Read Online Battle For The Planet Of The Apes by David Gerrold - Free Book Online Page A

the left, then turned the first corner to the right.
    Suddenly, they were running straight into a pack of mutants, who were charging down on them. Virgil started firing his tommy gun first, then Caesar. Even MacDonald managed to get off a few quick bursts, the pain in his side was excruciating.
    The mutants screamed and tried to retreat, but those in back kept coming. They bunched up in the corridor. And died as the bullets splattered into them.
    They screamed. They tried to run. They scrabbled at the walls. They fought to get away from the apes’ blasting weapons. They clambered over one another. And died.
    The survivors broke and ran.
    The two apes and the man came charging after them, still firing. The grotesque figures ducked into side corridors and disappeared, vanished down junctions or into holes in the walls—anything to escape the savagery following them, hacking at their backs.
    “There’s the exit!” gasped MacDonald. “Up ahead. Keep going.”
    The end of the tunnel was lit by a stronger and brighter light. It streamed down into the gloomy darkness like a yellow beacon. They headed eagerly for it. Faster and faster. There were mutants pounding at their backs.
    And then they were out. In the ruins. Running down a deserted city street. Disappearing into the melted buildings.
    Kolp was livid. His expression was twisted with anger and frustration. He confronted the captain of Security. He raged at him. He bellowed like a wounded bull. He strode and waddled around the man and berated him. He vented his fury on the poor hapless captain, as if he were one of the apes himself.
    “You had a hundred armed men!” cried Kolp. “You know these corridors down to the last nut and bolt. Yet they escaped! They escaped! You cretinous troglodyte! You filthy, slime-wallowing, trash-eating son of a worm! You let them escape! ”
    The captain of Security was as badly scarred as the rest of the men. He looked at Kolp and the rest of the council nervously. “They were fast, sir. And smart—the chimp surprised us, Governor. He found another exit.”
    “But he’s only an animal!” shouted Kolp. “Nothing but an animal!”
    “No, Governor,” said Méndez. “He’s more than an animal. He can speak. So can they all.”
    Kolp was scornful, “Hah! It takes more than the ability of speech to make a creature human!” He scowled, his scarred cheeks creased with pain.
    “Speech makes them intelligent,” insisted Méndez. “It gives them the power to manipulate ideas. Intelligence may not make them human, but it might make them humane. Perhaps they came in peace.”
    “They were armed!”
    “Maybe only for their self-protection.”
    “You were looking at the same monitors I was, Méndez,” snapped Kolp. “Did that look like self-protection to you?”
    “Yes, it did. They only fired back after they were fired on.”
    “You’re soft on apes, Méndez,” Kolp snarled. “And stupid! They shot out one of our cameras. That’s an act of war! And you saw how they hunted down our men and shot them in the back! Those apes are savages!”
    “I still say we ought to let them return in peace.”
    “So they can raid us again? And again?” And then Kolp stopped. “Return?” he asked. “To where?”
    “To wherever they came from. They must have a settlement somewhere.”
    “Yes,” agreed the governor, stroking his uneven beard. “Yes . . . They must have a place somewhere—but where? Where do they live? We ought to know,” he muttered to himself. “They might try to come back. Now that they know we’re still alive, they might try to exterminate the rest of us.”
    “They came with few provisions,” chimed Alma. “They can’t live too far away.”
    “Which way did they head?” Kolp asked.
    The captain of Security was relieved that Kolp was no longer raging at him. “They headed northwest, Governor,” he said quickly.
    “Ahh, yes. Good. Organize scout parties. Collect all the equipment that will still work.