Tell them

"Actually, I have an amazing ability to decipher any written language with a pretty good chance of accuracy." I said with a smile. "Doesn't matter if I can read the language or not; I just pick up on the handwriting. Doesn't work with typed stuff though- too chaotic and not written by an intelligent, stylistic human hand."

To my surprise, Laura laughed. "You're such a joker, John. Seriously though, you are pretty good with the whole language thing. I wish I could even hope to be that good- I majored in Ancient Architecture, not linguistics." She and Wallis began bantering about the game on TV, but I just sat back. So they didn't believe me- not a problem. Probably better for me to use it to my advantage in a sticky situation.

Suddenly, the bar door opened. It was late enough that it wouldn't be local just arriving, but not so late that the bouncers were being called in to throw out any seriously drunk people. Two men in black suits and shades entered the room, and the chatter died down. One was somewhat tall and handsome, probably the sort you would see on the cover of a fashion magazine, while the other was a little shorter and serious looking, almost militant with short cropped hair. Although they resembled bouncers, everyone in the bar could tell that they were not. The chatter died down as the various workers and locals stared at the newcomers.

"Can I help you?" the barmaid said. She was pretty, with fiery red hair let down, large breasts, and a dimpled face. She can't have been more than twenty, but seemed older than her years.

"Yes actually, we're looking for a man by the name of John Doe. We have some news for him concerning the archaeological dig that he has been the manager of. Have you seen him?" the tall one said. I stood up.

"I'm right here. What was it you wanted to talk about?" I asked. Something seemed off- I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but Wallis and Laura seemed to sense it too. The two men walked over.

"My name is Smith, and my coworker here is Luke," the tall one said. I motioned to shake their hands, but they stood unmoving, so I dropped it and continued to listen apprehensively."The university is cutting off your project. They simply don't have the funds to finance the dig anymore, and are taking it off the hook." My heart dropped.

"I find this all very hard to believe," I said, trying to hide my frustration."We were very close to several breakthroughs in ancient culture! Why would the university stop funding now? It just doesn't make much sense!"

"The university must have its reasons. Here's the legal work, as proof," said the shorter one, Luke."You are being taken off active duty until another project surfaces. Have a good night." Luke handed me a manila folder envelope, and the two men began to walk away. I quickly glanced at the papers, and my heart dropped even lower. They were all perfectly legitimate, with the University of Pennsylvania letterhead written across the top and all the right signatures. The diggers all seemed shocked.

"You heard them," I said sadly."This dig is over. We can clean up tomorrow." I sat back down in a slump.

"Hey," Laura said, patting me on the back."Cheer up. Our funds still allow us to stay in this jungle for a little while yet, maybe a week or more."

"That won't be long enough to finish the dig." I said despairingly. Wallis glanced over sadly. I felt as if all the air had been squeezed out of me.

"Well, we can try," Laura said. Always the optimist."Maybe follow where that map leads, eh?"

"It's fragmented," I said."About half of it's missing, so no hidden treasure for us. That's life though, I guess." We left the bar about 30 minutes later, after getting thoroughly drunk, and immediately went to sleep upon reaching our respective cots in the university trailers.

My dreams were hounded by dark figures in suits and sunglasses and snake-headed monkeys, all chasing me. I got very little sleep, until about 2:00 in the morning...