World Traveler

Romancing the Artifact

Devin smiled as Brandy seemed apologetic over the state of his shirt. Looking down he saw a smudge here and there from the rush of the Bazaar and resulting scuffles that occurred. It was a classic Istanbul tourist shirt that had the Blue Mosque at the center with the countries flag in the background. He shook off the whole thing and smiled up at Brandy. "The shirt is the least of my worries darling."

Devin committed himself to relaxing as the plane took off. As it started to level off he thought about grabbing a nap, but decided against it. Instead he figured the time could be best spent reviewing the information he had gathered during his time in Istanbul. Pulling out his journal and opening it to the book marked page he began reading the Italian that was written on the paper.

"L'onere ho messo sulle spalle è più pesante di qualsiasi impero. Dei velocità mio fratello , e mantenere la chiave di sicurezza..."

Continually rereading the last portion of the paragraph sent Devin into a sort of hypnotic state where he stayed for several moments. A small amount of turbulence jolted him back to the present. Seeing little headway being made in the way of the letter he shifted his focus to something else in his bag. The compass he had used on Polo's map and then another artifact. This one was a unique collection of prayer beads known as a red rosary beads called this due to their red tint.

The beads were all different shaped and seemed carefully made so. Normally they would be small spheres of similar size; however, in this case they each had a side added with the first one having four sides and the last having somewhere in the realm of 25. The age of these beads was up for debate; however, their last owner was a good starting point. In the small corner of the four sided bead the initials R. de P.

"I think it is about time I took advantage of the bathroom." Devin said as he got up. He set the beads and journal back into his bag and set it in his seat as he made his way to the back of the plane where there was a small but comfortable restroom. While in the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror and started to get a handle on everything that had happened in the past two days. While the last several hours had been crazy it was the last 48 hours that had actually been the full story that lead to him being 35,000 feet in the air heading to Egypt. He returned shortly after a few collected breaths.

Romancing the Artifact

Devin smiled and made small talk while his recent companion excused herself. His eyes were supposed to remain on the tour group, but he found it easier to glance back at Brandy. Her body language was easy and enjoyable to read Devin found himself looking at her hair and thinking of other ways she might wear it. He concluded that he liked the ponytail best.

When Brandy returned to the group her entire demeanor had changed. Instead of her friendly smile a straight face damming the tears was present. Without thinking of the act or knowing about it Devin reflexively moved next to her. Before anyone else he asked what had happened. Worried that whoever she had been in touch with was suddenly struck down or had already been caught up in his little adventure. Hearing that her brother was in a car accident was jolting.

Holding her closer than he had before he was nearly thrown off the street when she, without missing a beat, turned back to her usual self. She mentioned something about losing time and that they could make it up by reaching the small airport in fifteen minutes. This goal was reached in record time as the two crossed the old highway now littered with small highway market stalls.

A jet engines roar told the two that they had arrived at their destination. The wind started to pick up and Devin pulled his shirt closer to his chest as they walked towards one of the nearby hangers. Soon enough they reached their destination as Brandy seemed overjoyed to reunite with the man who met them there. Her energy made Devin smile while a twinge of subconscious jealousy tickled the back of his thoughts.

The treasure hunter walked towards the two and held out a hand for the man named Andrew to shake. He did so with a bear like grip. Doing his best to respond in kind Devin was happy as the two broke away and Brandy called Devin over so they could get going. Andrew seemed to have already completed the pre-flight check and seconds later they were in the plane heading towards the north end of the tarmac.

"It would seem your promotion wasn't completely needed for you to see the world." Devin said looking around and somewhat amazed at how quickly she was able to rally the flight out of seemingly thin air, or a single phone call. Which was the same thing to Devin. Brandy was as remorseful as they came and that interested Devin greatly. The plane was stopped and each person was asked to present their passports. As Devin handed his over the customs agent asked to see his bag.

After they went through the leather messenger bag they gave the plane the approval to leave and the agents existed the plane. Thankful they didn't get an idea to do a pat down Devin let out a sigh of relief. While personal gun ownership wasn't entirely illegal in Turkey it was frowned upon if you didn't have a lot of paperwork. Non of which Devin had with him.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

No one at this time has moved their character to the Magical Creature outdoor classroom. Is this correct?

Romancing the Artifact

Devin heard the name Brandy and thought it sounded familiar. He didn't have time to think about where it was he heard it before as she started leading them out of the Bazaar. He quickly looked at his wallet and said goodbye to the remaining cash that was in it. The store owner seemed to smile with a all too knowing look. What he was assuming was not something Devin was interested in hearing.

With a camera in one hand and a beautiful woman in the other Devin took to the crowd until it started to thin out. They were reaching the restaurant section of the market which was really only for tourists due to most of the population fasting. Were they to come back after sundown there wouldn't be a non Muslim in sight as it was common for entire families to book tables after their fasts were allowed to be broken.

As the crowed thinned so did their cover. Thankfully Brandy started chatting with a couple who was part of some sort of walking tour. They quickly made friends and soon enough were joining the tour as it rounded back to the main streets just outside the market. Looking around the exit Devin nor Brandy saw a guy or gal who looked out of place. Still they were cautious and continue to play the part of a couple on vacation.

"So how did you two meet?" A member of the group asked Devin and Brandy as they were given a few minutes to buy water. They thought about ditching the group, but then thought it better to stay for a little longer.

"I only met her a few hours ago..." Devin said without thinking. This earned him a firm elbow in the side from Brandy who flashed a brilliant smile.

"Your humor never translates Matthew." She said as the group laughed with her. She then show a look at Devin who only shrugged back as if to say. 'Alright we can make a story.'

"No, but really we share a common passion for the ancient world. In fact we met while underground shifting through a bunch of artifacts. Brandy is a archaeologist while I am a historian. It was faith that brought us together I guess." Devin threw an arm over Brandy and then asked the other couple to take a picture of them as they rounded past another massive mosque.

While they were posing Devin leaned over to Brandy. "The letters aren't a myth." He then looked at the camera while Brandy seemed to look back over at him. This earned a straight face from the person taking the picture. "Maybe one with Devin not whispering in the fair ladies ear?"

Romancing the Artifact

The chaos of the Grand Bazaar was the perfect smoke screen. If anyone tried to followed Devin they would be hard pressed to make their way through the sea of tourists. Every language of the world was being used to describe the long standing market. Once the center of all things traded from the far east to the far west the Grand Bazaar was now one of the largest tourists attractions in all of Istanbul. People came to buy the classic trophies and souvenirs such as rugs, hookah pipes, and swords. Through the clutter and mess plenty of novelty graphic t-shirts could be seen waterfalling from the top of the shops walls.

It was only by luck of a moment of silence that Devin heard the directions ordered by the woman in the museum. Up ahead he saw the place where she was describing. The bottu shop was clearly marked by the giant sculpture of Vishnu the god of destruction in the Hindu religion. Slightly off in the largely muslim heavy market, but popular amongst many tourists who were flocking the store front. Up ahead Devin saw a familiar face and wasn’t happy about it. “Miggy you look terrible!” He said just before the man punched him in the face.

“You damn snake Matthew!” The man said with his fist going up for another swing. He never delivered it as Devin recovered and kicked him in the chest.

“You really need to work on that handshake Miggy. People are going to start thinking you might be a rude fella.” Devin then ducked as one of Miggys cohorts came around for a tackle. Ready for this he grabbed the man’s arm and twisted till he fell into a nearby table and crashed out of the way. “Seems you are running with a bad crowd. Best do what I did and hit the trail solo.” Devin then turned right at the store and was quickly met by the woman who he saw take a short kick to one of the guys.

“At this point I think we might be best to split from here. You wouldn’t happen to have an exit from here? He then saw several people who were likely more security. “Time to disappear.” Devin then grabbed the woman and pulled her into a shop. He then looked at the store owner and quickly spoke in arabic. “Soyunma odası lütfen.” The two were then lead towards the back and showed two changing rooms. “Teşekkür ederim” Devin said.

Before anyone came into the shop Devin grabbed two t-shirts and some other horrendous tourist clothes and threw them towards the woman. “Time to put on a disguise.” Only way we are getting out is through the cover of the crowd. He then began changing in the room and throwing on the shirt and sunglasses. It wasn’t a full makeover but people would have to look twice unless they really knew Devin.

“So any thoughts on how to mingle with the crowd...?” Devin at this point decided it was time to learn the woman’s name. “What is your name by the way?”

Romancing the Artifact

Upon hearing his real name Devin was pulled from his journal and back into the reality of his little adventure had a plus one he hadn't planned or wanted. "You were the kind of girl who beat up the guy he liked in the playground weren't you?" The question was rhetorical, but he let it hang before moving the conversation to more constructive parts.

"Marco Polo admitted to traveling to Alexandria in his letters to his brother who was at the time one of the five members of the Vatican Public Policy Pontificates." Devin had been aware enough to remember the woman had said she was out of her element with Marco Polo so he went into more detail. "They were in charge of protecting the public from what the church deemed harmful or dangerous. For the most part they just used their power to squish out anti-church groups, but sometimes they actually got something right. The letters have Marco writing to his brother that the object was received and would be contained."

Devin looked back and saw that the vehicle did indeed have government plates. "Makes sense that Kipling would have some pull here." He muttered before continuing. "The letters are real." Devin said before the woman could bring up the fact that the letters were often a myth that many people including those in the church who admit many of Marco Polo's papers, maps, and personal journals were destroyed. "The church, under orders of Marco's brother, were burnt as soon as he returned, but copies were made during Polo's time in China." The taxi took a hard right and some of Devin's things started to spill out including the compass he used earlier. "Stop the car." Devin said as he started picking his things up. He also took his passport back.

"Get me to the airport and I will tell you the rest. You are right Kipling isn't the kind to enjoy letting odd ends stay loose, but you step out of this car with me you aren't a loose end you are an unknown. You are already one to me and that is fine. I am really just a puppy looking for the perfect place to be, but with Kipling you are a target. Get out, find the police and you are clean a clear." Devin realized this wasn't much of a warning or an invitation, but it was what he said and he stuck with it. The taxi stopped and before he even had enough time to count the cash thrown at him Devin was out the door and making his way through the crowd of tourists. One hand on his compass and the other on the bit of metal casing around a bullet.

Romancing the Artifact

Of all the things Devin was bad with it was people. He was good at charming them, persuading them, and ever entertaining them, but getting them was something he had never grasped. It was this inability that usually led him into questionable situations. Be it a poor choice in company or a poor choice in business partners. For that reason he wasn’t skeptical when things went his way. He was downright paranoid. He also wasn’t that good at cards, but he knew never to give up your hand and that included what he was looking for.

The woman was more than a challenge to understand as they left the room and then the entire museum all of which seemed to be too good to be true. Here and there he gave an off handed comment until he was outside about getting back to the insurance company. He wasn’t too far gone to forget to say goodbye to the front desk person who helped him earlier, but after that he quickly made his exit with the woman following after him. Devin started to tense up as he saw a large amount of security in his future. Instead it was most questions.

“Sure I did my name is Matthew Keller.” Devin said with far less confidence as was common for him. The woman then brought up a debt between them which made Devin even more nervous. Had he found another treasure hunter? He thought she was s dig head with archaeology as a passion and only the next fact, but if money was on her mind she was even more confusing. When she stepped into her taxi Devin took a quick look around and froze for a moment.

The face he saw across the street was one he wouldn’t forget. When you owe someone as much money as Devin did and he knew what they do to collect you don’t make it a habit of forgetting their face. Without thinking of the next minute he jumped into the car and gave the driver the address to the nearest busy market street he could think of. “To the Grand Bazaar” He said. Over 2 million people visit the famous market in Istanbul’s old district if someone was following you it was likely one of the best places to start.

“I don’t know what you are after beautiful, but I can tell you right now unless it is trouble I wouldn’t recommend following me.” Devin didn’t mean anything threatening by this. In fact a threat from Devin was about as dangerous as a care bear. It was part of the reason he was so bad at cards. Looking into his bag he grabbed the compass and his notebook. Unknown to him his passport fell out and onto the car floor.

In the journal he started writing down Alexandria. When he jumps into his journal, but at least this time he was aware of his companion. “I want you to know I am not looking to steal anything. I wasn’t interested in the map, but what was underneath it. IF you want to report me or think I stole anything you can search me after we lose the unwanted attention. That said the less you know about me the better for me.” Devin looked up but then quickly back at his journal which he flipped over to a map of the Middle East with indiscernible notes and numbers. “Sure you understand love.

Passport says Devil Coal ; From Seattle : Washington ; Age : 28 It shows travel throughout the world save for Antarctica.

Romancing the Artifact

Taking an old compass and laying it carefully over the map Devin waited as the needle began to swish back and forth. While the needle began to slow down he took out his modern compass and watched the needle point towards the doorway where the older man was waiting. Devin couldn't hid his smile as he watched the compass on the map have its needle pointing almost 90 degrees south. As he dragged it down the map he was interrupted by the woman who had joined him down in the basement.

Before he was able to explain that he was just a simple insurance auditor or some other position that made his actions make sense she leaned in close to him and whispered a small interview. Her breath could be felt on his ear and made a small tingle roll over his spine. He could see how close he was to getting the answers he needed from the map so he decided to work and talk at the same time.

“The original map was actually drawn and made by Marco Polo. The people who recreated it weren’t privy to all the hidden information the original creator left on the map.” Devin played the pronoun game on purpose so as to peek the woman’s interest rather than get an abrupt obstacle appear in front of him. As he dragged the old compass down the map he was careful to lift it above the papyrus so the metal wouldn’t damage the map.

While the compass continued to point south Devin returned to telling his story. “Marco Polo’s journey was one of the most complete writings of a person traveling at the time. He wasn’t just sharing a story, but sharing the entire world with those back in Italy and the rest of Western Europe. Every stop, obstacle, person, animal, and plant was written about and even drawn in great detail except for a single stop. The last stop before he made before heading out on land via Jerusalem.”

Only recently had historians discovered that before that Marco Polo had traveled to Alexandra before making port in the Holy City. There was still a great debate over why this was left out and at times seemingly actively hidden from Polo’s journey and stories. Some believe that it was as simple as Polo leaving the city off due to it being a business trip for someone else on the boat. A minor detour before the true exploration began. Others have varying levels of conspiracy theories.

“I am sure you heard about this. It was in all the peer review papers your boss seems keen on.” Devin gave a wave of his head over to the old man who was now looking over their way. Devin then saw the needle swing back north just as he passed it over the city of Alexandra.” The smile on his face wouldn’t be bigger even if he had just been given a million bucks. What he just found was worth more. He found validation.

“Eccellente!” Devin exclaimed in Italian. He looked up at the woman and smiled again. “That feeling when you know you are on the right trail. Almost as good as sex.” He then reached up and kissed the woman square on the lips. “But I guess that depends on the partner. You have been a wonderful assistant…” Devin realized he didn’t know the woman’s name. “Anyways I need to get to Alexandra. You know the best way to the airport?” Devin was already packing his bag up and getting ready to leave.

“Looks like everything here is checking out. Not that we thought there was anything shady going on. You obviously have the best in the business looking over everything.” Devin looked back at the women and then started to make his way to the door.

Romancing the Artifact

Devin was starting to get very nervous about how things were going. Things had never gone this well for him. They didn’t go this well on his prom night, they didn’t go this well during his time at college, and every poker hand he has ever had. He was being taken by the hand almost literally to the X on his treasure map. Well, not his treasure map, but the one he knows exists.

Trying to be as much a fly on the wall as possible Devin allowed himself the pleasure of listing to the conversation between the two museum employees. From what he could hear the man was giving the woman a runaround job. It sounded nice, but from the woman’s response and body language he felt there was more to it.

The door was open and Devin quickly started to look around the room. It wasn’t beyond him that just within reach was likely more money in antiquities than he could ever hope to find, but he was admiring the collection. Not looking to steal it. He saw near the back row a crate of boxes followed by a few hanging shelves that said maps. Quick as he could he started to get excited as he set his book down and began to rummage through his things. Passing by his own small tool set he pulled out a protractor and quickly started to put on gloves.

“Looks like you have a bit of organizing to do down here.” Devin said to the man who was still near the doorway. He got a small laugh, but at this point the man was looking at what Devin was doing and not talking to the woman. There was concern in his voice and he saw it best to get his answers answered.

“Is there a reason you are having to see the actual articles?” He said it loud enough that it pulled Devin back into the reality that he was there under false pretenses. Quick as he could he did damage control while slipping on some gloves.

“You wouldn’t believe how many times we are told the real deal is in the basement when all that is there is the paperwork telling us the real thing is in the basement.” Devin said in a matter of fact tone. He then started to go through the maps as gently as he could until he got to the third one and smiled. “Marco…” He said as the map had ‘Polo’ written in the top right corner.

Now that he had the right map Devin knew he needed to get to work. He set the map on the top of the others and returned to his bag where he started pulling out a few instruments similar to the ones on display in the North Wing. They were old enough to be worthy of being in this museum. The final item he pulled out was an old book. Written by the man who drew the map he had just handled.

Romancing the Artifact

When Devin walked along the central hallway he saw a woman leave the restrooms. It was obvious that more time was spent on her than any of the sculptures standing behind her. Devin had never been anything other than weak against beautiful woman, but thankfully he had a much more pressing matter to distract him from the pigtailed beauty.

The Museum was still mostly empty with the bus tourists still in the courtyard getting their pre-tour talk. The only ones who had tickets and were in the museum were the early to rise backpack travelers. Thankfully they aren’t the kind who invest a lot of time in stuff that isn’t both old and photographic. Their blindness was something Devin was happy to take advantage of.

Making his way up the stairs Devin finally reached the room he wanted. He saw it closed off and was happy that a large plastic sheet was up blocking people’s view of the whole area. He flashed his badge to the guard and then walked through without waiting. The guard didn’t follow so Devin seemed to be in the clear. The first second he looked around the room he spent admiring all the maps and artifacts around him.

The room was a paradise for any cartographer fan. Maps were all over the walls and navigation tools were displayed throughout the floor of the room. All were amazing in their own rite, but only one held a specific secret. Glancing at the different maps on the wall Devin scoured the room until he came across a map encased in a massive glass display case. Looking at the full map he noticed some tearing around the edges.

‘Shit’ Devin thought to himself. The tearing was fine, but the small fibers that came out from the tear told him that the material it was made of wax paper when the real map was made from papyrus. The one in the display was a fake. Something he hadn’t planned for. He was told that the maps were kept in climate controlled displays and due to their more or less ‘neat, but not that neat’ factor with the public they weren’t often duplicated for display. Devin had the ready availability of flash photography on phone to blame most likely.

Exiting the room and again showing his badge to the guard he muttered something about getting some of his tools. He had no interest in the room anymore and saw a full week of planning quickly spiral down the drain. While taking the steps he heard a rather scathing voice echo throughout the hall. Looking down he saw the woman from earlier talking with the man Devin recognized as the curator for the entire museum.

“Excuse me?” Devin said. He didn’t know what the conversation was, but seeing the curator meant he could do some damage control. “Hi, my name is Matthew Keller. I am with the antiquities protection department for this facilities insurance firm. I was instructed to review the security for your astrological section, but I noticed some of the maps were the duplicates. Could one of you assist me in getting to the lower basement to check on the real deals?”

Devin realized he was supposed to be a computer and security nerd and not a well versed artifact appraiser. Even if he were to back up the unusually high knowledge with the age old “I am an enthusiast” the duplicates at this sort of museum were top of the line. “At least I was told in an email. Heck knows I couldn’t tell old from older around that room.” He gave a warm smile to the man and then a much warming smile to the woman.