Obviously, it had to be a mistake. They weren't drafting chimps. Not yet. But it was no secret that they were beginning to gear up for possible fighting with someone...most likely Japan, but you could never tell. There were rumours. It was the waning days of September, 1940, only a year after the outbreak of war in Europe, but France had fallen only a few months back, and England was fighting desperately now for survival, battered by the German blitz. That concerned Chongo. He had relatives in London. They seemed to be holding out, though, according to the latest news, shooting down Goering's bombers in record numbers.

Japan? Chongo could see no good reason to pick a fight with them. No Japanese ape or human had ever done anything to him. Matter of fact, there didn't even seem to be any apes in Japan, aside from circuses and zoos. Hmmm. Maybe there was reason to fight over there after all. Species discrimination. Still, it seemed like a stupid thing to get into a transoceanic war over. Gangland wars were crazy, but national wars were beyond crazy, as far as Chongo was concerned.

Wearily, Chongo perused the rest of the form letter, and started drafting a terse reply, accompanied by a recent photo. Some idiot at Selective Service didn't know what the left hand was doing.

"The stuff I waste my time on..." he muttered. Meanwhile, Lenny Frizzell was probably as stiff and cold as an Alaskan hot dog on a January night, and the trail was getting cold. The $300 that Betty Frizzell had fronted him was dwindling. He had to get moving, and moving fast.