Contrary to Burke's promise, the apes didn't put Al on the table first thing in the morning. Nor did they get him later in the morning, or the afternoon. Instead, Galen kept Burke busy with all kinds of errands, sending him all over the place to get their laundry or stock up on their provisions. Burke understood that they had to keep up appearances, and that hovering around Al's bed wouldn't make a shred of difference, but his tension grew to almost unbearable intensity with every passing hour. He sneaked into Virdon's room whenever he could get away from Galen or Travin.

Virdon seemed to get worse every time Burke visited him. He slipped in and out of a fitful sleep, his face red and sweaty. Burke felt his forehead and was startled by the heat radiating from his friend's body.

Virdon opened his eyes at his touch, and Burke quickly forced a smile on his face. "Hang in there, buddy. You're doing fine."

His commander just blinked groggily at him. "I'm... kind of fading in and out," he murmured. "Like... now, you're kind of far away." He licked his lips; Burke propped his head up and helped him to drink a bit of stale water.

"Guess that bullet dragged some shit into the wound and now you've got an infection," he said. "I wish they had some Amoxil here, but instead we're stuck with Ango's tea and that stuff Travin brought over here earlier. Said it's from the doctor... Galen's friend." He chewed on his lip for a moment, trying to fight down the frustration he felt every time he thought of that 'friend' of Galen, and the ape's promise of what she would do for Al. "You got all your shots, Al?"

Virdon didn't answer; his eyes had drooped shut again, and he was breathing deeply. Fell asleep, just like that. Burke didn't like it. Virdon's eyes moved rapidly behind his closed lids - he was dreaming. Sweat collected on his face, and Burke poured some of the water from the mug into his hollow hand and wiped Virdon's face with it. He wished for some ice; actually, a bathtub full of ice. But it was too damn hot here... as if they were somewhere in South America, not in the good ol' US of A.

Well, they weren't there, strictly speaking. Not anymore. That nation had ceased to exist some unkown time ago.

Burke sighed. No use thinking of that now. He shook Virdon's shoulder. "Al? Al, do you hear me? Wake up, old man! You're scaring me!"

Virdon's eyes popped open. "The instruments..." he said hoarsely. "... never seen..." he mumbled something, "... before."

Fear lodged like a stone in Burke's chest. Al wasn't looking at him; he wasn't seeing him at all. He was delirious... thought he was back on the Icarus. He shook him again. "Wake up, Al! You're dreamin', this ain't real!"

Virdon's voice grew fearful. "Apes! You gotta hide! No..." His breath came in ragged sobs now, and Burke felt his agitation shoot up along with Virdon's. "No, no, not Chris! Don't hurt him... run! Run! Oh god..." The words dissolved in a moan that was so full of despair and agony that Burke felt the little hairs on his forearm rise. Al was trapped in a nightmare that involved his kid and... Urko, probably. Maybe he was confusing Chris and what had happened to Burke, when Urko had him.

Yeah, that combination would be the stuff of nightmares. Burke felt heat break out all over his body, as if he had caught a fever himself. If Al was already hallucinating, the infection had to be worse than they had thought. And Ango's stuff was useless.

Maybe Al would die here. Burke rubbed his face, trying to calm himself. You're not gonna leave me here, Colonel. You're not gonna leave me alone in this madhouse.

"How is he?"

Galen. That fucking useless ape. Burke hadn't even noticed him entering. "What's it look like?"

The ape came to his side, and Burke grabbed his knees to keep himself from grabbing the damn monkey's throat. "You said she'll come over to have a look at him. Where is she?"

The chimp leaned over to feel Virdon's temperature, then pulled his eyelids down to look at something. It did look halfway professional, and Burke remembered that Zana had mentioned that Galen had studied medicine for a while, but he also knew that Galen didn't have an approbation, and he didn't have the authority to order a different kind of treatment. This was all just window dressing.

"He's burning up," Burke said hoarsely. "We have to do something. We... we can't just let him die in this fucking hole!"

Galen straightened with a sigh. "I spoke to Kira. She said she'll treat the infection. I'll go back and let her know that we need something stronger that what he is already getting."

"What about the surgery?"

"She said it's... it's too dangerous. She only knows ape anatomy."

Burke stared up at him. "Can't she just look it up in one of her surgery books? We're not that different!"

Galen returned his stare with a resigned look. "She says even small differences could be fatal - the bullet seems to be close to a big nerve, and if it gets damaged, Alan may lose the leg. And there are no books about human anatomy, Peet. No ape would be interested enough in your anatomy to write one. I'm sorry. We just have to treat the infection, and... and wait until his body encapsulates the bullet." He patted his shoulder, and Burke flinched.

Damn involuntary reaction.

He was still feeling hot, and somehow short of breath, and the skin of his face felt too tight all of a sudden. Burke rubbed his hand over his face, trying to relieve the sensation. There was something... there was a solution to Al's problem. He let his hand sink; it was shaking. He felt dizzy and far away. "There is a book about human anatomy. I've seen it."

For a moment, Galen went very still. Burke got the feeling that the ape knew exactly what he was talking about. But Galen just asked: "Where?"

Burke took a shaky breath. "In Zaius' office. Where he kept all the human artifacts. It was even a book about surgery - not just an anatomy book." He looked up, suddenly alarmed. "You gotta believe me, Galen. I had it in my hands!"

Galen watched him with a strange expression. "So you've known about my world's past since... since we left the City for the first time? About... our humans' past?"

Galen still believed that he and Al had come from another world, Burke realized. And why not - even he and Al had ruled out time travel at first, and preferred to believe in a parallel universe. As far as he knew, Al still believed that. Burke threw a quick glance to his friend, but Virdon was fast asleep, freed from his nightmare for the time being. "Yeah, I knew," he confessed.

"Why didn't you say something?"

Burke shrugged. "It never came up, an' it wouldn't have changed anything, anyway." He tore his gaze away from Virdon's sweat-covered face. "Will your friend dig out the bullet if... if I..." He had to gasp for breath. He had no idea why he was suddenly out of breath. "If I go back and get the book?"

Galen didn't answer right away. "Does Alan know of that book, and, and what it means?"

"Uh... no." And how would he justify that, without tipping the ape off about the whole time traveling shit? For some reason, Burke was loathe to let Galen in on that little detail. So he just shrugged. "Didn't come up with him, either. And why would he care about your world's past humans? He just wants to get home to his world. His family."

The chimp held his gaze for a long moment; then he sat down on the edge of Virdon's pallet with a tired sigh. "I can't promise you that Kira will operate on Alan once we present her with the book; it will take away her invocation of ignorance, yes, but it doesn't oblige her to do anything. Surgery will still be her decision, and there are other factors involved..."

"Like what? That bullet is the source of his infection, and he can get lead poisoning, an' who knows what else!"

Galen raised his eyebrows. "Poisoning?"

"Yeah, from the metal of the bullet. Tiny scraps of it go into the blood and you get all kinds of ugly shit from it."

"Huh. I've never heard of that." Galen rubbed his palms over his thighs. "We will get that book," he decided.

Burke inhaled with a hiss. He hadn't expected that. The ape glanced at him with a wry smile. "I am very fond of this human," he said. "I would loathe to have to break in a new one."

Burke coughed, not sure if he found that little joke funny or not. But he couldn't bring himself to be mad at Galen. The ape was aloof, and wary of him, at least, most of the time, but right now, he was the closest thing to a friend he had, with Al being out of commission.

And he had just told him that he'd accompany him back to the damn city... to the place of his undoing...

He wouldn't have to go there alone.

"I feel really ill, Doctor - I'm hot and I feel weak, and there is this intense pain in my hip..."

Kira glared at her. "You're perfectly fine... Mila."

Zana smiled. "And yet here I am, receiving your professional care and attention. Of course, I'm an ape. I'm entitled to that, am I not?"

They were in Kira's office, a sparsely furnitured, brightly lit room that was decorated with pictures of livers and kidneys, and other organs that Zana didn't want to know the names of; she just hoped it wasn't anything she was carrying around within her. An ape skeleton was hanging from a wire in the corner of the room. Everything was cool and clean and professional, speaking of an equally cool and professional mind. One that wasn't in the least sentimental... or compromising.

Right now, Zana was enjoying the full force of Kira's irritation. "Your human is being cared for. And I will not examine it here, I have to keep to hygienic standards. We have very ill patients here..."

Zana's fur bristled with indignation. "Alan is not filthy! In fact, he's the cleanest being in that hovel that you keep your humans in!" Ever since Galen and Peet had left to 'get something for Alan' - whatever that was, and Zana consciously turned her thoughts away from it every time her mind brushed against that question -, she had been at Alan's side, cooling his face with a wet rag and trying to get him to drink Ango's and Kira's medicine.

He had gotten progressively worse over the morning.

Kira shrugged. "It does carry an infection, so it's not crossing the threshold. And it won't do it any good if I hold its hand over there." She bowed over her paperwork, signaling to Zana that the consultation was over.

Zana felt a surge of hot rage climbing up inside her; she grabbed the armrest of her chair as if it could anchor her against the anger crashing against her like a surf. "Galen is in awe of you," she said. "Even after all those years."

Kira's hand stilled, her fingers whitening around the pen. "He told you that." Sarcasm made her voice monotonous.

"No, he didn't." Except for the admission that he had loved her once, and that they had broken up over some conflict regarding his father, Galen had hardly said a word about Kira. "I saw it in his eyes when he told me that you would save Alan's life. He said you don't care about politics, or about theology. You only care about your art. And your oath."

"My oath applies to apes," Kira said grimly.

"Your oath says nothing about apes, or humans," Zana retorted. "It says that you won't do harm, ever - not even by omission."

The pen dropped onto the desk. For a long moment, neither of them spoke. Kira didn't look at her; she was staring down at the scroll under her fingers, as if she was reading up on some esoteric condition.

When she finally laced her fingers together and looked up at her, her gaze was thoughtful. "Books have been written about people like you - apes who developed a strange obsession with humans. I admit, I've never read them, I thought those cases were few and far between. You're the first ape with that unnatural predilection. It's... rather fascinating."

The rage inside Zana changed; now it was shot through with indignation... and embarrassment. 'Unnatural predilection'... everyone's thoughts seemed to jump to the same disgusting conclusion whenever she showed concern for humans. "What I find fascinating," she said, and hated how her voice trembled - trembled with rage, betrayed her vulnerability - "is how the kind of negligence and callousness you exhibit could become the norm, and how responsibility for the creatures in our care is now being regarded as 'unnatural'!"

"Are you calling me irresponsible?" Now Kira's voice grew louder, for the first time since Zana had sat down in her office.

"Mothers, yes! Would you treat any ape the way you treated my human?"

"Of course not!" Kira snapped. "But an ape is not a human!"

"But suffering is suffering! How can you call yourself a doctor, and not see that?"

She had lost, Zana knew it as soon as the words had left her mouth; she had started shouting first. They were both standing, hands clenched to fists, staring at each other over Kira's desk, staring at each other over an insurmountable wall of different truths, different duties. Kira's mouth was a sharp line, her eyes ablaze.

"I'll have a look at it."

Zana blinked. "What?"

Kira turned away and bent down to retrieve something from behind her desk. When she straightened, Zana saw that it was a doctor's bag. "I said I'll have a look at your human. I'd have lunch break now, actually. Better make use of it while you can." She stormed out of the office without waiting for her.

Zana drew a shaky breath. She had made true on her word and managed to drag Kira out of her chair and at Alan's side. But Kira was as dismissive of humans and their plight as ever; was a resentful doctor really an improvement over an absent one?

I'll see to it that it is. She straightened her robe and hurried after the surgeon. I'll shame her into helping you, Alan. You may think you're not anyone's property, but I feel still responsible for you.

You've never stopped being my human.

There were basically two kinds of doctors, Kira had learned at medical school: those who loved a good mystery, collecting clues and trying out various potions on their patients until they either died or walked away cured (or maybe just fed up with that trial and error approach; Kira was pretty sure she'd be one of those), and those who preferred to confront a problem head on - cut the patient open, hone in on the defective part, and either rectify it or throw it out. She suspected that these types were the equivalents of the two kinds of officers in Urko's police force: investigators and soldiers - take aim, shoot, go home.

It had never been a question for her which side she fell on.

Hurrying across the yard to the humans' housing, she forced herself to admit that she had, in fact, avoided examining Galen's human more closely. Yes, she had kept to accepted procedures, but if it had been an ape - or anyone else's human - she would've conducted a much more thorough examination yesterday. Galen's fiancée had been right to accuse her of negligence, as much as it hurt to admit it.

So why had she acted so outside her normal behavior? Galen had thought that she was taking out her resentment of him on his human.

I don't resent you, Galen. I resent that I still hurt when I look at you. Or even think of you.

She had successfully avoided thinking of him for the last six years. Now he was back, and it was as if not a single day had passed since that fateful night. She stopped at the door to the humans' kennel, gripping the handle until her knuckles went white.

Focus, doctor. You have a job to do, and you're damn good at your job. You won't slack off now, not for some petty personal reasons.

She drew a deep breath and half turned her head to... 'Mila'... she didn't believe for a second that this was the woman's real name... who had been hot on her heels, but had kept thankfully silent the whole time. "I never let relatives," she paused. "Or owners sit in on my examinations. I want to focus on the patient, and I don't need interruptions, or layman diagnoses thrown my way. You wait here, I'll call you when I'm done." She pushed the door open without waiting for an answer.

The first thing that hit her was the sickening stench of human filth: old sweat, stale urine, something brewing on the stove that had lots of cabbage in it. She gagged and put a hand over her nose. No wonder the humans had to be hosed down and disinfected before they began their workday in the clinic buildings! She carefully chose her steps between the flattened patches of straw, pitiful beddings for the beasts they used to work every day from sunrise to sunset.

Galen's human wasn't among the resting creatures. One of them pointed her to a door in the far wall that led to a tiny chamber barely bigger than the pallet it was housing. The human on it was sleeping or unconscious. She took a moment to look at it undisturbed.

It was a big male with dark hair - although at closer inspection, the roots were pale; either it was older than it had seemed at first glance, and was already graying, or it was one of those rare, fair-haired specimens, and just had its fur darkened. Kira chewed on her lower lip. If it was in fact a fair haired human, it would at least explain why Galen and his girlfriend were so adamant that it survived - the light-colored ones were expensive; maybe they hoped to sell it at a good price later. A crippled human wouldn't make as much money, though.

The human was moving its lips, mumbling something. Kira leaned closer, curious against her will.

"Sal... wait! Wait for me!" Its voice weakened to a low mutter, the words almost inaudible. "Don't go... soon as we get... back. I'm on my way... tell him..." Its breaths came rapidly now, its fingers digging into the blanket. It mumbled something else, but Kira didn't understand the words. Had it switched to a different language?

She dismissed the thought - humans knew only one language, that of their masters. It was probably just gibberish, brought on by the infection. Whatever scenario the human was living through in its fevered hallucinations, it was greatly distressed. Kira frowned. Hallucinating was not a good sign. She picked up the jar standing on the reedy stool and read the label. It was one of their mild antipyretic mixtures. Definitely not sufficient.

When she looked up, the human's eyes were open, dark and unfocused in the dim light. That was another thing she felt increasingly irritated at - how was she supposed to examine the creature in this cramped space, with insufficient lighting?

Well, it just had to do. She put the jar back on the stool and put her bag on it to open the buckles, and took out her stethoscope.

When she leaned down to push up the human's shirt, it jerked back and tried to crawl away from her with a panicked moan. She grabbed its shoulders before it could fall from the pallet; it was too heavy for her to lift it up again, and she didn't want the commotion of calling in more humans to help her. She wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible. "Calm yourself! I'm Dr. Kira. I want to help you!"

The human stared at her for a moment, still drawing air in labored breaths, but it stopped struggling. "Sorry," it said finally. Its voice was deep and hoarse. "I was... I was having a bad dream."

She let go and held up her stethoscope. "I'm going to examine you now. Once I get to your wound, it will hurt. Do you think you can stay still, or do I have to get someone to restrain you?"

The human grabbed the frame of the bed and smiled wryly. "I'll be good, Doctor."

Kira fingered her stethoscope, suddenly unsure of her own judgment. Maybe it would be wiser to have it restrained from the beginning. But now that she had extracted a promise from it, she was loathe to go back on their little deal.

She quickly set to work, and the human kept its word and held perfectly still, except when she told it to roll on its side so she could inspect the wound. She didn't like what she found - the human had in fact developed a fever, and the wound was red and swollen, and weeping pus. She was certain that she hurt the beast when she squeezed out the pus and cleaned the wound channel, but it just grabbed the bedframe harder and ground its teeth. It didn't lash out at her - whatever opinion she held about Galen's girlfriend, the woman had at least trained it well.

When she probed its leg, the numbness seemed to have spread; that was another worrisome development. Maybe the bullet had moved... closer to the sciatic nerve. If anything, it made surgery even riskier. Kira briefly wondered what Galen meant to bring her that would help her with this case; he had been awfully secretive when he had told her he would visit an old friend.

"Wh- where are Galen and Pete?" the human asked after she had allowed it to lay on its back again. Its voice was strained - it was still in pain. Kira assumed the second name belonged to the other human.

"They have left to get something for you from the City," she said, rolling her instruments into a cloth to separate them from the other contents in her bag; they would have to be carefully cleaned before they were fit to use again. Or maybe she'd just dispose of them completely.

"They went back into the city?" The human tried to sit up, but broke down immediately. It grabbed her wrist before she could step outside its reach. "They can't... it's too dangerous!" Its eyes were wide; Kira was taken aback by the look of sheer terror in them.

She yanked her arm free. "It's a bit late for your concern, don't you think? Coming here was already dangerous, and if you'd had any sense of... of honor, of loyalty, of... responsibility, you'd never have allowed Galen to take you here!"

The human blinked, a slow drooping and raising of its eyelids that betrayed its dazed state. Maybe it hadn't understood her words; Kira fervently wished so. Why would she care if Galen endangered his life for his pet?

Because he might lead the authorities back to her if he was caught. That... that was the only reason. She glared at the human, that huge, clumsy beast, with its unnatural long limbs and furless torso. It was ugly; how could Galen and that woman develop such an obsession with it?

"I'm as worried for him as you are," the human said slowly.

"I care no more for him than I do for you! Do you understand?" Kira snapped. "You mean nothing! Galen is a fool, risking his life, and you don't even think of the danger he's facing because of you! Humans are blind and sentimental, you can't control your emotions or your thoughts! You'll destroy Galen, and your friend - you'll all be destroyed!"

She grabbed her bag and fled into the main room, stumbling over outstretched limbs and dirty bowls that were buried in the straw. The stench had gotten worse since she had first entered; she held her breath until she had finally reached the door and pushed it open, half falling into the bright light of noon.

A hand supported her under the elbow. "Are you alright? What happened?"

Kira quickly stepped aside, out of Mila's reach. "Nothing happened. I examined your human."

Mila studied her for a moment. "What are your findings, doctor?"

"I'll send someone over to bring you a different drug against the fever." Kira drew a deep breath, slowly and carefully, so that Mila wouldn't notice. The sun was burning on her fur, burning away the human stench and the moisture of the dark, damp air in the kennel. She wished she could prolong her lunch break to bake in the sun and thoroughly brush her fur.

The living conditions for these beasts were unacceptable. She'd talk to Leander about it, they'd need a second kennel; the stocking density was much too high. And someone ought to burn those beddings and bring in fresh straw...

"And what about the bullet? Can you get it out?"

"No." She turned away from Mila, from the kennel. "The bullet has moved closer to the nerve, and there are big blood vessels in the immediate vicinity." She stopped. "If I can get the infection under control, your human has a chance of survival, even if it will be permanently lame," she said over her shoulder.

"But if I try to get at the bullet, it'll bleed out in mere moments."

The sun was battering the plaza with radiation, heating up the air over the white cobblestones into a shimmering curtain. The apes, insisting to wear robes over their furs, were suffering even more under the heat than the humans, so the vendors had taken to spanning awnings in front of their stalls. In the alleys surrounding the market, one wandered in colored flecks of light, but out here, the white stones threw back the light in blinding brightness. Still, the aisles between the stalls were packed with buyers, apes and their human servants in almost equal numbers.

Burke kept telling himself that it was a good thing that the market was crowded; he and Galen were melting into the masses, just another ape and his slave. But the sheer number of apes had him on edge, and he flinched every time he felt fur brush against him.

"What are we doing here?" he murmured at Galen's shoulder. They were standing under the green awning of a herbalist's stall, and the chimp was sniffing at a sampling of dried herbs. "If you just wanted to kill the time until dark, you could've chosen a less public place."

Galen ignored him. "I'll take this one, yes, one pound - who knows when I'll come upon a vendor who is as conscientious about quality as you are?"

The wizened little gorilla - and that was setting his teeth on edge, too, Burke thought grimly, too many damn gorillas here, selling their turnips and herbs and shit - beamed and bobbed, and scurried to measure more chamomille, and yarrow, and wormwood, and three dozen other drugs Burke had already forgotten, into small linen bags. Burke frowned at the pile of already filled bags; it was nobody's guess who would have to carry all that stuff. "Don't you think you're taking your latest costume a bit too seriously?" he whispered. "Who needs all that stuff? And do we even have the money for that?"

"Don't worry over your master's purse," Galen murmured back. "And yes, we will need all that stuff. And no, we can't visit Melvin, I don't want to put him at risk again, after everything he's already done for us. - Excellent, mother! I shall recommend your products to my colleagues!" He paid the old woman and gallantly kissed her hand, which earned him a wide, toothless grin, and waved casually for Burke to gather their purchases.

"I was thinking," he said, after they had stepped out of the shadow of the herbalist's tent and back into the crowd of buyers, sightseers, and samplers of free appetizers, "that we need a better plan than just wildly running off. We haven't come very far with that strategy."

"No shit," Burke muttered. "This place is like the goddamned Hotel California." If he craned his neck, he could see the white mural of the institute where he and Virdon had spent their first months after Urko had captured them.

He felt chilly all of a sudden, as if he was suffering from a sunstroke. Maybe he had overheated under the hoodie he was wearing. It was meant to shield him from the sun, and to hide his face from anyone who'd bothered to look at the 'Wanted!' posters, but it was actually too warm for this weather. Suffocating. Still, he didn't dare to throw the hood back from his face.

"So you're planning to keep that 'Dr. Kova' identity?" They had left the main square and were wandering down a narrow alley; the sprawling upper levels of the typical ape houses were providing blessed shadow. "What will you do if they ask for your approbation papers?"

"I had a good look at Kira's certificate; it's hanging at the wall in her office," Galen said with a shrug. "I think I can easily manufacture a credible imitation."

"You'd forge a doctor's approbation?" Burke was shocked.

"Why not? I was forging ownership papers for you and Alan, and false identification for Zana and myself..."

"That's different! Someone might expect you to actually treat them!" Then it suddenly dawned on him. "You... that's why we're buying all that stuff! All those herbs... you're really planning to try them out on some poor, ill bastard!"

"I don't plan anything of the kind." Galen turned another corner, and entered an even smaller and darker alley. "But I need to keep up appearances. I wouldn't be a very convincing country doctor if I traveled without any herbs or leeches."

Burke stopped cold. "Leeches."

Galen kept walking. "They're quite effective for treating rheumatism, or so I've heard."

"Leeches!" Burke repeated. "What's next, you'll give them arsenic against syphilis?"

Galen stopped in front of a thick wooden door set in the forbidding windowless wall that was a traditional simian house's ground level. He half turned to Burke, brows raised. "Is that how you use it?"

"No!" Burke threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's poisonous! It's quackery, just like using leeches!"

Galen hesitated, his hand already on the handle of the door. "I told you, it's just for appearances' sake." He pushed open the door. Somewhere in the darkness behind it, a row of bells were jingling. "But you will take care of them."

Burke stared at his receding back. "The hell I will!"

He hurried after the chimp before the door could shut him out in the street.

When they finally returned to the public stables to unload their purchases into the cart Galen had borrowed from the clinic, Burke was hot, and sweaty, and in a bad mood. The stones were still baking with the day's heat; what little breeze snaked between the houses touched his sweat-drenched temples like a hot breath. Burke watched Galen carefully stow away the bags with herbs, jars with leeches, a small leather case with an assortment of steel knives and needles and other instruments he didn't want to know the uses for, and a bar of tin.

He had refrained from asking then, and he wouldn't ask now. Sooner or later, Galen would tell him what he'd need the tin for.

They had also bought a roll of rope and a set of lock picks. Not from the same vendor, of course. Galen had given a convincing show of a slow, befuddled ape who frequently locked himself out of his own home. Considering his pitiful performance when they had fled the City for the first time, he had developed into a veritable Alec Guinness.

Oh, to hell with it! "What do you need the tin for?"

Galen pulled the tarpaulin down and began to fasten the straps. "Ah," he said with a smile. "I'd thought you'd never ask. You may have noticed that I had to show my doctor's seal for some of the more potent mixtures?"

Burke shrugged. He hadn't paid too much attention to Galen's transactions; he had been busy juggling all the bags and jars and parcels in his arms. "What about it?"

"It's actually Kira's seal. I imagine she'd want it back-"

"You pawned Kira's doctor ID," Burke said without inflection. Jesus Christ, what had happened to that ape? Whose bad influence had turned him into a conman... conape?

Not me. I'm a brawler, not a trickster. He scratched his cheek. "And where does the tin come in?"

"The seal is made out of brass, but you won't be able to make me one while we're on the road..."

"Wait, what? I'm the one who has to forge that ID?"

Galen shrugged and went to the front end of the cart to lead the horse between the shafts. "You also forged the prefect's seal for our papers, didn't you?"

"Yeah... well..." Actually, he had just stolen Aken's seal, so that Galen could use it for the second set of forged papers, but they'd had to discard them after Urko...

Burke exhaled.

After Urko had captured him. By that time, he'd had to have read the prefect's report, which wouldn't have mattered if they'd been able to keep their advantage...

"Peet?"

He blinked and gasped; he had forgotten to breathe in again. "Yeah, okay, I can do... can do that."

Galen studied him for a moment. "Remember that you aren't Peet, and I'm not Galen, and we are not on the run from Urko."

Burke smiled weakly. Yeah, he'd said something like that when Galen and he had tried to sneak out of the city together last time. Had waited all that time for a comeback, huh? "Yeah, I know, you're Dr. Kova, and I'm your lowly servant."

Galen climbed on the driver's seat and waved for him to join him. "No, you are my well-trained and esteemed orderly. We just have to find another name for you..." He waited until Burke had climbed up to sit beside him. "I'll call you Polo." He clicked his tongue and gave the horse a little smack with the line.

"Polo is a sport," Burke muttered while they slowly rolled out of the stable. "Or a word for chicken. Why can't I drive?"

"How can a sport be a chicken?" Galen shook his head. "And why do you want to drive? You don't know your way around here. I've lived in the City for all my life."

"Driver gets to choose the music." Burke didn't elaborate when Galen frowned at him; he was already scanning the thinning crowd. In this elevated position, he felt strangely exposed, as if everyone was turning their heads to watch them roll by. It was just his imagination, he told himself; people were ignoring them, everyone was on their way home, to dinner and whatever these people did to relax afterwards.

Galen's plan was simple: drive to the council, park the cart in a side alley, and climb up the facade of the building until they reached Zaius' office. They would enter and leave through the window and thus avoid alerting the night guard.

Burke felt sweat pouring out all over his body when he thought about that building. It had been night the last time he and Al had been there. And they had ended up strapped to a table, with Vanda leaning over him, a syringe in her hand...

No. No, that wasn't... He rubbed the sweat from his face. That had been Zana, and she hadn't killed them. Just almost killed them, to fool their superiors.

Didn't matter. It had felt like dying then.

His mouth was dry. He had to think of something else. "So when we're there, we'll both climb? 'Cause that's not really necessary, y'know, you can't help me pick the lock, an' you don't know what the book looks like..." Yeah, so much for distraction.

"But I can keep watch, and I can club the guard over the head if he turns up despite our..." Galen trailed off and tugged at the lines. The horse stopped.

Ahead of them, a patrol was blocking their way.

"Let me do the talking, Pe- Polo," Galen murmured without taking his eyes off the black-clad riders who were now slowly encircling their cart. "You're my human, you don't have to say or do anything unless I tell you so."

Burke's blood was roaring in his ears and tinting the edge of his vision. He didn't feel afraid, for some reason - thought and feeling rushed away from him, receding from the coast of his consciousness. He felt wide awake. Alert.

Ready.

He still had Galen's knife, tucked away under his shirt.

The slow clop of the leader's horse stopped right beside Galen's head. Its rider leaned on the saddle horn and peered inside their cart.

The rope was hidden under a pile of bags and pouches, Burke reminded himself. All the chimp would see was a medic's apothecary and equipment - and zoo, packed into his mobile practice.

"You're a doctor?"

"Are you in need of one, officer?"

Galen's voice had changed - it was somehow more rough and more pompous, enunciating each word with slow deliberation. If the apes were speaking English, Burke thought with sudden hysterical glee, Galen would now affect a Southern drawl.

The chimp slowly rubbed his chin. "Nah. But the Council Eldest needs someone for his human. It's fallen ill. You're not treating humans, by any chance?"

"You're now looking for a doctor for Zaius' humans?" Galen leaned back in his seat and made a show of looking the ape up and down, down to the hooves of his horse. "The City Police sure has a taxing and diverse job. I'm impressed. Do you need a special qualification to join the doc squad?"

Burke closed his eyes. Don't rile him, you idiot!

"Yeah," he heard the chimp say slowly, "you do need a special qualification to join the personal guard of the Eldest."

"Personal guard?" Galen had dropped the drawl, too surprised to remember to stay in his role. Burke opened his eyes again. The rest of the squad had now completely surrounded them, but nobody had dismounted yet. They were waiting for their leader to give the signal. "Why does he suddenly need a personal guard?"

"You haven't been in the city for a while, huh, doctor?"

"Nah." The drawl was back. "Ahm a country doctor. Only came here for supplies."

The chimp straightened on his horse. "Better go home quickly then, doc. Things are going to heat up here. Young apes bein' incited by that professor... well, we'll see how she'll teach from her cell, now that the general has put his foot down. Took him long enough." He sniffed and spat. "But for now, you'll come with us, doc - put some of your leeches on the Eldest's pet an' see if it does it some good." He turned his horse around and rode down the street without looking back.

Galen exchanged a glance with Burke and flicked the lines; they had no choice but to follow.

It would be an interesting meeting.

The doctor's face melted into Zana's, hovering over him in the twilight; he had to have dozed off again. Virdon tried to wake up completely, but his head felt hot and bloated and somehow fuzzy around the edges. All his bones were aching now, not just the spot where the bullet had hit him; even his jaw was aching from the fever.

He might die in this room. The realization hit him with sudden clarity, enough to frighten him awake.

"Can you sit up?" Zana asked. "I brought soup for you."

"'m not... I'm not hungry." Another sign that his fever was too high. Virdon didn't think he would be able to keep anything down, even if he forced himself to drink the broth for Zana's sake. "Is Pete... are they back yet?"

"No, they're still downtown." Zana carefully put the bowl on the stool and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Don't worry about them, they'll be back soon."

"Why did they go in the first place?" If they were caught this time... This time, he'd be unable to do anything. He'd lie here, helpless like a kitten... Virdon closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. "It's an... unnecessary risk."

"Galen wouldn't tell me." Zana kept her voice low, probably suspecting that ears were pressed against the other side of the door. "He just said Peet found something that would help you to get well again."

Virdon couldn't imagine what in the world Pete could have found inside the city walls that would help him to get the infection under control, but Burke had walked the streets with Zana while he had to wait in his cage like a dog, back then. Maybe he had walked by an apothecary... but they were at a clinic now. Surely they had everything here that a herbalist could possibly have, and more than that - instruments, bandages, operating rooms...

... that they wouldn't waste on him. Because he was a human.

Yes, maybe Pete was out in town to get better medicine for him. He had told him he didn't like the doctor. Virdon couldn't fault him; she had made it clear to him that she despised him for what he was.

He shivered from a sudden chill; they alternated with hot flushes. He couldn't decide which was worse. "I need to talk to him when he gets back. Before..."

"I'll tell him to come see you as soon as they return," Zana reassured him. He saw her chew on her lower lip; she wasn't good at hiding her concern. It made him smile, despite everything.

He'd miss her.

He had never given much thought to the afterlife. He was trying to live his life true to his faith, knowing that he'd fall short of the ideal no matter how hard he tried; but he trusted that he would be judged by his efforts as much as by the results, and he wasn't sorry about much of his life. Except... "I really need to talk to Pete. There's something... something he should know. Something I should've told him earlier, but I..." He licked his lips, and Zana hurried to help him drink a bit of water.

"I put it off," he continued when she had let him down on the pillow again. "I shouldn't have done that. We never know how much time we'll have left with each other." He suddenly remembered the last talk he had with Sally, back on board the Icarus. They still hadn't decided on their daughter's name by then; they had jokingly assured each other that she'd definitely have one when he returned.

A hot tear ran down his temple and vanished into his hair. Zana stroked his face. "Oh, Alan, don't. You'll be fine, you'll see. We won't let you die. I'll drag that doctor here by her fur, if need be."

He put his hand over hers. "Zana, you need to tell him!"

She smiled, although her lips were trembling. "No, you'll tell Peet yourself. He'll be back soon-"

"Not Pete! You have to tell Galen about... about the baby."

Her hand stilled at his jaw; he could feel it tremble against his hot skin. "What are you talking about?"

He was so tired. So tired. His eyes were closing against his will; with great effort, he forced his lids up again. "I'm a father myself, Zana. I know... I know what a pregnancy looks like." Yes, he hadn't been around for their second child... it had to have happened in their last night together, the night before lift-off, after Pete and... and Jones had left... He blinked rapidly. That last night, when Sally was teary and full of bad premonitions, and their lovemaking was clumsy and desperate, she crying and he trying to console her with his touch, with the heat of his body.

He drew a shuddering breath; no, he hadn't been there when she would've been tired all the time, hadn't been there so she could send him for pickles and ice cream in the middle of the night, hadn't been there to hold her head during those first weeks of morning sickness, hadn't been there to rub her aching back during the last weeks when sleep escaped her because her belly was in the way no matter which sleeping position she tried.

But he had been there when she was pregnant with Chris; and he had been around when his older sisters had started their families, and he knew... he knew that Galen was absolutely clueless about her state. "You can't keep something like this from him. He'll know... sooner or later. And he'll feel betrayed."

Zana pulled her hand free. "You're feverish; you don't know what you're saying. I know you miss your own child very much..."

For some reason, those last words made his eyes overflow; he squeezed them shut, embarrassed about his lack of control. He was confirming every prejudice the apes held against his kind right now.

Chris was dead.

Virdon knew it with a certainty as if his son had died just now, and not a thousand years ago... or how ever long ago the age of man had ended. They had all died - Sally, his parents, his sisters, his brother, their children... everyone would die, he felt the reality of it in his hot, aching bones.

Pete would die. Some day, he would die, and he would be alone. So alone.

He lay there frozen, held down by the terrible truth of his death, Pete's death, Zana's death, as if a huge black paw was planted on his breastbone, crushing his chest. He couldn't move, couldn't breathe, helpless in the grip of his fever and pain.

With a last, titanic effort, he reached out to Zana again. "Zana... our time is limited. We'll never know when Urko will... will win. And I know that when it's my time... I don't want to take any secrets with me. Or... or be left behind wishing I'd come clean while there was still time. And it's not your secret to keep. It is Galen's child, too. He has a right to know."

She retreated to the door, out of his reach. "I need to get your medicine - Kira said she'd prepare a stronger medicine for you, against the fever and the infection, and I'm really worried about your temperature. I'll be back soon!"

"Zana!" Virdon tried to roll on his side, but a wave of vertigo stopped him in his tracks. "Zana..."

He heard the door close with a soft thud.