The Overlords are facing an imminent launch date. Disaster awaits if they don't have enough specimens for their experiment. Their only hope is to find four more willing subjects!
 

A Thousand Splendid Monkeys
by Lyndon Perry

The clicking was incessant.

"Anything?"

The three Overlords paced the aisles looking for signs of progress. The Alpha Male stopped and pulled a sheet from an apparatus. He showed it to the others. Gibberish.

"Nothing. We're four short I tell you."

Damn. 996. So close.

They'd been collecting specimens for weeks in hopes of a breakthrough.  The launch date was set; they had three days left.

"Have we checked Alpha Centauri lately?"

"Dry. Same with Betelgeuse. And Rigel. Their systems are just too advanced."

"Well, try Sol once more. We've been pretty lucky there so far."

The female Overlord turned to the ship's monitor. "Scanning."

As they waited the rat a tat tat of hundreds of machines continued unabated.

"Sorry, I'm not getting...wait. Earth just launched another probe."

"Life signs?"

The female Overlord let out a w00t in reply. "Four!"

Excitement flared quickly. Then the other male Overlord asked, "But are they...?"

"Yes, all simian primates." Sighs all around.

"Good. I had my doubts when the first specimen we collected from Sol was canine. The lack of digits presented a problem."

The Overlords grinned at each other.  They might make their launch date yet.

"Let's prepare for our guests," said the Alpha Male.

The ship blinked into hyperdrive and arrived in Sol to rendezvous with the Earth probe. When the ships had docked, they welcomed the crew aboard.  The four monkeys were shown the room full of clicking machines.  For a brief moment the tapping stopped as 996 familiar faces looked up.  Shrieks of welcome greeted the four new arrivals.  The monkeys returned the greeting and bobbing their heads—repeatedly—in satisfaction went immediately to four vacant machines and started typing.

"We're saved!"

"At least we'll meet our deadline."

Relief turned to giddy anticipation. Surely a thousand space monkeys on a thousand typewriters could compose a suitable space opera piece for the next issue of Ray Gun Revival!