Planet of the Apes (20 page)

He will be a man, a proper man, I’m sure. Intelligence sparkles in his features and in his eyes. I have revived the sacred flame. Thanks to me, a new human race is rising and will bloom on this planet. When he grows up he will be the first of the branch and then—

When he grows up! I shudder at the thought of the conditions of his childhood and of all the obstacles that will stand in his path. No matter! Between the three of us, we shall triumph, of that I am sure. I say the three of us, for Nova is now one of us. One need only see the way in which she looks at her child. Though she still licks him, in the manner of the mothers of this strange planet, her eyes radiate love.

I put him down again on the straw. I am reassured as to his nature. He does not talk yet, but—I am out of my mind, he is only three days old!—he will one day. Now he has started crying, crying like a human child and not whining. Nova hears the difference and observes him with awe and ecstasy.

It does not escape Zira’s attention, either. She draws closer, her furry ears prick up, and she watches the baby for a long time, in silence, with a solemn expression. Then she signals me that it is time to go. It
would be dangerous for all of us if I were to be found here. She promises to look after my son and I know she will keep her word. But I am also aware that she is suspected of being attached to me, and the possibility of her dismissal makes me tremble. I must not allow her to run this risk.

I embrace my family warmly and leave. Looking around, I see the she-ape likewise bend over this human body and gently put her muzzle to his brow before closing the cage. And Nova does not protest! She permits this caress, which must have become a daily occurrence. Remembering the antipathy she used to show toward Zira, I cannot help regarding this as a miracle.

We go out. I am trembling from head to foot and I see that Zira is as deeply moved as I am.

“Ulysse,” she exclaims, wiping away a tear, “I sometimes feel this child is also mine!”

The periodic visits that I force myself to pay Professor Antelle are a more and more painful duty. He is still in the institute, but he has had to be moved from the fairly comfortable cell where I had arranged for him to be kept. He was pining away there and from time to time gave vent to outbursts of temper that made him dangerous. He attempted to bite his warders. So Cornelius then tried out another system. He had him put in an ordinary straw-lined cage and gave him a mate: the girl with whom he used to sleep in the zoo. The professor welcomed her noisily with an animal demonstration of joy, and immediately his manner changed. He has now taken a new lease on life.

It is in her company that I now find him. He
appears to be quite happy. He has put on weight and looks younger. I have done all I can to enter into communication with him. I try again today, but without success. He is interested only in the cakes I offer him. When the bag is empty he goes back and lies down beside his mate, who starts licking his face.

“Now you can see how intelligence can melt away just as it can be acquired,” someone behind me mutters.

It is Cornelius. He is looking for me, but not to talk about the professor. There is something serious he wants to discuss. I follow him into his office, where Zira is waiting. Her eyes are red, as though she has been weeping. They seem to have bad news for me, but neither of them dares to speak.

“My son?”

“He’s very well,” Zira says abruptly.

“
Too
well,” Cornelius mutters with a frown.

I know he is a splendid baby, but it is a month since I have seen him. The security measures have been tightened still more. Zira, who is suspect by the authorities, is under close surveillance.

“Much too well,” Cornelius repeats. “He smiles. He cries like a baby ape … and he has begun to talk.”

“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 dumfounded. 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 concealed 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?”

It ought to be possible. But it’s not the difficulties and dangers I am thinking about at the moment. I cannot shake off the melancholy that assailed me just now at the thought of leaving the planet Soror, Zira, and my fellows, yes, my fellow humans. Toward them I feel I am something of a deserter. Yet above all I must save my son and Nova. But I shall come back. Yes, later, I swear it on the heads of the captives in the cages, I shall come back with trump cards in my hand.

I am so bewildered that I voice my thoughts out loud.

Cornelius smiles.

“In four or five years of your time, your traveling time, but in more than a thousand years as far as we stay-at-homes are concerned. Don’t forget that we, too, have discovered relativity. In the meantime I’ve discussed the risk with my chimpanzee friends and we have decided to take it.”

We leave one another after making arrangements to meet on the following day. Zira goes out first. Remaining behind with Cornelius for a moment, I take the opportunity of thanking him with all my heart. Inwardly I’m wondering why he is doing all this for me. He reads my thoughts.

“Zira’s the one you ought to thank,” he says. “It’s to her you will owe your life. On my own, I don’t know if I should have gone to so much
trouble or taken so many risks. But she would never forgive me for being a party to murder … and anyway …”

He pauses. Zira is waiting for me in the corridor outside. He makes sure she cannot hear and quickly whispers:

“Anyway, for her as well as for me, it is better that you should vanish from this planet.”

He closes the door after me as I leave the room. I am alone with Zira and we take a few steps along the corridor.

“Zira!”

I stop and take her in my arms. She is as upset as I am. I see a tear coursing down her muzzle while we stand locked in a tight embrace. Ah, what matter this horrid material exterior! It is her soul that communes with mine. I shut my eyes so as not to see her grotesque face, made uglier still by emotion. I feel her shapeless body tremble against mine. I force myself to rub my cheek against hers. We are about to kiss like lovers when she gives an instinctive start and thrusts me away violently.

While I stand there speechless, not knowing what attitude to adopt, she hides her head in her long hairy paws and this hideous she-ape bursts into tears and announces in despair:

“Oh, darling, it’s impossible. It’s a shame, but I can’t, I can’t. You are really too unattractive!”

We have brought it off. I am once again traveling through space aboard the cosmic craft, rushing like a comet in the direction of the solar system at an ever-increasing speed.

I am not alone. With me are Nova and Sirius, the fruit of our interplanetary passion, who can say “papa,” “mama” and many other words. Also on board are a couple of chickens and rabbits, and various seeds that the scientists put in the satellite to study the effects of radiation on organisms of very diverse kinds. All this will not be wasted.

Cornelius’ plan was carried out to the letter. Our substitution for the selected trio was made without difficulty. The woman took Nova’s place in the institute; the child will be handed over to Zaius. The
latter will demonstrate that he cannot talk and is nothing but an animal. Then perhaps I will not longer be considered dangerous, and the man who has taken my place, who will also not talk, will be spared his life. It is unlikely that they will ever suspect the substitution. The orangutans, as I’ve said before, make no distinction between one man and another. Zaius will triumph. Cornelius will have a few worries perhaps, but all this will soon be forgotten.… What do I mean! It is forgotten already, for aeons have elapsed out there during the few months I have been shooting through space. As for me, my memories are rapidly receding, like the material body of the supergiant Betelgeuse, as the space-time increases between us: the monster has changed in size to a small balloon, then an orange. It is now no more than a minute bright spot in the galaxy. So is it with my Sororian thoughts.

It would be unreasonable of me to fret. I have succeeded in saving the beings who are dear to me. Whom do I miss over there? Zira? Yes, Zira. But the emotions that came to life between us had no name on Earth or in any other region of the cosmos. The separation was essential. She must have recovered her peace of mind, bringing up her baby chimpanzees after marrying Cornelius. Professor Antelle? To hell with the professor! I could no longer do anything for him, and he has apparently found a satisfactory solution to the problem of existence. Only I shudder occasionally when I think that had I
been placed in the same environment as he was, and without Zira’s presence, I, too, might have fallen equally low.