Hunter and Tiyana did not sleep, but rather rested intermittently. They felt like they had lain awake all night, but in reality they had dozed off and then woke up sporadically. Without blankets or pillows and with the anxiety inherent in being buried alive, no one could fall into a deep, rejuvenating sleep.

Hongo started milling about first. Hunter could hear his footsteps making dull thuds in the otherwise silent labyrinth. The silence in the pitch black labyrinth reigned supreme and oppressed all efforts to break it. Hunter thought that he could actually hear the dust rising into the air and falling back to the ground in between Hongo’s footsteps.

Hunter rose and whispered to Hongo, “Habari ya asubuhi?”

Hunter normally greeted Hongo with Swahili in order to show an interest in Hongo’s native language. Hunter did not realize that Hongo’s true native language was his tribal language, Dholuo. Hongo’s second language was Swahili, and his third language was English. Despite Kenya and Tanzania both adopting Swahili as their native language, only a tiny number of people spoke it as a primary language. It originated with the Bantu people on the other side of the continent and slowly made its way east. Swahili became the language of trade between Africa and the Arab world and, as a result, more than a third of the language was derived from Arabic. Hongo spoke Swahili fluently and studied it extensively in school, but felt no close affinity to it. He did, however, understand that Hunter tried to identify with him and he appreciated the effort.

On this morning, however, Hongo did not care about decorum; he dropped the pretenses and simply replied with, “Good morning Hunter.”

“Not so good, I’m afraid. Look Hongo, would you walk with me?”

“Lead the way.”

Hunter and Hongo walked in silence for a while with their hands outstretched, constantly feeling their way along the cold stone walls.

After a time, Hunter spoke up, “Listen Hongo, we’re in a bad spot here. Everybody is going to be looking to me for direction and I, honestly, don’t know what to tell them. You’re a leader. You’ve got survival instincts right? From your time in the military? Anyways, what I’m saying is, ‘I want your help.’ Everyone trusts you. Look Hongo, I am sorry that this happened, maybe I pushed it too hard. I’m going to take full responsibility when we get out of here. But first, we have to get out.”

Hongo spoke in his characteristically measured, deliberate tone, a tone that conveyed supreme confidence, “Mr. Price, we are in this together. Thank you for coming to me. Right now, we simply must be strong and have a plan. People’s morale will fall apart otherwise.”

Hunter took a deep breath and exhaled, “Okay. What is the plan?”

“Bwana, I am scared. I am as scared as anyone down here, but whether or not you believe it; I have been in worse situations.” Hongo replied.

“I do believe it.” Hunter said honestly.

Hunter had deep respect for his digsite manager.

“About the plan…” Hongo started.

Hunter interrupted then, “Hey, what’s this? Do you feel that?”

“Yes, it feels like… a… door.”

“Yeah, I think this is the handle here.” Hunter said as he gripped it and swung the old door open. The door moved fluidly on its perfect hinges, the ravages of time had not affected the door much, if at all. They entered the room and kept moving their hands across the walls. Suddenly, they froze as the darkness began to fade. Parts of the walls began glowing. In an instant, stripes of warm, soft orange light materialized. The room began to take on shapes and definition.

“Wow…” Hunter muttered in a low exhalation.

“Ma Ang’o…” Hongo muttered simultaneously.

The light started off dim, but brightened gradually as their eyes adjusted to it.

“Jeosen, darejat masule had za rhiusidat.” A gentle but firm female voice spoke up.

The voice came from all around them. Both Hongo and Hunter looked from side to side but saw no source for the sound.

Hunter spoke up, “Is that… a machine?”

“I do not recognize the language.” Said Hongo.

All of a sudden, an emerald holographic sphere appeared in front of them. Hunter and Hongo both stared, mesmerized, into the green sphere. Hunter thought it rotated. Instinctively, Hunter reached out to touch it. Hongo thought to himself that he should stop his fearless leader, but the strangeness of the entire experience left him transfixed. Where Hunter’s fingers met the sphere it changed from green to orange. Soon, Hunter’s entire hand sat suspended in the sphere. The still-green holographic sphere shone an orange aureole around Hunter’s palm and fingers.

“Itambul zot fadatirof, darejat cheur stat.” The voice spoke up again in that same monotone.

Contemporaneously, a mechanical arm with a concave apparatus at the end of it descended from the ceiling and came to hover just inches above Hunter’s head. Hunter and Hongo were both now transfixed.

“Straellaer,” directed the voice, now in a quieter, but more commanding tone. The voice had given Hunter an order. Hunter heard a click and the voice spoke again, this time in a flat informational tone. “Edhamilrer.”

The green sphere vanished. In its place, a universally familiar symbol arose. The hologram now showed a two-dimensional long green empty rectangle. Inside the rectangle, a green bar slowly filled up the emptiness. Hunter and Hongo became aware that the machine was downloading, installing, initializing, or possibly just thinking about something. Hongo again thought that he ought to do something, but what? Hunter just stared in awe. The bar filled.

The initial shock wore off and Hunter spoke up. “What do you think Hongo?”

Hongo just shook his head.

“Is this thing reading my mind?”

Again, Hongo shook his head.

“You know, I’d be more hesitant to sit here and watch this thing if we weren’t trapped down here.” Hunter lied; he always leaped before he looked.

Hunter learned, over the years, to slow himself down, to keep from putting his foot in his mouth, and to think through things more thoroughly before making decisions. Tiyana helped him greatly in this endeavor. Nevertheless, when given the chance, Hunter’s impulsive side absolutely dominated his personality. After about fifteen minutes, the bar finally reached its destination.

“Welcome, visitors.” The voice spoke.

Hunter and Hongo’s shoulders jerked up and their eyes widened.

“Thank you.” Replied Hunter.

“Would you like the lights on?” Asked the voice.

“Yes.” This time Hunter and Hongo both replied.

“Enjoy the… labyrinth.” Between the word “the” and the word “labyrinth” Hunter could hear static. Also, the green bar made another brief appearance. It started filling up slowly, then zoomed at lightspeed to the finish as the machine finished its thought and settled on “labyrinth” as the appropriate word. The hologram vanished and the lights in the small utility room went out. When the two adventurers entered the room, they left the door cracked open and now light shone in from the hallway.

“Hunter! Hunteeeeeeeer! Where are you?” a familiar female voice shouted.

“C’mon, let’s get back to the crew.” Hunter said to Hongo as they ambled out the door and into the illuminated hallway.

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