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Galen flicked the reins of his horse to get it to canter a little faster. It felt so good to be on a horse again! How long had it been? To feel the wind on his chimpanzee muzzle and the rhythm of the horse beneath him were joys he had missed for a long time. He had given up a lot when he chose the life of a fugitive and even though being able to ride a horse was a small sacrifice, on days like this, it felt like a big one.
He had “borrowed” this horse for the day from a farm family and would return it to them before nightfall. No harm, no foul as Burke used to say. It was not often Galen got to ride but then again, it was not often that he got to go into a village without Burke and Virdon, his human companions. His thinking was always: if I get a chance to ride, which is my right as a proud ape, I am going to take advantage of it.
He also liked going into the local village on market day for a number of reasons. First, it was always crowded so he got to blend in and take a break from being hunted. He also liked the fact that apes and humans got to sell or barter their excess crops and homemade wares; this made it possible to get food and items you typically couldn’t get when you are a fugitive on the run. Virdon would say that market day was the closest this planet got to the future he envisioned, one where apes and humans coexisted peacefully and productively side by side. Finally, but not least among his reasons, was the gossip!
Not only did he get to hear the local scoop from those milling around the marketplace, but he also got to spread some falsehoods of his own about what he and the astronauts were doing. His favorite lie to spread was that he had “heard” that the three hunted fugitives were following the coast northward in search of an enclave of intelligent and warlike humans. If that story were to get back to Zaius and Urko, it was sure to get them moving north and away from the trio.
He pulled in the reins of his horse to bring it to a stop just on the edge of the field where the marketplace was being set up. He jumped down and tied the chestnut mare to a nearby tree. Then, walking with a bearing as if he was like every other law-abiding ape in the vicinity, he crossed to the dirt path that led into the center of the open space.
Galen wandered through the marketplace looking at this and that. Wooden tables set with an amazing variety of goods. Food. Crafted items. The variety of things that humans and apes made and baked was endless. Virdon was right--this seemed like a possible future. And best of all, no one was chasing him and that felt good. Something inside of him began to relax. This was what his old life was like. Easy and without problems. He waved at a female chimpanzee who smiled back at him.
Then he stopped short.
Standing in front of him, with their backs to him, were Virdon and Burke. He’d recognize them anywhere! They were laughing and elbowing each other. Galen smiled. More than just colleagues, even more than friends; these two were brothers.
But what are they doing here? he thought.
He rushed over to them, grabbed the two men by the shoulders, and whirled them around. “What are you two-,” he started. But he stopped in mid-sentence as his eyes widened and his mouth fell open. It couldn’t be! Galen stared at the two young men before him. They were not Virdon and Burke. But their resemblance to his two friends was uncanny. In fact, although these men were several years younger than Virdon and Burke, the strong resemblance was undeniable. Galen stood there mute. In an instant, the two young men stopped laughing and their expressions turned very serious.
“Excuse me, sir,” the blond one said, his eyes on the ground. “Is there something you need?”
Galen snapped back to reality. “Oh, no,” he said with a chuckle, “it’s just that you two look so much like some human friends of mine that for a moment I was confused.”
“Isn’t that because we all look alike to you?” the dark-haired one asked, prompting a sharp elbow in the ribs from his companion. He quickly followed with, “I apologize for my comment, sir.”
“No, no,” Galen began, “it’s all right. And for the record, I do not believe that all humans look alike.” There was a moment of silence while Galen looked the two young men up and down again. “It’s beyond a coincidence. You look just like my friends.”
“You’ve called these humans your friends twice now,” the light-haired young man said, without looking up.
“Yes,” Galen said, nodding his head. He leaned in close and, in a conspiratorial tone, whispered, “You know, humans and apes can be friends.”
The young men remained silent with their eyes focused on the ground.
“Really!” Galen continued. “You two could be the younger twins of my two friends!”
The two young men slowly brought their eyes up from the ground to meet Galen’s, who gasped again. The resemblance these men had to his companions was beyond belief.
Galen smiled again. “You look so much like my friends that I feel like I know you. Let me buy you something to eat.”
The men narrowed their eyes at Galen. “This is no trick,” he promised. And then leaning into them again whispered, “I’m not like other apes.” The two men looked at each other.
Then the dark-haired man (who Galen was struggling not to call Burke) shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, we haven’t had anything to eat since last night.”
“More like yesterday afternoon,” the blond one admitted.
“Then it’s decided,” Galen said, clapping his hands. “Let me do this for you. My name is Galen.”
The two humans remained silent for a moment more but with a shrug of his shoulder, the blond young man spoke, “My name is Landan.” Then jabbing a thumb towards his friend added, “And this is my friend Terk.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Galen said, giving them each a hearty handshake.
Galen looked around at some of the nearby tables for something to eat. He took the two humans by the elbow and began to lead them across the walkway to a nearby booth where an elderly human woman was selling delicious looking rolls. Galen felt his mouth beginning to water; he was hungry too! As they ate the hot and crusty rolls, which had a yeasty smell that followed them around like a cloud, the trio continued to stroll around the marketplace talking and laughing.
Galen was surprised at how easy it was to feel comfortable with these two humans. He was also pained by how the men behaved whenever an ape approached--the smiles disappeared, the laughter faded and their eyes went immediately to the ground. Once they felt the danger had passed, they resumed their jovial personalities. Is this how all humans felt? Why had he never noticed that before? And more than that, how could the apes that ran this world not see the value in humans?
Galen said, “You know, I don’t typically come here to make human friends. The ones I have cause me enough trouble.”
The two humans chuckled. “Why do you come here then?” Landan asked.
“Well, one of the reasons I like to come here is to both get gossip and spread rumors.”
“I see,” Terk joked, “using the ole ‘ape vine’.” He and his friend both started laughing but Galen, who could not help but be reminded by Pete’s love of jokes and puns, roared out a long and hearty laugh.
He simply had to take these two back to the campsite and introduce them to Alan and Pete.
A shouted voice broke the revelry. “There they are, officer.”
Galen turned towards the sound and saw an elderly female chimpanzee pointing at him and hurrying towards him and the two young men. She was dragging two gorilla soldiers behind her.
The two young men looked around too. Who was she pointing to? Them?
“These are the two humans who stole pottery off my table,” she continued, as she came up to the threesome. “These two humans stole from me.”
“We didn’t take anything,” Terk said with heat in his voice.
“Silence!” barked one of the soldiers. “Speak again and I will shoot you on the spot.”
Galen raised a hand and stepped between the gorillas and the two humans. “Good morning, officers,” he began, “my name is Protus.” He winked at the two young humans. “I have been with these humans all morning, I can assure you that they have stolen nothing.”
“They did,” the female chimpanzee insisted. “They must have hidden it before you came to them.”
Landan spoke up then, in a calm whisper, “We have stolen nothing.”
“They haven’t.” Galen agreed. “They are my...ummm…servants. They would not do such a thing in my presence.”
“And I tell you they have!” the chimpanzee spat, stamping her feet.
“Enough,” the second gorilla said. “I am going to get my superior. Sorting this out will be his problem.”
“If we just shoot them,” the first gorilla suggested, “there won’t be any problem.”
A look of panic came to the humans’ faces. Galen assured them, “We are going to sort this out.”
While one gorilla soldier left, the other spoke in low tones to the female chimpanzee.
Galen said to the young men, “This could go right. Or it could go very wrong.” He looked left and right, then continued, “I will do what I can but if you get a chance to run and disappear into this crowd, do it.”
“This must be my lucky day,” a familiar voice chuckled.
Galen turned to see who had just arrived and gasped.
Urko.
“Well, look who’s here,” the gorilla general said. “One of my fugitives.”
Galen looked around, fear written all over his face. “Grab him!” Urko ordered. The two gorilla soldiers immediately obeyed. Galen turned to the two young men and mouthed the word, “Run.” They slowly took a step back and then, turning quickly, began to run. The soldiers let go of Galen and began to chase after them but Urko called them back. “Stop! Get back here! Let them go. We have caught a much bigger fish right here.”
“What about my missing pottery?” the elderly chimpanzee asked.
“Go away, you old fool,” Urko spat in her face. “Or I’ll arrest you for impeding an arrest.” The female chimp slunk away, grumbling.
“Take him to prison,” Urko said to the gorilla soldiers.
The two gorillas holding Galen shifted uncomfortably on their feet but said nothing.
“What are you waiting for?” Urko shouted. “Move!”
The gorilla soldiers exchanged glances. “We don’t have a cage cart here,” one of them replied in a low voice. “We were...not expecting to make such a high profile arrest.”
Urko rolled his eyes in exasperation. “Well, then what do you have?”
“Just a regular open cart. The kind that the farmers use to move crops or hay.”
“Then tie him as tightly as you can and throw him in the back,” Urko said. Taking a step closer to Galen he addressed the frightened chimp, “You belong to me now. And soon your human friends will too. They won’t be able to stay away,” he chuckled again. “They never do. And when they come to rescue you, we will be waiting for them.”
“They won’t come for me.”
“Then we will get their location out of you…somehow.” He moved in close until he and Galen were nearly nose to nose. “Prepare yourself for some serious pain.”
He turned his attention back to the gorillas. “Take him back in whatever rig you have. Be on the lookout for his two human friends, Burke and Virdon. Get him into the nearest prison as quickly as you can. I will send a message to Zaius and catch up with you later.”
**********
Galen sat in the back of the wagon as the two gorillas drove down the road towards Tyrion, the closest village. His wrists and ankles hurt from the rope that had been roughly and tightly tied around them. He also was tied, rear-facing, to the back of the seat bench on which sat the two gorillas who were driving this cart. If he twisted and turned and craned his neck, he could see where they were going. For most of this ride, however, he had faced the back of the open cart and watched as the road unspooled behind them. He watched in silence as he was driven away from his life and his friends.
Urko was wrong to worry about Burke and Virdon, he thought. They were back at the camp and had no way of knowing what had happened. By the time they realized that he was late getting back, even if they could investigate, they would only get scanty information. Or no information at all. He sighed and shook his head.
He was doomed.
Alone.
Without hope.
Suddenly, he heard...was that singing?....and the cart came to a slow stop.
“You!” he heard one of the gorillas shout. “Humans! Get out of the middle of the road!”
“We’re sho shorry, offisher,” a voice slurred.
Galen turned to see over the seat bench. Two humans were holding onto each other and weaving in and out of the middle of the road. Galen couldn’t believe his eyes. Virdon and Burke were here! They started singing again. What were they doing? Were they drunk?
“He said to move,” the other gorilla said, gesturing towards his fellow officer.
Galen squinted his eyes and looked a little closer.
Wait!
It wasn’t Alan and Pete…it was those two young men from the marketplace. What were their names? Landan and...something. Terk! That was it. What were they doing here? And how had they gotten so drunk?
“I should shoot you right now,” the first gorilla said, pointing his weapon. The two humans' hands went into the air as they swayed to keep their balance. “Don’t shool….I mean,
shoot,” Terk said, swaying as if he was about to lose his balance. He shot a hand out and grabbed his friend to steady himself. Landan covered his mouth to suppress a giggle.
“You know,” the gorilla continued, “it’s not very smart for humans to get in the way of a military mission, and even more, it is illegal for humans to consume an intoxicant. I could kill you where you stand for that offense alone.” It was clear that the gorillas did not recognize these two as the humans they had spoken to earlier in the morning.
“No need to get touchy,” Landan said. “We’ll get…” he let out a loud burp...“out of your way.” He grabbed his friend by the arm and pulled him to the side of the road but they both lost their balance and fell down in the dirt, collapsing into a fit of laughter.
“I’m going to count to three,” the gorilla said, clearly out of patience, “and then we are going to run this cart right over you.” He started counting on his fingers. “One…..two….”
The two humans got up and staggered over to the side of the road as the cart made a small lurch forward. “Three!”
Terk staggered to the side of the cart and stumbled, crashing into the side of the cart. “Hold on, there,” he slurred to the ape driving, “you almosht ran me down.”
“Move along!” shouted the sergeant. “Last time I’m going to say it.”
“We’ll use our rifle to do the talking next time,” his partner said.
The young man looked into the back of the cart and then up at the backs of the two gorillas. Winking at Galen, Terk quickly tossed a small knife into his lap. Then the two young men, arms around each other as if to hold each other up, staggered down the road behind the cart. Galen watched them and after going a short distance, saw them drop their arms from around each other’s waists and bolt into the woods along the side of the road. Galen smiled and shook his head. Sober as councilmen, he thought.
Moving as little as possible so as not to make a sound, Galen cut the ropes that bound his hands. Then the rope that tied him to the seat bench. Finally, he freed his feet. Galen got to his knees and whirling as quickly as he could to face the backs of the two gorillas. Taking one last look around to be sure there was no one nearby, he banged their heads together as hard as he could. The sickening cracking sound echoed in the silent afternoon. The gorillas slumped forward, clearly unconscious, and Galen reached over the driver’s shoulder to grab the reins and bring the horses to a halt in the shade of a roadside tree. He tied them to it. Then he went back to the cart and checked on the gorillas. They were still alive.
“I don’t envy you the headache you are going to wake up with,” he muttered. Leaving them slumped in the seat, he took their rifles and threw them into the woods on the other side of the road as hard as he could. He had to get moving; Urko might come upon this scene at any moment.
He quickly ran into the woods and, within a moment, had disappeared from view from the road. Now all he had to do was get back to the campsite and get on the move with his friends. Urko was not going to take an attack on his soldiers well and he certainly was not going to be happy about losing Galen--again! They had to leave the area right away.
Thank the Lawgiver those two humans hadn’t just run off. They must have disappeared into the crowd and then backtracked to see what had happened to Galen.
As he ran through the woods in the direction of his human friends, all he could think was, why am I always being captured and rescued because of two humans?