CHAPTER 1

Sergei Pushkin was a man of many talents. He could play piano, violin, perform in concerts and was an avid fan of adventure sports. After a rough childhood in East Berlin with an abusive father, he was forced to become multi-faceted. His time in the Soviet army and then in the intelligence world helped to sharpen his talents. Being the head of KGB after the fall of Soviet Union made him paranoid. Thus, his surprise knew no bounds when he found that someone has broken into his office. He slowly opened the door and stepped inside. That someone was a young man with a raven-black, messy hair and emerald green eyes. He was wearing a black trench coat and his dirty brown combat boots were on the table. On seeing the head of KGB, he gave a sinister grin showing his pearly white teeth.

"You", exclaimed Pushkin.

"Ah, Mr. Pushkin. How nice to see you again. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised?"

"Of course, you shouldn't. The very fact that you knew where this building was and you managed to break in here should make that point abundantly clear. I'd have shot you first and talked but you have managed to make me curious."

"I must say Mr. Pushkin, I'm surprised as to why you are not pointing the gun which you have on your right holster at me right now. Am I that charming? Or is the gun empty?"

"Enough of small talk. Who are you and what do you want?" There were several scenarios running through Pushkin's head. Is he an assassin here to assassinate him and make it look like a suicide? He daresay, the would-be assassin couldn't have picked up a better time. Numerous court battles with his ex-wife have bled him dry.

"Did the MI-5 sent you to kill me? Or perhaps the MOSSAD?" He knew that the CIA didn't have the assets to kill him in his own office.

"Mr. Pushkin, I am deeply hurt that you'd think that I'm here to kill you. In fact, I'm here talk and clarify a few issues."

"Don't take me for a fool, Mr. Whoever-you-are. If you wanted to talk, you wouldn't have broken into my office."

"Are you then suggesting that I kidnap you on your way to home? Or maybe when you are on your way to see Sasha? Or when you…"

"Whatever it is that you want from me, leave Sasha and Maria out of this"

"I was intending to leave them out of our business. We don't have any right to drag children into conflicts and disagreements caused by adults. Don't you agree?"

"So, you are saying we are in conflict or disagreement?"

"Come now Mr. Pushkin, if we were all chummy, why would I break into your office?"

"Strange world we live in" he shrugged.

"Fair enough. I have a proposition for you Mr. Pushkin. Would you like to hear me out?"

"Alright. What is it that you want?"

"You see Mr. Pushkin, I was frankly surprised when you unearthed the existence of enhanced humans. I always knew that mortal intelligence agencies were good. But I didn't know they were that good. I always assumed it was one of the western agencies who would catch on to us but I think you are a level of your own."

"Wait, did you just say us?" He wasn't really surprised by the intruder's ignorance. In fact, people of his own country thinks KGB is just a bunch of overweight oligarchs.

"Yes, us. But don't sweat the details. I'd like to know how. What is the source of your information? Are you clear-sighted?"

"Mr. Intruder, I don't really know what you are talking about? Enhanced-humans? Clear-sighted? Is this some kind of joke? Or are you a retard?" This was the standard response. He rehearsed it several times. In fact, all the people he dragged into his pet project were forced to rehearse it at least twice daily.

"I see. Well I didn't really expect you to start singing all about your Project Pegasus. So you see, I took the liberty of peeking through your cabinet. You can imagine my surprise when I find detailed reports of monster sightings in the United States. Or your classified briefs to the defence ministry about the existence of enhanced-humans. Well do you know what these enhanced-humans are Mr. Pushkin?"

He wasn't really surprised. If someone managed to break into a building that doesn't exist, he can and will break into a cabinet that doesn't exist and read files that don't exist.

"There's no such thing as enhanced-human"

"Of there isn't Mr. Pushkin. At least that's what you told the Chief Auditor, before he mysteriously died in a plane crash"

"I'd say that a plane crash survivor is mysterious"

"I'll give you that. Well Mr. Pushkin, I'm sure you have heard about Greek and Roman myths. Do you know what demigods are?"

"Children of gods and humans. I know what demigods are. I don't know where you are going with this."

"Sure you do. These demigods are what you call enhanced humans. Because they are physically and sometimes mentally enhanced than normal human beings."

"What are you getting at?"

"You see, we demigods have to keep our existence a secret. You know why? Because according to our immortal parents, it is to protect the normal humans from evils of our world. But both you and I know that this is bullshit. The gods have never cared for us lowly mortals. It is for a far selfish reason. But whatever. Being a spy master, you know that no matter how much we hate the politician, we'll always love the country. So Mr. Pushkin, it is time for you to pay your price back to your country."

"What do you mean paying my price back to my country?"

"Why, dying for your country of course. I believe that it is the ultimate price one can pay for his country".

As the gunshots rang out in the night, Sergei Pushkin had only one thought in his mind.

"Why the hell didn't I ask his name first?"

Hi, this is my first attempt at writing a story. Reviews, criticisms and compliments are always welcome and appreciated. I have tried to minimize grammatical and spelling errors as much as possible. Since my native language is not English, please feel free to point out any errors you might come across. Deathstalker11 out. Take care.