Battle For The Planet Of The Apes by David Gerrold

Author:David Gerrold [Gerrold, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Award Books
Published: 1973-06-28T17:23:00+00:00

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, half-waddled, Alma beside him, through huge piles of supplies and scavenged materials from the ruined city. There were piles of rusty tin cans, pieces of ancient automobiles, old tires, bottles, stone columns, street and highway signs, street lights, and other useful and useless debris. The area was some kind of blasted tunnel, perhaps an old subway station. Now it was a warehouse, with mutants moving in frenzied preparation for the attack. They were pulling supplies from piles and loading dilapidated old trucks. There was a dusty school bus and a rickety-looking Cadillac. There were motorcycles and jeeps and even an armored troop carrier.

“We must destroy the whole zoo, Alma,” Kolp was muttering. “Once and for all, we must destroy them. It is not enough to merely cage a dangerous animal.”

“I don’t quite . . . I don’t quite understand.” She frowned.

He stopped and took her by the shoulders. She thrilled to his touch. “You will, you will.” He pulled her through a side passage into a makeshift missile silo. The chamber was gray and featureless, strewn with rubble. And it was dominated by a huge cylindrical object.

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