Planet of the Apes 02 - Escape to Tomorrow Read online

  “Savages, they’re nothing but savages!”

  “They must be caught and punished!”

  “They must be taught their place!”

  “They must be obliterated like the plague!”

  So began the reign of terror. Humans, already enslaved, were now to be exterminated. The Dragoons, a band of vicious apes, swore to drive the humans from their land, burn their huts, murder their children, and imprison the last sorry survivors in the Forbidden Zone.

  Only Galen, Virdon and Burke stood between the doomed humans and their terrible fate. Only they could expose the Dragoons and their dangerous secret. Only they could keep the apes from destroying an entire race and every remnant of their dead civilization.

  But in this desert of brutality, small flames of reason and kindness still flickered. An ape doctor and a frightened blind female become the unwitting aides of human salvation . . .

  “The Surgeon,” based on the teleplay by Barry Oringer

  “The Deception,” based on the teleplay by Anthony Lawrence & Joe Ruby & Ken Spears

  DATELINE:

  EARTH, 3085 A.D.

  Apes reign,

  ignorance rules,

  and the only good human

  is a dead human.

  This is the planet earth in the year 3085. A sinister planet where three individuals struggle single-handedly against the forces of violence and evil.

  These three must be wiped out before their poisonous influence spreads over the planet and undermines the power of the apes. They will be wiped out if it takes every ape on Earth to do it.

  The AWARD books based on the fascinating Planet of the Apes TV series:

  #1 MAN THE FUGITIVE

  #2 ESCAPE TO TOMORROW

  #3 JOURNEY INTO TERROR

  #4 LORD OF THE APES

  FIRST AWARD PRINTING 1975

  Copyright © 1974, 1975

  by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

  All rights reserved.

  AWARD BOOKS are published by

  Universal-Award House, Inc.,

  subsidiary of Universal Publishing and Distributing Corporation,

  235 East Forty-fifth Street, New York, N.Y. 10017.

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  For Milkwood, Trout, and Fish,

  my best friends among the

  non-hominoid chordates.

  THE

  SURGEON

  based on the teleplay

  by Barry Oringer

  ONE

  It was a day in late spring, when the light green of the trees had already changed to the dark, healthy color that would remain through the summer. During the early part of the morning the sky was covered with haze, but that burned off quickly, and the sun beamed down unobstructed for many days in succession. Rain fell infrequently, and when it did, it was a welcome relief from the temperatures which were already climbing steadily toward the upper limits of tolerance.

  In this pleasant season, two men and a chimpanzee were hurrying along the dry bed of a stream, between steeply eroded banks. The bottom on which they walked was embedded with many large stones, which made their progress difficult and painful; still, they continued in the path of the now-dead rivulet, out of sight of anyone who might be watching from a distance.

  The men were tall and strong, darldy tanned by the sun and their constant exposure to it. It was evident from their appearance that they had traveled long. They wore roughly made clothing, completely utilitarian, without a thought for style or decoration. Their companion, the chimpanzee, was shorter than they, but heavier and stockier. His movements and his great arms and shoulders indicated strength superior to the humans, yet he followed them, well behind the pace set by the men.

  The two humans were distinguished between themselves: one was tall, with dark hair and brown eyes; the other was broader with blond hair and blue eyes. At this moment, the blond man was leading the way. He looked up at the banks of the stream, which rose above his head on both sides. Beyond the lip was a dense forest. Everything seemed peaceful, calm and harmless; the blond man shook his head. He had had that same feeling before . . .

  Ahead of the trio, perhaps a quarter of a mile along their route, two uniformed gorillas sat waiting on horseback. They were back a short distance from the gully, near the trees; they could easily watch the progress of the men and the ape without being seen. They waited in silence as their quarry hurried nearer and nearer.

  The sun rose above the tops of the trees and began to beat down on the backs of the three fugitives. The blond man stopped and wiped the back of his hand across his brow. The dark-haired man caught up to him and stood, panting. Neither spoke for a moment. The only sound was the raucous cry of a jay. The chimpanzee, his face drenched with sweat, joined them. “You know something, Alan?” said the angular, dark man. “We’ve been following this stream long enough to win a merit badge. Where are we supposed to be going?”

  The blond man chewed his lip for a few seconds. He sighed. “Galen says there’s a secret hiding place somewhere along one of these gullies.” The human nodded toward Galen, the chimpanzee. “He used to hide there when he was playing hooky from school.”

  “That’s great,” said the dark-haired man sarcastically. “It’s terrific, except that the truant officers weren’t coming after him armed with rifles.” He dug his heel in the dry, hard-packed dirt of the stream bed. “At least, there could be a taco stand along the way here.”

  The chimpanzee stared at the human, perplexed. At last he shook his head. “Burke,” he said, “you know, I have difficulty sometimes understanding these cultural references. ‘Taco stand.’ Is that some sort of emergency aid station?” He looked at the dark man, Burke, who just stared, repressing a smile. Galen turned to the blond man, who also refused to answer. At last, Galen gave up in frustration. Sometimes, these humans acted just like the inferior animals the apes believed them to be. There was nothing more to be said. The three moved on, the two men laughing quietly over their private joke, Galen following slowly and clumsily.

  A few minutes passed silently as the trio picked its way along the dry watercourse. About a hundred yards ahead of them, still undiscovered and invisible to the fugitives, the two gorillas waited, their rifles at the ready, as their unknowing quarry approached. As the mounted apes waited for their targets to come into closer range, one of the horses, groping for a surer foothold near the edge of the cliff, danced around and unloosed some gravel, which slid down the embankment with a rattle that seemed desperately loud to the gorillas. They urged their horses to the very edge, in case the two humans and the chimpanzee tried to run away; then the gorillas would at least have a better shot at them. The horses moved nervously near the edge.

  The rattle of the stones went unnoticed by the trio. It was a sound completely in harmony with the surroundings; they moved on along the stream bed, still unaware of their ambushers.

  One of the gorillas began to prepare for the coming conflict. It would be short, he knew, particularly if he and his partner shot quickly and accurately. He raised his rifle with one hand, steadying his horse with the other. The horse settled down a little, and the gorilla dropped the reins. Now, if the stupid animal would just remain still . . . The gorilla aimed the rifle at the blond human’s chest and began to tighten his finger in the final, fatal squeeze.

  While the uniformed gorilla prepared to fire, his horse shied away from the precipice. One hoof slipped as the gravel gave way beneath it. The gorilla lurched to one side, suddenly fearful of being thrown and falling down the steep cliff. His rifle fired accidentally; the bullet went wild, tearing through the dense foliage
across the gully with a thunderous crash.

  The humans and the chimpanzee looked fearfully around, trying to find their attackers. Galen, the chimpanzee, reacted first. “This way!” he cried. The two humans saw the gorillas at the same moment and ran after the scurrying chimpanzee.

  They turned and raced for a narrow, brush-covered gully that opened into the stream bed. The gorillas tried to follow on horseback, but their horses shied away from the steep drop. The animals had become almost completely uncontrollable, and the apes jerked the reins roughly, muttering curses. Burke and Galen reached the small tributary gully first, and the blond man brought up the rear. The gorillas, seeing their quarry escaping, fired from the edge of the bank. The blond man cried out, stumbled and fell. Burke turned at his friend’s cry; he saw what had happened, and rushed to help his fellow human. Arduously, Burke dragged the blond man into the narrow, concealed gully, out of line of the gorillas’ fire. Once safely there, Burke helped his friend to his feet, but the blond man’s legs buckled beneath him.

  “It’s my back,” said the man hoarsely. “I can’t move.”

  “Come on, Virdon,” said Burke, “you can do it.” He spoke without conviction, as he watched Virdon writhe in pain on the ground. Galen pointed back the way they had come; Burke could see the gorillas dismounting and following on foot. He bent down and picked up Virdon, slinging the blond man over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Galen, who had been frantically searching the nearby terrain, pointed to a steep brush and rock-covered rise.

  “Up there,” said the chimpanzee.

  Panting from exertion and anxiety, Burke and Galen struggled to the top of the rise. Burke supported Virdon, and Galen looked around, trying to remember the details of the surrounding landscape.

  “All right, Galen,” said Burke worriedly, “what do we do now?”

  The chimpanzee did not answer immediately, but continued his scrutiny of the neighborhood. His apparent disregard of their danger infuriated the short-tempered human. “Come on, Galen,” said Burke, “this isn’t a post-prom picnic, you know.”

  “What do you want me to do?” asked the chimpanzee. “Shall I panic?” Burke did not answer; he knew the chimpanzee was right. “Keep going down the path as far as you can,” said Galen. “I’ll catch up.”

  The tall, slender human slung Virdon more comfortably across his shoulder. Burke said nothing to Galen; they had been together for a long while, and had gone through too many dangerous situations, too many times when each depended on the other, for an apology to be necessary. Galen understood Burke’s attitude and his real feelings. The human’s actions and words were one of the chief reasons that Galen remained a member of the party, instead of striking off on his own; Burke’s odd ways piqued Galen’s scientific curiosity.

  Burke carried Virdon, disappearing with him into the dense growth. Galen poked at some boulders, using a thick branch as a lever. Just then, the gorillas appeared in the gully below him. They spotted Galen, and began firing at him. The chimpanzee crouched behind one of the larger boulders until the shots stopped, and the gorillas had to reload. Then Galen replied by sending the boulder toppling down toward them, creating a miniature rockslide. Galen turned and ran away, not waiting to see the result of his strategy; but he was satisfied by the gorillas’ panicky cries that he had been successful.

  Later, when Galen had rejoined Burke and Virdon, and they had hurried on, away from the gorilla patrol to safety, they stopped and rested. They built a small cooking fire near a stream of fresh water. There was a rocky cliff above them, protecting one side, and the running water protected another. The only remaining approach was through a dense forest, and Galen and Burke agreed that it would be difficult for the mounted gorillas to sneak up on them from that direction.

  Galen crouched by the fire, lifting a small pot of water off the fire. He stirred some herbs into the water. Near him, in a sheltered spot outside a cave in the cliff wall, Virdon was being tended to by Burk. Virdon’s back was bandaged with cloth, but none of the three friends had much confidence in the efficacy of their treatment so far. Each had ideas about what to do next. Burke left Virdon and went to the fire. He squatted down and looked at the herbs Galen had used to make his tea.

  “This looks familiar,” he said. Burke crushed some of the dried flowers in his hand and smelled them. “This looks like chamomile,” he said.

  Galen looked up from the tea that he was brewing. He shrugged. “I don’t know what it is,” said the champanzee. “It grows wild all over the countryside. My mother used to give it to us when were were sick. It was very effective, as I recall.”

  Burke shook his head wonderingly. Sometimes he couldn’t understand how the world had lost so much knowledge since the days when humans had ruled it. Burke and Virdon had crashed back to Earth from their mission of space exploration, and found themselves two thousand years in the future; so much had changed that the world was completely unrecognizable. It wasn’t only that apes were now dominant. There were other differences, too, and almost invariably, they were for the worse.

  “Chamomile for a bullet wound!” said Burke dubiously. “That’s like prescribing chicken soup for a broken leg.”

  Galen paid no attention. The ape gave Virdon the drink; the blond man took a few sips. Burke stood and turned to watch his friend. “How’s the pain?” asked Burke.

  “Not too bad,” said Virdon. “Except when I try to stand up. The bullet must be pressing on a nerve.”

  “Well,” said Burke thoughtfully, “we both had pretty good training in emergency first aid during our astronaut indoctrination. Maybe I can dig the bullet out.”

  Galen looked up at Burke, a curious look on his face. He had seen both Burke and Virdon do many unexplainable and wonderful things, but he knew that there was a limit to their knowledge. “That sounds dangerous,” said the chimpanzee.

  Burke looked thoughtful. He realized the gravity of his previous suggestion, and he knew that there was indeed a very definite limit to his abilities. He suddenly didn’t like the idea of having to perform surgery on his best friend, especially when he had neither training nor aptitude for such an operation. “He’s right,” said Burke to Virdon. “We’re going to have to get you to a hospital.”

  Virdon moved slowly, trying to change position so that he’d rest more comfortably. The effort made him wince with the pain. “What hospital?” he asked. “Our Blue Cross expired twenty centuries ago.”

  Galen realized that Burke had come close to the true solution, although the human didn’t have any idea of how to proceed. “There is a medical center on the outskirts of Central City,” said the chimpanzee.

  Virdon looked up at Burke and shook his head. The idea was too fantastic. They had spent many months trying to evade the clutches of the apes. Now Galen was suggesting that they return the way they had come.

  “That chamomile must be going to your head,” said Burke. “If we walk into an ape hospital, we can forget about reading any more continued stories. The gorillas would be all over the place before we filled out the registration forms.”

  Galen listened to Burke’s words, and then raised one hand impatiently. “I don’t think that this is the time to indulge your humor,” he said. “Not with Virdon hurt. After all, he is not the only one in danger. We are all threatened by the possibility of recapture.”

  “I wasn’t being funny,” said Burke sourly. “How do you expect us to get into an ape hospital without the apes noticing?”

  Galen spoke softly. “I know the chief surgeon at the Center. She’ll help us.”

  “But Galen,” said Virdon, his voice filled with suppressed agony, “we’re well-known as dangerous enemies of the state.”

  Galen shook his head. How often had they made suggestions or planned a course of action, and he had bowed to their decisions? And now, when Galen knew the best thing, they joined together to deprecate his judgment. How like a human being that was! “Kira will not know,” he said. “She’s a physician, she doesn�
�t care about politics. Most of the people at the Center probably never heard of you. And even if Kira knew, she wouldn’t turn her back on someone in trouble.”

  Virdon tried to raise himself up, interested in the possibility. The effort was too much, and he fell back against the rock wall with a grunt. “What makes you so sure?” he asked.

  “We were very close once,” said Galen hesitantly. He did not like to disclose the details of his private past. “In fact, we were going to be married. Things didn’t work out. But we’re still the best of friends.”

  Neither Virdon nor Burke spoke for a long moment. The crackling of the fire and the evening noises of birds and insects filled the small camp area. There was a feeling of peace about the place, a feeling that each of the three companions knew was entirely false, one that could explode with lethal suddenness, with the bellowing, booming attack of a patrol of General Urko’s gorillas. Burke looked at Galen, who waited for the humans’ decision. At last the dark-haired astronaut spoke up. “It’s worth a chance, I guess,” he said.

  Galen smiled broadly and started speaking before Virdon had a chance to protest; after all, it was Virdon who would be helpless in the situation, and it should be he who made the final choice. Nevertheless, Galen took Burke’s words as the binding agreement in the matter. “I know a way back to the Center, along little-used roads,” said the chimpanzee. “I won’t have any trouble traveling alone. I will consult with Kira, and then we will plan for your arrival. Don’t worry. I happen to be an expert in female psychology. I know Kira won’t let me down.”

  “I know we’re in trouble, now,” said Burke. “Any time any male claims to be an expert with females, I know the situation’s hopeless.” But before either man could veto the plan, Galen had disappeared into the darkening shadows of the woods.

  The next day, Galen arrived at the medical center. It was a compound of buildings on the outskirts of the Central City of the apes. Over the entrance to the main gate, a red and white flag with an ape’s head and a row of three red circles fluttered in the warm breeze. The head and the circles symbolized a hospital; the circles represented the three varieties of apes that ruled the world, the orangutans of the governmental bodies, the chimpanzees of the more intellectual positions, and the brutish, warlike gorillas. The same symbol was everywhere about the hospital—on the uniforms of the staff, and on the ambulance carts.