The Exiles Trilogy Read online

  Lou said, “In a few days they’ll have ruined Big George, maybe killed him. And if we try to stop them, they’ll take it out on Bonnie.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what Marcus just told me. If he doesn’t like the way we behave, Bonnie’ll suffer for it.”

  “But he can’t…”

  “Yes he can.‘And he will. I bet he’d even enjoy it.”

  Kori’s face turned as red as the setting sun. “That pudding-faced pipsqueak. I’ll…”

  Now Lou took Kori’s arm. “Hold on. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

  He felt Kori’s surge of anger fade away, saw his face return to normal, except for a sullen smoldering in his eyes.

  “What do we do now?” Kori asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Lou. “What was your scheme all about? How can you signal for government troops?”

  “Oh that— With the navigation satellites.”

  “Navigation satellites? How…”

  “They have sensors on them to detect nuclear explosions.”

  “They what?”

  Kori started walking toward the dorm again, and Lou trudged along beside him. “It’s a holdover from the old days, before the world government disarmed all the nations,” Kori explained. “All the navigation satellites have a special array of sensors to watch out for nuclear explosions. If anybody sets off a bomb on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, or even in space, the government is alerted instantly Inside of a few hours, there’s an inspection team at the site of the explosion to find out what’s going on An aitried inspection team With troops ready to follow at an instant’s notice “

  “But nobody’s set off a bomb for...”

  “I know, but the government still has the teams, and they even hold practice drills I was an advisor to a group of new recruits two years ago “

  Lou chuckled “I guess once a government agency gets a job to do they keep on doing it, whether it’s needed or not”

  “Don’t complain,” Ron said “Now then, the bombs I’ve been making are stored in caves at the far end of the island. If one of them went off, and a satellite spotted the blast, there would be an inspection team here in a matter of hours”

  “Can you set them off?”

  “Them?” Kori laughed “One will be enough If they all go off they’ll wipe out this entire island Do you know how much destructive force even a single kiloton contains!”

  When they got to the dormitory, Lou sent Kori up to get Bonnie He didn’t want to talk inside of any building Too easy to plant electronic bugs indoors As he stood by the dormitory entrance, Lou got the feeling he was being watched Nerves, he told himself But he knew that if he were in Marcus’ place, he’d have guards out watching the troublemakers And we’re going to make enough trouble to slide this island into the sea, if we have to, Lou thought unsmilingly.

  They ate a quick dinner in the cafeteria and then walked out to the beach Walking ankle-deep through the warm-lapping waves with the surf booming on the reef a kilometer out, they talked over their plans as the dying red sun stretched their shadows fantastically before them.

  “I’ll need at least two days to round up the proper equipment ” Kori was saying.

  “Make it one day,” Lou answered over the roar of the surf “Big George doesn’t have two days to spare “

  Kori glanced at Bonnie, then looked at Lou “We want to do this right. If we rush, something might...

  “One day,” Lou said flatly.

  Shrugging, Kori agreed “All right One day “

  “Where can we plant the bomb without setting off all the others?” Bonnie asked.

  “That’s why I wanted the extra day,” Kori said, “to find the best location Probably the best thing to do is to bury it in the beach sand across the island from the storage caves That ought to be safe enough “

  “Will it make a big enough explosion for a satellite to see if you bury it?” Lou asked.

  Kori laughed “Have no fear A few feet of sand isn’t goingto smother one of my toys “

  “Okay “

  “I’ll need two things,” Kori said, more seriously “A car to carry equipment and everything, and a diversion so I can get into the storage caves and do what I must do without being stopped by the guards “

  “What about the guards at the caves?” Lou asked

  “There’s usually only one I think I can handle him easily enough “

  “You’re sure?”

  Kori drew himself up to full height He towered several inches over Lou, but he still looked spindly “My friend, I was a national fencing champion five years ago f still keep in good shape Besides that, I’m sneaky I’ll ask the guard to help me carry some equipment and then hit him when his hands are full and his back turned” “

  Laughing, Bonnie said, “My hero”

  “Never mind,” Lou said “Heroics are exactly what we don’t need We need good, sneaky, practical action that works I don’t want to win any moral victory, we’ll all end up dead that way ”

  Kori nodded.

  “Okay,” Lou continued, “so you need a car and a diversion We’ll figure that out, shouldn’t be too tough a problem .But the big question is, how do we protect Bonnie?”

  “She’s got to disappear,” Kori said.

  “Great How do we do it?”.

  Silence.

  They walked slowly under the purpling sky. A surge of sea curled around their ankles, then ebbed away. A lone gull glided low over the waves, calling sadly as if looking for long-vanished friends.

  Finally Bonnie said, “Big George! I could stay in his compound for a day or so. There are plenty of trees and bushes to hide in and the guards never go in there.”

  “With the gorilla?” It was too dark to see Kori’s face, but his voice sounded aghast.

  “We’re friends,” Bonnie said. “We’ve known each other since George was born.”

  “He wouldn’t hurt her,” Lou agreed. “Or anybody else, for that matter. Trouble is, he’d want you to play with him. You wouldn’t be able to stay hidden. He’d give you away.”

  “No, not if I explained it to him.”

  Kori shook his head. “I know you think a lot of that animal, and his intelligence has been boosted. But I wouldn’t plan to stay inside that fence with him for ten minutes, let alone twelve hours or more.”

  “Oh, you’ve seen too many movies,” Bonnie said. “George wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

  They went on talking, planning, arguing until-it was completely dark. The stars filled the night and the shimmering band of the Milky Way arched across the sky, bright and beckoning.

  “Look up there!” Kori said.

  In the darkness they could see his shadowy outline pointing skyward. Looking up, Lou saw one star moving silently, purposefully through the heavens, as if it had detached itself from its normal position to carry out some mission.

  “Is that one of the satellites?” Bonnie’s voice floated through the dark against the basso background of the surf.

  Kori glanced at his luminescent wristwatch. “Yes. And right on schedule.”

  “Thank God,” said Lou.

  Lou didn’t sleep much that night, and the next day at the computer building he hardly paid any attention to his work. He went through the motions, but his mind was racing, thinking about all that had to be done that night. Get the car for Kori, get Bonnie into hiding, create a diversion that will draw off the guards long enough for Kori to work unnoticed.

  Toward the end of the afternoon, Lou couldn’t stay cooped.

  up in the control room any longer. He stepped outside and took a deep breath of warm, salt-smelling air.

  Then the quiet afternoon was shattered by the tortured scream of an animal. A scream of rage and pain and fear.

  “George!”

  (17)

  Lou ran to the gorilla’s compound. He got there in time to see two of the biochemists carrying a third through the gate Big George was nowhere in sight. A half-dozen gu
ards were clustered around the gate and more were arriving on the run, guns drawn.

  “What happened?” Lou shouted.

  They ignored him. A pair of guards took the unconscious biochemist from his co-workers. His face was bloody and one arm was hanging at a weird angle.

  Lou grabbed one of the sweating biochemists.

  “What happened’ What did you do?”

  The little Oriental looked up at Lou with fear and anger in his eyes. In a nasal, heavily-accented English he said, “Ape got frightened by injections. Anesthetic wore off. Restraints not strong enough. Ape broke loose, knocked down Dr Kusawa, ran back into trees “

  “Injections?” Lou demanded “The suppressors?”

  The biochemist nodded, pulled his arm out of Lou’s grasp and tottered away, following the guards who were carrying his boss.

  Lou went to the gate.

  One of the guards started shaking his head and motioning Lou away “No Danger Keep away “

  “Let me in there He won’t hurt me He’s scared and hurt “

  The guards were clustered around the gate, which was now firmly locked Most of them were peering into the trees and brush Big George was not in sight The other guards were watching Lou.

  “Danger,” said the one guard to Lou “Go away “

  Slowly, reluctantly, Lou walked away.

  At dinner that night, Kori shook his head “That makes everything different Bonnie can’t stay in there with him now “

  “Sure I can,” Bonnie said “George will be all right by now, and the guards will never dream of searching his compound. It’s a better hiding place than ever, now “

  “No,” said Lou “There’s no way of telling what those injections did to him It’s too risky “

  They sat at their table in the cafeteria, leaning forward in a tight little huddle, ignoring their cooling dinner trays, oblivious of the fact that many eyes were watching them in the busy, noisy cafeteria.

  Bonnie insisted that George was all right “Let’s go down to his compound and talk to him Then we’ll see for sure,” she suggested.

  Lou nodded agreement Kori simply looked worried.

  They walked down to the gorilla’s compound, but stayed away from the gate where the guards stood watch. They moved up onto the slope of the hill to a spot close to the trees inside the compound.

  “Georgy,” Lou called out softly “Georgy, it’s me. Uncle Lou”

  A snuffling grunt, and from the shadows in among the trees a pair of baleful eyes suddenly gleamed out at them. Despite himself, Lou shuddered. Those eyes were glaring like a jungle beast’s.

  He forced his voice to stay calm “Georgy, it’s all right It’s me, Uncle Lou And Bonnie is here, too And another friend.”

  A growl.

  Lou turned to Kori “Maybe it’s a good idea for you to go away, Anton George must be scared out of his wits of strangers right now “

  “He doesn’t sound scared “

  “He is. “

  Stubbornly, Kori said, “But I want to see the gorilla’s reactions for myself I don’t want you two make any mistakes about this.

  “Shove it!” Lou snapped, keeping his voice down to avoid frightening Big George. “You think you’re the only one with brains? I’m not going to let Bonnie take any chances.”

  “Stop arguing,” Bonnie said. To Kori she added, “He won’t come out as long as you’re here.”

  Kori left, muttering to himself. After another ten minutes of coaxing and soothing, Big George lumbered out of the trees and up to the fence.

  “George,” Lou said, gripping the fine wire mesh of the fence. “Are you okay?”

  “Head … head hurts.”

  “It’s all right, Georgy,” Bonnie said. “The hurt will go away soon.”

  “Hurts… bad men … hurt…”

  Is it just me or does his voice sound strange? Like it’s hard for him to put words together. Lou felt his eyes stinging and realized there were tears in them. “Georgy, don’t be afraid. It’s going to be all right. The bad men have gone away. They won’t come back.”

  The gorilla merely blinked.

  Bonnie said softly. “Georgy, in a little while I’m going to come and stay with you. I’ll bring you lots of food, and some medicine to stop the hurt.

  “Hurt… scared… bad men…”

  “I’ll stay with you,” Bonnie repeated. “And the medicine will stop the hurting. Don’t be afraid.”

  “And I’ll make sure that the bad men don’t ever come back,” Lou said, feeling anger welling up within him. “Not ever.”

  “Uncle Lou…” Big George started, but his voice trailed off and he never finished the thought.

  Lou said as gently as he could. “It’s all right, Georgy. No one’s ever going to hurt you again.”

  As they walked away from the compound, Bonnie put a hand on Lou’s arm.

  “You’re shaking,” she said.

  Nodding, Lou answered, “You know… last night I couldn’t sleep. I was scared. Still am, I guess. We could all get killed tonight. But I think what was really scaring me the most was the thought that I might have to kill somebody myself. Oral least try to. But now… seeing what, they’ve done to Georgy… to a

  harmless animal like that… I’m not shaking from fear anymore. That’s anger.”

  “It’s all right,” Bonnie said. “Everything’s going to be fine.”

  “Do you really think you’ll be okay in there with George?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll bring him some candy and sedatives. He’ll sleep like a baby.”

  Lou nodded.

  “You’ll see,” Bonnie said. “It’s all going to go like clockwork.”

  “Yeah.” Lou glanced at his wristwatch. X minus four hours and counting.

  Exactly at eleven o’clock the three of them met at the doorway to the dormitory building. They had spent the intervening hours checking final details and then pretending to go to their separate rooms for the night. Now they met in the darkness and started wordlessly for the lab complex. They had found identical black stretch pullovers and slacks among the disposable clothing supply in the dorm. Identical, but Bonnie’s sure looks better than ours, Lou thought.

  There were two cars on the island, turbowagons, both of them. One was usually parked for the night at the lab complex. The other stayed at Marcus’ house.

  “Do you think anybody’s watching us?” Bonnie asked in a whisper as they walked along the side of the road toward the lab area, sticking to the shadows of the trees and shrubs.

  Kori whispered back, “They’ve got guards posted at the lab complex, the gorilla’s compound, the bomb storage caves, and Marcus’ house. Why should they watch us? We can’t do any harm unless we get to one or more of those spots.”

  “Well, if they are watching us we’ll find out about it soon enough,” Lou said, pointing to the glow up the road that marked the lights of the lab complex.

  They skirted the lighted area by detouring through the trees, making a wide circle, and doubling back to the far side of Big George’s compound. While Kori stayed well away, Lou and Bonnie walked up to the fence and softly called the gorilla.

  Big George lumbered up to the fence. “Hello, Georgy,” said Lou. “How do you feel?”

  “Head… hurts…”

  “I’ve brought some medicine to make it feel all better,” Bonnie said. “And some candy for you.”

  They talked for a few moments more with the gorilla, then Lou boosted Bonnie up to the top of the wire fence. George reached up and grasped her around the waist, his huge hands circling her completely. He put her down inside the fence as gently as a ballet dancer handles his ballerina.

  Lou watched them, his innards suddenly knotting as he realized how easily Big George could kill Bonnie. But she reached up and patted his massive head. They turned and went toward the trees together as Bonnie reached into the bag at her waist for some candy.

  Despite his fears, Lou grinned at the slim blonde girl and the hulkin
g gorilla. If only Edgar Rice Burroughs could see this!

  He looked down at his watch. Eleven-thirty already. Hurrying back to Kori, Lou mentally went over their plan for the thousandth time. Next step: Get Kori his car.

  He met Kori, assured him that Bonnie was safe. They started back to the lab buildings. From the back of Kori’s lab, out on the fringe of the lighted area, they could see a lone guard patrolling slowly between the buildings. He looked bored and sleepy. But on his hip was a big pistol.