"You wanted to see me?"

Voltis wasn't signing scrolls today; his full attention was directed at Galen, the look on his face indicating the same polite interest as the tone of his voice. Still, Galen wasn't fooled.

"I'm a bit surprised that you didn't want to see me," he said, equally politely, "to inform me of the hazards that your veterinarians have to take into account in this district. It has come to my attention that doctor Ropal didn't die of an accident, after all."

Voltis' eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Since you are, by your own admission, already aware of the particular... conditions of your position, what exactly is the point of your visit?"

"Ah," Galen said, struggling not to show his surprise, "well..."

Voltis not only didn't do anything to remedy that Kobavasa problem, as Zana had claimed, he seemed to be completely unapologetic about it, too… but maybe only to outsiders. Galen was under no illusion that he was still a foreigner, despite his temporary assignment.

Or maybe he was just regarded as the useful idiot.

"Since you seem to be aware of the problem," he said, after he had found his voice again, "I'm a bit surprised that you didn't mention it when I applied for the position. It's a considerable hazard to my work... and my life."

Voltis smiled sardonically. "We both know that it wouldn't have changed your decision, anyway."

Galen fleetingly thought of Peet, who was trying to get through to Alan somewhere on the estate at this very moment, and shrugged noncommittally. "Probably not. But it would have influenced my security measures. If my wife hadn't informed me of the danger waiting for me, I probably wouldn't have armed myself and my orderly as massively as I did, and we wouldn't be as alert to signs of an ambush, either."

Voltis dropped his gaze, and absently pushed the ink pot on his desk farther to the side. "Well. Arming yourself is a given up here. Despite our efforts at bringing civilization to the lands beyond the mountains, this is still a wild country - there's a reason they call the northern border the badlands. But I'll assign some of my guardsmen to accompany you on your visits outside Chubla. That should keep any... overwhelming... dangers at bay."

And make me look like a fool, Galen thought, annoyed. A fretting, fussy coward from the South.

"It doesn't solve the problem of the slaughtered humans, though," he just said, careful not to let his annoyance lace his tone. "As a veterinarian, it is quite frustrating to see your work destroyed like that. Not to mention the financial loss for the prefectures..."

"I'm aware of the problem," Voltis said abruptly. "Rest assured that it's being taken care of."

Not really, if Zana's source was to be believed. But Voltis probably wasn't the best candidate to discuss this with. "May I ask how this... problem... started?"

Voltis drummed his fingers on the table, his silence as solid as wall.

Galen smiled faintly. No use trying to engage that wall head-on. "Forgive my curiosity, Chief, but I need to navigate the prefectures if I want to do my job correctly, and since I'm not from here, common knowledge isn't my knowledge. If I know what I'm up against, I can better prepare myself and my orderly, and not tie up your security when they have clearly more important things to attend to."

Voltis drew a deep breath. "About two years ago, some apes appeared from the south. Old friends of one of my prefects - Aboro, of Sultok Prefecture. They spent the summer on his lands, hunting, fishing, and catching up on old times, or so I thought. When the winter rains came, they returned to their own prefectures in the south, and shortly afterwards, the killings started."

"You are aware that correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation," Galen remarked.

Voltis smiled wryly. "Of course. But I did my homework, doctor. Those two friends are proponents of a rather radical ideology where humans are concerned - they want to wipe out the whole species. And one of them is quite influential in the south. Maybe you've heard of him, too, since you're from Pendan - Chief General Urko."

Galen kept his face carefully expressionless, although his heart was plummeting into his gut. "I've heard of him, yes," he said blandly.

Voltis snorted. Galen ignored it. "And the other one?"

"A priest of Blue Eyes. Zafkis."

"Never heard of him," Galen said truthfully.

Voltis shrugged. "One of those who prefer to interpret the Scrolls a bit more narrowly. Apparently, those two - and their sympathizers - want to restore the true kingdom of Cesar in all its glory, which seems to demand that the beast Man is wiped from the face of the Earth first. A kind of purge to restore the primal holiness, or some such nonsense. My guess is that they found supporters here among the apes who can't afford to own a human themselves, because nobody who does own humans would want to get rid of them. They're just too damn useful."

Galen remembered the light in Urko's eyes whenever their paths had crossed - whenever the Gorilla had caught sight of Peet or Alan. He had always thought that the general held a very personal grudge against the two humans who had managed to slip through his fingers again and again, but maybe he had been wrong.

"Our entire agriculture depends on them," he agreed. "Especially in the South, where it's too hot for apes to work in the fields."

"Man has served Ape for centuries," Voltis said crisply, "and that's not going to change, no matter if some dumbnuts terrorize a few human villages or not. Prefect Aboro knows that he'll need to present me with some names soon, if he wants to keep his prefecture. In the meantime, the other prefects have begun to resettle the humans into their own towns, much like Chubla has. We'll deal with the situation, doctor - you just keep your head on your shoulders in the meantime."

He nodded at him, and Galen understood that he was dismissed. "How many of them are there?" he asked, ignoring the prompt. "And are they just operating in... Sultok?... prefecture, or is the danger spread out equally over your whole district? - Just so I know what to prepare for."

"They seem to be especially bold in Sultok," Voltis admitted. His face and voice were perfectly calm, but Galen thought he could detect a trace of annoyance in the chief's demeanor. He probably wasn't used to justifying himself to anyone. That said a lot about the council members here.

"They usually ride in packs of about a dozen members," Voltis continued. "They are masked, so we haven't been able to identify any of them yet - the guard doesn't want to sin against Cesar's first commandment."

Ape didn't kill Ape - at least not without a formal court decision that stripped the offender of his Ape-ness. Galen understood that the patrols would balk at the thought of shooting a fellow ape, and apparently, the Kobavasa exploited that taboo.

And thinking of Doctor Ropal, they didn't have any problems with violating it, either.

"They call themselves Koba's Army," he pointed out. "Didn't Cesar himself declare that Koba wasn't an ape anymore? They have forsaken their souls without waiting for a council's verdict."

Voltis' smile was devoid of humor. "Are you also a priest in your free time, Kova? It seems you're an ape of many... talents."

"Just what every child learns at school," Galen murmured, struggling to keep his face and voice expressionless.

"Of course." Voltis reached for a scroll, and Galen rose and bowed, suddenly eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and the chief.

"Oh, and you will accept that security detail," Voltis added, not bothering to look up from his writing.

"As you wish, District Chief," Galen murmured, and made a speedy retreat to the heavy doors.

He slowed his steps again as soon as he was outside Voltis' office. He needed to give Peet as much time as possible, and he needed to think. Voltis seemed to suspect that something was off about "Dr. Kova." His new bodyguards probably had orders to keep an eye on him, in addition to protecting his veterinarian hide...

... maybe they would have to run with the humans again, after all - and not just to escape Chief Voltis' scrutiny.

Urko! It seemed there was no escaping the Gorilla. We should've known that there is no safe haven as long as Urko is alive.

This new development needed some serious thinking, preferably away from Zana, who had developed a sixth sense for his moods. Galen sighed. He had wanted to give her a home here, a quiet, peaceful life, safe from Urko's crazed bloodlust. He couldn't destroy her peace of mind with these news.

But I'll have to tell her something, if we're forced to move on after all. I just don't know what, yet.


Burke had no idea how Galen had figured out the timetable of Al's little monkey - had probably gotten it from that old orangutan - but coincidence or not, the young master was currently having some natural history class or scroll study, or whatever they taught the monkeys in their schools, and that would give him at least half an hour to pick the lock of Virdon's data storage room.

He paused outside the door to Ennis' room and wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. If this didn't work, they were out of ideas. So he'd better not fuck it up.

Zana and he had sat at that table until the sun had crept over the horizon, trying to come up with things that would stir his commander's memory. For all their efforts, their list had been miserably short. None of the triggers that Burke had been able to think of were available in this world - the smell of coffee, the taste of beer, the sound of shuttle engines during liftoff... and there hadn't been a lot of happy memories since they had crashed on this version of Earth. None, to be precise.

The only thing that could've made a strong enough impression on Virdon was the necklace with the engraved portraits of his family, but that had gotten lost during their escape from the City. Burke wondered if someone had picked it up after that scuffle with Urko and his goons, or if it had just been stamped into the dirt between the cobblestones until it was gone for good. Just like the data disc, which was probably on its way to the Atlantic by now.

So he had to try something else. Something he didn't exactly feel comfortable using.

He drew a deep breath and opened the door without knocking.

Virdon sat by the window, a piece of wood and a carving knife in his hands, as usual. The man always needed something to do. Burke wondered fleetingly what had possessed the apes to give a knife to a human who wasn't exactly in his right mind, and who they claimed to be a wildling. It could only mean that they knew exactly that he wasn't one of their "wild beasts," that he did belong with Galen and Zana, and...

Fucking slavers. His gaze was drawn to the pink scars on Virdon's neck. Burke stared at them, unable to look away.

He wasn't going to mention it - Zana had repeatedly warned him not to put pressure on Virdon in any way. But damn, just looking at that thing made his insides twist with rage and shame. He felt as if the monkeys had branded him, too.

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to amble into the room. "Mornin'," he said casually, and put Galen's doctor's bag on the table. "Doc's gonna be here any moment. Hey, relax," he added at Virdon's wary stare. "'m not here to harass you again."

"Uh-huh." Virdon wasn't buying it. "So why are you here?"

"Well, for one thing, I'm Dr. Kova's orderly, so it's my job." Burke smiled, although he didn't feel like smiling. "But also... uh... 'cause I wanted to, uh, give you something."

"Give me something." If anything, Virdon sounded even more suspicious than before.

Burke swallowed. "Yeah. Something... that belonged to you. I know... I know." He held up his hands defensively, before Virdon could say anything. "You don't know me, we've never been friends, there's no way I could have something that belongs to you. An' you're right - I don't have it, exactly. It's not... not my thing. But it meant a lot to you, an' I'm sure it still does, you just forgot..."

Shit, I'm rambling! Virdon's expression was unreadable now, but Burke was sure he was going to call the guards on him any moment.

He drew another deep breath. "Anyway, even if you don't wanna come back to us, Za... Mila said you should still have it, so... here goes."

He could do this! He had heard his mother say it often enough, he had rehearsed it, on his way here. It didn't matter if he felt self-conscious, it was just him and Al in here, anyway, and it was for a good cause. He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Our Father, Who is in heaven..."

Virdon blinked, and Burke clamped down on the sudden surge of hope in his chest. The man was probably just surprised by his sudden declaration of poetry, didn't have to mean anything...

"... holy is Your name..."

Virdon dropped his gaze to his hands and resumed his wood carving, and Burke faltered for a moment.

It had to work, it had to! Even if Burke had never understood why his friend held on to his faith in the face of all the shit that had happened to them here, it had always been clear as day that it had meant a lot to Virdon, that it had given him the strength to weather all their troubles, and keep smiling. He must've said those words every day of his life, and have heard them from his parents even before he had been old enough to say them himself. If anything had lodged firmly enough in his brain to not be washed away by a dive into that damn river, it had to be this prayer. Burke clenched his fists and plunged on.

"Your kingdom come... Help me out here, it's been a long time since I heard my mom say those words. Your will..."

...be done, and he was probably imagining it, but Burke could've sworn that Virdon's lips had been moving, had been forming the words, even if he hadn't heard them.

"On earth as it is in heaven," Burke continued, softly, straining to hear if the words were being echoed by his friend. He wanted to ask Virdon if he remembered how they had traveled there, but he was pretty sure that the "heaven" in this part didn't refer to space, so he didn't.

"Give us this day our daily bread," and now he was sure that Virdon was muttering along with him!

It's working! It's working...

"And forgive us our sins..."

"Stop it! Stop it!" Virdon jumped up, toppling his chair. His face was ashen. "I don't know what you... I don't know that language! Stop talking to me! Stop harassing me!"

Burke stepped back. Damn. Should've stopped while we were good. Or skipped that line. Shouldn't have mentioned sins . "Okay. Okay. 'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Virdon was rubbing his head, eyes squeezed shut. Rubbing his eyes now, rubbing the wetness away. "Just leave me alone. I'm not who you're looking for. You're... confusing me with someone else."

If you put him in fight-or-flight mode, he won't be inclined to listen to anything you say. Zana's words were echoing in Burke's mind as he stared at Virdon. His heart was hammering in his chest. This had gone south so fucking fast...

"'m not confusing you with anyone, Al," he finally said hoarsely. "You're my friend, you're still my commanding officer, even if that whole damn organization doesn't exist anymore, an' I'm not gonna play along with this... amnesia thing of yours. I mean... goddammit, Al, they branded you! Like a horse! Don't tell me you're okay with that! You're not an animal! We're not animals!"

"It's for... protection," Virdon mumbled, momentarily distracted from his anguish.

"Bullshit," Burke spat. "That's what you do to animals! We're people, Al! Don't tell me you've forgotten that, too!"

"I'm Taris," Virdon said, so softly that Burke almost didn't catch it. "I have a good life here. Master Ennis treats me well. And I... I'm not..."

Not your friend.

"... not who you're looking for." Virdon turned away to stare out of the window, clearly waiting for Burke to take the hint and leave.

Burke stared at his back, unable to believe that this was really the end of it. He freaked out when I came to the part with the sins. Does he think he did something bad? Does he remember what happened in Etissa?

What the hell happened in Etissa?

"That god that you... that my other friend prayed to..." He moistened his lips. His throat was too dry suddenly. "He seemed to have been a pretty forgiving guy. Had lunch with whores and other riffraff. Y'know... I don't think there's much that could shock him. Not really. He's been around a while, guess he's seen some pretty wild stuff."

No reaction. Burke backed away, towards the door. He didn't think he'd be able to play assistant to Galen when the ape would examine Virdon in his role as Doctor Kova. "You might try talking to him, too - I heard it works even if you don't speak the language. 'Cause he's a god, y'know? Doesn't need a translator."

He waited a moment, suddenly anxious if Virdon would ask him if he talked to that god that he had just praised so vigorously, and wondering how to explain that he didn't really believe in the existence of the guy he had just offered him as an invisible shoulder to cry on, but Virdon kept silent, staring out of the window.

Burke swallowed hard and nodded. "I hope you find that peace of mind here that you wanted so much, Al - an' I hope you won't find that the price you paid for that new life of yours was too high."

He softly closed the door behind him, and stood there for a moment, staring down the long, long corridor. He felt strangely light-headed, as if he was drifting down that corridor without actually moving his feet.

Tomorrow's our first doctor round... jus' you an' me, Galen.

Jus' you an' me.