"George Zebrowski - The Star Web" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zebrowski George)

Lena and Rassmussen did not protest as Juan sat down on the edge of the opening and let his feet hang
down inside. The blue seemed warm and he felt as if he were entering the waters of an exotic bath. His
feet brushed against a wall and found ladder-like ridges. He turned and lowered himself on his gloved
hands until he could grasp one of the ridges with his left hand.

"It's only five feet to the bottom," Lena said. "We dropped a line before."

Rassmussen dropped the line again as she spoke. "It's there if you need it, Juan," the engineer said.

Juan reached out for the next ridge with his boot. Suddenly his foot slipped. He grasped the line and slid
down quickly. Looking up immediately he saw Malachi coming down after him. Lena and Magnus were
dark figures above, giants in the lighted circle.

The footing was solid. In a moment Malachi was standing next to him. Obrion peered around the
chamber, trying to guess its size.

"You go left," Obrion said, "I'll go right—but not too far."
"Juan!" Lena shouted from above. "The cover is closing—"

He looked up in time to see a glowing red circle. Then the opening was gone, with nothing to suggest that
there had ever been one. Quickly he walked direcdy under the place where it had been. Mai came up
and stood next to him.

The circle glowed and Juan was looking at Lena and Magnus again. "It's automatic," Lena said loudly.
"The diggers said it appeared out of nowhere the first time also."

"I see now," Malachi said. "When there was no one inside here the opening was triggered by anyone who
came near outside. But while we're inside, only we can open it. That's a safety feature of a lock system, it
seems, completely automatic." He looked around. "There's got to be an inner entrance leading inside, so
that we can clear the chamber for others to use from outside. But that probably won't open until the one
above closes. The only way to find it is to make a circuit of the chamber."

"Do you think this could be a city?" Obrion asked. "Was it once under water—hence the lock?"

"We'll know more when we get inside," Malachi said as he started to feel his way around the room.

"I don't think there's anyone here," Juan said. He stepped to one side and the opening above faded away
in a faint red glow. "We'll get trekking packs and take a look-see trip inside before someone puts a
clamp on the whole find. It would be just like Titus to come down here himself and rob us. If we're good
enough to leave our work to find this thing, then we should get the credit, don't you think?"

"Righto, Juan—-do you realize what this means? Incredible, but there is a buried culture in Antarctica

… you don't suppose this could be a hoax, an elaborate plant made by some eccentric millionaire?"

"Suits me fine, whatever it is," Obrion said. "I'll get the others and we'll get to work."

"It couldn't be a hoax," Malachi added, "not with that kind of lock."

As they stood to one side looking up at the circle of night through which they had entered, it glowed and