Owner	Pose
Cindy Moon	Cindy is all packed and ready. She has been for nearly two days, truth be known. She changed clothes three times before leaving for the airport, but finally decided on comfort for the long flight. So in khakis, sensible flats, and a swoop-neck red sweater with a matching wrap, she waits near the ticket desk with her luggage cloistered around her feet. Better early than late, she has been in this spot for nearly an hour for fear that something would hold her up on the way.
Indiana Jones	About two hours before the flight is scheduled to leave, Dr. Jones steps into the terminal and spots Cindy. The girl is certainly a bundle of energy, which he can understand. He can't really suppress that little frisson of excitement when starting one of these expeditions, even the boring ones that didn't involve peril. He carries two suitcases and a laptop bag, hefting them easily as he walks toward her. He is wearing the tweed suit again, and his spectacles are perched on his nose. The Eminent Professor. "Hello, Miss Moon. Are you ready for the trip? No hassles with your passport or anything, right?"
Cindy Moon	"No hassles!" Cindy reports brightly. I tried to make sure everything was in order. But honestly, I'm just glad we have an actual flight this time." She picks up her carry-on and hugs it against her chest. A nondescript black carryall, with no particular markings except a luggage tag. The other suitcase at her feet matches it. Seems like she may have bought them new for this trip.
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Well, the tickets are bought, we just have to check in at the gate, after going through security and customs. Hope you brought something to entertain you between your homework. I got guide books on Rome in particular, Italy in general, as well as documentation on the conference. We will be expected to attend some panels, but I think we will be able to find time between them."
Cindy Moon	"I brought uh...video games, and some fashion and beauty magazines. I knew you well enough to know that you'd be bringing educational stuff I could memorize on the way, too. You never let me down." She winks and looks back at the ticket counter. "And I learned Italian weeks ago, before we went to China. So I think we should be all set!" Ever chipper, her confidence in her abilities to retain information, at least, is buoyant.
Indiana Jones	He can't help it. The girl has energy to spare, and it does bring a little lift to his own pace. "Let's go enture some tedium and get on the plane." Two and a half hours later, they are in the air. They got a free upgrade to business class when a couple doesn't show up for their flight and coach is overbooked. Indy doesn't often fly first class - business class, they call it now. It comes with comfortable chairs, more legroom, and even a table for him to put his laptop on. And Cindy's chair even swivels to face the same table. All in all, a nice way to sit together and do research. "All right...what do you know about the Medici family, Cindy?"
Cindy Moon	"A banking family...rose to prominence in the early 15th century, in the Republic of Florence. And we all know that rising to prominence anywhere near Italy back then meant stomping the crap out of whomever they're overcoming. Disparagement, sabotage, murder, and if all else fails, they write a completely unveiled book about what an asshat their adversary is." Cindy nods once.
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "The Medici Golden Rule. He who has the gold makes the rules. The family produced and financed four popes and two queens from this family. Textiles and wool, then banking. On the upside, they and other families kicked off the Renaissance. The downside is that this golden age was traveled on a road of bodies. They were the patrons of men like Galileo, Leonardo, Michelangelo...and Machiavelli. Even though they felt he turned on them." He paused for a moment. "You've read THE PRINCE. Does it seem like satire or skullduggery?"
Cindy Moon	"Well..no? I mean it definitely isn't satire, and it doesn't seem like it is trying to take underhanded jabs. Not like Dante's Inferno, or anything like that. But it does make examples of people and call them out. Which seemed to become quite the trend in the years to come. He was such a trendsetter." Cindy half-smiles and tilts her head. "Sometimes you gotta call a spade a spade."
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Biting the hand that fed him. It's these five 'lost' chapters that I think will be of the most interest. Machiavelli might have named some serious names, documented negotiations certain people would have killed to keep quiet, or lost. Or of organizations that had no interest in being outed." He paused. "People like The Old Man of the Mountain, or of one organization referred to in one letter as 'The Shadows.'"
Cindy Moon	"Well it's a foregone conclusion that stuff would have been left out of it, given that it wasn't released until after his death. I'm certain the most damning portions would have been what was cut from the manuscript. Honestly, I'm surprised any of what was removed might have survived at all." Cindy furrows her brow and takes a sip of her ginger ale.
Indiana Jones	Indy nodded. "Well, Miccolo had his supporters as well as his detractors. The thing is, is this a valid lead? This Mother Superior was a nobody in the convent...and two years later, she's running the place. How did she do it? Ambition would not have been enough...so maybe she had help."
Cindy Moon	Cindy pauses and sets down her drink. "But who do you think might have helped her? You don't think just reading it helped to get her there, do you? I mean the ones left out would have been the ones under the most scrutiny, right? Their descendents wouldn't have wanted it to see the light of day. Unless it was someone who was on his side in the matter, I guess..."
Indiana Jones	"I'm guessing she found it. The Church was notorious for 'appropriating' books of all kinds and sorting out their value. What if that was her initial job, studying the books to see if they were to be treasured...or torched?"
Cindy Moon	Cindy regards Indy seriously for a moment. "So either you're suggesting that she gleaned enough from it to become powerful in her own right...or to give her the leverage to use against others..."
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Maybe even both. Maybe it taught how to GET the leverage she needed. Even she seemed surprised by how well it worked. But the rumors that Niccolo was Satan may have reached her ears. It could be why she hid it away." He sat back. "Keep in mind there were religious wars between Catholicism and Protestantism were going on during this time. It may even be what spawned this cult called the brethren."
Cindy Moon	Cindy sits back and waves a hand dismissively. "Well, of /course/ Niccolo was Satan. I thought that went without saying," she quips. "I hear he's alive and well and living in Pismo Beach, with all the clams that he can eat."
Indiana Jones	Indy chuckles, then looks out the window. "A formerly proper nun without an ambitious bone in her body, and suddenly she is seeing ways to get ahead of the other nuns. It may have seemed like a betrayal of her vow to lie and cheat and deceive the nuns she worked with, for power in a world where Christians on both sides were dying like flies."
Cindy Moon	Cindy shakes her head. "Well, it kinda...WAS a violation of her vows. I mean, she is seeking power in a place and life that should never seek to elevate itself. We aren't talking about angling for an extra pudding cup at dinner. This is pretty much blasphemy..."
Indiana Jones	Indy waves over a flight attendant for a drink. "What would you like, Cindy?"
Cindy Moon	"Um." She looks at her ginger ale, which is now a glass of ice, and she sighs, her head swimming. "Is it too early in the day to start drinking?"
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Soda, whatever you have, Coke or Pepsi." The waitress nods, then walks off. Indy looks back to Cindy. "So...she gets a crisis of faith after attaining her dream, and does something with the book. She doesn't destroy it. Maybe she can't bring herself to destroy it. But she may lock it away, or bury it. Something. But she would record whwre it is, should she need it again. Power is an addictive drug. Just ask Kang...if you could find him."
Cindy Moon	"The lady is living a lie. What makes you think we might be able to wrest the manuscript from her grasp, though? Discounting our catching her in a moment of abject conviction, she isn't going to be willing to just get rid of it. And she certainly isn't wanting to let her secret out..." Cindy looks up well before the attendant returns with their sodas. That sense.
Indiana Jones	Indy chuckles. "This lady lived until 1550, and was buried at the convent. We might have to backtrack from her death to the point where she hid the book."
Cindy Moon	"Yeah but if Niccolo was Satan, you know she made a deal with him. She's still around. Mu lived back then, too," Cindy replies with raised brows. "You and I both know someone with this kinda power doesn't always just disappear." Yeah...she is playing devil's advocate, now. But it doesn't mean she isn't right, and she knows it.
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "We'll find out soon enough. All right." He reaches into his bag to pull out an envelope, opening it to reveal a badge on a lanyard, some papers, and a brochure-style program book with the name of the conference on it. "We have two rooms at the hotel, with a connecting door. We'll get keycards and such for the locks. Keep the badge on you during the conference. If it turns out you need to...stretch your legs, just leave the badge in the room."
Cindy Moon	"Of course. Will do. I have a shiny new leg-stretching suit. It's red, this time," Cindy asvises. "And a little more risque than the last one. You know, when in Rome, and all that."
Indiana Jones	Indy chuckles. "I'll have to see that sometime." He looks around. "Now, we'll be there for the first day of the convention, but the panels end at 8 pm. The next day, you and I are going for a little drive in the countryside to de-stress from the day before. I was able to rent a little Fiat for the day."
Cindy Moon	"Oh that sounds lovely. A Fiat??" Cindy replies, sounding a little surprised. "What's out in the countryside? An old convent maybe?"
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Maybe of them are still in operation, even after hundreds of years. Even Mussolini couldn't erase them all." He sighed. "Hopefully we will be able to relax a bit. But I suspect that if anyone finds out, the race will be on. A LOT of people want to get their mitts on that book."
Cindy Moon	"Then they won't find out," Cindy offers brightly. "And we can go and relax or whatever it is we want to do, and no one is gonna be the wiser." Although Cindy knows all to well that Indy's reputation precedes him, and anytime he breaks from the public, it's probably worth one's time to follow him. She also knows this isn't knowledge that she alone retains.
Indiana Jones	Indy nods. "Next...if we find the book, we would have to get it out of Italy. There is a boat going from Naples to Larnanca, in Cyprus. We can get it on the plane and back to the States."
Cindy Moon	Nodding slowly, Cindy commits the plan to memory. "Do you think....I mean, is there anyone else out there who knows your plan? Or knows you are going for more than just the conference, even? Even if they don't know what it is?" she inquires.
Indiana Jones	"The Brethren we saw in New York have some idea, but I doubt they know where it is. They might want to bird-dog us so we can lead them to it, and then take it from us. A tactic Belloq used often." He looked up again as the waitress came by with their drinks. "Thank you."
Cindy Moon	Cindy thanks the flight attendant quietly for her drink, and waits for her to depart before musing further. "So...the stage is set. The villains have been identified. And the Fiat has been rented." She blows out a sigh of anxious energy. "Let the games begin. What could possibly go wrong?"
Indiana Jones	Indy looked at her. "Do me a favor, Cindy. PLEASE stop saying that out loud?"