2025.02.17 — Night
The survey team shared a dining room on the ground floor of the lodging.
It was a long, narrow room that could seat around twenty people.
Two long wooden tables ran down the middle.
The windows along the wall were open behind insect screens, and a large ceiling fan turned slowly overhead.
Outside, the sound of night insects never stopped.
There was no strict dinner time.
By the time the team returned from the site, however, the smell of food was already drifting out of the building.
The air smelled of lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves, grilled meat, and sambal.
Team members came in after showering.
Those who finished eating returned to their rooms.
Some stayed behind to organize the day’s records on their laptops or talk over coffee.
Along one wall, the evening’s food was laid out in large dishes and pots.
Steamed white rice, bread, spiced grilled fish, stewed chicken, sautéed greens, soup, and fried tempeh.
A small bowl of red sambal sat beside cucumbers, tomatoes, and sliced papaya.
Two local women in their fifties worked in the kitchen.
One brought serving dishes out from the kitchen and took the empty ones back.
The other cleared used plates, refilled the water pitchers, and topped up the hot water for coffee.
--
At the far end of the dining room, Andrea, Thomas, and about five members of the surveying and excavation teams were gathered around one of the long tables.
They were still talking about the tracks from that morning.
“So they weren’t animal tracks?”
Sasha Makdu, one of the surveyors, asked.
“Teardrop-shaped footprints sound like something out of a Grimm fairy tale.”
“I thought right away they weren’t animal tracks,” Thomas said, gesturing broadly.
“I could tell from a distance that the protective sheet over TB-3 had come loose.
“So I went over to check.”
His version of the story had become slightly more heroic since he had reported it to Mercer the night before.
Andrea asked, “Are you going out to pick up the magnetometer again tonight?
“If you are, maybe I’ll come along and see the cave at night.”
--
Andrea looked toward the entrance.
Mercer and Ronald were just coming in.
They helped themselves to the food along the wall and walked over to the same table.
Ronald sat two seats down from the group.
Mercer sat across from him.
“You’re still talking about the footprints?” Ronald asked.
“Best discovery of the day,” Thomas said.
“Better than the pottery?” Mercer asked.
Thomas hesitated.
“Well... more interesting to talk about.”
Mercer gave a small smile and opened the papers she had set beside her plate.
--
“Anyway, there’s still a chance the pottery was brought in from somewhere else.”
Ronald turned back to his conversation with Mercer as he cut into his fish.
Mercer turned a page.
“Did you see the results from the subsurface survey this afternoon?
“There’s an anomaly just below the floor of TB-3 that looks like a cavity.”
“Yeah.
“We should look at the surrounding rock too.
“If we find altered rock containing the same mineral, that could help us identify the source of the pottery’s raw material.”
--
Andrea called over from a few seats away.
“Maybe that cavity is an Ebu Gogo den.”
“You think so too?” Ronald joked.
Thomas tilted his head.
“How human are the Ebu Gogo supposed to be, anyway?”
Andrea answered.
“They’re small, and they walk on two legs.
“But they’re not exactly like humans.
“And they don’t really speak the way humans do. They imitate words they hear.”
“So they’re monkeys?” Sasha asked.
“More human-like than monkeys, I think.
“But the stories don’t make them sound as intelligent as humans, either.”
“So, goblins,” one of the excavation staff said.
Everyone laughed again.
At that moment, one of the women clearing dishes stopped beside them.
“You’re talking about the Ebu Gogo?”
Andrea looked up.
“You know about them?”
The woman smiled as though it were common knowledge.
“It’s local folklore.”
“Just an old story, right?” Thomas said.
The woman stacked the empty plates she was carrying.
“Yes, an old story.
“But around here, when something strange happens, people still say the Ebu Gogo were behind it.”
The younger members of the team loved stories like this.
“They say the Ebu Gogo come out at night looking for food.
“The stories vary from village to village.”
Thomas pointed at the papaya in front of him.
“So last night they came to our excavation looking for dinner?”
Everyone laughed again.
The woman laughed with them, then carried the empty dishes back to the kitchen.