Ocean Eyes *Permanently On Hold*

Prologue

1994

The small girl jumped up and down in excitement. "I've got it!" she yelled in Russian, her native language. "Mama, I've got it!"

Karina Karsov rushed into the room. "Sheri, what is wrong with you? How many times have I told you, English at home!"

The girl pouted. "Ya nenavizhu angliyskiy yazyk."

"Sherilya! We are not in Moscow any more. I know you hate English, but please try to speak it."

Sherilya nodded meekly. "Yes, Mama." She pointed at the glass box in front of her, her grin resuming its place. "See?"

"Oh..." Karina peered into the box. Last week, she had injected some mice with a mixture her daughter had developed. Her daughter had insisted they test it.

"I like this," Sherilya announced.

Karina was too shocked to answer. The mice in the box were scampering around as usual, nibbling at the cheese cubes set out for them.

What chilled her blood was that each of them had mutated somehow. One of them had two tails. Another had an abnormally large head. Yet another had grown fangs.

"How did you do it?" she asked, astonished.

Sherilya sighed. "It's for the HEP, Mama. You of all people should know that. I just felt like I had to complete something. I mean, I've only done research so far."

Her mother reached into the box and took out the two-tailed mouse. It squealed in protest. "Fetch me a knife."

Sherilya did, nodding in satisfaction as her mother hacked off both of the mouse's tails.

They didn't bleed. On the contrary, two more tails sprouted out of each stump, leaving the creature with four tails. It wriggled out of Karina's grip and jumped to the ground, its tails waving madly.

Karina stared at her daughter. This was the perfect companion to Operation Ocean Eyes. "Sheri, do you want ice cream?"

"Yes. Can I have... ah... vanil'?"

"Vanilla." her mother corrected gently. "Take as much as you like. I'm going to call your father. He'll be so proud of you!"

Sherilya's eyes lit up. "Papa? Is he still in Moskva? I want to talk to him!" She couldn't wait to tell her father about the American newspaper articles concerning her prodigious skill in biology and the human enhancement program - HEP - she had made breakthroughs in. She wanted him to be home for her eighth birthday.

"Yes, yes." Karina walked towards the door. "We will do all that. Now go get your ice cream."

Sherilya got up. "Mama, you know, I will need human subjects."

"One day, moya zvezda. One day." Karina smiled to herself.

The girl in the basement would do nicely for Operation Ocean Eyes. Karina was sure of it.

Sherilya, the little prodigy, would have her precious subjects in due course.

They could only hope for the best.