"Someone is near," the chimp said. "And he is not Borg!"
As they turned down another corridor, Caesar stopped abruptly when he saw who was at the end of the corridor.
"It's him!" he said.
"Who?" asked Zaius.
"The Istarian, Magus," said Thrawn.
Upon seeing Caesar, Magus smiled and quickly approached him. The two exchanged a warm handshake. Upon seeing this human gesture, Zaius huffed.
"Caesar, my boy!" said Magus. "How are you?"
"I... we are fine, thanks to the device you gave us!"
Thrawn allowed himself an ironic smile. What he had just heard confirmed his suspicions.
"Come," said Magus. "We must leave! This place, this entire planet, is no longer safe to us!"
Still lying on his stomach, Galen watched the Borg cube through a pair of macro-binoculars, marveling at the technology he was using.
"It's like I'm standing next to the device," he said. "And yet, I am hundreds of feet away."
As Burke looked on without the use of the strange technology, he was joined by Bel Iblis.
"Anything yet?" asked the General.
"Nothing," said Burke. "If I'm reading this tricorder thing right, there's been nothing since the power failure in the cube and the transporter activity."
"I've just been talking to Irenz on the Peregrine," Bel Iblis said. "She says the transporter beam originated from one of the larger Borg cubes in orbit, and that two more have just entered the system. If I had my way I'd..."
"Wait!" interrupted Burke. "Something's happening!"
They looked over the hill as a flash of light began to appear. Seconds later, when the light died down, Magus and the others stood in full view.
"The old fool did it!" said Bel Iblis.
"Did you ever doubt his abilities, General?" asked Galen.
Moments later, after they had run down the hill, Bel Iblis and the others joined Magus. Upon seeing Thrawn with them, he smiled.
"Looks like we've got ourselves an important prisoner," he said. "We should take him to the Alpha Quadrant. Your prisons are better than ours."
"No!" said Caesar. "We should let him go."
Bel Iblis gave Magus an icy stare.
"Is he insane? Does this primitive baboon have any idea who this man is?"
"He is Grand Admiral Thrawn," said Caesar. "Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Alliance military forces, who ranks behind just three other people in the Alliance: Vader, Darkmagus, and Palpatine."
"And why should we let him go?" asked Bel Iblis.
"Because he saved our lives," said Zaius. "I haven't always agreed with this young chimp, but now I do."
Bel Iblis threw his hands into the air.
"It's your call, Magus."
Magus looked deep into Caesar's eyes.
"We will do as Caesar wishes," he said. "I'm sure that the Admiral can find an Imperial shuttle around here somewhere."
"Two miles east of here," said Caesar. "It should get you off-world and out of the system. I'm sure an Imperial ship will soon pick you up."
"How do you know?" asked Thrawn.
"Istarian technology," said Caesar, holding the device.
Thrawn nodded, his way of saying thank you, pulled down his dirty tunic, turned, and began to walk away. Then, he suddenly stopped and turned around briskly.
"Before I go, Caesar, tell me... who are you? Is Caesar your real name?"
"Caesar is my real name, Admiral. You see, I am the son of Cornelius and Zira."
Cornelius and Zira were startled by this news.
"I understand this is shocking for you two, but please let me finish," Caesar continued. "I am your son, but from an alternate timeline—a parallel dimension, if you will. You see, in my dimension, after the astronaut Taylor arrived, you two traveled back in time some six hundred years to your world's twentieth century. At first, you were welcomed into their society, and you, Zira, discovered shortly afterwards that you were pregnant... with me. But then the humans discovered the reason you traveled back in time, because you knew they were destined to destroy their own world, and that we, the apes, would evolve to take their place. You were hunted down like animals, and shortly after I was born, you were both killed."
Tears began to stream down Zira's face as Cornelius tried to comfort his wife.
"Please! We don't want to hear anymore of this nonsense!" said Cornelius. "None of this happened!"
"Let him speak," said Zaius.
"I was cared for by a circus owner, who raised me like a son," Caesar said. "After a plague wiped out the cats and dogs, humans took apes as pets and began to train them as slaves. After my adoptive father was killed, I was treated like such a slave until I led an uprising against the humans."
"I always knew that humans were weak compared to us," said Zaius.
"Eventually, apes and humans came to live in peace with each other," Caesar continued. "That was until the Borg came and wiped out my civilization!"
"How did you escape?" asked Zira.
"I saved him," said Magus. "With Istarian technology, I have access to many worlds and dimensions. Caesar was the sole survivor of his world, of his timeline, and I rescued him and began to tutor him in the mystic arts, because I knew he would be needed someday."
"But are you our son?" asked Zira.
"Yes and no," said Caesar. "Your son, when or if he is born, will be an exact copy of me."
Thrawn allowed himself a slight chuckle.
"You knew this was going to happen, wizard!" he said. "And all you did was send one ape! Do you know how many of my people were killed? How many of my ships were destroyed?"
"And how many deaths have you ordered in your lifetime, Admiral?" asked Magus. "How many ships have you destroyed, all in the name of the Emperor? You should consider yourself lucky that I allow you to leave! Now, Admiral, I suggest you go!"
Thrawn gave Magus an icy stare before turning and marching off. Seconds later, Magus turned to the apes.
"My friends, you are the last of your kind, and I can help you, just as I helped Caesar."
"What do you mean?" asked Zaius.
"I am offering you a new home in the Free Federation," Magus said. "It would be pointless for you to remain here now. Sooner or later, you would be assimilated by the Borg."
"And what can you offer us?" asked Zaius.
"A chance to better yourself, to expand your horizons, to expand your knowledge! It's a big universe out there!"
"He is right," said Galen. "There is nothing for us here now, except certain death!"
One by one, the apes nodded, giving their consent to Magus.
"You have made the right choice, my friends."
Bel Iblis then placed his hand on Magus' shoulder.
"Irenz has just contacted me. She says that the new Borg ships are in orbit."
"Thank you, General," said Magus.
The wizard waved his hand in the air, and each remaining ape and human was transported to the Peregrine.
Thrawn watched as Magus whisked the others away, and even though he knew he had been lucky today, he knew that he would cross Magus' path once more.
As Zira looked out of the window of her quarters, she watched as the Peregrine moved quickly past one of the huge Borg cubes. She couldn't stop herself from crying as the stars turned to star-lines when the cavourite drive was activated. Cornelius began to comfort her as best he could.
"Have we done the right thing?" she asked.
"In Caesar's timeline, it was the humans who destroyed our world," said Cornelius. "In ours, it was the Borg. Now come; General Bel Iblis is holding a banquet for us."
Zira turned and gave her husband a hug. She knew that they had no choice but to start a new life, and they had Phineas Magus to thank for that.
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