Chapter 9

"Return fire!" ordered Alan Carter, just as the end of a very tight turn brought his weapons to bear on the Dorcon ship. He felt a surge of power flow through the ship as the new photonic cannon unleashed its fury. Would it be enough? As he brought the Santa Maria in a close flyby of the Dorcon ships underside, the cannon fired again and again, stitching the shields of the bigger ship with blue bursts of energy.

"Shields down to 85%" reported the weapons officer.

"What are they using for weapons? I thought all these Earthlings had were single frequency lasers?" asked the Captain.

"Apparently they have upgraded their hardware since our last meeting, Captain." Consul Ardyth entered the bridge and took a quick survey of the scanners. As the battle was underway, and the Captain was clearly managing things, she merely observed…for now.

"Switch to dynamic targeting," ordered the Captain.

Carter winced as Santa Maria took more punishment. He heard small explosions from the rear cabin.

"Sir, it's no good! Shields are failing. They are just too strong for us!" said Infantino.

"All right, execute Plan 1," ordered Carter, as he punched in yet another evasive maneuver. He unstrapped and headed to the back of the ship. Waiting for him were Mankiewitz and his heavily armed response team, along with the crew of the Santa Maria.

"This was supposed to be a covert mission!" said Mankiewitz, as he adjusted the strap of his weapon.

"Plans have changed, mate. We'll have to improvise!" said Carter.

All but Carter and Technician Ed "Sam" Malcolm crowded into the transference dome and waited, as the ship took another hit, a glancing blow only, from the Dorcon weapons.

"It's no good! I can't get transporter contact!" reported Ed Malcolm from the control panel. "There is too much mass." He tried again to reconfigure the controls, but slammed his fist down on the panel in frustration. "Goddammit!"

"That can't be! It was all calculated in the simulator at least ten times. It worked with power to spare." protested Infantino from inside the transference dome.

"We didn't expect to have to do it during combat! Our energy budget is shot to hell. We're about twenty percent over now, on mass ." said Malcolm.

Carter decided quickly. "All right mates, lose the equipment, all of it. Now! That's an order. Weapons, armor, kit bags, commlocks, everything.." It sounded like a riot , with curses, jostling and bulky equipment hitting the deck of the ship all at once. But within a minute, everyone was once again standing in the transference dome with only the clothes on their back.

Mankiewitz balked. The original plan had been to infiltrate a response team onto the Dorcon ship to disable or capture it until a fleet of eagles could arrive to finish the job. That was now out the window.

"The Dorcons will have a firing solution in about thirty seconds, cobber! It's this or stay here and get blown to bits!" explained Carter.

"Ben zona! How the hell are we supposed to complete our mission without equipment?" asked Mankiewitz as he too stripped off his gear. Before Carter could answer, Malcolm said, "Damn! We're still too heavy!"

"By how much?" demanded Carter.

"About a hundred and twenty pounds, maybe a little less." said Malcolm.

Carter opened the door to the transference dome, shoved Malcolm in and closed the door again. "Sir, you can't!" protested Malcolm.

"No sweat mate. I've gotten out of tighter spots than this. Are the coordinates programmed?"

"Yes, but…" Malcolm's protest was cut off as Carter threw the switch. The transference dome lit up with a bright green glow, and then was empty again.

"God go with you, mates." said Carter. As he rushed back to the cockpit, the Dorcons fired again. A loud clang reverberated through the ship. Carter saw the portside wall of the main cabin buckle inward, then explode outward, creating a hole the size of a kitchen table! Everything not secured was presently sucked through the hole. All the equipment left by the response team was gone in an instant. The artificial gravity was gone too. Carter grabbed onto a handhold. He could see stars through the hole. Remembering his basic astronaut training, Carter hollered, exhaling air as fast as he could. This would keep his lungs from rupturing, and maybe give him an extra minute of life. Vacuum! Damn.. No time to get on a space suit. He reached for a panel marked "Emergency! Explosive decompression". and pulled the handle. Out popped a disc, perhaps four feet across containing a flattened plastic bag. Carter crawled inside and zipped it up, and then flipped the small handle. Immediately, air jetted into the bag, inflating it. He inhaled deeply. Another thirty seconds and the blood would have started boiling out of my lungs.

Carter reached for his commlock, and tried to access the swift's main dashboard. His first priority was to send a tight beam signal to alpha, but he saw right away that the antenna was destroyed. Most ship systems were offline, but auxiliary power was still available. What about… ah, there it is . Carter entered the necessary codes, and waited. The beach ball had about thirty minutes of air.

On Moonbase Alpha, Victor Bergman looked at the last data sent to him from Santa Maria before contact was lost. Definitely a Dorcon ship, but much larger than the last one.

"Same general configuration, same architecture. By the size and shape I would say that also a troop and/or small craft carrier. They could have some nasty surprises for us." opined Petrov.

Both Kate Bullen and Bergman nodded grimly.

At Base Main, Tony Verdeschi got the message via text on his commlock from Victor Bergman. He immediately relayed a pre-planned message to all Alpha personnel Earthside. EMCON Bravo was in effect immediately. Total radio and electronic silence. No transmissions of any kind to give the Dorcons a fix. At the Base Main control center, Verdeshi activated the stealth mode protective shield. This would allow Base Main to maintain power at minimal levels, and be shielded from all Dorcon scanners. Now, Earth would appear just as lifeless and backwards as it had been when the moon first returned. His next job would not be easy. He walked over to the residential quarters of the Base Main settlement, and knocked on Maya's door.

She opened in and let him in without looking at him.

"Maya. It's time."

"I understand." She went into her bedroom and closed the door. When she emerged she was wearing simple looking homespun clothes, and was carrying a small satchel of supplies. It had been decided that if the Dorcons showed up, Maya would leave Base Main and avoid contact with both human and ape settlements. The Earth was a big place, and a few "safe houses" had already been created for her in various places. For security purposes, even Tony did not know where they were. In her bag was a small device that would, she hoped, disguise her unique Psychon physiology from Dorcon scans.

"Sending you out alone like this, mia cara. I ..I just don't know if I can do it." He cupped her face in his hands and stood very close. In the distance he saw a work crew putting camouflage netting over an eagle, on the off chance the Dorcons tried a visual scan of the area. There were all sorts of work gangs going.

"Tony, it's the only way. They'll kill everyone just to get to me. On Alpha there was nowhere to hide, but here." she gestured with her arm to indicate the entire planet. "In truth, I'm more worried about you and the others than myself." How typically Maya, Tony thought.She is in danger of being lobotomized, and yet she is worried about us!

After a passionate hug and long kiss, Maya mounted a pliant mule provided by the Sursum Corda village, and started on her long trek south. Tony Verdeschi watched her until she disappeared behind a row of oak trees. He stood there for a long time after.

"Begin transport." ordered the Captain of the Royal Vindicator.

At the Captain's command, the transport chamber glowed blue. Five seconds later, a humanoid in a familiar uniform appeared in the chamber. He had some blood around his face and ears from exposure to vacuum, but looked otherwise healthy. Oddly enough, he did not express the usual shock and awe of being transported in this fashion that the captain would have expected from a human.

When the transport cycle was complete, Alan Carter found himself surrounded by four Dorcon guards: all big, mean-looking, and pointing weapons at him. He didn't even try for his stun gun. Well Carter, here's another fine mess you've gotten yourself into.

Dave Mankiewitz raised a finger to his lips, to quiet the others. The guard passed by them quickly. They had been transported into a cove that looked like a service section with control panels and various wires and blinking lights.. " Dave, it looks like you're in command. Now what?" asked Infantino in a whisper.

"We complete our mission."

"In case you hadn't noticed, we have no weapons. And you've got a few new additions to your response team that have little or no military training." protested Infantino.

"Your technical skills will come in handy. We'll need weapons and access to critical sections. You can start by looking at this panel. Anything useful here that you can figure out, anything at all." Mankiewitz was formulating his plan even as he spoke. He didn't really expect Infantino to come up with anything, but it got him to close his mouth for a few minutes so Mankiewitz could think. He turned to his second in command, Carl Lindstrom. A veteran of the Canadian Army, Mankiewitz knew him to be brave and resourceful, but level-headed. "Carl, you take Ed and half the response team and go this way." He pointed to his left. "I'll take the rest in the opposite direction. Our goal is to find the engine room or command center and take control of this ship, or at least render it harmless. If we have no choice, we'll destroy it. Grab weapons or any other tools that can help us. Right now , this beast is probably headed for Earth, and Moonbase Alpha. We may be all that stands between them. You remember what they did to us last time? Well, this ship is even bigger. If we separate, we'll double our chances." Everyone nodded soberly that they understood.

"Dave, what about Alan?" asked Sam Malcolm.

"I don't know. If he survived Santa Maria being destroyed, he might have been captured. But we can't help him or anyone else until we get our bearings and get some weapons. Let's roll!"

Damn, Sam Malcolm thought to himself. I know Israelis are famous for their high-spirited, can-do attitude, but this is ridiculous! With that acerbic thought in his head, he moved down the corridor to see how much mischief he could bring upon the Dorcons.

"There she is now, Professor." announced Bill Fraser from his console in Command Center.

"I see her, Bill." The small blue dot on the screen slowly grew and assumed the shape of a large Dorcon warship. Bergman had dreaded this day, as did everyone else on Moonbase Alpha. He was tempted to despair for a moment. Why did it have to be this way? After enduring years of hardship, loneliness, disasters and set-backs while drifting through unknown space. Finally, through some miracle, we have found our home on Earth and are ready to live real lives again, and this happens! Damn!

He had been convalescing during the last encounter with the Dorcons, but he knew all about them. The last time, all they wanted was a piece of Maya's brain so their leader could live forever. Now, it would be about revenge. Well, before they got to Maya or anyone else on Earth, they would have to get through him and his skeleton crew.

The screen flared brightly for a minute, and then went blank.

"They destroyed the Starbright. Looks like they mean business" said Fraser.

Bergman keyed the communicator on his desk. "Petrov!"

The rough-hewn face of Moonbase Alpha's Space Defense Coordinator appeared on Bergman's screen.

"It looks like our worst fears have been realized. We're going with Defense Plan 1."

"Understood." replied Petrov. Bergman had time for a brief mental prayer before the Battle Stations alarm went off. All over Moonbase Alpha, pre-planned activities went into motion. Airtight integrity was established. The Bergman forcefield was activated and brought up to full strength. With the new improvements, Victor Bergman hoped that the protective screen that he had invented would get the job done this time. Three combat eagles and the swift Mayflower that had been on stand-by lifted off and assumed defensive positions over the base. At her desk, Kate Bullen flipped a switch, activating a dampening field which, if successful, would prevent the Dorcons from using their matter-energy transport device to gain access to Alpha.

"If they want in, this time they are going to have to do it the hard way!" she said with grim determination. She then opened a drawer next to her console, took out a stun gun, and attached it to her utility belt.

"That's what I'm afraid of." said Bergman, as he also reluctantly retrieved a weapon from his desk. He wondered now if he would get to see Earth again.

"And that's the situation, Mr. President." Dave Reilly had just finished briefing President Honorius and his advisors on the Dorcons.

"Do you think these ..Dorcons..will have any reason to attack Ape City?" was of course the first question out of his mouth. All his advisors leaned forward.

"Mr. President, I just don't know. The last time, all they wanted was Maya. This time though, they may want revenge against us for destroying their ship."

"All the more reason to lock up the humans now, Mr. President. If these Dorcons come looking for the Alphans, we risk annihilation unless we cooperate with them." This opinion came, predictably, from Dr. Zaius.

When President Honorius didn't throw Zaius out of his office, Dave started to get nervous. What would he do?

"General Octavius."

The recently appointed Commanding general of the Ape Army stood to attention, "Sir!"

"You will immediately put into place the contingency plan we discussed."

"Yes, Mr. President!" Octavius saluted and left.

"Mr. Reilly, I would advise you and any of your Alphan compatriots to hide your uniforms and blend in with the local human population."

"Yes sir."

At length, the president was alone with Dr. Zaius.

"You disapprove, Dr. Zaius?" asked the president.

"Mr. President, I maintain what I have always maintained, what the lawgiver taught us. Man is capable of nothing but destruction! Their conflicts with other tribes now threaten to bring a war upon us that we cannot hope to win. Is that the price we must now pay for ..coffee and trinkets?"

"You forget yourself, sir!"

But Zaius would not be so easily dissuaded. "I would be forgetting my duty as Chief Defender of the Faith if I did not point out to the president that this crisis could mean the end of all ape life on Earth!"

Honorius had finally had enough. He stood up from his desk. "Dr. Zaius…your objections have been noted. My decision is final."

Terry McAndrew found Bishop N'ndele to be an engaging, if somewhat eccentric personality. On the two hour flight from B.C. to the former Manhattan Island, he could see that the man was educated and polished. They passed the time by exchanging biographies, and found that they had a lot in common.

"So you lived there for a while, in Rho- in Zimbabwe?" asked McAndrew.

N'ndele smiled at the correction. "Yes to both, Terry. We ran a small school right on the border. I was just ordained at the seminary in Johannesburg, and that was my first assignment as a priest.. Teaching English and Latin. We were doing very well, considering how little we had. Then in '81 the government burned the school down, during the Matabele uprising. I got transferred to a parish in Canada. I stayed there for many years, and then in 2003 I was named auxiliary bishop of Vancouver." He paused to sip some tea from a thermos that McAndrew had brought.

"Is that when you became involved with the Sursum Corda project" asked McAndrew.

"Yes. My superior did not understand it all. I certainly don't, but I felt called by God to join this community. And now, here I am." He finished with a sardonic smile.

"Can you tell me why we are going to a desolate location, so close to Ape City?"

"I know nothing of these apes, but I received a .. a word of knowledge, if you will, that are some people in this region that need help. We have to find them, it's urgent."

McAndrew was about to question N'ndele more, when he heard an alarm from the cockpit. He unbuckled and went forward.

"What's wrong?"

"We have to land immediately. We got an alert from Verdeschi. EMCOM bravo is in effect." answered Pete Garforth.

"How close are we to the coordinates the bishop provided?" asked McAndrew.

Co-pilot Cheyenne Deuel took only a moment to check her board. She shook her head. "We're looking at a half day's walk if we set down here. " She said, pointing to a suitable landing area on the small screen. "It's the best we can do."

"Right. Put her down." ordered McAndrew. He went back to the cabin to strap in for landing. "Well Bishop, it looks like we are in for a little walk in the country." The bishop frowned vaguely as the eagle began its descent.

Manhattan island, near the former St. Patrick cathedral

Ongaro had only just started his interval for the day, when he felt the presence of four new minds. They were not the primitives. Three of them were of the type he had felt before, from the new place. A term came to his mind. moonbasealpha. What did it mean? He did not know. But the fourth one. About this one, he sensed nothing. Strange. No human had ever been able to block him. Yet this one could.

He felt this was important enough to notify the ruling council. He left his cubicle and made his way down the main artery to the inner chambers, where the council resided. He saw Albina sitting in her usual place. After bowing to her, he explained with his mind as best he could what he had learned from his telepathic scans. Albina closed her eyes and let the words and imagery enter her mind..

"Return to your station. Speak of this to no one," ordered Albina telepathically.

"Yes, mistress." Ongaro bowed and left. Albina stood still for perhaps five minutes, considering what she had just been told. She walked immediately to a different cubicle. The sign on the door read "Mendez". She entered and saw Mendez reading a book.

"Mendez." He started at the sound of her voice. Members of the elite rarely used verbal communication.

"What is it, Albina?" he asked sharply.

"It's begun." She then relayed telepathically to Mendez what Ongaro had given her. It took only a few seconds. He looked up at her in shock. "Emissaries from.." he could not finish the question aloud.

She only nodded gravely.

"Summon the council." ordered Mendez.

Dave Reilly ran down the street in Ape City towards the rooming house he shared with Tony Irwin, the other Alphan that had been assigned to Ape City. The sun was just now coming up, and there were only a few apes on the street. Soon, word would spread about the Dorcons. Surely Honorius would put the city on some kind of alert? Not my problem. He had just left his meeting with Honorius. One of his staff had kindly provided him with a change of clothes for himself and Irwin. Would the Dorcons land here?

He reached the rooming house and entered, making his way to their shared room, past the resentful glance of the front desk clerk. But for the intervention of President Honorius' chief of staff, the proprietor of the establishment would not have allowed them to stay, peace treaty or no peace treaty. He flung the door open.

"Irwin! Hey Irwin, up and at 'em." He shook Irwin until he was fully awake.

"What the hell is your problem, Reilly?" Irwin started angrily.

"The Dorcons are on their way..maybe. We have to get out. Here." He threw a set of clothes at Irwin. "Lose your uniform, commlock, weapon. Anything that identifies you as an Alphan."

"But.."

"We're on EMCOM -3 as of right now." responded Reilly. That got Irwin moving. He reached for his commlock on the desk near his bed, and after quickly reading through the latest messages, he shut it down. Within two minutes they were both divested of their Alphan uniforms and gear, which they had bundled up in an old blanket.

"So what's our plan of action?" Irwin asked.

Reilly took a small map out of his pocket and unfolded it. "We're supposed to meet up with a chimpanzee named Major Marcus at the army post here." He pointed to an intersection on the map just a few blocks away. "Then, we head to a redoubt of some sort in the hinterlands. If the Dorcons do land, Honorius wants the army dispersed, not holed up in the city."

"Good thinking. Let's go." They headed down the street at a trot. Their route took them back the way they came, then through the main square past the statue of the Lawgiver. As they were passing, Reilly noticed that Irwin had stopped suddenly and was staring at the statue. Reilly stopped, annoyed.

"What's wrong?" asked Reilly.

"That statue. That face!" said Irwin, pointing.

"What about it? Irwin, we don't have the time…"

"Reilly, I'm an unholy son of a bitch, or that's..Magus!" said Irwin

Reilly was about to say something, then stopped. He looked at the statue again. My God.

"Tony, I think you're right." Dave said with awe. They looked at each other.

"Dave, what does it mean?" Irwin asked, lowering his voice so no ape could overhear him.

"I don't know, mate. I don't know."