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Because of the ocean waves crashing all around him, Urko had to speak even louder than usual to the quartet of gorilla soldiers standing in front of him. “I said,” he was now shouting, “are you sure there is no other way out of that cave?”
“No chance, sir,” the gorilla in charge replied. “That chimpanzee traitor-”
“The one who is on the run with those two humans,” another gorilla chimed in.
“Yes,” the first one continued, “the one that we’ve been tracking went into that cave alone this morning and has not been seen since. Once we were alerted, we arrived in force.
Our guards at the entrance have not moved and have had all their weapons aimed at the opening in case he appeared.”
“That’s not what I asked you, Sergeant,” Urko growled. “My question was: has he not appeared because he escaped out another entrance? He has learned some tricks from those humans he travels with.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the gorilla said as his companions looked around nervously. “We interrogated several local residents. They all confirmed that this cave goes nowhere.”
“And you’re sure it’s him?”
“Several reliable apes have confirmed that, too.”
“Good. I’m going in. Follow me.” Taking the lead, with the other gorillas falling in step behind him, Urko headed from the water’s edge towards the cave. He stopped when he got to the line of gorilla soldiers at the cave’s entrance staring intently at the opening. Their weapons were poised to fire at a moment’s notice.
“Get me a torch,” Urko called to the nearest soldier, who instantly ran off to find one.
Urko turned to the gorilla sergeant behind him. “Order the men to remain vigilant but not to fire any weapon unless ordered to by me and me alone. Is that understood?” The gorilla nodded and began to spread the word among the soldiers nearby. A gorilla appeared by Urko’s side with a torch that was nearly being blown out by the strong ocean wind that had sprung up.
The gorilla sergeant ran up to Urko. “The men were told to pay attention but to stand down.”
“Sergeant,” Urko said, putting a hand on the sergeant’s shoulder, “you are sure that the chimpanzee Galen is in that cave.” He pointed at the cave’s entrance.
The gorilla nodded. “I haven’t seen him. But I am as sure as I can be.”
Urko smiled. “I have wanted to bring Galen to justice for a long time.”
“My immediate supervisor knows that. It’s why we called you.”
Urko turned and headed towards the cave. The sergeant followed at his side. Urko stopped and turned to the gorilla soldier. “Sergeant, I am going alone.”
“That might not be wise, sir. It could be unsafe. Those fugitives that he runs with are known to be dangerous. As you said, they’ve taught him a lot.”
“I am not sharing this moment with anyone.” The gorilla sergeant started to speak but Urko interrupted him, “Unless you are suggesting that I cannot handle the situation by myself.”
The soldier’s eyes widened and he began to stammer. “No, sir. Of course, I am not saying that. I only meant-”
“Then back off.” The sergeant did.
When Urko got to the entrance, he held the torch out and peered into the darkness. After a moment, he walked in and disappeared from the view of the soldiers on the beach.
Suddenly in a dark and quiet environment, Urko moved forward slowly. All his senses were alert. The cave smelled wet and moldy. The walls were slick with slimy water. He continued to take step after step--as slowly and quietly as he could--until he saw that, just ahead, the cave turned to his left. Holding the torch behind him he peered around the bend in the cave. He squinted. There was the glow of a small fire at what looked like the end of the cave.
Got you, he thought.
Taking a few steps back towards the entrance, he put the torch on the ground and quietly stamped it out. He was going to surprise his simian fugitive. Get him before he could get away.
Urko approached the turn in the cave again. This time, without the torch to light his way, he had to step more carefully. His boots crunched on the ground and he realized that he needed to be more stealthy. Unfortunately, stealth was not a strong characteristic for him. But he was not going to give away his presence and alert the fugitive Galen that he was coming.
Another step and then he was around the bend. There was a small fire crackling ahead of him and it threw off enough light for his eyes, now adjusted to the dark, to see where he was going. He silently slipped his revolver out of the leather loop that held it to his belt.
He approached the back wall of the cave. A figure, facing the cave wall, was crouching there. He had his back to Urko and was holding a torch in one hand intently working with something on the floor of the cave with the other. Even though he was facing the figure’s back, Urko could tell it was a male chimpanzee.
Perfect, he thought. I have you now, Galen.
This chimpanzee--Galen--was so transfixed by whatever he was doing that he did not hear or notice the gorilla approaching him from behind.
Urko pointed his gun at the figure crouching in front of him.
He cocked it. The metallic click rang through the cave.
The figure stopped whatever he was doing and froze in place.
“Turn around,” Urko rumbled.
The figure slowly stood up and, still facing the cave wall, raised his hands--one holding a torch, the other a brush of some kind--and said, “Don’t shoot. I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“I said turn around.”
The figure turned around. Urko’s eyes widened and he gasped.
It was a male chimpanzee.
But it wasn’t Galen. A resemblance, no doubt. But not Galen.
Urko kicked at the dirt in front of him. “Damn. Who are you?” Urko asked.
“My name is Marco,” the chimpanzee responded. “And I’m not doing anything illegal.”
Urko glowered at the chimpanzee in front of him but remained silent.
“Can I put my hands down?” No response. “I don’t have any weapons.”
Urko narrowed his eyes as Marco slowly lowered his hands.
“What are you doing in here?”
Marco smiled. “I’m an archeologist. I teach at the local university. I found this cave a few weeks ago. It’s full of treasures.”
“Treasures?”
“Yes,” Marco put the torch and the brush down on the ground. “There are artifacts here. Amazing things. I can’t even identify most of them...very old. But not simian. At least I don’t think so. Many of them appear to be of human origin. I have a theory about this.”
He leaned forward and, using a low tone, whispered to Urko. “They were here first, you know. Humans. And could do things we can only dream of.” He took a step away from Urko and added, “I have a theory of the Extraordinary Human. I’m pretty sure I can prove it now. Because of all I found here.”
Urko took a deep breath. He had a sharp flashback to that time with Burke in that tunnel. The poster of humans feeding a caged gorilla. This idiot chimpanzee had discovered that secret. The secret that he and Zaius had killed to keep. The secret that Burke and Virdon’s very existence proved. The one Galen now knew. The secret Urko was desperate to erase from this planet.
“You see,” Marco said with a gleam of joy in his eye, “I think all this stuff I found here now proves that humans were here first and that they were not only more advanced, they may have been smarter, better than we are.” His voice took on a low tone again. “I think there are even Extraordinary Humans with us now. Today.” He took in a deep breath and let it out. “I’ll be famous.”
“Yes, yes,” Urko said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Marco’s shoulder. “This is exciting. Please, show me what you were looking at when I stumbled upon you.”
“Of course.” Marco clapped his hands. “You’ll be famous. You’re the first.”
He got on his knees and began brushing something in the dirt. “I think this is-,” he started to say but never got to finish his thought. Urko brought the butt of his gun down on the back of Marco’s head. The chimpanzee sprawled forward in the dirt, unconscious.
Urko got down on one knee and put the barrel of his gun into the chimpanzee’s mouth. Clearly the easiest thing to do to end all this would be to pull the trigger and bury this chimpanzee with all his “treasures.”
But wait. Someone out on the beach might hear the shot as it echoed through this cave. Unlikely given how loud that beach was. Unlikely, but possible. That would cause questions. And, Urko thought, he was a good ape. “Ape shall never kill ape,” he murmured, reciting the basic rule for all apes.
No, Urko thought, I have to come up with another idea. He began to panic as no ideas came.
And then one came to him. A good one, too.
Urko stood and found some rope among Marco’s supplies. He tied the chimpanzee’s arms behind his back. Then he tied the chimpanzee’s legs together at the ankles. Finally, he brought up the ankles and tied them to the bound wrists. Marco was now what the human farmers called “hogtied.” He chuckled a little. He looked around and saw some food, no doubt Marco’s lunch, wrapped in a small cloth. Urko took the cloth and tore it in half. He balled up one half and stuffed it in Marco’s mouth. The other he tied as a gag. That should keep the chimpanzee quiet. Urko checked that all his knots were tight. When he was sure that, should this troublesome chimpanzee wake up in the next few minutes, he would be unable to either move or make a sound, Urko extinguished the torch and put out the small fire. The cave was plunged into inky blackness. He turned to return to the beach.
As he reached the entrance of the cave, the sunlight, reflecting off the churning ocean, burned his eyes, and temporarily blinded him. He held his hands over his eyes and shouted, “It’s me. Urko. I’m coming out. Alone. Do not shoot.”
Once Urko’s eyes were adjusted to the bright light of day, he strode towards the gorilla he knew to be in charge. “Sergeant, I am not happy right now. Your men were wrong. That cave was empty. No sign of anyone, let alone the fugitive Galen.”
The sergeant swallowed hard. “But that is not possible,” the sergeant said, shock in his voice. “All these gorillas here were called because of the positive sighting. He’s in there.”
“Well, unless there’s another way out--which you told me there was not--I can assure you that I was alone in there.” The sergeant started shifting on his feet. “Unless you think,” Urko continued, “that I do not know what I am talking about.”
“No, no, sir,” the sergeant stammered. “Of course not. We must have been mistaken.”
“Right,” Urko growled. “Now point out to me your explosive expert.”
“Sir?”
“Do not tempt my patience by questioning me. I will ask again,” he raised his voice and the nearby gorillas began to look away. “Who is your explosive expert?”
The sergeant pointed to a gorilla standing nearby. Urko approached him.
“You,” he called. The gorilla approached. Urko began, “You are an explosives soldier?”
“Yes, sir,” the gorilla responded.
Urko nodded and continued, “I am giving you ten minutes to round up enough explosives to seal up that cave.”
The gorilla cocked his head in a silent question.
“I want you to bring that cliffside down to fill and cover that cave,” Urko said. “I want it so that cave no longer exists.”
“But why?”
Urko grabbed the gorilla by the shoulders and shouted, “You don’t get to ask me why. You only get to say ‘Yes, sir.’” He pushed the soldier away from him.
Urko waited a moment and then said, “Now you have nine minutes. If it’s not done, I will have you executed for military disobedience. Do you understand me?”
The gorilla sergeant grunted a response and hurried off.
Urko looked around at the other gorilla soldiers gathered on the beach. He found the youngest looking one and went over to him.
“Soldier,” Urko said in a low voice.
The soldier snapped to attention. “Yes, sir?”
“What is your name?”
“I am Aldor, General Urko.”
“Come with me.” Urko pulled the soldier off to the side so their conversation would be more private. “I have an important assignment for you, Aldor.” Urko’s voice was barely above a whisper. “If you do it efficiently and keep it between us, I will make sure that your company commander has you promoted. Immediately. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Aldor replied. “Whatever you ask, it shall be done.”
“Good,” Urko said with a smile. “I want you to go to the nearest village and find out where a chimpanzee archeologist named Marco lives.”
Aldor nodded.
“Then, under the cover of tonight’s darkness, I want you to burn that house to the ground.”
Aldor’s mouth fell open and he regarded Urko, his eyes full of innocent questioning. Urko continued, “I do not want a wall standing or a stick of furniture salvageable.”
A silent moment passed between them. Urko broke it with, “Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Aldor cleared his throat. “Yes, sir.”
“Then go. Now. Come back and let me know when it’s done. Do it well. Tell no one.” And then he added with a wink, “Sergeant Aldor.” He watched Aldor hurry off. For the first time in a very long time, a broad grin broke across Urko’s face.
Sometimes, he thought, you do this job and no good comes of it. The fugitive escapes or the road of clues leads nowhere. Everything just goes wrong. Other times you end up saving the world. As Urko stood on that windswept beach, with his hands on his hips, he faced the crashing, eternal ocean in front of him and heard the massive explosion that was forever burying that most dangerous secret behind him.
Today, he thought with a sly smile breaking out across his face, I saved the world.