it may be so. this much is probable: the men who sent us on this journey have long since been moldering in forgotten graves; and those, if any, who read this message are a different breed. hopefully, a better one.
i leave the twentieth century without regret. who was it? marshall? .  said 'modern man is the missin 'a link between the ape and the human being.'
one final thought -- nothing scientific, purely personal. seen from up here, everything looks different .  time bends and space is boundless. it squashes a man's ego. he begins to feel like no more than a mote in the eye of eternity. and he is nagged by a question: ahat if any- thing, will greet us on the end of man's first journey to a star? are we to believe that throughout these thousands of galaxies, these millions of stars, only one, that speck of solar dust we call earth, has been graced -- or cursed -- by human life? i have to doubt it.
that's about all. i wonder if man, that marvel of the universe, that glorious paradox who has sent me to the unknown.  still makes war against his brother., and lets his neighbor's children starve.
well then, earthmen: a missing link salutes you. bless you, my descendants.
stewart? stewart?
there goes our primary power. we're on auxilliary.
dodge! read the atmosphere!
landon! send a last signal.
to earth! that we've landed!
forget it. abandon ship.
we're here to stay.
we're some three hundred and twenty light years from earth. on an unnamed planet in orbit around a star in the constellation of orion. that could be bellatrix.
we've had a nice snooze. let's start earning all our back pay.
take your soil test, dodge. i'll check the equipment.
got your sensors?
geiger counter?
one pistol.  twenty-four rounds of ammo. two medical kits.  one camera.  one tx9. we've enough food and water for three days.
good question. landon -- check your communications kit.
landon! join the expedition.
air leak. died in her sleep.
it's a little late for a wake. she's been dead nearly a year.
by our time. you've turned gray.
apart from that, you look pretty chipper for a man who's two thousand and thirty one years old. i read the clocks. they bear out hasslein's hypothesis. we've been away from earth for two thousand years, give or take a decade. still can't accept it, huh?
because time has wiped out everyone and everything you cared for -- they're dust.
it's a fact, landon. buy it. you'll sleep better.
any sign of dangerous ionization?
okay. if there's no life here, we've got just seventy-two hours to find it. that's when the groceries run out.
that way.
none at all.
everybody all right?
water check.
what would you learn? i've told you where you are and when you are.
you're more than three hundred light years from your precious planet. your loved ones have been dead and forgotten for twenty centuries. even if you could get back, they'd think you were something that fell out of a tree.
there's only one reality left. we're here and it's now. you get ahold of that and hang on tight, or you might as well be dead.
he's prepared to die! doesn't that make you misty? chalk up another victory for the human spirit!
straighten me out on something. why did you come along at all? you volunteered. why? i'll tell you. they nominated you for the big one and you couldn't turn it down. not without losing your all-american standing
and the glory, don't forget that. there's a life-sized bronze statue of you somewhere. it's probably turned green by now, and nobody can read the name plate. but never let it be said we forget our heroes.
oh, and one last item. immortality. you wanted to go on forever. well, you damn near made it. except for dodge and me, you've lived longer than anybody. and with stewart dead, it looks like we're the last of the strain. you got what you wanted, kid. how does it taste?
don't bother
but i'm not prepared to die.
no, not quite, landon. i'm a bit of a seeker myself. but my dreams are a lot emptier than yours. i can't get rid of the idea that somewhere in the universe there must be a creature superior to man.
let's find them all.
let's take a look.
never mind the scarecrows.
okay.
show them we're friendly.
greetings!
no cigar.
well, if we're looking for an icebreaker.  listen, folks .
haven't much choice.
well, at least they haven't tried to bite us.
you're our optimist look at the bright side. if that's the best there is around here, in six months we'll be running this planet.
hey! hey!
listen, listen -- i can speak --
i'm not pretending! i can talk!
what's the matter with you? i can talk! can't you see that?
my - name - isn't - bright eyes it's taylor!
i'm not acting! i can talk! how much proof do you want?
dodge .
get away from me, you dirty ape!
and that's when i decided to take up astronautical engineering., you see. i was halfway through college and i.  it's an old trick! the silent treatment. four weeks and three days, and not a word from anyone. not zira.,or cornelius. or that damn julius. no one'll listen.  only you. you. nova. no-vah.
yeah. me tarzan, you jane. that's all right .  i had a puppy once that never barked. he just licked my hand. he's dead now. they're all dead. everything.  i think maybe they'll kill me, too. are they afraid of me? i can't hurt them.  but i threaten them somehow. threaten their faith in simian superiority. yeah .  you're right. they'll have to kill me.
let her alone!
where are you taking her? what are you going to do?
take your hands off her, you black monster! you filth!
why are you doing this? say something, you hairy scum!
answer me!
where's dr. zira? why--?
ape! apes wearing clothes! it's a madhouse! a madhouse!
now i don't even have you. imagine me -- needing someone. back on earth there was nobody. women, yes. lots of them. love making ithout love. that's the kind of world it was turning into, with the help of cynics like myself. so i left it -- because there was no one dear enough to keep me there. did i tell you about stewart? there was a lovely girl. the most precious cargo we brought along. if human life could survive here, she was to be the new eve. it's probably just as well she didn't live to see this.
i wonder if it's love between us. what a place to find it.
where have you been? why didn't you come to see me?
what is this?
then i'll defend myself.
my name is taylor.
this hearing is absurd! let me tell my story.
i admit, i know nothing of your culture.
some apes, it seems, are more equal than others.
show this to the president.
one is in a museum!
it's him. landon.
second from the left.
with one of them.
landon?
john .  it's me, taylor.
you! .  you knew about this?
you did this to him! you've removed his frontal lobes!
you destroyed his memory! his mind! his identity! and, you want to do the same to me!
you barbarians!
what about me?
no.
i told the truth at that 'hearing'of yours.
my tribe, as you call it, lives on another planet in a distant solar system.
what about it?
i take it you don't believe the prosecutor's charge -- that i'm a monster created by dr. zira.
that's exactly what zira and cornelius claim. you're talking heresy, doctor.
all right, suppose i am a mutant? why does the appearance of one mutant send you into a panic?
then you admit --
thank you for calling me taylor. dr. zaius, i know who i am. who are you? how did this upside down civilization ever get started?
i don't know.
i'm not protecting anybody! that hearing was a farce. what have i done?
all right, you can cut me to pieces. it's within your power. but know this, doctor. you do it because you're afraid of me. you do it from fear!
who are you?
come on. get me out of here.
she comes along too.
i want her.
fine. just let her out.
listen-
let me out of here!
do you have any weapons?
just the same, i want one.
fair enough. but you're no longer in charge of me. and i don't mean to be captured again.
zaius seems to think there might be another jungle beyond the forbidden zone. that's what we'll try for. what about you?
you're going back to the forbidden zone?
you still don't believe me, do you?
nothing much. the remnants of a life raft. maybe a small flag. the emblem of my countrymen.
i know .  nevertheless, i thank you for saving us. you'll be in trouble for going there.
that's the way home. and she knows it.
nova! we can't stay there. it's not safe.
yes.
maybe not.
you threw us together, remember? and you guessed right. men, like apes, get despondent without a mate.
don't worry. you'll be safe with me. here. it's time you learned to earn your keep.
you can do it. like this .
where does the river lead?
you've never told me why this region's called the forbidden zone.
i'm for that.
what's the diagnosis, doctor? a touch of the sun?
so i'm not an altogether different breed, you see?
you like it?
in my world -- before i left it - only youngsters of your age wore un- scraped hair.
when are you going to show me what's in the cave?
stop right there.
if there's any shooting, dr. zaius, you'll be the first to die. depend on it.
shut up.
tell them to move around the point. out of range.
on this planet -- it's easy.
and that's your minister of science. honor- bound to expand the frontiers of knowledge.
except that he's also the chief defender of the faith.
all right, let's see if you're willing to put that statement to a test.
no. you saved me from this fanatic. maybe i can pay you back.
when were the sacred scrolls written?
very well. if zira and cornelius can prove that those scrolls don't tell the whole truth of your history; if they can show you definite evidence of another culture from an unrecorded past -- will you exonerate them?
okay.up to the cave.
sorry, lucius. you'll have to stay here and guard the horses.
relax. you'll see it all later.
perhaps that's why they're on your staff.
he has a point. on my planet children often play with ape dolls.
yes. i have to agree. from all you've found so far, his position's as good as yours.
reconstructing a life. care to have a look?
these were found near the human doll, right? well, whoever owned them was in pretty bad shape.
defective eyesight.
he wore false teeth. he suffered from a hernia and used this truss to hold up his insides .  and toward the end, these little rings of stainless steel enclosed a prefab- ricated valve in his failing heart.
i don't say he was a man like an earthman, but i'd call him a close relative, for he was plagued by most of man's ills. yet, fragile as he was, he came before you -- and was superior to you.
dr. zaius! would an ape make a human doll that talks?
you louse!
tell him to pull back!
i ought to kill you right now. let's go.
not everything. they left a hostage. how do you feel, lucius?
all right, all right. will you do me a favor? no orders.
i want you to go around the bend and tell those gorillas their leader is my prisoner.
then tell them dr. zaius won't leave here alive.
sit down. over there.
now, minister of science - let me explain certain principle stress and strain. if you exert pressure to remove these bonds, you'll choke yourself to death. it'll be suicide, you see?
why not?
wasn't i humiliated? by all of you? didn't you lead me around on a leash?
and now you know the truth. cornelius has beaten you, doctor. he proved it. man preceded you here. you owe him your science, your language, whatever knowledge you have.
he might have been wiped out by a plague. natural catastrophe. like a fiery storm of meteors. from the looks of this part of your planet, i'd say that was a fair bet.
he is. he knew all the time. long before your discovery, he knew. defender of the faith. guardian of the terrible secret. isn't that right, doctor?
stay where you are!
i'll start by following the shoreline. and my nose.
then there is another jungle?
sure. in a cage.
no, thanks. i'll take freedom.
would you like to come along?
it's better than going to prison for heresy.
good luck then.
dr. zira, i'd like to kiss you good-bye.
god bless you.
lucius.
that's the boy. keep 'em flying.
the flags of discontent. it's the only way anything ever gets changed. don't try to follow us. i'm pretty handy with things like this.
why? from the first, i've terrified you, doctor. and in spite of every sign that i'm an intelligent being who means no harm, you continue to hate and fear me. why?
what evidence? no weapons were found in the cave.
we're back at the beginning. i still don't know the why. a planet where apes evolved from men. a world turned wrong side up. a puzzle with one piece missing.
yes, nova -- i see it. in my old profession green meant safe. green meant go.
my god!