Aken had expected to see his brother-in-law first thing in the morning - after all, the capture of the rebels was the talk of the town - but the hours had crept by and the man was still nowhere to be seen. It was curious, especially since Dolan had been beleaguering him ever since the girl had vanished, but the prefect shrugged the thought away and returned his attention to his workload. Maybe Dolan was worried that his precious daughter was among the prisoners and didn't dare to come see for himself.

Aken wasn't sure what he would've done if Lora had been apprehended the other day - the fact that she was affiliating with this trash was embarrassing enough that he was in the mood to send her to the block like any other HFL member. It would also prove that he didn't play favorites with anyone.

Of course, Lilia might just kill him in revenge.

Half of the morning had already passed when he finally heard the heavy steps of a Chimp not used to running anymore trampling down the corridor to his office. He raised a brow at that; now the man was in a hurry?

The door crashed open with a bang. Aken clenched his teeth and kept his gaze studiously down on his file. He wouldn't reward Dolan's brazenness with instant attention, or even...

A fat hand smashed a grubby sheet of paper on top of the report he was reading. Dolan leaned on the desk, panting for air. "They're going to kill her, Aken, oh sweet mothers, they'll kill her!"

The prefect slowly lifted his head to give him a piercing look; then he took up the sheet at one corner, held it to his pipe and dropped it into a stone ashtray. Dolan watched it burn up with wide eyes.

"But... you haven't even read it!"

Aken glanced at him and took a puff of his pipe. "No."

"But then you won't know what their demands are!"

Aken growled and Dolan hastily took his paws off his desk. "I don't need to know their demands. I don't bargain with terrorists."

"They have Lora!"

"She ran into their arms with her eyes wide open! Now she's finding out what living the wild life means!" Aken rose from his desk. "Do you really expect me to dally with this filth, while they are inciting the humans, destroying public property, endangering the peace and killing my soldiers?"

"She is your niece! She is Lilia's daughter! Doesn't family mean anything to you?" Dolan had tears in his eyes.

Aken snarled with disgust. "I'm not sitting in this office as Lora's uncle, but as the prefect! My duty is to preserve the peace, keep the humans in their place and perhaps - perhaps , if I find the time, see that this prefecture is productive enough to collect the taxes that the government expects to receive." He banged his fist on the desk. "And we wouldn't be having this conversation if you hadn't filled her head with these insane ideas about equality and human plight!" He pointed at him. "This is the fruit of your labor, Dolan. I hope you're happy now!"

Dolan stepped back and clenched his fists. "You can't... you can't seriously contemplate throwing Lora to these... these beasts!"

Aken laughed. "What, now they're animals again? Now that was quick!"

"I'm talking about all of them!" Dolan yelled. "They're all animals, ape or human, if they'd lay hand on an innocent girl for whatever reason! Please, Aken," his tone changed to pleading, "they just want their comrades returned. It's not as if they want the keys to the treasury..."

"They want their comrades returned," Aken repeated flatly. "After killing one of my officers. Do you have any idea what an outrage this will provoke among the men?"

"Honestly, Aken?" Dolan spread his arms. "I don't give a damn. I don't give a damn about your officers, your taxes, your prefecture, or your pride. We're talking about the life of my daughter. Do you really think anything else could be more important to me than that?"

The men stared at each other for a long moment.

Finally, Aken sat down again with a grunt. He waved at Dolan to take a seat, and with a wary look, his relative lowered himself onto the edge of a chair. For a long while, Aken stared out of the window. Nobody spoke.

"If I agree to this dirty deal," Aken finally said, "you'll send her away. I don't want to have her here after this - the danger that she'll either run away again or be used for more... bargains ... is too great. I don't care if you send her back to university or marry her off to some pencil pusher in the southern districts; but she'll have to go for good. Is that clear?"

Dolan swallowed thickly. "Yes, Ak-... yes, Prefect."

"Very well." Aken pulled at his pipe, found that it had gone out, and relit it again. After some more puffs, he continued. "What exactly do they want?"

"All prisoners, rifles and ammunition..." Dolan's voice trailed away as Aken held up a hand.

"Stop right here. They'll get their fellow terrorists back, and nothing else. And that's a damn good deal for them." He paused. "Did they say 'all prisoners'? All four of them?"

Dolan nodded, and Aken grinned. "'Oh no, we were just traveling through, we have nothing to do with your terrorists!' Ha. Filthy liars, the lot of them. Fine... one of them is an ape. We'll send him to relay our offer and impress on him how important it is that he convince his friends to agree to our conditions." He rose.

Dolan stayed where he was. "I want to talk to that ape first."

Aken frowned down on him. "Why?"

Dolan clenched his fists on his knees. "Because we are bargaining my daughter and I want to see the man who holds her life in his hands."

Aken heaved a heavy sigh. "All right, fine, talk to him. Tell Mika I allowed it and to bring him up to my office after you're finished. And Dolan..." He waited until the Chimp had turned back again.

"Don't make me wait for him for too long."

Galen looked up when he heard the key scrape inside the lock of his door. He had been waiting for that sound the whole morning, and after a period of intense anxiety, his energy had deflated to the point of resignation. He just wasn't equipped for a life of adventure, he'd decided; he wasn't quick to fight, like Peet, and though he had usually been able to talk his way out of every trouble he had managed to stumble into as a boy, he had found his negotiating talents lacking the night before.

To his surprise, the man standing behind the guard wasn't the prefect - of course, Galen scolded himself, why would the prefect come down to his cell? He eyed the heavy-set Chimpanzee who now hovered at his doorstep, apparently at a loss of words himself.

"Good morning, sir," Galen finally said, to break the nervous silence. "I'm Yuma. I'd say pleased to meet you, but the circumstances," he waved at the walls, "are less than pleasant." He smiled at the panting ape, hoping to get a reaction.

"I want to talk to you about my daughter," the Chimp said abruptly. Galen's nose twitched. So that must be Lora's father. No wonder he looked so unnerved.

"The last time I saw her, she was fine," he said gently. "She was delighted to meet my fiancée. They know each other from university, you see? Running into each other here was very... unexpected."

The man frowned. "Running into... are you saying you don't belong to the HLF?"

Galen shook his head and sighed. "No, I don't, and neither do my humans. That's what I told the prefect last night, too. Unfortunately he didn't believe me."

To his surprise, the Chimp broke down on his cot and buried his face in his hands. "Then it's over! It's over!" he moaned.

Galen blinked. "Why don't you tell me what this is all about?"

The man straightened and took a shuddering breath. "This morning, I found a message from the HLF pinned to my door - they demand the release of the prisoners... all of them, including you and your humans... in exchange for her. I don't know what they'll do to her if their demands aren't met, and I don't want to even think about it!" He looked up at Galen with a frown. "If you aren't members of the HLF, why do they want your release, too?"

Galen sighed and sat down beside him. "I think that demand came from my fiancée. When the police stormed the HLF's hiding place, she was taken by these people when they escaped." He gave Lora's father a wry smile. "In a way, I'm in the same situation as you, with a loved one being in rebels' hands. You must be worried sick for her!"

The Chimp swallowed and nodded. "She's such a good girl, smart and brave... but so easily excited. She wanted to help the humans... that's nothing contemptible or ridiculous..."

"No, definitely not," Galen said firmly. "It's a noble thing, to help those who can't help themselves. It's a shame that her goodwill was so abused."

The man gave him a trembling smile. "That's what I always told her. I didn't imagine it would result in... this." He bowed his head slightly. "I'm Dolan."

Dolan... the name stirred a memory in Galen. During their mad escape from the city, they had stumbled upon Zibaya, the leader of the student movement for equal opportunities for Gorillas. The Orangutan had given him a list with sympathizers who might help them on their run from the authorities. Galen hadn't eaten the list, as Zibaya had demanded, but he had burned it after learning the names on it. He wondered briefly why Dolan's had appeared on that list, seeing as Dolan's commitment seemed to be focused on humans instead of Gorillas, but perhaps Zibaya had realized that beggars couldn't be choosers when it came to resisting the system.

"Pleased to meet you, Dolan - seriously," Galen returned the nod. "It's good to see that there are more apes that aren't afraid to think for themselves. To think outside... the approved parameters."

Dolan stared at him. "You're a... a Free Thinker?" He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Because if you are, don't let Aken... ah, the prefect. Don't let him know that you are. He has to put up with me, because I married his sister, but he won't be that lenient with you."

A sudden hope lanced through Galen. If this man was also a Free Thinker, perhaps he could ask him to... but not yet. It was too early for that. So he just nodded his understanding.

"Why did you want to see me when you still thought I was an HLF member, Dolan?" He had to put this conversation back on its rails before Dolan's meanderings used up his allotted time.

The other Chimp took a deep breath, remembering.

"The prefect has agreed to send you as an envoy to the rebels... to take our offer to them. They'll get you and the humans, in exchange for Lora. I... I just wanted to see who he'd send... in whose hands Lora's fate would lie." He smiled at Galen. "Now I have a much better feeling about it."

Galen shook his head. "This may surprise you, Dolan, but I'm not the best choice for this job. For one thing," he lifted his foot, "I'm still injured, and if the negotiations go sour, I wouldn't be able to fight my way out of their lair to save Lora." And Zana, he added silently. Then he caught the look of alarm in Dolan's eyes, and put a hand on his arm.

"I'm not saying that it will end in violence, but it's better to be prepared, don't you agree? And their leader is a Chimpanzee himself, so he'll see me as the more valuable bargain..." He smiled wryly when he detected the glint in Dolan's eyes. So Lora's father had come to the same conclusions about Gres as he. Interesting...

"They may want me more badly than one of the humans. Better not to give me to them prematurely. Send one of my humans instead - Alan can negotiate as well as any ape, but he can also fight. If something goes wrong, he'll be able to get Lora safely home."

Dolan nodded. "I'll advise the prefect. You make a good argument for sending a human." He began to rise.

"You need to tell me where their headquarters are, Dolan," Galen murmured.

Dolan sharply sucked in his breath and sunk back onto the cot. "Why... why would you think..." he stammered.

Galen leaned in conspiratorially. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. But I met Lora, if only briefly, and I can imagine that she confided in her father. She's very... communicative."

Dolan wiped the sweat from his brow. "She may have mentioned it..."

Galen nodded. "You or I need to tell Alan, because we really have no idea where they are. And... I'd be ever so grateful if you could do something else for me." Maybe it was cruel to exploit his knowledge about the man's complicity. But if you had the executioner's sword hanging above your neck, you began to lose misgivings about pointing it at others' necks in turn.

"There's a book that's now probably lying in the prefect's evidence room. I need you to, ah, safeguard it for me. Take it home, if you want to." He smiled wryly. "You can even read it, if you dare."

Dolan stared at him, intrigued despite himself. "What kind of book is that?"

"The history of the Great War." Galen leaned forward. "The unofficial version."