the_last_resort | Things Belloq likes

[Belloq sits in a basement office in the museum, pouring over old survey maps, locations that have not yet been excavated but were deemed probable areas of indigenous habitation. After that display of the skeleton spawner’s power, there were many parties interested in acquiring one. The Orion Syndicate would pay him well if he could deliver one intact, operational (and safely powered down). Dictators and imperialists all over the galaxy desired an artifact that, if placed among their enemies and activated, could wipe out swathes of opposition without wasting their own troops.

He just needs to find another one, like the one that had wreaked havoc on the village, and he would be rich beyond the dreams of Croesus.]

[She had already been here for several days when Jade realized that she had not been to the Museum yet. If she was to help with excavation and exploring ruins, she mostly likely would have to work with scientists and researchers stationed there and attend meetings somewhere among the hundreds of rooms. Or whatever. It had been years since she last was able to visit a museum, mostly due to the lack of funds and little free time away from the lighthouse shelter.

She took a few quick looks throughout the upper floors before asking one of the workers about where the rest of the research team were, name dropping Belloq in case they were tight on security. Surprisingly, they easily showed her the way to the staircase leading to the basement, pointing out which office door to knock on, and soon left her.

It certainly was easier than asking the right person and finding a secret passage at the Akuda Bar.

Jade didn't take long in finding the right door and knock on it a few times.]

Come in.

[Belloq calls out without looking up from his survey maps. He's an archaeologist; searching for promising places to excavate is part of his job. He doesn't need to hide it. His ends may be illegal, but the means are perfectly above board.]

[Jade unassumingly opened the door and quietly walked in. Belloq was busy at his desk, but she headed over there anyway.]

Hey, just wanted to meet up with you before we went on a mission together. [She stopped right in front of his desk and crossed her arms, finding a relaxed standing pose.] You working on something right now?

[He looks up when she approaches his desk and pushes the maps aside.]

Nothing that cannot be interrupted. Have a seat. [He gestures politely to a chair on the other side of his desk.]

Tell me a little about your background, if you please. I'm always interested in the people I'll be working with.

[And interested in how much he can trust them and with what.]

[Jade grabs the back of the chair, slides it closer, and sits down.]

So, back home, I'm a freelance photographer. The last big thing I worked on was documenting all the wildlife; the rarer the animal, the more credits I got. [She leans back.] It's been a lot of crawling into small places and finding hidden passages for me. Abandoned ruins won't be that different to me.

[It's probably not a good idea to go around telling strangers that she had just finished a mission for a rebel group that involved breaking into military complexes and photographing government secrets while sneaking past guards.

That might put her in danger.]

Excellent. Then you don't mind getting a bit dirty.

What you'll be doing on site is photographing the artifacts before they've been removed from their place of discovery. It's a documentation both of precisely where they were found, in case of error in the written records, and a visual inventory to catch out any thefts. If we have a photograph of an artifact and the museum does not possess said artifact, then we know to contact security and have an accurate image of what was stolen.

[And conversely, if he can smuggle things out of the dig site without a picture being taken of it, it will be as if it had never existed. No one will suspect any thefts and Belloq can say that he takes exacting security precautions.]

[She takes mental note of what is expected of her at this job. It looks pretty reasonable for a research group to take careful documentation of everything they find, only this time, her subjects will be completely still.]

Sounds alright. When do I start?

You can start tomorrow, if that's not too soon for you. I have a dig site at the local ruins; you can't miss it.

What are your rates? I must warn you that we can't afford to pay very much. With the quarantine in place, funding for scientific discovery isn't what it used to be.

[She thinks over it for a few moments. It probably won't be as expensive as her rates for photographing moving subjects, but Belloq looks like someone who can afford to spend a little bit extra for quality.]

I'd start with two hundred emeralds for most artifacts, if they're complete enough. For the ones that are broken or kind of big, I'll have to charge a bit more to make sure it's properly documented.

Agreed.

[He nods and holds out a hand to shake to seal the deal.]

And who knows? After we know each other a little better, I may find further work for you as well. Not so official as this, more...odds and ends.

[Jade accepts and shakes.]

I think I'll see how this works out first. But doing other things sounds like fun. [And it means more money for her.]

[Belloq crouches in the dirt, carefully brushing away sand with a soft bristled tool. Each swipe reveals more and more of the treasure buried within. Just an ordinary clay vase, but its age made it priceless.

He wonders if he should smuggle it away before it's documented, or if he should wait to see if something better turns up. For discretion's sake, only a few things can be illicitly removed from any given dig site.]

[Niko pointedly didn't pay attention to Belloq. What he did with his job was his business. This old shit- so far it was either sold to people in crime, or it was used to sell things in advertisements. History probably had a purpose here. He had occasionally quietly mused on it.]

[He as sat on top of a rock, holding the remains of a very old wooden sword that would be going to the museum. He turned it in his hands.]

They say the people that lived here, they didn't fight. I wonder how they managed to live like this. [It doesn't sound like a bad way to live, just out of the ordinary. And he didn't take his eyes off the weapon as he held it. These swords- they didn't use them on each other.]

There are some ancient civilizations on Earth who didn't fight wars. The Minoans of the island Crete for example. Their cities had no defenses, their art depicted nature and games and women, but never fighting or soldiers. What weapons they painted were always in ritual contexts, not killing. The sea was their protection and Crete was a land of peace and beauty.

[He pauses in his brushing and looks up at Niko.]

But this was their downfall. When the Mycenaeans came the Minoans were wiped out, their great civilization destroyed because they were incapable of protecting themselves and their people.

[His attention again returns to the vase and the dirt concealing it.]

Perhaps something similar happened here.

It doesn't surprise me. It is sad maybe they didn't have someone else that could have protected them. Sometimes people that are in between can do that sort of thing.

[He puts the sword away, carefully packing it in foam even though it's petrified wood. It's withstood the rigors of time so far. Then he moves down to sit beside of Belloq. He can't offer much help, but he can watch what he's doing.] They made important things, they could have hurt a lot of people, but lived very humbly.

Across human history, the strong conquer and the weak are conquered. Individuals may sometimes be altruistic enough to defend those who can't defend themselves but nations are almost invariably highly self-interested. They do not protect another unless they stand to gain something from it.

These people, though, with their spawners they could have conquered worlds. And yet they chose not to. Why was that, do you think?

Some people are okay with health, food, shelter, and peace. Looked like they had what they needed, so they never expected anything to happen to them.

I have wondered a little if maybe they weren't so peaceful. A spawner made the skeletons- maybe they were peaceful, but they made these things to keep themselves safe. They wouldn't have to fight.

But that might mean they were being invaded, or expecting to be.

Sometimes even peaceful people get scared. Maybe often, they do. [He pats Belloq's shoulder in a companionable way.]

[Belloq chuckles at Niko's shoulder pat. Then, more solemnly.]

Facing an invasion you're not prepared for is a terrifying thing. These peaceful people made a weapon with the face of their death god, a weapon that cannot show mercy. They must have been very frightened indeed.

It may sound shitty, but at least they don't have to worry about it anymore.

[He shrugs and leans back against a rock, crossing his arms lazily.]

[He chuckles.]

The ultimate fate of us all, yes? To...not have to worry about things any more. Shakespeare put it best:

"Fear no more the frown o’ the great;
Thou art past the tyrant’s stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat;
To thee the reed is as the oak:
The scepter, learning, physic, must
All follow this, and come to dust."

I sometimes wonder what comes after, however. So many conflicting stories and traditions. If I could ask God one thing, I think it would be that.

Shakespeare. We didn't have him.

I didn't get a chance to read a lot. There weren't very many good libraries. But mostly I heard folk stories from my family. Old Balkan epics.

But you probably know as much about those as I do. [It's not often that he's a little sad for his lack of education. He's normally okay with being smart enough to get by. Today, though, he's a bit sad about it as he thinks on that.]

Balkan folktales and illiterate bards who recite them recently helped unlock secrets of Homer that had puzzled highly-educated scholars for centuries. So I don't discount the value of those old stories or the people who know them. Throughout history many of the greatest of authors have sought wisdom not from the sophists and orators but from rustic farmers.

You learned the things you needed to learn and you survived. The ability to stay alive is infinitely more useful than the ability to quote poetry, yes?

Not necessarily.

I had this friend, a good one. He was Irish and he liked whiskey. We ran goods together, did a few jobs. But at one time he wanted to be an artist, and he talked about this poet- he wrote Leaves of Grass I think it's called.

Completely piss drunk, and he could think deeply about it.

People like me and him, some of us can be real smart but this does not mean much.

[Belloq puts the brush down and sits back on his heels.]

What would you have studied, if you could?

I wanted to become an astronaut.

Ah... you were before the space age, weren't you? When I was a boy, there were newspaper articles with pictures showing rockets in America and Russia, rising up for the stars. There were pictures of men walking on the moon. The first said, "Ово је мали корак за човека, али велики за човечанство." [He doesn't know what it said in English.]

I was just a little boy at the time, and I thought poor boys could still manage to fly rockets one day. This is the closest I've gotten.

[Belloq grins broadly.] Like Le Voyage dans la Lune! You know, that was the first cinema film ever saw, back when I was a little boy and my father took the family on a holiday to Paris. It seemed so miraculous at the time, the moving pictures. But even seeing that new technology at work, a trip to the moon seemed an impossible fantasy. Amazing that in your time, mankind has actually done it.

[He shakes his head bemusedly.]

I can't imagine what it must be like, to crack open the heavens like that and walk where, in the stories, only gods could live.

Perhaps someday you can take a ship from this place and fly out into the stars.

[Niko grins his unfortunately mean looking grin at that, even if it's well meaning.]

Yeah.

I was hoping I could do that some day. When I came out here. They won't let us leave the planet now, but maybe if I stay long enough. And maybe if I get in good with the right people, I can afford a ship.

I wish you luck. Piloting a space ship...amazing. For my part, I can't even drive automobiles.

Perhaps if we are lucky enough to come across a particularly remarkable find, it will aid you in your endeavour. [He means finding something good out in the wilderness that he can steal for the Orions, and that Niko, as his guide, can turn a blind eye towards the stealing and thus receive a cut. If he can find the rumoured pillar of gold, or a diamond sword...even a small cut of the profit off something like that would be quite a lot of money.]

I can't say I haven't thought about it. [He sighs at that, and at about that point Niko's oversized hound stretches, rises, and puts his big head in to inspect what Belloq is doing.]

[Then he swipes the man with his tongue and he goes to lay around Niko where he's sat. Niko is just chuckling at the swipe.]

[Belloq leans away from the Suddenly Tongue, in surprise rather than disgust. He'd grown up on this father's vineyard, and the family had always kept a few animals as well, including dogs. He was no stranger to dog slobber. He calmly wipes it off his face with his sleeve and leaves smears of dirt behind.]

Your dog is quiet the cad, to kiss and run without even offering me a bottle of wine first.

[Too much time Wander has spent cooped up in town, and now it was time to actually do some exploring. He had heard that there would be lots of people heading to the ruins, so he figured that he'd head there too. The fact that he would be safer in a group never crossed his mind.

He recognized Belloq, squatting in the sand and brushing small pieces he found. Figuring that he could also help, Wander takes a brush from a nearby toolbox (he promises he'll return it, he tells himself) and starts working next to him.

He's not finding anything yet, though he's kind of brushing a bit too hard to be 100% safe.]

[Belloq at first thinks that it's one of his diggers when he hears someone settle down next to him, so he doesn't look up from his work. But then the brushing is more vigorous than one of his diggers would do.

He looks up with alarm and reaches out to stop Wander before he accidentally scrapes off the top layer of a painted urn.]

Non non non not like that. Gently, patiently, like you're caressing a...["lover" he meant to say, but he looks at Wander and rethinks the simile.]...a beloved old pet. Each brush smooth and light.

[Wander doesn't flinch when Belloq reaches out, but looks at him curiously. Soft? You mean he was being to excited to find something for his friend?

At least he clearly understands how to treat a pet.]

Oh, uh, sorry 'bout that. [He brushes at the dirt a lot more slowly.] Got a little excited there, sir. This better?

[Belloq watches for a moment. Nods.]

Much better, yes.

These artifacts can be extremely delicate. More fragile than a china tea cup. When you excavate them, it must be done with care and patience, not like digging up a flower bed.

Like a china cup, got it. [It doesn't bother him that he was corrected; the safety of the artifact was important to Belloq!]

So...[He speaks up after ten seconds.] watcha diggin' up?

[Belloq stares at Wander for a long, silent moment.]

The whole point of archaeology is that we don't know what is beneath the dirt. We can see the disturbance in the earth and know that people once settled here, but nothing more than that. We could find a single clay pot sherd, or we could find a golden hoard. We can't know what the ancients left behind until we dig.

[Wander takes a break from his sweeping.]

I mean, you know what this place was? Anythin' in particular we're findin'? [He'd like to be sure what to keep an eye out.]

From the artifacts we've discovered so far, this area was probably a residential district. No palaces or temples here.

[He pauses in his efforts to unearth his vase to pontificate.]

All the temples so far seem to be distant from the cities. It's an interesting detail, and not without its parallels on Earth. In some cultures, gods are not exactly humanity's friends. Although they are powerful and deserve worship they are best kept at a distance, appeased and respected, but not loved.

[He shrugs.] Well, since the gods are so important, it'd make sense for them to live in fancy houses in the middle of nature. Best place to live, really.

[He went back to brushing.] So people used to live all the way out here? Maybe a thousand years ago? [There's something solid starting to poke through the sand.] An' you put everythin' you find in the museum, right?

Oh, yes. [He says earnestly (and lying).] It all goes to the museum where it rightfully belongs. This land is part of the public trust, and so everything found on it belongs to the public as a whole.

[No reason to doubt Belloq.]

Can I see whatever we dig up at the museum once we're done?

[Belloq hides a sigh. Well, that decides for him whether he'll steal this vase he's excavating or not. He can't take the risk that Wander will remember it and wonder where it got off to.]

All artifacts aren't on display at all times; there isn't enough room for them. But if they aren't on display, they'll be in the collections and the museum employees are usually willing to show the archived artifacts to interested parties upon request.

[Something comes up!

...False alarm, just a rock. But Wander keeps on brushing.]

So if I ask nicely, they'll let me in?

The displays are open to anyone from nine to five every day.

The collections in the basement... [He looks at Wander, shrugs.] ...if you made an appointment it's likely that someone would find the time to show you around, let you see the collections. But they probably wouldn't let you touch them.

Oh, I promise not to touch 'em.

[He works on his patch of dirt in silence.]

[With the quarantine in place, Earth wine is increasingly hard to come by and expensive to purchase. So instead he sits with a bottle of Klingon blood wine, the price still higher than it had been, but demand for it is low enough that crates of the stuff are still easy enough to find. He has yet to take his first sip and stares at the glass dubiously. It looks far thicker than any wine of his knowledge ought to be.]

Things Belloq likes

Museum

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Ruins

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I replied to this but I guess I didn't hit enter?

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Ruins

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Pugsy's