Monkey Wars by Richard Kurti Read Free Book Online Page A

mouthfuls then turned his steady eye on Tyrell. “But you didn’t just want to talk about fruit, did you?”
    Tyrell smiled dutifully. “You know me too well, my lord.”
    “So what’s worrying you?”
    “We’ve gained so much as a troop—this fine, walled home, thriving numbers,” began Tyrell, frowning. “But only yesterday, I overheard two young monkeys talking as if langur life had always been like this, as if there was no time before the cemetery.”
    Gospodar chewed the papaya pensively. “Good,” he said. “What we went through should be forgotten. Today is all that matters.”
    Tyrell nodded, but his troubled expression belied his real feelings.
    Gospodar tried to put him at ease. “Tyrell, just because we suffered doesn’t mean the young must have it thrust down their throats. Let the new generation grow up as kings, not slum monkeys made good.”
    “But, my lord, if the young aren’t reminded of the past, how will they know what you’ve done for them? Your great achievements in lifting this troop will be forgotten.”
    Gospodar’s vanity was immediately tweaked. Tyrell knew each monkey’s weakness, and for Gospodar it was vanity. He wanted to be remembered after he was gone.
    “Discipline, courage and determination have achieved all this,” Tyrell declared as he waved his arm expansively around the Great Vault. “And it is
you
, my lord, who have taught us these virtues.”
    Gospodar smiled; he never tired of hearing his praises sung. “So what do you suggest?”
    “An education program for the cadets, my lord. History must be passed down, lest we forget. Young monkeys must understand
why
we are the chosen troop.”
    Gospodar looked over to General Pogo and Deputy Hani. “What do you two think about an education program?”
    Pogo’s and Hani’s first thought was that they didn’t want to get lumbered with the job. More responsibility would steal precious time that could be used for bathing and feasting. But, of course, neither would admit to this.
    “It’s a good idea,” Hani volunteered instead. “If we could find someone to take on the task.”
    “Not really a military matter, though, is it?” said General Pogo quickly.
    Gospodar nodded. No resistance, but not much enthusiasm either, he thought to himself.
    “Perhaps some retired instructor could be persuaded to take on the task,” Hani suggested. But Tyrell quickly short-circuited the discussion.
    “
I
would be honored to take on the whole burden, my lord. The task is too important to be left to any of the lower ranks.”
    Gospodar looked at Tyrell with genuine concern.
    “But you barely get time to rest as it is,” he said, putting a solicitous arm on Tyrell’s shoulder. “We don’t want you collapsing on us.”
    “I’m happy to work harder, my lord. The time spent bathing could be reallocated to the task.” And to underline the point, Tyrell clambered out of the pool and shook himself dry. “I was never much of a water monkey anyway.”
    Gospodar could see that Tyrell had already made up his mind.
    “Very well. You shall be in charge of this special education program.”
    Tyrell bowed his head appreciatively. “I am honored.” And with that he strode away from the pool.
    As soon as he was out of sight he stopped and just for a moment hid behind a doorway, straining his ears to listen. He heard Pogo and Hani chuckle, relieved that they had dodged the extra burden.
    “He’s such an obsessive,” he heard Hani mutter. “Work, work, work.”
    “That’s what happens when you’re small,” quipped General Pogo, and the two shared a laugh.
    Tyrell smiled to himself. Comments behind his back had long since failed to upset him. If anything, it was he who should be laughing, because he had realized what the others had failed to grasp, that the monkey who controls the past, controls the future.

“F orget everything!” Drill Instructor Gu-Nah declared as he inspected the row of new cadets. “Whatever you’ve heard