The lava bubbled soundlessly, providing its own fiery light for the television cameras.
Mendez looked, however, at the monitoring panels with a critical eye. The hawk-faced Underfolker stared longest at the large dial marked SAFE-CAUTION-DANGER and at the arrow that trembled between the yellow arc of "Caution" and the scarlet of the "Danger" zone. As he watched, the arrow touched the edge of the red arc, and a bright-red alarm light began to blink. Then the arrow eased back a fraction of an inch, and the light stopped pulsating its frightening message.
Mendez turned to Barry, who stood erect and open-eyed an arm's length away. "Your friends must decide to come, Barook," he said.
"They will come, Mendez," he answered, his voice mechanical sounding.
The Underfolk leader's eyes returned to the TV screen, to the small round image of Hell, where molten rock flowed, and bubbled like oil and chewed into the bedrock, dissolving it with its heat and fire.
Mendez paced with outward calm, but he knew that if they didn't soon get help, the lava would eat its way from the volcano under the crust of the Earth and into the deepest cavern of the Below World. In that cavern, unfortunately, was a functioning nuclear reactor, the powerful backup source to the enormous ion collector that daily sucked their power needs from the air. During occasional long spells of clouds or rain, the reactor supplied the power needed to fill the Underfolk's personal needs and ran their exterior defenses as well.
Someday, Mendez knew, the gorillas might find the ion collector and destroy it. That would be when the nuclear reactor was most needed.
Unless something was done soon, the lava would chew its way into the cavern and reach the nuclear reactor. With its destruction would come not only a loss of power, but quite probably an explosion that would destroy the entire Below World. and it was also more than likely that such an explosion would hurtle radioactive waste into the air, to poison all the inhabitants of the Earth, ape and human alike.
"There is not much time...." Mendez murmured low.
The lava bubbled. The special armored cameras near it showed the crumbling of another section of the bedrock. Mendez watched the rock fall into the red, flowing stream and melt, adding volume to the molten river, and eating away the foundation of the Below World.....124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtTdQUSqnk
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The castaways sat close around the fire, its flickering light casting long, uncertain shadows across their weary faces. The air was thick with tension—a family conference, as Valerie had wryly called it, though none of them felt very much like family just now.
Dan broke the silence first, arms folded, eyes narrowed toward the forest. “It’s a trick. It has to be. That wasn’t Barry we saw. That was Mendez, pulling our strings again.”
Steve, seated across from him, didn’t look away from the fire. His voice was calm, but burdened. “Maybe. But maybe it was Barry. Or at least some part of him, reaching out. We can’t just assume every move Mendez makes is a lie.”
A brittle silence followed.
Then Fitzhugh spoke, his tone low, edged with bitter resolve. He stared at the small metal case half-buried near his pack—the one holding what was left of his secret weapon. “If that lunatic wants the laser so badly,” he muttered, “maybe I should smash it to bits and bury it in the ash. Better that than letting him have it.”
Mark leaned forward, his hands clasped between his knees, eyes flicking from Fitzhugh to Steve. “You know what’s funny?” he said, voice quiet but edged with disbelief. “With all the science those Underfolk seem to have—the illusions, the reactors, the mind control—they never came up with something like Fitzhugh’s laser. Or if they did, they lost it.” He shook his head slowly, the firelight glinting off his glasses. “That kind of focused energy tech? It must’ve vanished during... whatever cataclysm hit this world. Buried with everything else.” Mark straightened a little, voice hardening. “But we can’t get stuck worrying about the laser. Right now, it’s Barry we should be thinking about. Because if this isn’t some twisted trap—and I’m not convinced it is—then he’s in real danger down there. Maybe he needs us more than we think.”
Betty nodded, her eyes glistening in the firelight as she looked around at the others. “Mark’s right. We don’t have a choice,” she said firmly. “If there’s even a chance Barry’s in danger, we have to go after him. We owe him that much.”
A hush fell over the group, the weight of her words settling like dust.
Then Valerie glanced toward the edge of the firelight, where Nova lay asleep, curled beneath a blanket of furs. “But what about Nova?” she asked gently. “We can’t just leave her here alone and unprotected. If something happens to us... or if they find her before we get back...”
Her voice trailed off, but the meaning hung heavy in the air.
Steve finally looked up, his expression resolute. “There’s a stretch of low hills just north of here,” he said. “Right where the forest starts thinning out and the mountains rise into the edge of the Forbidden Zone.” He stood, brushing ash from his hands as if brushing off the weight of indecision. “We’ll take Nova there. With a little luck, we can find a cave—something sheltered and hidden. Leave her with enough food, water, and furs to keep warm. If she stays put, no one should find her.” He glanced toward her sleeping form, softer now. “She’s survived worse. And we’ll be back for her. We will.”
The others exchanged glances. The plan wasn’t perfect—but it was something. It was hope.124Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLt1Y6Pj0CE
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Zaius sat behind the desk with lowered eyes, looking out from under his shaggy yellow-orange brows at the 3 apes who stood belligerently facing one another in the middle of the room.
"War!" General Urko snarled, waving his large gloved fist at Zira.
His voice thundered in the small room, but the chimpanzee scientist didn't even flinch.
"Peace!" she threw back with a gesture of her own balled fist.
Next to her, Cornelius stepped forward to speak, his eyes flashing angrily at Urko, first for bullying his wife, and then for threatening their continued scientific investigations.
But Old Dr. Zaius intervened, clearing his throat noisily and slapping his hand down on the desk. "All of you seem to forget that the Ape Senate has only so much money to give." His eyes darted from one to the other of the argumentative apes across from him. 'In its own good time, the Elders will decide---and the Ape Senate will be more than happy to provide."
Cornelius turned his attention to the golden-furred orangutan. "But, Dr. Zaius----he paused and took a deep breath, then continued in a calmer voice---"you, as senior Elder, have great influence. You have swayed the Supreme Council before. We must have the money for research!"
Urko snorted, and Cornelius glared at him. "Research?" the general exploded. He threw back his head and laughed, showing his huge yellow tusks clearly. "Research!" he sneered. The massive gorilla leader now put one fist on the desk and shook the other under the nose of the chimpanzee scientist. "We need arms!" He leaned back and opened his eyes wide at Cornelius. "What borders does research protect?"
"You son of a----"
"Cornelius!" Dr Zaius rose from his chair quickly, his voice crackling with command. The pouched and weary eyes of the old orangutan turned to Urko. "General, a simple savage has eluded your army for many days," he said, his brows coming down over his eyes. His voice was steely. "You bring me the escaped humanoid---the one Cornelius and Zira call 'Blue-Eyes'---and I will be more likely to cast my vote for the military."
"Dr. Zaius!" Zira exclaimed in surprised shock.
Neither Zaius nor the general paid her any attention. The big gorilla smiled, and Cornelius saw more teeth than an ape's mouth should have.
A loud, insolent snort escaped the nostrils of the gorilla commander. "A bargain well struck, Dr. Zaius!"
The commander of the Ape Army flashed a victorious look at the chimpanzee scientists and turned to stride heavily to the door. Then turning again, he loomed large in the open portal.
"I go now," he said boomingly. "But I will return soon! With Blue-Eyes!" His eyes raked Cornelius and Zira impudently. "I swear it."
Slapping his hand to his chest in the ancient gorilla salute, he left. The door slam behind him ruffled papers on the desk and made Zira blink angrily.
She turned to Zaius, her eyes dark and her face set. "Dr. Zaius, I suppose you know that with more money Urko could get and maintain a larger army---and with that larger army, he might challenge even your power!"
Zaius sat down, but said nothing, only tugging the yellowish hair of his beard.
Cornelius leaned over the desk. "Sir, why are you arming your enemy? What about research and the ultimate good of all apekind?"
Zaius turned away from the two chimpanzees, swiveling in his chair to look out at the Arch of Triumph in the central square. After a long moment of silence, the venerable Elder spoke.
"What you say may be true, Cornelius, but I have no choice." He paused, as if lost in thought, then continued: "The escaped humanoid must be captured---or killed, though I prefer capture. He must be taken, and at any cost. Any! Even if I must pay the price with my own power!"
Cornelius looked at his wife with a disappointed frown, but she was watching the orangutan leader intently.
Zaius swung back to them and placed both hands on his desk. "If he continues to roam free, ape civilization, as we know it, could very well be doomed."
Cornelius blinked and stared at the gold-furred Elder. "B-but, D-doctor Z-zaius....!"
"I'm deadly serious, Cornelius. I am not joking. You know I am not prone to such things. If Blue-Eyes is not quickly captured and examined, all we know may be destroyed!"
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