Balik 338
Balik 338 serves as the chief stratigrapher and unofficial meteorological expert for Siferra 89's archaeological expedition at the ancient site of Beklimot on the remote Sagikan Peninsula. A broad-shouldered, stolid man, he is responsible for keeping the expedition's weather records and watching for unusual climatic events, a role that becomes critical when a killer sandstorm threatens the dig. He is the one who first spots the approaching storm and yells to Siferra to take cover, and after the storm passes, he is the first to voice the idea that the wind has performed a "miracle" by scouring away the sand rather than burying the site. Together with Siferra, he scrambles up the newly exposed Hill of Thombo and immediately recognizes the significance of what the storm has revealed: a town site under the midden, and possibly a series of them. He is the one who first murmurs the discovery, and he and Siferra work side by side to lay bare the outer face of the hill, cutting through ancient packing of windblown sand to reveal multiple layers of occupation separated by charcoal burn lines. Balik's initial estimate is that there are seven successive settlement sites, while Siferra argues for nine, and this minor professional disagreement persists throughout their collaboration.
Role in the Thombo Discovery and Professional Relationship
Balik is present when Siferra first shows the Thombo tablets to the paleographer Mudrin 505, and he ventures the hopeful speculation that the tablets might contain an account of the destruction and rebuilding of the Thombo towns, a suggestion that Siferra sharply rebukes as a "cozy little wish-fulfillment fantasy." Despite this tension, he remains her primary collaborator in the field, and when they return to Saro University, he is the one who brings her the unwelcome news that word of their discovery has leaked to other faculty members, who are already expressing skepticism. He tries to calm her fury over the breach of priority, reminding her that the findings are bound to be controversial because they upset established notions of how civilization developed. It is in this same conversation that Balik makes an unexpected personal advance, suggesting that he and Siferra take a holiday together to the Jonglor Exposition. Siferra reacts with disbelief and sharp rejection, telling him that their relationship has always been purely professional and should remain so. Balik is visibly dismayed and annoyed by her refusal, and the exchange creates an awkwardness between them that is interrupted only by Mudrin's arrival.
Collapse into Madness and Death
After the Nightfall eclipse and the appearance of the Stars, Balik's sanity shatters. When Siferra finds him in her office at the Hall of Archaeology, he is crouching against the file cabinets, his face bright with sweat and his eyes feverish. He tells her that he was working late when the lights began to fail, that he had just one quick look at the Stars, and then got under the desk and stayed there through the whole thing. He is giggling uncontrollably, his hands shake, and he speaks in a manic, disjointed way. He declares that the whole world has gone crazy and that they will all be dead soon. In this deranged state, he seizes Siferra and attempts to assault her, telling her that they are the only two people left in the world and that they need each other. Siferra, still carrying the club she had picked up during the night at the Observatory, strikes him repeatedly with it, first on the chin, then on the side of the cheek, and finally above the ear with full force. He falls and does not move again. Siferra later reflects on the act with horror, realizing that she has killed the man with whom she worked for a year and a half, but she also feels a grim satisfaction at having prevented him from annoying her any more. His body is left in the office, and she flees into the forest, carrying the charts of the Thombo excavation that she had come to retrieve.
