Peter's flash confirmed this. They were in a small air-pocket bubble
several yards wide. They crossed this while Peter searched along the
floor. He stopped, pointed down.
"We go down again, through this hole in the floor. There's a short
drop of only a few feet, but be careful."
Peter stepped over to the hole, sat down, and eased himself out of
sight. Robin looked down, could see the floor of another cave just
below. He dropped his pack through and squeezed down.
Here they were in a sort of shallow flaw running lengthwise, and they
had to walk in a crouched position to keep their heads from bumping the
low ceiling.
Robin wondered how Peter knew which way to go, but looking carefully,
he realized that his brother was only following the trail of his
footsteps made on arriving--for there was a thin coating of dust on
this floor that showed the trail.
"How did you ever find this passage?" asked Robin, his voice echoing
flat and high in the passage.
"Saw the sealed cleft top running across the bottom of this crater.
Found a spot near it where some sort of gas was hissing out. Went down
it, and simply followed every lead that pointed in the direction of
the cleft." Robin knew that behind this reply undoubtedly lay a lot of
sweat and agony. Peter had made the trip carrying an unconscious body
with him!
The low passage ended in a small cave-bubble. A break at the top of
this was the next line of direction. Peter had simply dropped down on
his arrival, but they waited to catch their breath. They would have to
jump for it.
"Do you suppose Von Borck is following us?" asked Robin while waiting.
Peter shook his head. "I doubt it. First, we'd probably have been able
to hear him coming. Second, he'd still know enough to go get his space
suit before following us. Third, he won't remember anything of this
trip and will have to find his way."
Rested, Robin gave Peter a boost, hoisting him as high as he could to
the top of the cave-bubble. Peter jumped the short distance remaining,
catching a grip on the edge of the hole in the cave ceiling. He pulled
himself up, then dropped his nylon cord down for Robin to grasp and
help himself up.
Up above there was still another small bubble, broken on one side. A
whole series of broken bubbles lay revealed, and they walked along this
section gingerly. This area was greatly cracked and seamed. It was
clear to them that there was a possibility of a fall-in.
Beyond that group they came to another break leading upward, and again
they moved on. Now Robin found himself breathing very heavily. "I'm
getting very tired," he gasped at last.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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