"The doctor isn't here. Is it an emergency?"

Galen shifted the leather bag on his shoulder, and smiled nervously at the old housekeeper, who had opened the door just wide enough to squint at him with one eye. "In a manner of speaking, yes. Will he be back soon?"

It was hard to tell through the small crack between door blade and frame, but Galen thought he saw the old woman shrug. "That's always difficult to say, but the doctor tries not to skip his lunch."

"Is it, uh, possible that I wait for him here?" If the good doctor was also seeing his patients in his town practice, there had to be a waiting room that was open to visitors. Galen wasn't sure if he'd be able to gather his courage again to come back if he let the woman send him away now.

The door blade didn't move. "What is this emergency of yours? Coughing horse, pig with diarrhea...?"

"Actually, I wanted to apply as doctor Ropal's assistant," Galen said demurely.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" The housekeeper yanked open the door and pulled a surprised Galen inside. "Come in, come in, you can wait in the kitchen. Tea?"

"Uh, yes, ah, thank you," Galen stuttered, and followed the old Chimpanzee into a white-tiled kitchen whose windows looked out to a wind-swept vegetable garden.

The housekeeper sat him down at the table and poured him a cup of tea. "I've long told the doctor that he needs an assistant. He's not getting any younger, you know? And all those calves insist on getting stuck in the birth canal in the middle of the night, and in the farthest possible prefecture! It's getting harder and harder for him, but do you think he'd ever admit it? Men!"

She turned away and puttered around at the oven. Galen inhaled deeply as the aroma of grilled meat and spices tickled his nose. A hot lunch in this cold weather sounded good... not that he could hope to be invited. He was here strictly for business.

"Well, it would be a mutually advantageous arrangement," he said, and took a sip from his tea. It was barely more than hot water, but he was careful not to grimace as he set down his cup. "I studied veterinary medicine in the City, but their focus is unfortunately more on the theory than on practice. I was hoping to learn a lot under the supervision of the esteemed doctor. He must be a fount of knowledge and experience."

"Oh, he is, he is," the woman said proudly. "There's not much Dr. Ropal can't make better. Have you heard of that human that lost all of its memories? Poor thing."

"I've heard about the case, yes," Galen said dryly, and took another sip of his watery tea. The 'poor thing' was the main reason he was sitting in the veterinarian's kitchen - as Ropal's assistant, he would accompany him to every patient, including Alan. "Is he still treating it?"

The housekeeper shrugged. "He's visiting once a week, but so far, the beast's condition seems to be unchanged. At least it's docile - Chief Voltis took a grave risk when he allowed his son to keep it, if you ask me. Not that anyone ever does..." The pan and pots were being rattled with a bit more force now.

Galen wisely refrained from commenting on Voltis' decision. "Well, I took a few courses in human anatomy and physiology at university," he just said, "and I copied some chapters from a new book on human surgery, so maybe I can contribute a bit of useful information for this case..."

"Dr. Ropal isn't too fond of book knowledge," the old woman said with a sniff. "He says it's just one idiot copying from another idiot, both feeling validated by each other. Not that I meant you're an idiot for copying that book," she added hastily, and Galen chortled.

"No offense taken," he said with a grin. "And he's right, mostly, but maybe he'll at least have a look at the scrolls I brought," he patted the bag in his lap, "and tell me if I was, in fact, an idiot to waste my time with them."

"I'm sure he will," the old woman assured him, "he's always willing to teach the young-"

A loud knock at the front door cut her short. She exchanged a frown with Galen. "Another patient? I always say, when they come, they come in droves. I'll be right back." She pushed the pan to the edge of the stovetop and hurried outside. Galen let his gaze wander around the kitchen, trying to find a flower pot to stealthily pour away the rest of his tea.

The voice at the entrance was deep, young, male, speaking in a cadence that made Galen's fur rise.

A guard. What does a guard want at Dr. Ropal's practice? Mothers, did Alan have a seizure, or attack the Chief's son?

Then the old woman started screaming, and all speculation dropped from Galen's mind as he sprinted from the kitchen to the entrance, where a guard was propping up the housekeeper who looked as if she'd faint any moment. The old Chimp was still wailing, her words an inarticulate burble.

"Mothers, what's going on here?" Galen gasped.

"He's dead, he's dead, he's dead, oh Mothers," the woman cried out. Galen stared at her, then at the guard.

"Who's dead?" he asked, confused.

"Dr. Ropal had an accident," the guard said gruffly. "He's being brought to the morgue as we speak. Can you...?" He gently pushed the sobbing housekeeper into Galen's arms and turned to leave.

"Uh, just a moment of your time, please," Galen said hastily, stumbling a bit under the woman's weight. "As far as I know, Dr. Ropal was out to treat a patient. What... what kind of accident befell him?"

"I'm not authorized to give you that kind of information, unless you're a relative." The guard's voice was cool; Galen decided that it would be wise to back off.

"Who's... who will take over Dr. Ropal's duties now?" he asked instead. "Not to sound heartless, but the people here still need a veterinarian for their animals..."

The guard shrugged. "They'll send for a replacement, I guess. In the meantime, farmers will treat their animals themselves, same as they've always done. And shoot the ones that are beyond help."

"I'm just asking because I'm a veterinarian myself," Galen explained. He felt the old woman stiffen in his arms. "I'm just traveling through, so I'm not, uh, speculating on Dr. Ropal's practice," he lied. "But until a replacement has arrived, the farmers wouldn't be without medical assistance."

The guard raised a brow. "Well, you'd have to ask Chief Voltis to officially appoint you, but I can't imagine he'd send you away. Finding a replacement could take all winter..."

"... and we had decided to hibernate in Chubla anyway," Galen interjected, careful not to show too much relief.

Inside, he was jubilating, though. As the only and official veterinarian, nobody would be able to deny him access to Alan. And who knew, if he avoided major blunders, Voltis might even decide to give him the position permanently, and an unremarkable and uneventful life to go with it.

"I'll go to him right away," he told the guard. "But we need to take care of this poor woman first. She's understandably distraught."

"I'll send her daughter over," the guard offered, and Galen nodded gratefully.

"Come now," he said, "let's go back into the kitchen, and then you'll sit down and have a cup of tea... I can imagine that this must be a shock for you..."

"I told him not to go alone," the old woman sobbed. "I told him and I told him, but he'd never listen to me!"

"It's really tragic that I came here a fraction too late," Galen murmured. He'd still have liked to know what kind of accident exactly had claimed the good doctor's life, but well, gossip traveled fast; he'd learn about it sooner or later.

He led the woman to the table and had her sit down. She grabbed his sleeve when he turned away to fetch the tea pot. "Promise me that you won't drive out to the villages alone! It's too dangerous!"

"I, I have an orderly who is very proficient with weapons," Galen assured her, wondering if he should ask her what kind of dangers were lurking in the prefectures. But the woman was sobbing wildly again, covering her face with her apron, and it just felt cruel to insist on gory details. He already felt like a dirty opportunist for having wedged himself into that replacement position.

So he just poured her a cup of tea, and awkwardly patted her shoulder. "Your daughter should be here any moment," he murmured. "And I have to go and make an appointment with Chief Voltis... and I'm sure you'll want to make arrangements for the doctor's burial..."

A new bout of wailing erupted upon his last words, and Galen opted for a hasty retreat. "I'm really so sorry for your loss, ma'am," he said from the door. "I hope that you'll find some solace in the knowledge that he died doing what he, uh, loved. I'll see myself out."

He almost collided with a Chimpanzee woman in the hallway, murmured a hasty apology, and stumbled into the street with a deep sigh. What a morning! He wasn't sure if he should feel proud of himself for his quick thinking, or ashamed for his ruthless exploitation of another ape's tragedy.

Still the son of a Councillor. We're just a bunch of bloodthirsty bushcats, every last one of us. Father would be proud.

For a moment, that last thought almost made him turn back towards the inn instead of going to Voltis' office.

But then Alan's face blinked up in his mind - a pale face, staring up at him with a look of utter defeat in his eyes. The grip on his hand loosening.

Galen quickened his step.


"No fucking way!"

Zana threw her hands up, but Burke was having none of it. "I don't give a damn about your laws - you have no right to lock me up in here! Of all people, Zana..." He stabbed a shaking finger at her.

"It's for your own safety, Peet, don't you understand?" Zana didn't shout, but just barely. "There's a band of murderous apes on the loose in this whole district! They are armed, and they are dangerous, and how do you think you're going to defend yourself with your knife against their guns? They could shoot you from behind a tree, and you'd never even know what hit you!"

"A gang of murderous apes is out for my hide?" Burke scoffed. "Wow, that's a new and worrying development!"

"These aren't guards on patrol," Zana said, clearly exasperated. "They don't respect the law. They aren't even bounty hunters, they're just criminals targeting any human who is alone and, and... unprotected."

"Y'know, I'm really trying to appreciate all those subtle differences, but it all sounds like 'ape kill man' to me. And I've dealt with that kind of ape before just fine, 'cause face it, Zana, that kind of ape is almost the only kind there is!" Burke turned away and raked his hands through his hair, trying to calm down. Zana was... she was just afraid for him. After they had lost Al, maybe she was just... clingy.

The thought made him shudder.

"Look." He clenched his fists, trying to divert all this stormy energy inside him to them, and keep it out of his voice, before he turned back to her.

"Look, Zana, you an' Galen - you're an anomaly . You're the exception that proves the rule, an' the rule is that apes are deadly for humans. It don't matter if they kill us quickly with a bullet, or slowly by breaking our backs out in the fields. I had to deal with that fact ever since I crashed here, an' the solution can't be to hide me under your bed, 'cause I'd never ever see the light of day again!"

She looked stricken. "And how are you going to help Alan, after they lynched you in some remote clearing?"

Burke laughed, incredulous. "That was a low blow, Zana. A low, low blow. Damn!" He shook his head. "Trust me, I can look out for myself - had to do it all my life."

But she didn't budge. "Etissa proved that you're not invincible, Peet. I know you're... alert, and well able to defend yourself, but sometimes, the forces you're up against are just overwhelming. You're right, in general, that this world isn't exactly hospitable to humans - but there are apes who are trying to change that, Peet, it's not just me and Galen! - but here, in this special case, it's even more dangerous than usual! You have to take that into account!"

It was no use - she wouldn't change her mind, and neither would he, and he'd probably just climb out of the window anyway, and...

"You know, now that you mentioned Etissa - seems like that shithole did a number on Al, too. He hasn't been the same since we left there." Burke pulled his upper lip through his teeth, watching her face. "You know something about that?"

If Zana was surprised at him suddenly changing tack, she didn't show it; she just sighed and rubbed her palms against each other, a nervous gesture Burke had never seen on her before. "No. I noticed it, too, of course, but Alan insisted that he was just tired from whatever work he had to do for that ape." She turned away to fiddle with the water kettle. "He did eventually concede that he was 'not okay', as he put it, but he still wouldn't tell me why."

She threw him a worried glance over her shoulder. "And it seems he hasn't told you, either."

Burke shook his head. "No, but I didn't pester him about it... there's some things I don't like to talk about myself, either, so I figured... But maybe I should've asked him." He stared morosely out the window. The sky was gray, as always. "'m just not good at this sort of thing."

Zana carried the tea pot over to the table and sat down. "Neither am I, it seems. I visited Chairwoman Zorya of the Human Protection Society this morning, and she suggested that some traumatic experience in Alan's recent past could be the cause of his amnesia."

She gestured invitingly at the chair across from her, but Burke shook his head and wandered to the window instead. He felt too tense to sit down, and he didn't care for tea. A beer, yeah, he'd have gladly accepted a beer now...

He leaned against the window frame, facing her. "Well, now that he's forgotten whatever shit went down in Etissa, asking him is a bit moot." He smiled wryly. "Do you wanna ask Galen, or should I?"

"I think it's better if I talk with him," Zana muttered, and poured herself a cup of tea. "All things considered."

Burke just snorted, but said nothing.

Just then the door opened and Galen entered, with a certain urgency in his step that either announced great news, or another crisis.

"Speak of the devil," Burke murmured.

Zana flicked him a glance that hovered somewhere between dry amusement and a stern warning, and rose to get another mug for Galen. "Where have you been in that dreadful weather all morning, dear?"

"Oh, I, uh, had actually intended to visit Dr. Ropal," Galen said, and plopped his leather bag on one of the empty chairs. "Alan's, uhm, physician, you know?"

Well, at least he had stopped himself from calling him Al's veterinarian, Burke thought, and settled more comfortably against the window sill. Any moment now, Zana would start grilling Galen about Etissa, and he had basically a box seat.

This would be good.

"Yes, I know," Zana said, and poured him tea. "What did you discuss with him? Has Alan made any progress in his recovery?"

"The doctor, ah, he wasn't there." Galen sat down with a peculiar look on his face. "He was out treating a patient, but his housekeeper assured me that he would be back soon, so I waited for him in his kitchen."

Yep, the nose was beginning to twitch. Burke narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

Galen flicked him a glance as if he was only now becoming aware of his presence. "A, a guard came by instead. Dr. Ropal is dead, he... he had an accident in that human village."

"Mothers!" Zana pressed her hand over her heart. Then she glared at Burke. "What did I tell you? Now they don't even shy away from killing apes!" She stared into space. "Maybe they targeted him because he's helping humans, as a veterinarian... Zorya mentioned that they were vandalizing the houses of some apes... Maybe even her own house, though she didn't say that, exactly..."

Galen stared at her. "What are you talking about? He had an accident..."

"Ha!" Zana rose and began to pace the room. "That was no accident, mark my words. That was the work of the Kobavasa!"

"The what?"

"Some ape gang out to kill humans - so, just your average upstanding ape," Burke supplied sardonically. "Though I gotta say, if they do start targeting human-loving apes, you'll need to hide under that bed of yours, too, Zana."

"Are you... are you sure?" Galen asked; he suddenly looked ill.

"I spoke to Chairwoman Zorya this morning," Zana said, still pacing. "She said that a band of apes has been terrorizing the district for more than a year now, killing humans, and that Voltis is either unable or unwilling to get it under control."

"My bet is on 'unwilling'," Burke muttered. "What's a dead human to him? Or a dozen?"

"Well, maybe he's motivated now, with the Kobavasa no longer being content to just smear slogans on the town walls," Zana said, her voice sharp with disapproval. "Or he will have trouble finding a replacement for his murdered veterinarian."

"I... I'm afraid he already found a replacement," Galen said weakly.

Both Burke and Zana gaped at him.

Then Burke began to laugh.

He couldn't help it, he couldn't stop laughing, even when Zana glared at him. It was just too... too...

"Oh my gawd, Galen, ol' buddy," he wheezed, and wiped the tears from his eyes. "That's brilliant. Jus'... brilliant." He turned away to bury his head in his arms against the window frame to muffle his laughter.

"What were you thinking, Galen?" he heard Zana's voice behind him.

"I was thinking that as Voltis' veterinarian, I'd be able to visit Alan every day, without anyone being able to stop me," Galen said heatedly. "I was thinking that I could bring Peet along, as my orderly, so he wouldn't have to sneak into Voltis' estate and endanger himself anymore. I was thinking that we would have a chance to help Alan! I, I..."

Burke drew a deep breath and turned away from the window. The hysterical laughter inside him was gone. He felt...

... surprised. Yeah, surprised.

"That was a good plan, actually," he said. "An' you couldn't know that the KKK is out an' about around here."

"The Kobavasa," Zana corrected him; she was still standing at Galen's side, one hand on his shoulder. "But Galen, Alan won't be your only patient - you'll have to drive up and down the prefecture, or even into other prefectures, if there is a complicated case... just like Dr. Ropal did. And the roads are lonely... for miles and miles..." She sounded as if she'd begin to cry any moment. "You have to go to Voltis and retract this deal!"

Galen patted her hand, his nose twitching violently. "I can't, Zana - if we want to help Alan, we must be able to visit him; and Voltis' son can deny us those visits... unless I visit in my role as a veterinarian. It's our only chance."

"You're risking your life, Galen!" Zana turned away and wiped her eyes, and Burke felt bad for her, but he couldn't come to her aid - couldn't ask Galen to drop the veterinarian act. It was their only chance to gain access to Al.

"I know," Galen said quietly. "But so did Alan, over and over again. And I... I owe it to him."

Damn you, Galen. Burke tiredly rubbed his face. Do you have to be so damn honorable all of a sudden?

"I'll go with him," he said. He shrugged when the apes stared at him. "What? He needs someone who actually knows how to handle a gun, an' I need to get out an' get some fresh air once in a while. That idea of yours to lock me up in here wouldn't have worked anyway, Zana, an' you know it." He pointed at Galen, then at himself. "Win-win all around. We'll pretend I'm your orderly, but lemme tell you right away, I won't stick my hand into a cow's ass or something."

"No, that would be my job," Galen murmured. "Well, I... I think that's a good solution. You're very proficient with weapons."

Burke nodded. "So it's a deal then? I'll protect you against the KKK, an' you'll get me to Al." And I get to grill you about Etissa once we're on that lonely road, 'cause I don't think Zana will get a word out of you, you wily bastard.

Galen nodded, and emptied his cup in one draw. "It's a deal."

Burke pushed away from the window and ambled towards the door. "Perfect."

"Where are you going, Peet?" Zana sounded equally alarmed and exasperated.

Burke graced her with a sunny smile, "Stables, Missus," and closed the door before she could utter a word of protest.

It was still drizzling when he sneaked out the back door, but he didn't mind. It made the air cool and fresh, just fine for clearing one's head...

... during a nice, long run outside of town.