Urko felt like his mind was racing
faster than his horse. Galloping at
full speed,
trees,
sky, the road all became a blur. The
horse knew the way to headquarters, Urko’s
mind
wasn’t focused on where he was going.
The events of the previous evening and
early
morning still lingered in his mind and he thought about them over and
over.
Meeting
Fidel, the smallest dog he ever saw, dinner with his niece and her crazy family.
He
thought about the young human female who drew a portrait of him as a great
general.
The
female orangutan who was determined to be a soldier. Then in the wee hours of the
morning
he follows Fidel into a spaceship and meets a projection of a gorilla female
who
is also a
general and is from the far distant future.
So bizarre and unnerving, he wished
for once
he could have a normal visit with his relatives like most apes. But it never was
for Urko,
his family was eccentric and he wished for them to be normal, whatever
normal
was. He liked order, they thrived on
chaos. He was disciplined, they
indulged
in their
wants.
He definitely was not going to work
today, ape headquarters would have to survive
one day
without him. The work would fall
behind, his subordinates were all idiots.
But
today he
couldn’t concentrate. Spending time
with Elta his wife of four years was what
he
needed. She is a librarian who worked
afternoons and into the early evening.
Urko
was very proud
of his wife. She had recently written a
textbook for students studying to
be
librarians. He tried reading it but was
fast asleep by the second page. Even
though
the book
sedated him, he repeatedly told Elta how proud he was of her accomplishment.
When he reached headquarters, he
didn’t tie his horse but leaped off and ran inside.
He
quickly mumbled to his lieutenant he was taking the day off. “I won’t be in today…..
family
problem. See you tomorrow!”
“Sir, is everything alright?”
“Nothing I can’t handle. I just need the day to ………straighten things
out.”
Urko
fumbled for words. He knew he was doing a bad job of lying.
“But, General, if there is anything I can do to help! Must be pretty bad. You
never
take any time off!”
At this point Urko just wanted to get out of there. “I can deal with
the situation
today! I’ll be in tomorrow!”
“Okay, General. If you need
me, you know where to find me.” Urko ran out of
headquarters
and up onto his horse. He knew the
rumors would be flying today about his
taking
time off. He was very nervous. Hopefully, no one saw him walk into the
space-
ship or
even worse, riding along the road with the little dog in a pouch, connected to
the
saddle. If Zaius even heard any rumors of this, he
didn’t know how he would explain it
or if he
should just flat out deny everything.
Ever since he met the tiny dog, his life was
full of
conflict and surprises. It was
unsettling to the strong general and overall he was
unnerved. He urged his horse to go faster, he wanted
to get home.
Urko arrived at his house just
before ten in the morning. Elta was in
the yard
bent over
her flower garden. She smiled at her
husband who leaped off his horse, ran
over to
her, hugged and kissed her. “What
brings you home so early?” Elta was
sur-
prised to
see him.
“I am very tired and need a day off.”
“Are you feeling alright? You must be exhausted not to go to
work.” They
walked
with their arms around each other towards the front door. Elta continued talking.
“We have
company today. You already know our
guests.” Urko opened his front door
and let
his wife walk in first. Coming in behind her, what he saw shocked and surprised
him. The weirdness of the day was continuing to
go on. Burke, Virdon and Galen were
sitting
in his living room.
His jaw dropped and he turned Elta around to make eye contact with
her. “I
warned
them dear! I told them I wouldn’t stand in your way if you shot them or
whatever
action
you decided to take.”
Urko was speechless but Virdon broke the silence. “General, we asked your
wife to
let us speak with you here, we felt your home would be a better place to talk.”
Galen
appeared to be petrified, Burke looked depressed and Virdon was relaxed and
ready for
a discussion about their fate.
Urko stomped his foot. “If I
didn’t find that dog, none of this would be
happening!”
Elta stepped back from him.
“What dog?”
Urko grunted. “I’ll explain
later.” He glared at the three
fugitives. “You have
quite a
nerve….he pointed his finger at them…..coming into my house like this!”
Burke stood up. “Urko, we
apologize for this intrusion but you know me by now.
You have
been stuck with me before. What do we
have to do to convince we mean no
harm! His voice cracked.
Galen watched in silence. Urko
glared over at him. “This was their idea.”
He
looked
downwards then back at Urko. “The three
of us are tired of running. We want to
talk, not
fight. And my human friends have prepared a meal for you and your wife.”
Urko rolled his eyes upwards. “How
did you know I would be home this early?”
Galen continued speaking. “We
didn’t. We planned on waiting until you arrived
later in
the day. These two humans are great
cooks, even if you continue to disagree with
us at
least you’ll get a good meal today.”
Urko felt uncomfortable in any social situation
and he
had no clue on how to deal with this. He was grateful his wife was there. And his
fatigue
was at such a high level he didn’t have the energy to fight the fugitives or
even
throw
them out of his house. What was even
weirder was the fact his wife let them in.
He could
tell something else occupied her mind.
She couldn’t have been thinking clearly.
But
compared to his recent encounter with a spaceship, dining with the fugitives he
had
been
chasing was not nearly as strange.
Galen motioned everyone to the
dining room. Urko kept a protective arm
around
his
wife. Virdon was at no lost for words
and was anxious to talk.
“Congratulations,
General. Your wife is quite a talented writer.”
Urko relaxed slightly. “I
agree with you there. She is a great
librarian, as you can
tell from
her university textbook….”
Elta cut him off. “He is
referring to my new book, dear.”
Surprises were
beginning
to really aggravate Urko.
His tone was sharp. “New
book?! You wrote another library book?
“No, this time my novel was finally published.” Elta beamed. “The publishing
company
is anticipating big sales.” She handed
Urko a large, hardcover book. A female
gorilla’s
face was on the cover. The title was
“Reading in the Dark”. Urko examined
the
book. He turned it over to read the reviews on the
back. He then dropped the book and
picked it
up from the floor. The force shook the
whole house and all three fugitives
jumped. Urko couldn’t believe what he was
reading. Librarian by day, expensive
prostitute
at night. Valcry loved her job in the
local library but when the sun set, a
double
life called her. Urko had to actually sit down, he felt weak. Dining with the
fugitives
was pale compared to this. His career was over. Once his colleagues and
subordinates
found out about this book, it would be over.
Elta’s library book put
him to
sleep but he knew this one would keep anyone awake until the end.
“Are you alright, Urko?” Burke
seemed genuinely concerned.
“I’m fine!” Some relief came
over him when he saw that Eltta used the pen name
of
Serena. But he knew that in time, apes
would discover who wrote the book.
Again thoughts raced in Urko’s
head. He had no clue as to how to
handle this.
Momentarily
he forgot about the fugitives. Virdon
and Galen brought food to the table.
Some sort
of pie was placed in the center, followed by vegetables, bread and fruit. The
aroma was
enticing. Urko felt his stomach growl and his hunger increased with the smell
of fresh
coffee in the air.
Burke was anxious to chat. “So
what happened to the Chihuahua?” Urko’s
eyes
grew
wide. “Excuse me?” Burke asked the question again. “You were riding along the
road,
with a Chihuahua. You know, that very
small dog you had.”
Urko became fascinated. “A what?
A Chi….chihua ….hua?”
“Yes, that is the breed of dog you had. I had one before I landed
here.”
Urko listened intently. “You
owned a dog like that?”
Burke sipped some water. “We
always had dogs when I was growing up.
Usually
large dogs like German Shepherds. After
college when I got my first apart-
ment, the
landlord didn’t allow dogs. But Hercules was okay because he was so small.
He could
be a feisty little devil, chasing my cats around.” All Urko could think of was
pets
having pets. Many apes had humans as pets. “I have never seen a dog so small.”
Burke
enjoyed talking about the dog. “Chihuahuas originally came from a country called
Mexico. They are good apartment dogs because they
are so small.” Urko had a hard
time
visualizing a dangerous fugitive owning a Chihuahua. His sternness with Burke
faded to
one of interest. The aroma of food
filled his nostrils. He felt hunger
taking over.
Urko sighed. He felt like everything in his world was
crumbling. “What else
have you
seen besides me riding with Fidel?” All
three fugitives stared at Urko.
Virdon set a pitcher of water on the table. “The dog’s name is Fidel?”
Urko poured himself a glass of water.
“It says so on his collar.” The
fugitives
glanced
at each other.
Galen who sat next to Urko, turned and faced him. “My human
friends and I
decided
to change our strategy…. And follow you for a change.”
Urko sipped more water and wished it was later in the day. He rarely drank
alcohol
but a shot of whiskey right now was very inviting. Urko knew if they had been
following
him, they saw the spaceship. He didn’t
want to discuss it in front of Elta yet
but by
the look in Virdon’s eyes, he knew that was probably the next topic of
conversation. Virdon moved his chair closer to the gorilla
general, their faces were about
a foot
apart. “You went into a spaceship. It was unlike any spacecraft Pete and I are
familiar
with.”
Urko actually grinned at the blonde haired man. “You wouldn’t be familiar with
it. The ship is from the future and the dog
belongs to the captain.” All eyes were
on
Urko. His wife made mental notes.
Silence hung in the air except for birds chirping outside. Urko reached for a
banana
and a slice of bread. At this point he
was so overwhelmed he didn’t care
anymore.
Galen focused intently on Urko. “You
said the dog belonged to the captain?”
Urko ate the banana. “She told
me that she sends the dog to various places.
He
Wears
some metal thing on his collar that records information.” It just dawned on him
that his evening with Ariana and the family
was on the disk. The apes in the future
would
have lots to laugh about at his expense.
Galen was surprised.
“She? The captain is female?”
“A female gorilla.” Urko made
the statement very matter of factly.
Burke was fascinated. “You don’t sound overly thrilled that a
spaceship from the
future
has a gorilla captain.” Urko chewed the
bread and grunted. He didn’t want to
respond
to the statement. “Sounds like apes are going to continue to rule.” Burke waited
for Urko
to talk.
“When I went into the ship, the captain was not really there. Her image was
projected
from a machine. She must live on an
island, the image also showed the ocean
behind
her and some giant fish leaping out of the water.”
“A whale dear?”
“No, it wasn’t a whale, I’ve
seen whales. This creature was much
smaller.”
“Probably was a dolphin.” Virdon was still facing Urko who alternated
between
unting
and eating. Burke grinned to
himself. When Urko wanted anyone else
to talk, he
forced
information out of them. But getting
information out of him was a major
challenge.
After another long silence, Galen
finally spoke up. “So, General, we have
a fe-
male
gorilla who lives near water. Anything
else?” Urko sipped some coffee and
Burke
handed
him a piece of pie.
“Not much else to tell you.”
Virdon helped himself to a piece of the pie. “You don’t seem happy, Urko.
Obviously
in the future apes still rule Earth.
What bothers you more, a female captain or
the
amount of water you saw? I’m
confused.”
Urko stopped eating a slice of bread and glared at the blonde
astronaut. “Apes
are in
power, that is good. I’ve never really
thought about the far distant future.”
Burke’s face reflected sadness. “So I guess it’s really over for the human race.”
Urko laughed. “Apparently,
it’s not. My female friend warned me
not to harm
any
humans. Sounds like you are going to be
well protected in the future.” All eyes
were
on the
general. His wife surveyed the room, observing everyone’s expression.
Burke stared at Urko. “What do
you mean humans are protected?” Urko
devoured
the slice of pie, reaching for more.
“This is good! Full of
cheese. Who made it?!” Burke’s eyebrows raised
upwards. “I did.
It’s called quiche.”
Urko put another bite in his mouth.
“It’s called what?”
“Quiche, made with cheese and
vegetables or whatever you want to put in it.”
“Elta, you should write down
the recipe.”
“Why, dear? I don’t cook.”
Burke returned to the subject at hand. “What about the future of humans?”
Urko poured himself more coffee.
“According to this female, it sounds like your
species
will be closely protected. My
conversation with her was brief but I got the
distinct
impression that if she knew what I have done to humans, I would not be around
for very
long.”
Virdon gave a glance towards Galen, then spoke to Urko again. “Sounds like we
are going
to be an endangered species and apes will try to protect us.” Urko made eye
contact with Virdon but said nothing. The thoughts in his head bounced
around. His
wife was
writing pornography, he was dining with the fugitives he had been chasing for
quite
some time now and he recently entered a spaceship. He still missed Fidel and
wished
the dog were here now, at least the conversation would be focused on something
pleasant. If Zaius found out about any of this, Urko
knew he would become a fugitive.
The two astronauts and their chimp
companion were looking at Urko, sad and
tired. He could see the weariness in their
faces. The meal was fabulous, he was
enjoying
it tremendously. The gorilla general
was amazed at how well they could
cook. Especially Burke and this cheese pie
thing. Maybe Burke should stay and be
his
cook. The thought bothered him a
little. There were never humans in his
house
until
now. And Elta had let them in. He thought he married a quiet librarian but
he
realized
he didn’t know who she was. It was
about time he got to know his wife.
Retirement
sounded like a great idea. Good food,
raising horses and dogs and
discovering
the female who married him.
Urko broke the silence this
time. “If I am not chasing you, my
lieutenant, who’ll
replace
me will. He’ll have to, to prove
himself.”
Elta dropped her jaw. “Replace you? You’re leaving the army?
Nice of you to
discuss
it with me!” Urko didn’t raise his voice.
“We’ll discuss it, after we talk about
your new
book.” Elta grunted and picked up her
fork.
Virdon became slightly excited.
“You are going to stop chasing us?”
“Maybe…..probably…yes. I see
no point in pursuing you now. You are
no threat
to ape
civilization. But others will not feel
the same way I do. And the spaceship I
entered
and you witnessed will remain a secret.
No one else is to know about this,
especially
Zaius. He will react with fear and
order all of us executed. Take my
advice
and keep
quiet.” Urko’s eyes kept going back to
Burke which made the dark haired
astronaut
nervous. Elta didn’t cook and Urko
rarely had time to prepare a meal, Burke’s
culinary
skills would be needed. This could also explain his presence in the house.
Virdon
could tend to the horses and maybe Galen could be his wife’s editor. She
probably
would be writing more books, she had already written two in less than a
year. Urko’s inner turmoil was beginning to
subside. He started eating a bowl of
fruit
still glancing occasionally at Burke.
A knock was heard at the front
door. Eltta opened it and a familiar
voice was
heard. Urko’s eyes grew wide as Eltta escorted
Urko’s niece Ariana and her human
companion
Sonia into the dining area. Urko leaped
up from the table to hug Ariana and
then
actually put his arm around Sonia. The
shy human kept her eyes cast downward
and
handed Urko several drawings. Some were
of Fidel, some were of Urko, two of
them were
of Urko and Fidel. The artistic
abilities of the young human female con-
tinued to
amaze Urko. “Uncle, I have a
problem. Sonia here wants to live with
you.
We
finally figured out why she keeps giving you her drawings.”
Urko raised his eyes. “What’s one more.”
Ariana was confused. “One more? I don’t understand? Don’t tell me YOU have
humans
living with you!?”
Urko grumbled under his
breath. “Not yet, I’ll explain later.
Ariana shook her head in disbelief.
“Well, Sonia was raised by gorillas, an older
couple
who have passed on. You remind her of
the husband. Sometimes I think Sonia
thinks
she is a gorilla.”
Elta piped in. “Her drawings
are marvelous and we have plenty of room in this
big
house.
Again silence hung in the air until Urko thought outloud and repeated
his earlier
statement. “I suppose one more won’t matter!”
Burke was quick to respond.
“One more…..one more human?”
Urko turned to face Burke. He spoke sharply. “Yes, one more human. You
said
you were
tired of running. Here’s your
chance. Stay here and be my cook!
Burke’s eyes grew wide. “What about Zaius and Galen and Alan?!” Burke found
himself babbling and not making any sense.
“I’ll figure something out, but for now the three of you can stay
here. I need a
cook and someone to take care of my horses
and the dogs I’ll be purchasing soon.”
Elta felt excited about this
new change in her husband. “Sonia can help me
redecorate out place. Ariana nodded in
agreement.
Elta briefly excused her manners and
introduced Ariana and Sonia to the three
fugitives. Urko observed everyone closely and was
surprised to see that Ariana didn’t
know the
fugitives. He always thought she might
be hiding them somewhere but he
could
tell by her facial expression she had never met them.
Virdon stepped closer to Urko. “Alright, General. No argument from me.
We’ll
stay and
help you. But do you think we can hide
here?”
Urko responded quickly. “I am
not going to retire immediately, it would be too
suspicious. We’ll come up with a plan and for now, no one will suspect you are
here. It
is in
your best interests to stay out of sight, we don’t get many visitors, only
occasionally.
My niece
Ariana is quite skilled at hiding fugitives, she has been doing it for years.” He
put his
arm around Ariana. The two men and the
chimp stared in disbelief. It seemed so
inconceivable
that Urko would have a relative who hid humans and protected them.
Elta enjoyed the whole
scenario. It was much better than any fiction
she could
come up
with. Another knock was heard at the
door. Urko growled this time. “We are
having
too much company today, I am exhausted!”
Elta answered the door. “Dr
Zaius! What brings you here!” Urko
quickly
escorted
everyone into a back room and then returned to the front room. He could feel
anger
welling up inside him.
Zaius acted nervous and lost.
“General…..when you didn’t show up for work…I
was
concerned. You never miss work….is
there anything I can do?” Urko wasn’t
buying
the act. He knew Zaius was here out of
curiosity because he never took time off
and he
didn’t like him in his house either!
“We are resolving a
…….situation, there was no need for you to come here!”
“I know, General. But I
figured you must have had a major
emergency. It’s been
years
since you have taken time off.”
Urko was furious. He was
entitled to a day off without having to explain himself.
Then Zaius changed the subject when he caught Sonia’s drawings lying
on the
coffee table. “Oh look, it’s a picture of those weird
little dogs. My granddaughter raises
them and
sells them.
Urko spoke before he could stop himself. “We’ll take six!”
Elta intervened. “Now dear, we
talked about one or maybe two.”
Zaius was taken aback. “You’re kidding aren’t
you?
Again, Urko’s mouth shot off before he could stop himself. “They are
great
watchdogs and they require little food!”
Elta grabbed Urko’s arm in hopes of
preventing
him from possibly injuring Zaius.
“I know they are great watchdogs, it’s amazing I have any feet
left. Every time I
visit my
granddaughter’s kennel, I get bitten!”
A voice came from the back room.
“At least they have good taste!”
“Who’s that?!”
Elta nervously covered up. “It was me, I meant only apes with
exquisite taste
would
have such a noble breed of canine.”
Urko was ready to punch Zaius or a wall
out.
Zaius finally got the hint and
headed for the door. “I’ll tell my
granddaughter to
expect
you, bring a fat wallet. Those
creatures are not cheap and I don’t think they
ever stop
barking.”
Urko followed the orangutan to the door, I’ll see you tomorrow early
in the
morning.
Thank you for your concern” he stated through gritted teeth.
Urko and Eltta waited until Zaius
rode off and was out of site. They
motioned
for their
new household to come out. Ariana said
good-bye to Sonia and she would see
her
soon. The fugitives cleaned up the
kitchen and put away the dishes. Eltta
showed
them the
rooms they would be sleeping in. Sonia
and Urko sat in the living room and
again
Urko admired her artwork.
Two female gorillas and two female
humans sat in lounge chairs on the deck of
a yacht
drinking wine and eating cheese. Fidel
sat in the middle of the four females,
anxiously
waiting for a treat. His tail rarely
stopped wagging. One of the gorillas
threw
him a
piece of cheese and sipped her wine.
“So my great grandmother ten times over or
my
ancestor from several centuries ago was quite a lively character. I always wondered
about her
since her picture still hangs in my father’s house.” One of the female humans
spoke to
her in sign language that studying geneology is fascinating and she should con-
tinue to
explore her family history. The gorilla
took another sip of wine. “I don’t
know,
I don’t
know if I even want to know more. That
character she invited for dinner………
What’s
his name? Urk… Urko? No personality and such an old fart.” She shook her
head.
The other gorilla spoke up.
“All the more reason to further study your family
history. You thought you came from a long line of
artists but this general is in the
picture
and I am willing to bet he is quite a warrior.”
The other gorilla frowned.
“The time travel device is for scientific study not
personal
use.
A smile came across the second
human female’s face. “It’s my device
and I’ll
use it
however I want.” Fidel gave out a bark
which produced another piece of cheese
given to
him. The four females laughed and
continued drinking their wine.
END