinkets to bombs just before a raid. …Gifts that were given from the enemy Uhh…before they were the enemy; if that makes sense."

March paused and scratched his shoulder. "Either that or you write something on it. This wasn't really a bomb but tradition is tradition. Since this was going into space we inserted a canister with the symbols the apes had on their clothing. It was sealed inside."

"Where is Humpty now? What happened to him…it…" she asked.

March resisted the urge to reply with; He had a great fall. Instead he simply went on, still not certain why she'd taken such an interest in the subject. "The probe was a spy satellite so we didn't want objects in there that pointed back to us. It was supposed to scout the area so we could assess their strength and military capabilities. It went out, transmitted for a few hours then simply disappeared."

The female officer asked one or two more questions and then addressed Colonel Neal. "Sir, I have another mystery for you. I know of that probe. It crash landed just shy of our village when I was a child. Much of it was destroyed but what could be salvaged was. At the time it was simply thought to be one of the old satellites. It isn't common but they have decayed and fallen before."

"That proves nothing," Neal replied "They may already have been privy to that information. In fact Voss may have specifically put that nonsense into his head"

"Launch pads Sir; Digital signals? That village was a three hundred and fifty miles northeast of here, in old Canada. No one knew of it. I'd almost forgotten it myself" She answered in defense.

She shook her head a second with a confused look and then went on; "When I was about nine we were raided, by human bandits, not apes. Just about everyone was slaughtered. The place was looted and burned. It was one of many small settlements at the time. No one left and no one ever arrived. Everyone knew each other and everyone counted on each other. There is no way they should have any information about that object. Now here's what's odd; there was an old flag on the wreckage. My brother and I used to count the stars and name them; Kind of as a game. There were forty-eight starts, Sir. The word; Humpty and the letters, D-U-M, were painted on pieces of the debris. The rest of the word was charred. There was a canister. One of the villagers had a piece of leather. It had been shielded when it crashed. This man just described it in detail."

Territorial Central Command

"...And you think it will work?" Polk asked.

"I'm pretty sure. I've been running different tests with the TID techs and I believe I have a pretty good grasp on how it operates. Here let me show you what I've found." Captain Lant said as he laid the field-pad flat on the desk.

Lant began pushing buttons and explaining his thoughts on the various purpose of each screen as it came into view. He went on to theorize that the device would be most helpful in determining where this underground lair was located.

"There's only one problem. The power supply drains rather quickly. We discovered it by accident but it seems to slowly recharge when exposed to direct daylight. We don't know if its heat, light, or some type of combination, but setting the gadget in bright sunlight, seems to do the trick. But you don't pay me to complain or make excuses so I've taken this information and plotted on a map. That way I can conserve the devices power and only reference it when necessary." Lant said.

"I want to show you this as well." Lant stated as he pushed a few buttons. The field-pad beeped as a map of North America displayed.

"Sir that blinking dot represents out location. Now watch this." Lant explained as he tapped another button.

The map became small, displaying a flat view of most of the planet. Tiny dots blinked in several spots on the display "What is it?" Polk asked in uncertainty.

"Territory Sir …land…or Points of Interest I believe, according to the table of contents this device has anyway…that's water there." Lant clarified pointing to the blue pixels on the map.

"Water? It's enormous. We'd never run dry." Polk said in amazement not realizing it was the Atlantic Ocean he was talking about.

"Yes, I agree but look at the land masses and the blinking lights. There are probably hundreds of cities just like the old capital out there. That one there or possibly there is probably where Sullen and that General came from. It's the closest location just opposite the desert" Lant added.

The information was overwhelming. Polk's psyche rolled through the endless possibilities. After a few seconds his mind settled on the logical course of action. "In due time Captain. For now let's stick with finding those underground ruins. Once you're back we'll reassess."

"Sounds like a plan, Sir. And you're fine with rest of my proposal? You have no issues with the supplies, number of soldiers and the estimated timeline?" Lant asked.

"One squad of apes won't be missed." Polk answered with a wave of his hand. "Four months worth of supplies is a stretch but it's more like an investment. If you can secure and return with more of that equipment I think it's worth the food and water sacrifice. In other words, I approve. I'll have Sergeant Tagore write up a requisition and you can draw your supplies from the Quartermaster. Once that's done you can leave at your convenience. I'm meeting with Ulysses later to discuss his plan. His wife cooks that root and potato stew. I force it down every time I eat with them."

Lant smiled and said "Ok Sir, good day. I'll get started on this immediately."

Human Detention Facility – Section 14 – level 1

Prefect Sullen hadn't had a thing to eat in two days. That wasn't the worse of it. His head was pounding due to a lack of water. Another twenty-four hours and he'd probably die. He'd been intentionally starved and intentionally caged with Coalition soldiers. Polk had immediately picked up on the Prefects hatred of men, so naturally, he made sure Sullen was housed with at least two or three of them at any one time. The ape was chained to a wall of the cell while the men were free to roam the small area at their leisure.

The sound of keys going into a lock clacked as the internal latches tumbled into place. The creaky door opened and a gorilla stepped in with some crusty bread, old roots and a small tin of water.

It had taken a day but the men in the cell finally caught on to what was happening. Under normal circumstances they were lucky to be fed once a day, if even that. Since Sullen's arrival they'd been getting food at least twice a day. The ape was being starved and they were being fed. It was designed to taunt and harass the ape.

"Here …enjoy." The gorilla said setting the tray down and then closing the door.

The two men inside each grabbed a root and chewed in delight. Sullen moaned a bit as he focused on the small cup of water just a pace away.

"Oh cripes!" the human Private said taking slight pity on the Prefect. "…do ya have to sit there gawk at me like that?"

They'd been warned that if they shared their meals with the ape, they'd live while they watched their comrade die.

"Just shut up and eat, Josh. You want that guard to come back in here?" the other man spoke up. "Turn around if you don't like it."

"What do ya think he did, Corporal?" the Private asked. He'd asked Sullen the same question but the Prefect never replied.

"What part of, Shut-up, don't you get, Berry?" The Corporal whispered back with a tight lipped grunt. "I don't care what he did. What I do care about is what they're going to do with us."

"They're going to kill us Corporal." The young Private stated bluntly, "That's what they do…kill humans. The fact that we popped at least five of them in that fire fight will probably ensure it. As soon as they have what they want, we're dead Corporal and you know it."

Corporal Stewart did know it. In fact, he'd come to that conclusion long before Private Joshua Berry had. His will to live and keeping Berry's spirits high had been the only thing that was keeping him going. The Private's revelation sunk deep in his stomach. Stewart's intuition told him death was anywhere from hours to days away. He sat for a second thinking and then whispered again. "Feed him Josh. What's it matter anyway? But you feed him so if they find out I'll be the one they shoot."

Berry protested but reluctantly gave in when he noted the look on Stewart's face. He'd seen that look before. He also recognized the colorful curse words instructing him to do as he was told. "Ok, ok" he whispered back. "I get it. You listen at the door while I feed him."

Sullen coughed as his dry tongue and throat were streaked with water. The human Private put his hand over the apes mouth and said "Quite down or you'll get us all killed." He fed Sullen what was left of the dried roots and stale bread. When he was done he wiped the Prefect's mouth with his filthy sleeve.

"Relax will ya?" Josh said looking at the apes anxious expression, "You'd think I was diseased or something. I'm just blotting out the evidence."

It took twenty minutes for the Prefect to feel relatively normal. His headache subsided but the small amount of food he'd received just made him hungrier. He could live with that. What surprised him was the man's compassion. If reversed, he would have let the boy starve. Their kindness wasn't enough to make him want to kiss the animals but it did reinforce his newly concluded perspective. If the human tribe in this area was a threat they were second nature to that tin-General, thug, Polk and his lot.

"Gentlemen …thank you." Sullen stated quietly.

"So you do speak" Corporal Stewart replied.

"Time is short so I'll be brief" Sullen went on to say. "You're right human, they will kill you. I would in their place …without hesitation. In fact, where I come from you'd have been shot on sight."

"Well isn't that nice, Pops…I love you too" Stewart replied poking fun at the grey fur on Sullen's brow. "And just so we're clear where I come from we'd shoot you too…on sight!" Stewart tightened his face and added, "That's a fine way to show your appreciation."

"I think what you should focus on is the phrase; if I were in their place, boy. …I am not, as you can see" Sullen relied. "I don't plan to die in this rat hole."

"Oh yeah and just how …" Stewart began to say.

The guard outside beat his fist violently on the door and shouted something about coming in to choke the lot of them, if they didn't pipe down.

The cell was quiet for about sixty seconds when Sullen motioned with his paw for the two men to come closer. "I think I might know how we can get out of here." He whispered ever so softly.