The Quest

Samuel is a soldier of fortune and the leader of the expedition, chosen for his ability to track and hone his surroundings.  Doctors Simpson is our team’s medical doctor and Mathias is an experts in Mayan history, and I am a geographer.  The others include two geologists, a weapons expert and a chemist.   I have spent my entire career reading maps and deciphering codes; it is our collective abilities that eventually lead us here.  I am ready to move forward, I turn on the light on my protective headgear and remain careful to stay close to the cavern walls.  I continue to run my hand along the smooth surface and again come across the strange markings.  The symbols always display the same pattern and are beginning to make sense to me.  The deeper I venture into the tunnels the better I understand what the etchings mean; these particular markings are a map code of sorts, and are leading me toward uncertainty.  I see an obscure light in the distance and am hopeful that I have found my party.  I call out but no answer is returned, perhaps they are still too far ahead, therefore I will stay the course.  In my haste I quicken my pace, focusing only upon the light.  No more do I stay close to the cavern walls, instead I take to the center of the tunnel, a decision that would be costly.  Before me a hole large enough to swallow a man, draws me in, and without the help of my colleagues I find myself helplessly falling.