" Perry Rhodan - Atlan 01 - Spider Desert" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Rhodan)

the end of the cave.

When I turned the beam of the flashlight into the narrow side passage I was disappointed to discover
that it was only about 10 paces in extent, ending in another wall of solidified molten sand.

Fratulon appeared beside me. He shouldered past me and entered the tunnel which was so narrow
that he almost grazed the walls with his shoulders. When he came to the end of it he drew his sword and
struck the glazed surface several times with it. Several fist-sized fragments splintered away from the wall.

Suddenly he leapt back nimbly, replaced his sword, and brought forth his raygun. At first his action
was puzzling to me because his wide body blocked my view, but then I saw that cracks were appearing
in the wall through which a mass of loose sand was pouring into the passage.

Fratulon fired a wide-spread energy beam at it. I thought he was merely trying to melt the sand and
stop its flow, but he wasnтАЩt satisfied with that. He simply vaporized it and melted his way in further. When
he finally shut off his weapon I saw that he had made an opening that gave access to a cavern beyond. I
aimed the flashlight beam through it and caught sight of a smooth floor and walls that were fashioned of
some dull-shining unknown material.

тАЬZagooth, the lost labyrinth?тАЭ muttered Fratulon.
 I looked at him questioningly but he gave me no explanation. Without wasting any words, he thrust
himself through the opening and slid over the pile of sandy rubble into the cave on the other side.



* * * *



This cavern was larger and lay deeper under the surface than the sand-glazed hideout we had
traversed in order to get here. Two separate passages, twice the height of a man and equally as wide, led
off to the right and the left in exactly opposite directions.

тАЬWhat does Zagooth mean?тАЭ I inquired of Fratulon. тАЬI have never heard the name before.тАЭ

тАЬI only learned about it myself for the first time a few years ago, from a treasure hunter?тАЭ he
explained. тАЬItтАЩs long been known that the Spider Desert covers a subterranean maze of labyrinths, but so
far only a few half buried fragments of it have been discovered. This dying treasure hunter asserted,
however, that while investigating the secret of the deadly net of silvery strands he had come across charts
of the original inhabitants here, and on that basis he had at least partially traced out the course of the
labyrinths. But he couldnтАЩt continue his explorations of them because he fell into the hands of the desert
dwellers and barely managed to escape and get back to Tarkihl.тАЭ

тАЬYou never told me anything about that before?тАЭ I said in a slight tone of reproachfulness.

This elicited only a faint smile from him, almost as if he were trying to tell me there were far greater
things than this he had remained silent about. I could even accept that, but was vexed by the fact that he
couldnтАЩt have confided in me concerning such a relatively minor item as this incident with the dying
treasure hunter. Of course it could also be that he hadnтАЩt considered it worth mentioning, since it was not
unusual that adventurers in the Spider Desert should be attacked by Zagors and Ooths.