They met Polar - and Galen, surprisingly, who came hobbling across the yard on Virdon's crutches - outside the barn door; every time Virdon had tried to enter, Anto had threatened him with a pitchfork.

Virdon hastily explained the cow's problem and what he intended to do, if only Anto would let him, and Polar gave him a sceptical look and a shrug.

"I'd lie if I said I wouldn't like to see you try," he said, "but when the cow is birthing, it's the son's say. That's the law."

"Anto will blame us if the cow dies," Virdon argued. "And she will die, if she doesn't get help soon."

"I know," Polar said with a heavy voice. "And if the cow and her calf die, he can ask for your lives in return. That's also the law. In the olden times, people would sacrifice a human to the forebears in advance to prevent a tragedy like that." He gestured towards the barn.

"Jesus Christ," Burke muttered.

"Nobody will have the lives of Alan and Peet, Polar," Galen said in a surprisingly firm voice. "If Anto tries anything, they'll be free to defend themselves, and it won't end well for your son. So help Alan to talk some sense into him." He hobbled closer. "I have complete trust in Alan - if he says he can turn the calf and save your cow, then he can do it. You will have your cow, Anto will have his calf, and I will have my humans. Everyone will be happy."

Polar looked from Galen to Alan, shook his head again, and opened the door.

"Anto? It's me. Let me in and have a look at the cow." He took a cautious step in. After a moment, Alan and Galen followed.

Burke grabbed Remo before the little guy could follow them into Anto's lair. "Nuh-uh. We better stay close to the exit... in case Anto goes on a rampage again."

A moment later, he heard Polar cry out in the barn and rushed in, his own advice forgotten.

He found Virdon flat against the wall, the pitchfork hovering inches from his throat. Polar had grabbed Anto by the arm. "The cow isn't dead," he said urgently, "you can't claim a life yet!"

Anto seemed to pull back a little, calming down, but the pitchfork didn't move.

Neither did Alan. "Polar..." he murmured in a strained voice. "Talk sense to him..."

"Anto," Polar tried, "there is no need for the fork - they won't run. They won't leave their master behind, or they would've done so already. They have a strong feeling for him."

"We're going to have a talk about that later," Burke muttered.

"Let me help your cow," Alan pleaded.

"You're six inches from being skewered, buddy," Burke pointed out, "I'd let the cow worry about herself."

"You stay away from her," Anto snapped, but he lowered the fork, and everyone breathed a little easier. Anto retreated to the box and bent down for his bell without breaking eye contact with Virdon. He was still gripping the fork with his other hand.

They were no closer to a solution than before, and Burke thought that the cow was already exuding a sick smell. Perhaps it was his imagination; he had no idea how a healthy cow should smell. As it was now, they'd be standing here for hours, staring each other down, while the poor beast was tortured to death by her own calf that was itself choking in her womb. All because that damn monkey was too proud and too stupid to give in.

His searching gaze fell on Remo, who had ignored his former advice and had moved away from the door to stand at his side. "Your brother is a damn fool," Burke muttered. Remo shrugged, torn between agreement and sibling loyalty. Burke looked thoughtfully down on his scalp.

"Do you want to help me save your cow?" he whispered. Remo looked up to him, surprised, and nodded. Burke smiled a, he hoped, confidence-inspiring smile. "Do you trust me?"

The boy scowled. "No." In the background, Galen was arguing with Anto, to no avail.

Burke grinned and looked away. "Smart kid," he murmured. Then he leaned down for a conspiratorial whisper. "Look, we want the same thing - I also want that cow to live, because it means that I get to live. If that cow dies, your father said that Anto can claim my head, and Alan's, too. So I really, really want that cow to live - just like you said you want to. Right?"

To his relief, Remo nodded. The kid really was smart.

"Okay, so - do you think you can trust me for the next few moments, until the cow is safe?"

Remo hesitated, then nodded slowly. Burke slapped his shoulder, unfazed by his lack of enthusiasm.

"Great. So it's a deal. I'm not gonna hurt you, it's all just make believe, remember. Give me your knife." He went down on one knee behind Remo - despite his small size, the boy was a gorilla, and Burke doubted he could lift him up to his level, not to mention hold him there - and called out to Anto.

"Hey, cowboy! Drop that weapon and keep your hands where I can see them!"

All eyes turned to them.

And fell on the corn knife he held against Remo's throat.

With a cry, Anto rushed towards them, fork raised, but Burke jerked Remo backwards and pressed the blade harder against the boy's fur. Remo whimpered, in real or fake fear, Burke couldn't tell, and Polar grabbed Anto's arm, hard, and almost yanked him from his feet.

"Tha's right, nobody move!" Burke yelled. His back started to burn, as fresh sweat ran down and into the lash wound. "I like your boy, and I don't wanna hurt him, but I'm not gonna die for a damn cow!" He jerked his head towards Virdon.

"So y'all stay back and let the man work, alright?" He kept his gaze on Anto, who was still in his father's grip, murder in his eyes. "Your move, doc."

With a last look at Anto, Virdon stepped around the group and vanished into the box. After a moment, he stuck his head out again and told Galen - the only one in the barn not pinned down, or pinning someone else down - to get Yantes and a bucket of hot water.

Galen, after surveying the scene, hobbled over to where the bell lay forgotten in the straw. He bent down and handed it to Anto.

"You want it to be a bull - ring the bell."

Bela looked over his group and quickly counted heads; five officers, and Loran (alright, so five and a half) on horseback, torches already lit, ropes slung over the saddle horns, rifles in their scabbards, all eager to go. Seemed like he was the only one not looking forward to bringing an old farmer in.

He wondered what had come over the man to knowingly defy the law - it wasn't as if anyone in the valley could plead ignorance by now. They had been canvassing for more than a week, haunting some farms three or four times in a row (the ones that lay conveniently on the way to work or home, mostly). The farmers already started cussing as soon as they saw them.

Probably thought he could use them for himself, Bela thought with a shrug. Managing those farms was a curse; most farmers had foreclosure hanging over them like the sloping fields were hanging over the creek, always a day away from falling into the abyss. None of that would help Polar if they really discovered the humans under his roof, though.

Bela took up the reins. "Alright people, let's go. Anyone who fires a shot without my say-so will wish their mama had drowned them in a bucket the day they was born after I'm finished with them. Am I clear?"

The men laughed and jeered. "Yes, chief!" - "That's what my mama wishes every day, chief!"- "You're so good to us, chief!"

Bela shook his head. "Let's go then." He spurred on his horse and the others fell into a quick trot behind him.

Some days, the chief really hated his job.

Burke couldn't see into the box from where he was standing, and was glad for it; the sounds and smells coming from there were enough to turn his stomach. He hoped that the slushing noises came from the water that Yantes had brought over earlier.

Yantes had opted to stay, too, after almost fainting when she had discovered her youngest. Now she was hovering at Polar's elbow, her eyes shooting daggers at Burke.

He didn't mind. Remo was pretty relaxed in his arm by now, and Burke let the knife rest lightly against his collarbone. He was ready to pick up their little charade as soon as Anto made a move, but the ape had sunk down into the straw again and was tolling his bell.

Polar had relaxed a bit, too, or so Burke imagined, after Galen had whispered urgently to him. He hoped that the chimp had been able to convince the farmer that his human wasn't going to filet his little boy. Well, his trick hadn't been nice, but it had given Virdon the opportunity to work his mojo on the cow and save everyone's necks, particularly the human ones. Sometimes, nice just didn't cut it.

He only hoped that Virdon was getting somewhere over there.

"How bad is it?" he called into the box.

"Worse than I thought," Virdon's voice came back.

Damn. "'n how bad is that?"

"About twice as bad..."

"You do have a way to reassure your patients' families, doc..."

Virdon grunted, but didn't answer. Burke released Remo, letting his hands rest lightly on the boy's shoulders. If Virdon didn't manage to save the cow, that knife wouldn't make a difference, anyway; he had no intention to harm the boy, and he suspected that Polar knew it by now.

A while later, Virdon's face suddenly appeared over the wall of the box, red and sweaty...

... and grinning from ear to ear.

"Come on over," he said to Polar. "You wanna see this."

Polar stepped over the still kneeling Anto, Galen hobbling behind him on his crutches. The men leaned over the wall and stared into the box, wide-eyed. Remo broke away from Burke and clambered up the wall to peek over it. His cry finally compelled Burke to have a look, too. He leaned over the door just as the first "baaaa" filled the barn.

And then the second "baaaa," in a different pitch. Burke's eyes widened in disbelief at the scene inside the box. Bessie was there, right as rain, licking her babies. All two of them.

Twins!

He gave a thumbs up to Virdon, who was still grinning as if he wasn't just the midwife, but the proud daddy himself. "Good job, doc! They should double your pay, too!"

"And the best thing is," Virdon grinned, "they're both bull calves."

"You hear that, Anto?" Burke turned towards Anto, who was still kneeling in the straw, bell forgotten since that first bleat, and staring at the door of the box as if he didn't dare to get up for fear of breaking the spell. "That's what humans are good for - making twin bull calves! Aren't you glad now that we stuck around?"

"Get up, Anto," Polar said gruffly, "receive your bull calves."

Everyone stepped aside as the young gorilla struggled to his feet, a dazed look still in his eyes, and stumbled into the box. Burke saw Yantes dabbing at her eyes when her son broke down in the box, hugging first one, then the other calf, weeping with the delirious joy of a man who had seen the dream of his lifetime crumble and then resurrect before his eyes.

Burke imagined himself kissing the tarmac of 22nd century's ANSA Space Center like that...

Ah, no. He wouldn't let Alan infect him with his pipe dream. This was their home now - they just had to find an apartment where the neighbours didn't insist on using them for the treadmill in the basement...

"Police!"

Zana banged the barn door shut behind her and leaned against it. Her eyes were wide with panic. "Patrol in the yard!" she panted.

Burke stared at her, the silence humming in his ears. Then straw rustled behind him as Anto jumped on his feet inside the box.

"Up with you! Into the mow!" He pointed upwards. "Hide under the hay, all of you! Father and I will do the rest."

The whole yard seemed to be teeming with apes, but after a moment, the restless mass of torches and horses separated to let their leader come forward, and Polar counted seven men, including chief Bela, who seemed to be ill at ease when he greeted him from his horse.

"It's unusual to meet your whole family out here at this hour, bein' already in the yard an' all, Polar," the chief said while his gaze wandered to the barn door through which they had just filed out. "Been expecting us?"

"What with you riding up an' down the valleys lately, everybody's expectin' the lot of you all the time now, Bela," Polar said mildly. "But Anto here was getting his bull calf tonight, an' we were all out in the barn with him, having a look. There's two of them, even," he added, unable to keep his pride in check.

"Ah," Bela said, mollified, "now that explains that."

"An' what brings you out here in the middle of the night?" Polar had to ask as a matter of form.

Bela smiled an insincere smile. "Just the usual, Polar - we're still searching for those runaway humans, an' a little bird told me you'd know where they are."

Polar shrugged, keeping his features neutral. "Then it told you wrong. I've no idea where those humans of yours are."

Bela stared at him with an odd expression, then let his gaze wander over the rest of Polar's family, who were uniformly shaking their heads. The chief sighed and shifted his weight in the saddle. "You sure? A man can do things that seem foolish to others, but when he does 'em under duress, that can be taken into account... in court. You got family, Polar - I'd understand if you'd do things to keep 'em safe... things you wouldn't else do. I'd put in a word for you with the prefect."

Polar understood what Bela was trying to do, and it surprised him more than a little, coming from a Chimp. But perhaps the chief just wanted for him to make his job a little easier; dinner had to be waiting for him, too.

"Sorry, chief, but I can't help you with finding them humans. I'm a farmer, not a guard. I leave the patrolling to apes who know what they're doing. And now I'd like to have my dinner, if you don't mind." He turned to go.

"Polar." The chief sounded exasperated.

Good. Maybe they could stop playing games now. Polar turned back to him.

"Loran saw a human wash up at your well." Bela pointed into the shadows beyond the walnut tree. "Just this evening. You know what the law says for apes who take in runaways?"

Polar hooked his thumbs into his waistband and gave Bela a long look. "Officer Loran saw a human at my well."

"Yes."

"That Loran who swore up and down he saw a dragon behind his hut after he'd made a foul patch of whatever he spikes his water with? More foul than usual," he added after a moment.

Someone chortled behind Bela.

"Well..."

"I don't have to remind you of what happened with ol' widow Nepa and the badger?"

This time even Bela coughed to hide his laughter. His men didn't even try, the old hats giving whispered accounts to the uninitiated. More giggles made the rounds. Loran looked enraged and humiliated. Finally, the chief ordered silence. His smile was a bit sour when he looked down to where Polar stood like a rock.

"Alright, maybe there are some bumps in Loran's track record, but he gave me his word as an officer of the watch that he saw that human on your ground, an' that's something I can't ignore, see? I have to check. An' I can't imagine how one could mistake a human for a Gorilla. Loran said the human's skin shone white like the moon..."

"Ahah! Ahahahaha!"

Polar's head jerked around to Anto, who was doubling over in... no, not in pain. He... was laughing, although it sounded a bit strained to Polar's ears. One of the horses danced nervously, startled by the sudden sound. Bela was frowning at Anto, and a quick look showed Polar that Remo was frowning at his older brother's sudden glee, too.

"What's so funny, son?" the chief asked.

Anto straightened, a huge grin still on his face. "It was me! Your officer saw me!"

"Now I'm damn certain I didn't see you, young man!" Loran protested, trying to save his dignity. "You don' look nothing like a human. Yer all black, for starters..."

Anto laughed in his face. "I scared little Remo to death, but I didn't think I could even fool a watchman..."

"No you didn't!" Remo protested, but Yantes hushed him, her eyes glued to her older son, who was now walking to the big tub of freshly ground flour that she had made that day.

"It's all the same, every day, sleep, eat, work, sleep," he said. "So we find ourselves some fun. See?"

He reached into the tub with both hands and scooped up the flour, dousing his shoulders and torso with it. "See? I play a prank on Remo, making myself white like a human..."

He scooped some more flour in his face, then sneezed when it got into his nostrils. Sneezed again. Some men began to laugh. The amusement ascended to jeers and whistles when Anto sneezed so hard that he almost bowled over. Anto laughed with them, after he had managed to stop sneezing.

"Everyone's talking about the humans, so I thought, I make Remo believe the humans are crawling around in the bushes, trying to catch and eat him. He almost shit his pants!"

"No, I didn't!" Remo yelled. "I know it was you!" By now, the men were howling with laughter. Polar looked bemusedly down on his youngest and thought by himself that his sons showed an unusual talent for telling stories. He should be more worried about that, but at the moment he found it hard to care. Anto was strutting around the yard, imitating the straight stance of a human and scaring the horses. All in all the atmosphere had dissolved into rowdy amusement at Loran's expense.

"Alright," he heard Bela say, "seems this was another false alarm. Let's call it a day, boys..."

"We should search the premises, chief. The general will ask us if we did."

Polar squinted against the torchlight. The face of the speaker was hard to see in the flickering light, and he wasn't sure if he'd seen him before. If he had, he couldn't remember his name. Young, shiny, eager and ambitious. The worst kind of watchman. Trying to score points not with Bela, but with Urko. Polar ground his teeth in involuntary unease. He had heard of Urko. Everyone had, it seemed.

His gaze met Bela's and he thought the chief looked a bit contrite.

"Very well, Mervan - go and have a look, if you want."

An uncomfortable silence hung over the group in the yard; Polar was stoically staring down Bela, who hadn't dismounted. From the house, Yantes' stern voice sounded over to them, as she was hovering around Mervan and his comrade like a vulture:

"What are you looking in the drawer for? You think there's a human hiding under my spoons?"

"Keep your paws off that chest - don't you touch that! That's my wedding gown!"

"Sima, go out and clean your boots before you step into my bedroom - you're getting the dirt all over the floor!"

One of the riders exhaled a wistful sigh. "My Tania was jus' the same," Loran mused. "You keep your ears an' your mouth shut, an' you curse them for yapping at you all day like that, an' then suddenly it's gone an' you find you miss it. Got used to it over the years."

"You should've found yourself a new wife, Loran," Bela murmured.

"Eh, who'd want an old geezer like me?"

"Well, you shot your chance with Nepa, that's for sure," Bela commented and Loran winced.

Polar tried not to glance to the barn, where Roda and Teman had vanished, he felt, a long time ago. It didn't need much imagination to see them throwing down the hay from the mow by the forkful...

"Loran, you ol' fool! The chief should let you walk a chalk line before he believes a word you say!"

The two Chimps were making their way across the yard to them; Teman was plucking straw out of his hair. Roda gestured towards the barn. "There's two newborn calves in there-"

"Told ya Anto had twin bulls," Polar said. Teman ignored him.

"No way they'd be still alive if there was humans around! They'd have eaten them as soon as they'd stuck their paws out of the cow."

"It's hooves, not paws," Remo corrected him. Teman ignored him, too. He climbed back into the saddle.

"I'll still get paid for overtime," he said to Bela, who didn't seem to mind the bad news. In fact, he lost no time to send Roda to the main house to call back his comrades.

"Saddle up, gents - before the prefect loses even more money for your overtime!" He nodded to Polar. "Sorry for the inconvenience. You know how it is - the law's the law. Apologies to your wife for upsetting her household." With a last look around the dark farmyard, he spurred on his horse. Polar watched the torches bob away into the darkness, before he turned to Anto.

"Wash up before you sit down at the table - your mother won't fancy you dusting all over her furniture."

"Yes, father." Anto hung his head and turned away.

"Anto."

The young ape turned back to him.

"Well done."

Father and son smiled at each other.

Somehow, they all kept lingering in the yard, humans and apes alike, the humans still distinct by their unnaturally erect stance and bright skin, although the night softened the differences to Polar's eyes. Anto had returned from the well, his fur plastered to his body, and went straight up to Alan.

"Alan..." He faltered, then straightened and looked the human in the eye. "I'm sorry for how I treated you back in the barn. I thought..." he struggled for words. "I just couldn't believe..." He threw up his hands in frustration.

"Thank you for saving the cow."

Alan was silent for a moment. Polar couldn't fault him for feeling bitter.

"I saw what you did there in the yard - destroying that old guard's credibility," Alan finally said. "That was cruel, Anto."

Anto jerked up his head in surprise when the human slapped him on the shoulder. Alan's teeth gleamed in the weak light coming from the main house, where Yantes and Mila were preparing a late dinner.

"You saved our lives with that act, so I'd say we're even." He shook his head and chuckled. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed that, either."

"I was already in awe when he sent us up to hide under Bessie's precious breakfast," the other human - Peet, wasn't that how Yuma called him? - muttered. Polar couldn't decide if he'd discipline him for that mouth if he owned him, or if he'd come to enjoy the constant jokes. Maybe he'd get used to it, like old Loran had, with his wife...

Yantes appeared in the door, the golden glow of the lamps casting a halo around her plump figure, and Polar suddenly longed to go up to her and bury his nose in her hair. The tension of that night was beginning to seep out of him like water, and he suddenly felt very tired... and very hungry.

"Dinner is ready," Yantes said, and the group began to split up, the apes shuffling towards the main house, the humans...

"You two - come here!"

The humans turned, surprise tensing their shoulders. Yantes waved them to come over to her, and Polar raised his brows. What did his wife have in mind?

Yantes' face was stern. "Since this is a special night - what with Anto's calves... twins... I still can't believe it... anyway. And Alan helping to bring them into the world like he did, an' saving the cow... You two will eat with us tonight. In the house."

Remo began to jump up and down. "You sit with me!" He grabbed the dark one's wrist.

"Not at the table!" Yantes put her hands on her hips. "There are limits!"

"I'll bring you some casserole," Remo promised. Yantes shook her head.

"There's no need to, they'll eat the same as us. I'm not having a bucket of gruel sploshing on my floor."

Alan bowed his head. "Thank you, ma'am."

Yantes looked at him and sniffed. "You wash up first. You still have cow all over you."

Polar thought he could hear Alan smile. "Yes, ma'am."

"And you'll sleep in the barn afterwards, as always."

"Yes, ma'am."

"At least Anto won't have to worry about the cow anymore."

"No, ma'am."

Yantes turned to his friend. "No cheek from you."

The other made a strange gesture, putting his hand to his head. "No, ma'am."

Yantes frowned at him, perhaps wondering if his last response counted as insolence or not. Then she waved them inside. "Now come on in, before it all gets cold."

The door shut out the darkness behind them.

"You sure you can walk? 'Cause I'm not gonna carry you when you're tired."

Galen shook his head and smiled, pleasant as always. "I can walk, Peet - the crutches are just so I don't strain the ankle by putting too much weight on it. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Burke eyed him skeptically, but the ape did seem to be fine. Zana had redistributed the contents of his backpack to the rest of them - including herself -, with the exception of that forbidden book that he insisted on carrying himself.

"One book to find them all..." Burke muttered. Galen frowned at him, not getting the context, but Burke wasn't in the mood to explain himself right now; he was eager to get away from that wheel pump. It held bad memories, even though they had climbed up here for another reason today.

"Look, pa, it's a windy mill," Remo said, chest swollen with pride. Burke shook his head - he hadn't been able to persuade the kid that it was 'windmill', not 'windy mill'. Ah, whatever. At least today, there was some wind to turn the vanes, and he didn't have to do it himself, like last time.

He shifted his backpack. Yantes' ointment had helped, but it didn't erase the memory.

Polar squinted up to the slowly turning wheel while Remo excitedly explained how a bigger 'windy mill' could be harnessed to the wheel pump and turn the wheel all day, so that they could use the ox in the meantime. "And I can help you, too, because I don't have to turn the wheel for the ox. Now that Anto won't be here anymore."

Right... Burke realized that Polar's farm would take quite a hit with the young ape suddenly missing. And eager as Remo was, he was no substitute for Anto, not by a number of years. Burke could sympathize with the farmer's predicament, but not so much that he'd stay. Good thing they had his windy mill now, eh?

"It's a fine thing," Polar said appreciatively, "but you'll take it down. Let Anto help you."

"Bu... but why?" Remo stared at his father with the same shocked disappointment that Burke felt. Hell, the old man would let Alan build his terraces all over his field, but he didn't like this genius construction?

"You know how it works?" Polar asked Remo. "Remember how all the pieces fit together?" Remo nodded, shoulders slumped. Polar put a hand on his head.

"Then you can build it again in a few years. But right now..." his gaze wandered up to where the vanes were slowly cutting through the sky, "if General Urko comes by, and sees this machine, he'll know it was made by humans."

"But it wasn't!" Remo protested. "I built it!"

"But he told you how." His father gestured towards Burke. "It's a human thing, everyone can see it. You have to take it down."

"Your father is right, Remo," Galen spoke up. "It's too dangerous right now. But in a few years..."

"When I have my own farm," Remo vowed. Burke nodded and crouched down to him. He put an arm around his shoulders.

"When you have your own farm, and nobody remembers us anymore..."

Remo met his eyes. "I will remember you."

Burke felt a strange lump in his throat. Jeez, he wasn't getting sentimental, was he?

"Well, how could you forget me?" he joked. He patted Remo's shoulder once more and stood up. "I'd say we should get going, before Urko crashes our party."

Anto just waved at him once, but clasped hands with Virdon before he trudged down the path with Remo - probably to get the tools for dismantling the windmill. Damn shame, really. Galen and Zana were already halfway down the grassy path that led back into the woods. Burke hung back to wait for his commander.

Who still had his hand gripped by the old farmer, who clearly struggled to let him go. For a second, Burke saw the gorilla throw Al over his shoulder and sprint down to the barn like King Kong. That gorilla had also had a taste for blondes, though Burke didn't think Polar's motives were remotely romantic. He shook his head to get rid of that ridiculous image.

"What were you two lovebirds whispering into each other's ear?" he teased when Virdon finally caught up with him. Virdon smiled and looked up into the sky.

"We were talking about seeds - and how the good ones can sleep in the desert for years before they suddenly spring to life."

"Oh, the subtlety is killin' me," Burke scoffed. "But yeah, let's hope you got some good ideas into their thick skulls."

"Well, you did your part there, too, Pete," Virdon said innocently. "I heard you learned a lot from that ape Lincoln..."