“What’s the matter?”
“Calmly, Cornelius. Calmly. Now. Are you calm?”
“Yes—"
“Good. I think my labor has started.”
“You what?”
“It must have been the exertion of climbing. I wonder what it was like for primitive apes, when they had to climb trees all the time, right up to the time—”
“But—but—we have to do something!” Cornelius protested. “I’ll have to go back for help!”
“Nonsense. We had children for thousands of years without help. I’ll manage. And I do have you.”
“But—”
“We had better get off the road, though,” Zira said. “Come on.” She took his hand and led him down the embankment and into the chaparral. “There’s a road on the other side.”
“Same road,” Cornelius said. “It makes a big U here to get up the side of the bluff. Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Of course—oh!”
“Again? We’d better—” he broke off, as there was a thunder of wings. A California quail took to the air from beneath their feet.
“Like a machine gun,” Zira said. “Will they come looking for us? With their army?”
“Possibly. You’d better get some rest. Only—if you can still walk—”
“Of course I can still walk. I’m a perfectly healthy female chimpanzee.”
“Then I would like to get further away while we can—” he stopped to listen.
“What do you hear?” Zira asked.
There was the faint wail of a siren behind them. Cornelius turned back to his wife. “Nothing. Just another bird.” He took her hand and led her down the embankment.
NINETEEN
Lewis Dixon knelt beside the white-coated body. There was no pulse at all. He motioned for a blanket, then looked up to Victor Hasslein who stood in the doorway. “Dead,” Lewis said. His voice was incredulous.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hasslein said.
“Sure you are,” Lewis said. He covered the dead orderly and stood. “Sure.”
“I really am. I don’t know why your opinion is important to me, Dr. Dixon, since it is obvious that you will never think well of me, but I find myself trying to convince you that I’m not a monster thirsting for innocent blood.”
“You want the chimpanzees dead. You’ll use this as an excuse to hunt them down.”
“Certainly. They are a threat to humanity, to civilization, to science, to everything I hold dear, and they must be destroyed. I wish they were evil. It would make this easier.” Hasslein waited until the attendants had finished covering Tommy, then turned away. “Even this, I expect, was an accident; but it will make things easier.” He walked rapidly to his office and began telephoning. Within minutes there were sirens throughout Camp Pendleton, and jeeps of armed men drove rapidly through and around the camp grounds.
Hasslein hesitated before making the next telephone call. As he stared at the phone, Lewis Dixon came into his office. Hasslein looked up with a frown. “Yes?”
“What orders did you give them?” Lewis demanded. “Are they going to shoot on sight?”
“I merely told the Admiral that the prisoners had escaped, and that they had killed one of his Marines doing so.”
“Jesus! That’ll make the others trigger-happy . . .”
“Possibly. I hope so,” Hasslein said. “I can admit that to you. Dixon, don’t you care? In future times, another Shakespeare, another Edison, another Einstein, may be crawling on all fours, unable to speak, a brute with no culture doomed to a life of misery—and all because of these apes. Can’t you understand it’s them or us?”
“Even if I believed that, I couldn’t condone killing them out of hand.”
“No. I suppose not.” Hasslein lifted the telephone. “General Brody, please. If you’ll excuse me, Dr. Dixon, I must report to the president.” He waited until Lewis had gone, then lit a cigarette. They took a long time getting Brody on the phone, and it took even longer for Hasslein to explain what had happened.
“What orders do the Marines have?” Brody demanded.
“To recapture them, of course—”
“Yeah. Recapture them, but they know these monkeys have killed one of their buddies. They won’t do it without damned strong orders. You’ll see that they get those orders, Hasslein. We want those chimps alive. Is that understood?”
“I thought you were in agreement with me, General,” Hasslein protested.
“What’s that got to do with it?” Brody demanded. “The president’s going to insist on the same damned thing. Those apes are to be recaptured, alive, and to hell with what they’ve done or haven’t done. Have you got that? I’ve seen the Harris poll on those monkeys, Hasslein. You shoot them down out of hand and you’ll make a political crisis. The people think of those apes as human. Every science type in the country wants an interview with ’em. And so on. I want them back alive, Hasslein, and so will the boss. You got that?”
“Yes, General.”
“I’ll make bloody sure of it, Victor. I’m calling Admiral Jardin right now. Meanwhile, you issue the proper orders. And call me if anything new happens.”
They watched the cars full of soldiers race back and forth on the road, and felt increasing horror. Zira moaned again, and finally Cornelius could not stand it any longer.
“I’m going to go get help,” he said. “I’ll find Lewis.”
“No . . . please.” She looked around their small hollow. Chaparral grew thick on all sides, so that they were invisible from the road.
“Look, I only lost my temper with that boy. I hurt him, but he’ll be all right. I owe him an apology. I’ve felt miserable ever since I struck him—and it wasn’t his fault. We’ve got to go back, we’ve got to have help.”
“I can walk,” Zira said. “Or I can have the baby here. We’ll be—”
“No.” Cornelius was firm. “They may punish us, but at least the baby will be delivered with proper care. I’m going to get help. You wait here.” Before she could protest, he scrambled down the hill toward the lower loop of the road.
There were soldiers there. They had a barrier across the road, and they carried rifles. Cornelius waited, afraid, hoping to see someone he recognized. Finally a car came, its lights showing the dozen Marines clearly. One of them came forward and shined a light into the car.
“Miss, I’m afraid this road’s closed,” the soldier said.
“I am Dr. Branton,” she said. “Captain, I have a pass. Here.”
“Oh. Right, Miss.”
Cornelius recognized Stevie and felt relief. He started forward through the bushes, ready to show himself, and the Marine continued to speak. “Better be careful, Dr. Branton. Those monkeys killed one of our troopers, that young orderly Corporal Billings, and they’re on the loose. Out there somewhere. I ought to send a trooper with you, but I don’t really have the men to spare. You lock all your doors and don’t open them ’till you’re at the compound, you hear?”
Cornelius turned away in horror. What had he done? The boy was dead! Dead! What of the law now? He saw Stevie’s car drive away, and remembered how the road looped here.
Quickly, he thought. I have to catch her. He ran uphill, through the chaparral, heedless of noise but silently all the same, ten thousand years of instinct protecting him from being heard. He reached the upper section of the road and stood panting, waiting, as Stevie’s car came up the hill.
She braked hard, and the car stopped with a screech. Cornelius went to the driver’s side. The window was rolled up, and Stevie did not move. Cornelius stood there, silently, in mounting panic.
Stephanie rolled down the window. “Cornelius! What’s happened?” she said. She sounded very frightened.
“Thank you for trusting me,” he told her. “I do not deserve it. But I didn’t mean to kill the boy. He was teasing Zira. Or I thought he was, and I struck him. He fell. It was an accident. You must believe me.”