Free Battle For The Planet Of The Apes by David Gerrold Page A

the gorilla was insisting.
    “Stop that!” cried Caesar. “Release them!”
    “Huh?” grunted Aldo and the other gorillas. They were standing, ready for a fight. Aldo turned angrily to Caesar; he stalked up to the front of the room to Caesar’s chair. He towered over him. “No humans in council!” he roared.
    Caesar remained seated. He spoke calmly, “They are here because I sent for them. Now that we know of the danger in the city, we need their help, their counsel.”
    “No,” insisted Aldo. “No! No!”
    The other gorillas also began roaring and pounding their tables. “No! No! No! ” They began to chant: “No! No! No! No! No!”
    Cornelius, intimidated by the gorillas, moved closer to his father. Caesar slipped his arms around the little chimp and stood up. He waited for the uproar to cease. After a moment the gorillas trailed off in their chanting. They weren’t intelligent enough to be embarrassed, just uncomfortable.
    Caesar said calmly," I say yes.”
    The chimpanzees and orangutans, confused by the rapid pace of events, nodded their heads in agreement with Caesar; he seemed to know what he was doing. “Yes,” they echoed. “Yes. Let the humans in council.”
    Cornelius relaxed, realizing that his father had won the point. Aldo realized it too; he was furious as he looked around the room and sensed the support for Caesar’s position rather than his. He growled angrily as he realized that he had lost. He turned to the other gorillas, “Come! We shall not sit with humans. No!”
    He strode from the room, and the other gorillas followed. At the door they shoved the humans roughly out of their way. They stamped loudly out of the room.
    Caesar walked over to the humans. He clapped his arm around MacDonald’s shoulder and led him, Teacher, Doctor, Jake, and the others over to the empty gorilla seats. He gestured them to sit down.
    “Now,” said Caesar, “let us reason together and make plans.”
    Méndez was saying to Kolp, “Governor, somewhere along the line, this bloody chain reaction of violence has got to stop. A destroys B; B destroys C; C destroys A and is destroyed by D, who destroys E—and before anyone knows where they are, there’ll be nobody left anywhere to know anything. Only nuclear dust, like those apes from the future predicted. The Earth will be a dead star.”
    Kolp’s eyes blazed. “The star of our city is not dead. We shall live to see it rise again.”
    Méndez muttered, “At whose expense this time?”
    As if in answer, Alma ushered in the travel-stained captain of Security, who had come directly to Kolp’s office. He saluted sharply and said, “We found it, sir.” He began to unfold a map. “The site of Ape City.”
    Méndez looked unhappy. Kolp seemed to grow. “Where?” he asked eagerly. “Where is it?”
    The captain laid the map on a table. He began pointing. “There’s a gorilla outpost here. Below that is a valley; it’s planted with orchards and vineyards. There are orange groves and banana palms here. Enough to feed thousands.” He tapped the map, “Their city is here .”
    “You saw it?”
    “Yes, sir, we did.”
    “Did they see you?”
    The captain shook his head. “No, sir. They were too busy. They seemed to be holding some kind of a council. Probably a council of war. I’ll bet that Caesar was reporting to them on his reconnaissance. One day soon they’ll be coming for us.”
    “No,” snapped Kolp. “We’re going for them. Now .”
    Méndez groaned.
    “Go and alert your men. You know your orders.”
    “Yes, sir.” The captain saluted and left.
    Kolp beckoned to Alma.
    “Yes, Mr. Kolp?” Her eyes were bright.
    “Come with me. Méndez, you stay here and oversee the preparations.” He led Alma out of the room. “I want to give you some special instructions.”
    “Yes, sir. Special instructions. Oh! Yes, sir!” She practically bounced along to keep up with him.
    Kolp was in a state of fanatical euphoria. He half-strode,