Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC Syrena and any alterations to the original storyline plot her presence creates to various readers amusement around the globe.
Fish Out Of Water Chapter 8
During daylight hours, away from prying eyes at the facility installation, Dr. Hoffstetler shows his true face and allegiance.
With the Russian government and scientific division.
Dr. Hoffstetler is a sleeper agent for the Russians and has been from the moment he set foot into this country and was recruited although the Americans were completely unaware of it.
Just as the Americans were determined to beat the Russians in the space race so too are the Russians towards the Americans during this so-called Cold War.
Dr. Hoffstetler's mood is a very sullen one as he's delivered to where his liaison is at a Russian restaurant called the Black Sea.
A hiding place in plain sight to make it seem ever more inconspicuous in enemy territory.
It's the middle of the day so a steady stream of customers is already seated with musicians playing for entertainment as Dr. Hoffstetler is led through by his handler. Having already been taken here many times before he easily sidesteps the waiters on the clock so as not to knock into any of the trays.
The expression on Dr. Hoffstetler's face is sullen and unimpressed as he's delivered all the way to the back of the kitchens, doing his best to mask any displeasure from this bothersome routine to meet his intelligence contact Leo Mihalkov.
His frustration is raised even more when the man addresses him in the American name he despises instead of Dr. Hoffstetler's actual one.
"Bob," said Leo, happily greeting him with a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Speaking in Russian, Dr. Hoffstetler spat "I was sitting like a moron on a concrete block in the middle of nowhere for an hour. We meet in this shitty restaurant every time!"
Grabbing a plate of delicious lobster that had been made for him and sitting in a private booth, Mihalkov said "I could change my mind."
Stonily, Dr. Hoffstetler said "But you won't."
"Tell us, 'Bob'," said Mihalkov.
"Dimitri," corrected Dr. Hoffstetler, firmly, patience running thin. "Comrade. Not Bob."
Gesturing at Dr. Hoffstetler's notebook with a finger, Mihalkov said "What is this, Dimitri?"
Offering it to him along with blueprints of the hidden facility, Dr. Hoffstetler said "Anatomical notes…and layout of the laboratory where the two subjects are being studied. Everything we need for the extraction."
This has been Dr. Hoffstetler's intention all along when he signed up for this mission. To acquire both assets, remove them from the American's hands, and bring them to Russia for further study and safety.
Mihalkov begins to leaf through the journal to view everything that Dr. Hoffstetler had recorded on the exceptional abilities shared between the two along with sketched images of the subjects so that their superiors are aware of what they're actually dealing with.
Nodding thoughtfully, promising nothing, Mihalkov said "I will pass it on to the directorate."
So he says every single time.
Furthermore, Dr. Hoffstetler feels he should emphasize his most recent findings so that his point is made and carried across through the proper channels.
Leaning closer, speaking in a tone of desperate urgency that only Mihalkov can hear, Dr. Hoffstetler said "We must do it as soon as possible. Mihalkov…These creatures…I think they may be able to communicate."
Brow raised, Mihalkov asked "Communicate?"
"Yes. Communicate with us," confirmed Dr. Hoffstetler, excitedly. "I have reason to believe the male is intelligent as is the female. I've witnessed the behaviors myself. They each respond to language, music…Will you please pass that up also?"
"I will," said Mihalkov, pausing as he noticed that in the pages of the notebook, Dr. Hoffstetler had paid extra close attention to the female mermaid. These aren't like the males. These are more intimate and focused, more like an artist's filigree than a scientist's musings. It isn't difficult to discern the reason why these detailed differences are there. The most apparent being Dimitri has dubbed the female mermaid the name Syrena. Being realistic about the situation, viewing the subjects as simply Russian assets and not actual living beings to be protected like his counterpart despite the astounding information provided, Mihalkov then passes on a warning to displace any complications that might, unfortunately, arise from this development. "Dimitri, remember you must not get attached to these creatures. They are not humans like we are but freaks of nature. There is no room for distractions."
Quietly, Dr. Hoffstetler said "I understand."
Dr. Hoffstetler to work better to keep his emotions in check both within and on paper. He cannot risk his placement here. He must get the subjects out, especially the mermaid.
Authors Note:
For those of you on fanfiction I'm sure you've been facing the many unwanted ads when you're reading a story. Well, yesterday, I finally had enough, and I got an adblocker app. It worked! No more ads on any level! The one I got is Adblock Pro: Safari Ad Blocker. It really works. Just follow the instruction video that it attached to it.
Heads up everyone there's someone on fanfiction you need to seriously watch out for. Early a couple of months ago after I woke up I was checking my email and I saw I had a new guest review on my A Dog's Purpose Is Strange Magic 2 sequel. I took a look at it and got a very big shock. Some random person I've never spoken to before on here or anywhere else in my life was basically threatening me. Intimidating and practically ordering me to write a threatening letter to someone on their behalf, telling to stay off of for life or else they and everyone else close to them would be killed, disgustingly telling them to kill themselves. And at the bottom of the message this crazy person wasn't done. Warning me that if I don't send the letter then they would kill me and for confirmation to email them to make absolutely sure I complied with their demands. Of course I did nothing of the sort. Instead of doing what they wanted I reported them to the website, sent copies of this deplorable guest review message to police officer cousins of mine so they could have it on file, and I went to a nearby police station and reported it.
When I spoke to the police officers and they checked everything on the message they saw, that while the address and names of business were accurate the people and their names were not. They agree it was more than likely a scam because of the email address on the bottom in order to perhaps get access to personal information or potentially hack my computer. Despite that I'm still very happy they took it seriously as I showed and told them everything. All the same I'm still very happy that I brought this to the attention of law enforcement. Even though the entire thing might be fake I'm still very happy to have brought this to the attention of those who can do something about it if it was legit in some way. This may have been a scam, but it's obvious these people are beyond irresponsible if they try to goad people into sending death threats to random strangers just to get access to info.
Be that as it may if this does unfortunately happen to you do not send any messages to the email addresses they put down and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you bring the message to the authorities immediately whether it is legit or not.
Because it's a guest review it might not be visible for a couple of days as it loads if it is sent to you. But when it does you should definitely pressing the report abuse button and send it to the email that leads to the support staff that is available.
Just a heads up to those of you who aren't aware of this yet, Email alerts for this website are now only active if Email opts is enabled in account settings.
I hope you all like this one! I certainly did while writing it for your vast enjoyment! ;D
For those of you just starting out with my stuff there are other works on my profile that may catch your interest. I highly recommend you take a look as soon as the opportunity presents itself to you. Who knows, you may be pleasantly surprised by what you discover.
Stay safe everyone. Especially with all of these crazy natural disasters occurring a lot lately due to global warming and climate change everywhere for sure. I swear it's like they're getting worse and worse all the time and it's like officials are simply just ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist entirely just to go on with their daily lives. Especially those in multi-million dollar companies that rely on certain elements of our planet that we rely on to naturally keep us safe instead of adapting and finding new safer ways to keep in business. There are so many options out there where they can adapt, but they just refuse to see it because all they care about is money. Climate change is altering so much faster than anyone can really keep track of.
So, in light of all this, it is important to live life to the fullest as much as anyone can.
I know I am. ;) See you guys next time.