Lewis parked in the driveway outside Stephanie’s Glendale home. She came outside to meet him, and he pulled her to him, kissed her desperately.

“Hey,” she said finally. “What’s wrong?”

“Does it show?”

“Yes. That wasn’t just for me, Lew—what is it?”

He told her. All of it. “At least they’ll be allowed to live, but—it’s horrible, Stevie.”

“Do they know yet?”

“No,” Lewis said. “But Hasslein will tell them tomorrow. He’ll have the operation done tomorrow, too. Stevie, he’s terrified of those chimpanzees. He really sees them as the end of the human race.”

She shuddered in his arms. “Lew—shouldn’t we tell them? Shouldn’t someone, a friend, be with them when they find out? We can’t just wait until Hasslein comes in and—does it.”

“Yeah. I’d thought the same thing. That’s why I came here, Stevie. I can’t face them alone. Will you come with me?”

“Of course.”

“Let’s go.”

“But, Lewis, I can’t now. Not for an hour. I’ve got my sister’s children here! I can’t leave them alone . . .”

“Get a sitter,” Lewis growled. “You know Hasslein. He’s likely to go down there tonight.”

“It will take a few minutes to get a sitter,” Stevie said. “Lewis, if it’s that urgent, you better drive down right now. I’ll join you as soon as I can. I won’t be long, not more than half an hour behind you.”

“But that half hour could be crucial. All right darling. Hurry. And—I love you.”

“I’m glad.” She smiled, but there was pain in her eyes as well, and she stood watching him drive away for nearly half a minute before running inside to the telephone. Her nieces couldn’t understand why she was crying.

EIGHTEEN

“Here’s your wife back, sir,” Tommy Billings said. He wheeled Zira into the suite she had shared with Cornelius. “I know you’ve been worried about her, sir. Here she is, safe and sound.” The orderly helped Zira to her feet, then left them alone.

“Three days,” Cornelius said. “I’ve been nearly out of my mind!”

“Didn’t they tell you I was all right?” Zira asked.

“Of course they said so,” he answered. “But after what they did I wouldn’t believe anything they said. Savages! Barbarians! Jabbing needles into a pregnant woman! Even gorillas wouldn’t think of that.”

“Yes, dear.” She moved closer to him. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

“O Lord, yes.” He took her in his arms, then led her to a chair. “You shouldn’t be standing. Sorry the furniture’s so—” he shrugged, “functional.” He gestured at the plain room with its government-issued equipment.

“It’s all right,” Zira said. She took a seat and watched as Cornelius paced around the room.

“Savages,” Cornelius repeated.

“I’ve done as much to humans as they did to me,” Zira said. “And more. Much worse things.” She shuddered. “If we’d only known—you must remember, Colonel Taylor thought we were savages. At first.”

Cornelius looked frantically around the room. “They’re probably listening to us,” he said.

“So what? They know about Taylor.”

“They made you tell about him, too?”

“They made me tell about everything, Cornelius. We no longer have anything to hide.”

“Brutes!”

“And may I tell you something? I’m glad, Cornelius. I’m glad because now there’s nothing to lie about. I hated that. We can’t live with lies.”

“If we live at all,” Cornelius muttered. “They may not let us live, you know.”

“That’s nonsense.” She rubbed her swollen belly. “It is nonsense, isn’t it? They aren’t really savages . . .”

“I don’t know.” He took her hand and held it to his cheek. “How long, now?”

“A week. Not more. Perhaps less.”

“So close. And they treated you that way. Savages. How could they do that?”

“Cornelius . . . you didn’t really mean it, did you? They won’t—they wouldn’t hurt us? Not now?” She touched her swollen abdomen again. “They wouldn’t—oh!” A key rattled in the lock. Zira looked fearfully at the door.

It opened, slowly, to admit Tommy Billings. “Chow time,” he said. He carried a tray with soup, juice, and sliced fruit. “Time to eat up.”

“Bah,” Cornelius said. “Get out.”

“Aw, that’s no way to talk.”

“I’m not hungry, either,” Zira said.

“Well, maybe you aren’t, Ma’am, but maybe someone else who can’t talk yet is. Come on, at least drink your juice. You need the vitamins. And the soup. You ought to eat, if only for the sake of the little monkey inside you.”

“Damn you!” Cornelius shouted. He seized the tray and shoved it in Tommy’s face.

“Here, now!” Tommy shouted. His arms flailed wildly, as the hot soup blinded him and he struggled to get his balance. “Here, what are you doing?”

“Damn you, damn you, DAMN YOU!” Cornelius shouted again. He took the tray and struck at Tommy’s head.

“But what did I do?” Tommy wailed. He staggered forward, and his foot slipped in the spilled soup and juice on the floor. He toppled forward and struck his head against the table; then he was very still.

“Is—is he all right?” Zira asked.

“Of course he’s all right,” Cornelius snapped. “You know how thick human skulls are. Serves him right. Nobody makes a fool of my wife.”

“He’s not moving.”

“He’s unconscious. Let’s get out of here.”

“But—Cornelius! Shouldn’t we call for a—”

“We call for nobody and nothing. We leave. We’re intelligent beings; it’s about time we showed some intelligence instead of waiting around to see what these savages will do with us. Let’s go.”

The hall was empty. Cornelius led Zira to its end, and peered out the glass in the door. There were Marines outside.

“Guards out there,” he whispered. “Probably all around the place.”

“Then how do we get out?” Zira demanded. “Cornelius, I think we ought to go back and—”

“No.” He looked around the low building, then went into one of the empty offices, where he examined the ceiling. He looked especially at the ceiling of the closet in the office, then led Zira into another office, where he did the same thing. “Aha,” he said. He pointed to the closet ceiling. “I knew there had to be a way up in this building. There’s an attic up there, and I’ll bet we can find a way onto the roof.”

“And what does that do for us?” Zira asked coldly.

“Humans can’t climb,” Cornelius said. “They don’t think of looking up when they guard a place. I know—I’ve been watching them while I nearly went out of my mind worrying about you. And you can climb better in your present condition than humans can in the peak of health.”

“All right.”

He swarmed up the closet shelves and opened the trap door, then, once up, reached down to help Zira. They were in a dusty attic, and at its end they found a ventilator. Cornelius cautiously removed it, and looked out onto the roof. “Now be very quiet,” he whispered. “There are guards below. But notice, they never look at that tree over there—and we can just reach it from up here. Once we’re out on the roof, don’t talk and don’t stop. Just make for the tree and get down on the far side of it. I’ll be right behind you.”

“All right. I—hope everything will be all right.”

“So do I,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” She climbed out onto the roof.

Lewis glared angrily at Victor Hasslein. The scientist’s pale eyes glared back, and Lewis found it difficult to keep from reaching across the desk and smashing Hasslein in the face. “You could give them a few days,” Lewis said.

“The instructions said immediately,” Hasslein told him. “Immediately does not mean in a few days. Damn it, Dr. Dixon, if something unpleasant must be done, putting it off makes it neither easier nor less unpleasant.”

“So you admit this is unpleasant.”