“At three months of age!”
“Baby words, but there’s everything to indicate that he will talk properly later. In fact, he is miraculously precocious.”
I am delighted. Zira is annoyed by my doting-father manner.
“But don’t you realize this is a disaster? The others will never leave him in liberty.”
“I know from a reliable source that some extremely important decisions are going to be taken about him by the Grand Council, which is to meet in two weeks’ time,” Cornelius remarks quietly.
“Important decisions?”
“Very important. There’s no question of doing away with him . . . not for the moment, at least; but he’ll be taken away from his mother.”
“And I, wouldn’t I be allowed to see him?”
“You least of all ... no, don’t interrupt me,” the chimpanzee continues emphatically. “We didn’t come here to feel sorry for ourselves but to work out a plan of action. Well, now I have some definite information. Your son is going to be placed in a sort of fortress under the surveillance of the orangutans. Yes, Zaius has been plotting for some time and he is going to get the better of us.”
At this point Cornelius clenches his fists in rage and mutters some ugly oaths. Then he continues:
“Needless to say, the Council knows perfectly well how little that old fool’s scientific views can be trusted, but they are pretending to believe he is more qualified than I am to study this exceptional subject, because the latter is regarded as a danger to our race. They are counting on Zaius to make it impossible for him to do any harm.”
I am dumbfounded. It is not possible to leave my son in the hands of that dangerous imbecile. But Cornelius has not yet finished.
“It’s not only the child that is menaced.”
I remain speechless and look at Zira, who hangs her head.
“The orangutans hate you because you are the living proof of their scientific aberrations, and the gorillas consider you too dangerous to be allowed at liberty much longer. They are frightened you might found a new race on this planet. But apart from this eventuality, they are frightened that your mere example might sow unrest among the men. Unusual nervousness has been reported among the ones with whom you are dealing.”
This is true. In the course of my last visit to the room with the cages, I noticed a marked change among the men. It was as though some mysterious instinct had notified them of the miraculous birth. They had greeted my appearance with a concert of howls.
“To tell the truth,” Cornelius abruptly concludes, “I’m very much afraid that within the next two weeks the Council might decide to eliminate you ... or at least remove part of your brain on the pretext of some experiment. As for Nova, I believe it will be decided to put her out of the way as well, because she has been in such close contact with you.”
It’s not possible! I who believed myself entrusted with a semi-divine mission! I feel I am once again the most wretched creature living and give way to the most dreadful despair. Zira puts her hand on my shoulder.
“Cornelius is quite right not to have conce
aled anything from you. But what he has not told you is that we will not abandon you. We have decided to save all three of you, and we’ll be helped by a small group of brave chimpanzees.”
“What can I do, the only member of my species?”
“You must get away. You must leave this planet, to which you should never have come. You must go back where you belong, to Earth. Your son’s safety and your own demand it.”
Her voice breaks as though she is on the verge of tears. She is even more attached to me than I thought. I am also deeply upset, no less at her sorrow than at the prospect of leaving her forever. But how to escape from this planet? Cornelius has a plan.
“It’s true,” he says. “I’ve promised Zira to help you escape, and so I shall, even if it means losing my job. I shall thus feel I have not evaded my duty as an ape. For if a danger threatens us, it will be averted by your return to Earth. . . . You once said, I believe, that your spacecraft was still intact and could take you home?”
“Without the slightest doubt. It contains enough fuel, oxygen, and supplies to take us to the edge of the universe. But how am I to reach it?”
“It’s still orbiting around our planet. An astronomer friend of mine has tracked it down and knows every detail of its trajectory. As to the means of reaching it? Now listen. In exactly ten days’ time we are going to launch an artificial satellite, manned by humans, of course, on whom we want to test the effect of certain rays. . . . No, don’t interrupt! The number of passengers will be limited to three: one man, one woman, and one child.”
I grasp his scheme in a flash and appreciate his ingenuity —but what obstacles!
“Some of the scientists responsible for this launching are friends of mine, and I have won them over to your cause. The satellite will be placed on the trajectory of your craft and will be navigable within certain limits. The human couple have been trained to carry out certain motions through conditioned reflexes. I think you’ll be even more skillful than they are. . . . For this is our plan: you three will take the place of the passengers. That shouldn’t be too difficult. As I said, I’ve already got the necessary accomplices: chimpanzees regard assassination with repugnance. The others won’t even notice the trick that’s played on them.”
This indeed is more than likely. To most of the apes, a man is a man and nothing more. The differences between one individual and another do not strike them.
“I’ll put you through an intensive course of training during these ten days. Do you think you’ll be able to board your craft?”