“There is no legal argument against the United States government, especially if it’s a military project. They’d declare it classified, it couldn’t be mentioned in court and you couldn’t talk or write about it.”
“What have I done? I’ve created a situation for a weapon. It could kill millions.”
“Warren, we’re both scientists and we explore the impossible every day, especially physicists and chemists. There’s unlimited potential to be unlocked in those two fields and the government, in fact all governments are watching us closely,” Dave posed.
“You mean other countries could be spying on me?”
“Sure, I would imagine they are or at least they’re trying,” Dave said.
“What should I do?”
“Keep working but if you can have a log or journal that only you know about containing all of your work, that would be wise. Then hide it somewhere secure but not on the lab premises,” Dave said. Warren nodded and smiled.
“I have the perfect spot.”
“Where?” Dave asked.
“That’s a secret,” Warren said and there was a pause before they all laughed.
“I wonder what Andy is doing?” Dave asked.
“Knowing Dad, he’s probably braving the cuisine of some exotic café,” Little Wolf remarked.
“What does any of this mean?” Andy said softly to himself as he sat examining a menu in a small eatery he found. “There aren’t even any pictures. Wait, do they eat dogs or cats over here? No, I think that’s in the Far East. If Jo was here, she’d probably tell me that was offensive. Maybe it is but I don’t want to eat rover or binky.” He finally gave up and left. No one spoke English and the more he shouted and pointed the more he got upset so he finally gave up and wandered the city on his own before ending up in another cafe. “These items could be anything but I don’t want to stand out as stupid,” he thought to himself as he looked over the menu. “Of course, since I can’t speak the language I probably already seem like an idiot. I could just point to something but what if it was fish head stew or calf kidneys. Don’t be silly, Andy, you ate sheep testicles in Scotland and you’ve had squirrel stew back in Masontown. Go on be brave,” The waiter came over and Andy pointed with a smile. The waiter nodded and left. A few minutes later his order came and it was a sandwich. “Well, that can’t be too bad,” he thought. He took off the top and it was some kind of meat. “Well, it looks okay.” He poked it with a fork and it was very hard. He took a couple of bites and it wasn’t terrible but not great. It was as dry as sand so he washed it down with water and finished most of it. He’d exchanged some dollars for the local currency at the hotel and he paid the bill and left. Kerch was not a super large city, a hundred and fifty thousand or so he thought. He walked the city, went into a couple of art galleries and recognized a copy of the Mona Lisa and a few Picassos. “I guess I’m not an art person,” he said to himself. “I just never understood Picasso, I mean what person has three noses or two heads. Norman Rockwell, now there was a guy who painted things you could recognize.” He thought he might be loud on that last comment so he looked around but nobody was looking and he breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to alienate the native population. He walked for a couple of hours enjoying what he could. There was a museum but he couldn’t read the placards so the artifacts meant very little to him. He went into a few shops but found little of interest to him. Finally, around four he neared the hotel and found a seat on a bench in the park across the street from where they were staying. He had a bottle of water. He looked for a long time before finding one and he thought that was a coup. The Ukraine was not a third world country but he wasn’t sure he trusted their water purification system. If people thought that was offensive, he didn’t care; diarrhea wasn’t something he wanted.
“Good afternoon, sir,” an elderly man said as he shuffled by with a cane.
“Hello to you, sir.” The man looked and smiled. “Well, someone speaks English, maybe there are more,” Andy thought to himself. “I guess that’s wrong too. No, no, I’m not going to feel guilty for hoping that someone can understand me. I don’t look down on them because they can’t speak English and I don’t think everyone in the world should speak English. But I wish that some of them did so I could make my needs known. If that makes me bad then so be it,” he said to himself then he began chuckling because of his internal conversations. “I should just go ahead and speak out loud because no one could understand me anyway.” He doubled over at that and laughed silently for a few moments then sat up and took a sip of water. Suddenly, something caught his attention. Justin always told him that you can watch people from a hundred feet when they don’t know you’re there and learn much about them. He’d tried that over the years and it worked. Now, he could see two men by the side of the hotel in an alley. They were talking and pointing to the hotel and the buildings down the block and to the park. They took out a map and examined it then pointed again to the hotel. They were tall, maybe six two and wore black pants and black sweatshirts. At times they became animated and on one occasion when one bent over Andy could see a long knife in his belt and later the other guy had a gun in his waist. Andy stirred when he saw those items. Granted he didn’t know anything about the Ukraine. Maybe guns were common for everyone like some southern states so, he didn’t want to rush to judgement. Should he tell the police? No, he didn’t want to presume they weren’t doing their job. He had no desire to perpetuate the Ugly American persona. He should just mind his own business so, he did but still watched. A few minutes later a car stopped by the side of the hotel and the two men got inside. They sat in the back with two other people in the front seat. He could see them talking, pointing and even with the windows shut he could tell the conversation was getting heated. But after fifteen minutes the four men shook hands and the two in the back got out as the car pulled away. Andy was puzzled, he thought for sure there’d be a fight or something. But he had to catch himself again because he was ascribing things to this culture that maybe he didn’t understand. Perhaps Ukrainians argued and shouted at each other as a regular part of conversation. “Okay, I guess that’s not fair either,” he thought. “Look, I don’t know anything about these people and I’d be the first to admit it. I never said I did. Justin and Dave know everything about them and Little Wolf I’m sure but I don’t so there, I’m guilty.” He stopped and chuckled at his own argument with himself. The two men stood talking then one of them took out a notepad and jotted down something. They brought out a map and laid it on a barrel. They pointed to the map then at the hotel and down the street. Finally, one of them looked up at the park and saw Andy. Then the second guy looked as well and they said something to each other. They stared and Andy knew he’d been had. He looked away, but in a blink both men were gone map and all. They disappeared down the side of the hotel. Andy waited for a few minutes then walked across the street as casually as he could and looked down the side of the hotel. No one was there of course, and at the end of the hotel was an opening through which the two men had obviously left. Andy went back to his hotel room and sat in a chair thinking. He wouldn’t tell the police but he’d tell Dave.
“This is a nice place,” Jozette said as the five women sat in a small café in the heart of the city.
“You’ll have to read the menu to us, Tatiana,” Ariel said as she perused the lunch specials.
“Glad to, just tell me what you want.”
“How about a diet salad?” Belinda asked.
“I better write these down,” Tatiana said and took a pencil and paper from her purse. They ordered salads and soups and ate as they talked for about an hour.