CHARACTER OVERVIEW (with descriptions from 1 chapter):

MAXWELL FRENCH

American astrophysicist. Discovered a signal from outer space he initially thought as from an intelligent source (inspired by the real life “Wow! Signal [1]”. The signal was later determined to be of natural origin.

‘Max was now in his forties. He was in good shape for an academic who spends most of his time in the office or the observatory, but clearly someone who enjoys a nice steak every once in a while. He had fully embraced his midlifeness wearing a tweed jacket with leather elbow pads and beige trousers that screamed unadulterated boringness from miles away. The only hint of him having a life outside academia was his Pearl Jam t-shirt with the ubiquitous black-and-white stick-figure man, he was wearing under his jacket.’

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

NADJESCHDA NOVIKOVA “NADJA”

Russian archaeologist working in Turkey at the Göpekli Tepe archaeological dig site [2]. Speaks in thick Russian accent.

‘She was in her early 30s, short, slim, and tiny in every way. Her mouse-like appearance was a far cry from the stereotypical long-legged, voluptuous Russian temptresses from the James Bond movies. Nadja’s hair was originally dark brown but now sun-bleached from weeks of working in the open, her face suntanned. She wore an attire of khaki slacks and an ill-fitting dark brown cross-patterned blazer that didn’t give her many compliments either.’

[2] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe

MEHMET ÖZTURK

Turkish archaeologist in charge of the Göpekli Tepe dig sit, Nadja’s instructor / superior. Speaks near perfect English.

‘[A] man with a farmer’s body and arms, dark olive skin, hair shaved all off, wearing a dusty white linen robe reminiscent of those commonly worn by Arabs. ‘ (description needs revising)

STORY SO FAR (SPOILERS):

Prologue:

Max discovers the signal as an undergraduate student.

Chapter 1:

20 years later – present. Max was invited to the Göpekli Tepe dig site by Nadja’s recommendation to analyse possible astronomical alignments found there. A solid gold disc found at the dig site is revealed to Max makes a connection with the engravings on the disc and the Signal he found. The chauffeur who drove Max to the dig site bursts in the door holding a gun demanding they hand over the disc to him.

Chapter 2:

Sebastian (aka. the chauffeur), a member of a  shadowy organization steals the disc, wounds Mehmet in process who needs to be hospitalized. Max and Nadja move all the data from the Göbekli Tepe dig site to the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, along with a second, smaller disc, Sebastian doesn’t know about. At the museum, Max receives a message from an unknown source urging him to meet up.