Ernst Vlcek [Vlcek - Spider Desert

On this far planet a turning point had been reached in the saga of Fratulon:

Gortavor was a savage young world where Arkonide civilization and untamed Nature made provisional peace in a sort of mutual symbiosis. Inasmuch as the Arkonides had no particular interest in cultivating the planet or entering into a systematic colonization here, the area surrounding the spaceport was the only main centre of their activity, supported merely by a minimal industry and the most indispensable of technical installations. By contrast, the maps of Gortavor indicated vast regions and lands unknown, which no Arkonide

had ever explored.

Although an effective civilization had never taken hold hereor for that very reasonthe planet experienced a lively influx of quasi immigrants and settlers representing a wide variety of peoples and races who hailed from all parts of the Greater Imperium as well as from distant regions of the galaxy beyond.

This questionable traffic consisted almost exclusively of irresponsible adventurers, frustrated misfits, lost derelicts and shady drifters of every description. It was such as these who stamped the overall character of the haphazard colonization, making of the planet a central distribution point for smugglers and undercover operators, a Paradise for thieves and swindlers, an asylum for murderers, outlaws and fugitives from justice in every walk of life.

Gortavor was located on the far flung outer ramparts of the Greater Imperium, which was why Fratulon had come here, as hunted as any man alive. Orbanoshol III, Imperator of the Arkonide Empire, had a very long arm, but apparently it had failed to reach this far. At least until now, Fratulon had remained beyond its grasp.

As personal physician to Armanck Declanter, he enjoyed both a great prestige and a certain degree of immunity. Armanck was referred to as the Tatto, which was an official title given to all Arkonide planetary administrators, and as such he shielded him from danger.

However, even though Fratulon had lived thus in relative security for almost 13 years, he had never ceased to be wary and alert. His life was burdened the shadows of the past, by memories which ticket constantly inside of him with the persistence of a time bomb. And one day this bomb was going to ignite.

But the day and the hour had not quite arrived when that past could be brought to life. He would still have to maintain his silence. His secret would have to remain buried for just a while longer. But how much longer Days, weeks, years?

No! Of this he was certain: before this present year was ended, he would have to reveal the truth to Atlan.

Ere long now, the day and the hour would be at hand

Behind us, Tarkihl lay on the horizon. Ahead lay the vast wasteland of the Spider Desert beneath its eerie silvery roof.

I sat tensely in the drivers seat of the dunerover. The seat next to me had been taken by old Sawbones? as I was wont to call my mentor, Fratulon. His face was expressionless as he stared out of our cockpit enclosure. I would have given much to know what was stirring in that bald cranium of his.

As I looked at him askance, he glanced at me briefly with his yellowish eyesstill without expression.

Are you thinking of the distress call, Fratulon? I asked, merely to be saying something.

Im merely thinking? he answered, that some humans out there are in trouble, and we have to help them.

I refrained from pressing him further. His silence didnt bother me. On the contrary, I was actually glad to be able to concentrate on our journey. To drive a dunerover was comparative childs play. The tractor vehicle was low in contour, not much higher than a man and about as wide with a length of 18 feet. Its ground traction was such that it could negotiate almost any obstacle, and for this reason it was especially suited for travel through desert sands. But even so, there was a certain element of risk in making this thrust into the Spider Desert.

Aside from countless unknown dangers, there was a constant menace here which had given the desert its name. At an average height of 2 meters over the ground was a vast net of silvery strands as thick as an arm which stretched across the entire desert region. No one knew who had placed the net here or what purpose it served originally. It was suspected, however, that its designers had been those same beings who had created Tarkihl.

Many a soldier of fortune had set out to find the end or beginning of the mysterious net, but none of them had ever returned. The silvery strands still retained their secret. But one thing had been learned concerning their nature. At times this apparently selfcontained network would begin to hum and vibrate. The eerie sound of the vibrations gripped all forms of life in some sort of a trance, causing hallucinations which had been fatal to countless desert wanderers.

I myself had never experienced the humming song of this spidery web, but I couldnt imagine how a person could fall under its spell if one were to exert the necessary force of will against it.

When I once expressed these thoughts to Fratulon, he had answered: Many who were older and stronger than you have fallen prey to it, Atlan. This had been earlier, on another occasion, but at the time it had vexed me because it seemed that he underestimated my abilities.

Since then he appeared to have altered his opinion of me. Nowadays it often seemed to me that he regarded me as an equal. Like this morning when the distress call had reached Tarkihl from somewhere in the desert. He had not objected to my taking the controls of the rover. I considered it as a form of silent recognition and it filled me with pride. Therefore I determined to substantiate his newfound confidence in me and to bring the machine safely to its destination.

In the seat behind me, the chretkor monstrosity stirred uncomfortably. Its hot in here? he grumbled. At this temperature Im liable to melt away.

I could not suppress a grin as I thought of the creature we had nicknamed Ice Claw. His fear of extremes of heat and cold had become almost pathological. However, I did him the favour of increasing the air-conditioning, although at the start of our trip he'd complained about the low temperature and I had turned up the heat.

Is that to your liking, noble sir? I inquired sarcastically.

Thanks, Atlan? said Ice Claw, without taking issue over my tone of voice. I can feel my bodily structure returning to a solid state.

Suddenly a sand dune loomed ahead that reached almost to the silvery net above.

Go around it? said Fratulon.

But I only laughed. The rover will have that dune for breakfast!

We reached the towering obstruction and I cut in the suction jets. Mounted laterally on the exterior of the caterpillar treads, they served chiefly to clear away such dunes as this. I throttled down our speed while the suction jets began to howl and pull down the slope before us. The sand was conducted through a system of tubes to the rear of the rover where it was then ejected by blowers.

Suddenly there was a tinkling sound and the jet howl became a thundering roar, causing the dunerover to vibrate.

Whats that!? I cried out in astonishment, glancing questioningly at Fratulon.

However, before I could get an answer from him I saw through the pall of powdery sand dust ahead and made out several shadowy figures approaching our machine. And then I knew: the sand dune was a trap set up by the desert dwellers.

Without much further deliberation I backed up the rover, withdrawing completely from the dune. Turning at a 90 degree angle I moved away at high speed. However, I had hardly emerged from the haze of dust before another dune loomed directly in our path. Managing just barely to avoid it I accidentally ran down a desert dweller who had suddenly appeared in front of the tractor. His wide cloak spread out and fluttered momentarily and I saw his tortured face quite plainly before he disappeared under the ponderous treads. The rover rolled over him as we reached an open area. Ahead of us were no further obstacles. But I sped onward as though pursued by all the demons of the nether worlds.