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It took Cornelius and Zira only a few days' driving to catch up with the castaways---but only because he and his wife were familiar with the route the party was taking. It was nearly the same route Cornelius had followed in his earlier, secret explorations along the edges of the Forbidden Zone. However, Cornelius had figured without Dan's knowledge of the outdoors. Quite carefully, the black pilot had hidden their trail, disguising their tracks and frequently going in zigzag directions, so that from time to time Cornelius had to halt his truck and ponder about which way to go. Not knowing the intended route of the traveling humanoids, General Urko would have needed much more time than the two chimpanzee scientists if he had learned of the humanoids' move and attempted to follow them with his personal guard.
Locating the castaways' camp was a happy moment for them as well as the two ape scientists. For, since the two chimpanzees' last visit, they had come to realize that they were no longer in danger of being caged and carted off to Ape City. As Cornelius sat beside Steve and Dan, the three of them bent over a rough sketch of the proposed balloon, Zira stood a few paces away, her attention no longer on their discussion. Her sharp eyes had wandered to the edge of the clearing where the young female humanoid sat quietly, observing the others with cautious interest. Something about the girl's presence unsettled her. Turning to Valerie and Betty, Zira asked what the humanoid was doing with them. Valerie calmly reminded her that the girl had a name now—Nova. Betty added that, while Nova might not be an ape, she was still a person, just like Zira. She urged the doctor not to view Nova as a burden or an outsider.
"Of course we'll help you with your project, Cornelius!" Steve was saying. "In any way we can."
"Well, the thing that really has me stumped, that brought us all this way," Cornelius said, unrolling the brittle paper of the plans on the flat ground between them, "is the directional apparatus. I was hoping you could tell us how the balloon can be steered from the passenger basket."
"The basket was called a gondola," Steve interjected.
"Gon-do-la?" Zira inquired, looking from Nova to her spouse. "What a beautiful name! Was it a scientist who thought of that, or an artist?"
"The Italians had men who were both---like Leonardo da Vinci," Steve said.
"Frankly," Cornelius commented, a bit of doubt creeping into his voice, "I had hoped that the man who invented the steering mechanism was a pure scientist. Artists seem to be a bit---uh---out of touch with reality. And if I'm going to ride in this thing...."
"Cornelius, you wouldn't!" Zira said, shocked.
"Come now, Zira." He turned around to face her. "Where's your spirit of experimentation?"
"Right where yours should be. Safe on the ground! I've gone along with you building this thing, but I really think you should let someone else test it!"
Before Cornelius could continue arguing with his spouse, Fitzhugh abruptly reached over and snatched up the ancient plans with a flourish, nearly tearing the brittle parchment in his haste. He held the yellowed sheet at arm’s length, eyes narrowing as he inspected the crude diagrams and notes with exaggerated scrutiny.
Then, looking over the edge of the page at Cornelius with a smug expression, he declared, “I’ve got bad news for you, old boy—terrible news, in fact."
"Oh? What?" the chimpanzee asked, turning back to the design.
Fitzhugh gave the ancient plans another disdainful glance, then let out a theatrical sigh as if burdened by the weight of his own brilliance. With a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, he turned to Cornelius and said, “Balloons like this, my dear doctor, were designed purely for sport—for idle gentlemen with too much time and champagne on their hands. Not for anything resembling practical travel.”
"So?"
Dan leaned in, shooting Fitzhugh a look of mild annoyance before turning his attention back to Cornelius. His tone was calmer, more grounded, trying to balance Fitzhugh’s sarcasm with some practical insight. “The real problem with hot air balloons,” Dan explained, tapping the edge of the old plans, “is that they weren’t exactly practical for getting from point A to point B. Once they were up in the air, there was no way to steer them."
"What?!" Cornelius exclaimed, shocked.
"There were controls for going higher or lower," Dan continued, "but there was no way to determine direction. You were at the mercy of the wind.” He shrugged slightly. “It made them more of a novelty than a reliable means of travel. Beautiful idea—but unpredictable.”
"Then what good is a flying machine," Zira asked, "if it only goes where it wants to go, and not where the flyer wants it to go?"
"Oh, we had steerable flying machines," recalling the propeller and jet aircraft of his youth, Steve pointed out. "But almost all of them were heavier-than-air craft. Of course, there was a thing called a 'dirigible' or 'zeppelin' that was lighter than air---sort of a balloon with a framework---but it was very complex. You needed hydrogen and helium, gases even lighter than hot air, to get enough lift. Otherwise, with the framework and engines and so forth, it'd never get off the ground."
"So, this has all been a waste of time," Cornelius said bitterly.
"Not at all!" Steve reached over to clasp the ape scientist on the shoulder. "You've got the balloon almost finished, and it can be flown the same way balloons were flown back, well, before our time---in France, for example, even before the Revolution. You must carefully chart the winds, then pick the right conditions for your flight."
"I don't understand. What conditions?"
"Well, every morning there's a strong breeze that blows off the sea, right?"
"Yes, it usually brings in the fog, but it doesn't last very long. The sun burns the fog off, then we start getting the normal winds down from the mountains."
"And there you have your flight plan," Steve said.
"I'm afraid I still don't understand."
"Look," Dan said. "Suppose you want to make a flight up into the mountains?"
"I do," Cornelius answered.
"Okay. Then you arrange your flight plan so that you cast off just before dawn. The winds carry you inland, toward the mountains, and chances are you'll make it before the wind changes."
"And if I don't?"
"Then you ground for the day and continue the next morning."
"Yes! Yes, I see it now," Cornelius said, excited. "And when I want to return, I wait for the afternoon breeze from the mountains toward the coast. Just as a matter of interest, what about if I wanted to go north or south?"
"Well," Steve explained, "once you really get into ballooning, you'll find that the wind blows in different directions at different altitudes. The wind usually----and remember that I said usually----blows inland in the mornings and out in the afternoons, here at sea level. But at seven thousand feet, say, it may be blowing due north all day! And at ten thousand feet, there may be no wind at all. You just have to work up and down until you find an air current to take you the way you want to go."
"Cornelius," Zira sighed. "I think it's too dangerous."
"Don't worry, Zira," Steve comforted her. "Cornelius will be okay. And just to make sure, I'm going to go along with him on his first flight."
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The moment Steve spoke, declaring his intent to accompany Cornelius on the balloon’s maiden flight, the camp erupted into a flurry of alarmed voices.
Valerie stepped forward, eyes wide. “Steve, are you crazy? You don’t even know if that thing will lift!”
Mark threw up his hands. “It’s suicide! You could end up blown halfway across the continent—or worse, straight into Urko’s patrol routes!”
Betty crossed her arms tightly, her voice sharp with disbelief. “You said yourself, Steve, there’s no way to steer a balloon. You’re gambling with your life!”
Fitzhugh gave an exaggerated groan and sank down onto a nearby log. “Marvelous. Just marvelous. Why not just hand yourself to the gorillas with a bow on your head? It’d be quicker and far less drafty.”
Through the growing din, Zira pushed her way to Steve’s side, her expression conflicted, eyes glistening with both gratitude and fear. She reached out, lightly grasping his arm.
“Don’t listen to them, Steve,” she said, her voice trembling. “They mean well, but they don’t understand. What you’re offering—it’s brave. Selfless.” She paused, gathering herself. “There are times when Cornelius is a bit too scientific and not quite practical enough. With you along, I'm sure the flight will be a success." She looked up at him, her voice dropping to a desperate whisper. “Just… please come back.”
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That night, Cornelius, Steve and Dan---with some help from the others, Nova included----finished putting together the bits and pieces of the balloon, which Cornelius had brought along in his truck. Then, after a good night's sleep, they were ready to go.
"How high do you think the balloon will take us, Steve?" Cornelius asked.
He pointed to the long, flat shape on the ground that was starting to stir as the breeze began blowing from the faraway Eastern Sea towards the mountains.
"That depends on the winds, the temperature, and a lot of other factors. Why?"
"Because there's a specific spot in the mountains I'd like to visit: the Forbidden City on Mount Galaneth."
"I think you'd better leave your visiting until later," Dan advised them from where he was standing checking the hot-air burners, "and made your first few flights as just test hops around the area---until you get the operation of the balloon down pat. Later, you can start making trips farther away."
"But I need to reach Mount Galaneth now," Cornelius said. "That's why we brought the machine out here to you. So you could help us reach the mountains."
"Why?" Steve asked. "What's the hurry?"
"Well....last week I found a book. A humanoid book. Which is damning enough if General Urko got his hands on it! But even worse, inside the book are pictures of humanoids looking at apes. And the apes are in cages!"
"So," Steve suggested, "why not take the book to your Supreme Council---your Council of Elders----and force them to understand the real history of this planet? Isn't this the proof you keep saying you're looking for? The proof that your Books of Law isn't an accurate history of Earth?"
"Yes, it's the proof I've been looking for all these years," Cornelius admitted. "But now that I have it, I don't think it's enough. I don't think it'll work. Too many of our leaders are like Doctor Zaius. They're afraid to admit that the Books of Law and the Book of Simian Prophecy may be based more on fiction than on fact. If I take this to them now, they'll just destroy it---and probably me along with it. They'll never admit, not even to themselves, that such a thing could be true. Imagine, humanoids keeping apes in cages! It would be blasphemy! No, it'll take more than just this one piece of evidence, I'm afraid. It's going to take a mountain of evidence that they can't bury, to force them to change their attitude toward the humanoids!"
"Well, then, give us the book," Steve offered. "We'll hold onto it as part of the humanoids' history."
Zira spoke again. "We thought of that. But frankly, we're afraid it just wouldn't work."
"Why not?" Steve inquired.
Zira turned toward Steve, her voice low and urgent, her eyes reflecting the weight of what she was about to say. She explained that leaving the book Cornelius had found in the castaways' care was not just unlawful under Simian law—it was dangerous. Not just for them, but for every humanoid across the land. "If you're caught with it," she said, her voice tightening, "Urko wouldn’t hesitate. He could claim you stole it from an ape scientific archive. Even the council might believe him. And if that happens..." she paused, her gaze falling to the ground, "...it could be a death sentence. For all of you." She looked back up at Steve, the gravity in her tone unmistakable. "You don’t understand what this book is. To Urko, it would be more than evidence. It would be justification. Proof that humanoids are a threat to Simian civilization. That they’re learning. That they’re organizing. And that would be all the excuse he needs to move forward with what he's always wanted—total extermination. If that book falls into his hands, it won’t just destroy our work—it will arm him with the one thing he lacks: a reason. A key. And with it, Urko could take absolute control."
"So you want to hide the book somewhere safe---where no one can find it?" Dan asked, puzzled.
"That's right. In the Forbidden City on Mount Galeneth. It will be safe there," Cornelius answered.
“But if you're going to hide it in a city,” Steve asked, his brow furrowed with doubt, “what's to keep the people there from finding it and giving it to Urko?”
Cornelius met his gaze steadily, then shook his head. “Because the people who live in the Forbidden City wouldn’t dare give it to Urko,” he said. “Doing so would be the same as signing their own death warrants.”
Dan stepped closer, curiosity sharpening his tone. “What are they, then? Apes? Or humanoids, like the Underfolk?”
Cornelius hesitated, clearly uncomfortable, then spoke carefully. “They are apes—of that much we’re certain. But not of any species we recognize. They are... different. Not chimpanzees, not gorillas, not orangutans. I’ve never seen one myself. No one in Ape City has. They live in complete isolation, and they keep to their boundaries. The Forbidden City is not just a name—it’s a warning.” He glanced between the humans, his voice lowering. “Whatever they are, they do not answer to our laws. Nor Urko’s.”
Dan stood silent for a moment, arms crossed, eyes drifting toward the treetops as he turned the idea over in his mind. Then he spoke slowly, thoughtfully. “What if they’re the missing link?” he said.
Cornelius blinked, puzzled. “I don’t understand,” he said, brow furrowing. “Missing link? Between apes and… what?"
Steve gave a small shake of his head and waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not important right now,” he said. “Just... a theory from our time. But this city—whatever they are—it sounds like a good place for the book.” He looked to Cornelius with a firm nod. “If they don’t answer to Urko, and if they’d never dare cross him, then maybe that’s the best vault we’ve got."
"Do you think the balloon will make it to the top of Mount Galeneth?" Cornelus asked.
"We can try," Steve said. "Come on, let's get this thing inflated."
Dan bent down and opened the twin valves on the air heater Cornelius had built. When he heard the soft hiss of combined compressed air and gasoline coming from the burner head, he pulled a burning twig from the campfire and held it over the burner. With a soft whoosh the flame caught, and air was sucked through the burner annulus and heated, then directed into the circular opening at the balloon's base.
"I still don't understand how a little hot air can be powerful enough to lift all that weight," Zira said, stepping back as the balloon began to quiver with life, small bubbles and pockets humping up from the ground as the heated air flowed between the folds of the light canvas.
Inside of ten minutes the balloon was half filled, rising up into the first light of dawn. Steve quickly straightened out the mooring lines he had attached to three points on the gondola in order to keep it from being blown into the trees surrounding the clearing.
"Gimme a hand with this, will you?" he called as the balloon started to lift the gondola from the ground.
The two men and Cornelius strained to get the balloon and gondola in the proper relationship, so that none of the lines would be twisted; then the giant bubble of canvas was full and straining to fly.
Steve levered himself up into the gondola and turned the burners down slightly. Next, he turned back and reached a hand down for the ape scientist.
"Okay, Cornelius," he said. "Hop aboard!"
Cornelius took the aviator's arm and hoisted himself into the gondola, almost falling out when the breeze rocked the balloon, then catching hold of the edge of the wicker basket to steady himself.
"Cornelius," Zira yelled upward, plainly frightened, "are you sure you want to go through with this?"
"You know how much I want to experience flight," her husband called down. "I'll be all right! Everything will be fine!"
"Give him his chance, Zira!" Dan was standing by on one of the three mooring lines, ready to cast it loose, "After all the work he put into building the balloon, he deserves his ride in it. And Steve's a good pilot. He'll take care of him and bring him back to you safely."
"You can come along on the next trip, Zira!" Cornelius shouted from the gondola.
"Never! Nothing on Earth could make me set foot in that thing!"
"Okay, Steve! Let go of the mooring line!" Steve called.
"Wait!" Zira bellowed. "Do you have the book?"26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQADp7NBFDa
"Right here!" Cornelius answered loudly, holding up the slim volume that had caused them so much worry since he'd found it at the archaeological excavation.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCXkkr1ZkT
Dan waited just a moment. Then he released the mooring line he'd been holding. Moving fast, to keep the balloon from being dragged to one side of the clearing, he released the other two lines, and with a sudden upward bound the balloon was on its way. From the gondola, swaying gently beneath the canvas canopy, Steve and Cornelius waved goodbye and Dan, Zira, and the others returned their waves.
Slowly, for the wind was as yet just a gentle breeze, the balloon vanished behind a screen of trees to the west. Zira stopped waiving her handkerchief and instead pressed it briefly to her eyes. Then she turned and looked at Dan, sadness and fright on her features.
"Do you think I'll ever see him again.....?" she asked.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpyffivmbh
