Dimitri Ivanov was a powerful man. Not only was he a global celebrity, but he owned businesses the world over, had many shares in real estate and oil mines, invested in the stock market, was a former KGB officer, and, to top it all, he was a singer and a musician. He was fairly handsome, tall, blue eyes, blonde, muscular. The kind of rich man girls always seem to fall for in stories and sometimes in real life.

      He was kind, caring, and generous. Ivanov donated thousands of dollars to build shelters and orphanages across the globe, he campaigned ceaselessly to stop animal testing, and he set up many national parks everywhere to preserve the beauty of the Earth. Of course with all of these gallant acts Mr. Ivanov was sure to win the heart of everyone.

     The world had turned him into an unofficial saint. Unlike most saints, however, this one had a dark side. He was in deep with the mafia, the yakuza, and the triads. His work had brought him into contact with all of the big gangs, and he knew everyone at the top. So Ivanov went to them and borrowed about eighty billion dollars to buy shares in companies and start his businesses. In time, of course, he was able to pay them all back with interest, but once you make a deal with the devil, he'll never let you go.

     Ivanov didn't mind. He rather enjoyed the danger that came with the risk. So he then became the banker for half of the criminal organizations in the world. The yakuza was selling weapons to terrorist groups; the triads were running drugs in Burma and Afghanistan; and the mafia was moving into prositution throughout the West. There were thousands of dirty deals done every day, and Ivanov's money was behind all of them. 

     No one has ever questioned the sources behind Ivanov's funding, simply because those who did either disappeared or died a very painful death. These are all simple things, however, compared to what Ivanov was  now planning. As many know, his land of origin was Russia. And even though he grew up in America, his unwavering loyalty to Russia was astounding.

     A big bulk of his donations and gifts went to Russia. He lavished them with houses, money, etc., etc. But for him this wasn't enough. He wanted to have his country honored above all. Ivanov pondered on what was the biggest honor a country could have. To him, it was to be the world power.

Currently the world power was the United States of America. So it was all a question of conquering America in Russia's name and declaring it the world power. The President of Russia had no idea what he was up to, and Ivanov preferred to keep it that way until he had destroyed America.

If worst came to worst and the President of Russia refused to accept his gift, Ivanov had already decided that he would just kill the President and rule Russia himself. At any rate, Dimitri had long ago realized that America had the latest of military vehicles and weaponry, so it would take something extremely powerful to subdue the country. After careful consideration he decided to find the  biological anomaly in the form of a flower known as Project Calista.

In World War II, German scientists had operated on a base on a small cay in the Bahamas, using highly developed classified chemicals to create a lethal war weapon. They had originally created it to use as a trump card, but after a field trial, the results had proved that Project Calista was unstable and dangerous enough to wipe out the entire world.

So they destroyed all of the flowers and the recipe, so that none of Germany's enemies could ever try to use it against them. That was a long time ago, and everyone who was involved had already died. But by some miraculous chance of Fate, Dimitri Ivanov had heard about Project Calista and decided to use it.

Dimitri Ivanov was currently vacationing in the Caribbean. He was traveling to every island in the Bahamas. However, his real reason was to find the cay on which Project Calista was created. A few days after his arrival, on the pretense of wanting to spend time in the wilderness, Dimitri began a systematic search of the unpopulated cays in The Bahamas.

Several lifeboats landed ashore of a small cay. Standing in the stern of the lead boat was none other than Dimitri Ivanov. Stepping onto the beach, he looked around him in distaste. Waving a hand at the vegetation behind him he gave orders to the company of soldiers that had come in the other boats.

''Fan out. Search every inch of this cay. If anyone finds anything of interest, they are to report to me immediately.''

Meanwhile, other guards started setting up tents for scientists, their equipment and Dimitri. The young fisherman who had been hired to guide Dimitri into the cays stepped up timidly. He wasn't more than twenty, and he was afraid.

He had heard many tales about Dimitri, his kindness and generosity. So when Dimitri had approached him to be guided into the cays, he had leaped at the opportunity, anticipating a handsome reward. But the guards and the guns frightened him. Clearly something illegal was going down. To his way of thinking, it was better to stay far away from this kind of operation.

''Ex-excuse me, Mister, but I-I wanna leave.  I-If you'd gimme my m-money, I-I'll get you a-a next g-guide, a-and I c-can send h-him h-here." Dimitri turned to the young fisherman, who stepped backwards under his penetrating gaze.

''Yes, I forgot about you,'' He stroked his chin and looked into the sky. ''You could be a problem.'' The fisherman suddenly noticed that he was quite clearly outnumbered and surrounded. ''A p-problem, sir?'' Dimitri waved his hand. ''Take him.'' Two guards stepped out of the shadows and seized the fisherman's arms. He struggled, but to no avail.

He was clearly outmatched. ''Don't kill him. He still must navigate our return trip. Keep him under surveillance. Ascertain that he has no means of communication or escape.'' The fisherman was dragged away screaming, begging and pleading for mercy. Ivanov turned and strode away. He sighed. It had only been four cays that they had searched, and there were over 700 in The Bahamas. He was tired, though he didn't look it. 

A few weeks later, a commotion arose on the far side of the camp. A bedraggled soldier came running towards the camp shouting, ''Mayday! Mayday! Help!'' Instantly the camp exploded into a flurry of action. The soldiers abandoned their stations and surrounded two tents in the center of camp. That was where Dimitri, the fisherman, and all of the scientific equipment were located.

The circle parted momentarily to allow passage for the running soldier then reassumed its position. The guards stood, guns at the ready, alert for the slightest movement. The soldier burst into the tent and collapsed, panting. Dimitri towered over him.

''Well? Did you find anything? And where is the remainder of your squad?'' It was obvious that the man had experienced an unearthly terror. He knelt there, gasping, when he felt the touch of a gun to his forehead. There is something unmistakable about the touch of a gun. Not just the coldness of the steel, but also the whisper of death that accompanies it. Dimitri tightened his grip on the trigger. ''I have no patience for this. I will not ask again.''

The soldier flinched, although he was used to scenes like this. He had seen Dimitri literally peel the skin off of a soldier's back for bumping into him. Taking a deep breath, he replied,

''I don't know where my entire squad is. We had covered most of the island, so we started heading in a northeasterly direction. After three day's journey, we found an underground cave. I stayed outside to scout while the others went inside. They had found something and were returning, when they started screaming. One of them threw me what they had found, and I fled here. Something pursued me the whole way. And that's all that happened."

Reaching into his jacket, the soldier brought out a golden orb. Dimitri snatched it from him, and held it up to the light.

He asked breathlessly, "This is what you found?" The soldier nodded. Ivanov's face lit up with a kind of insane joy. Deep down, he felt complete, and instinctively knew that his search was finally over. Turning on his heel, he stepped out of the tent. Walking over to the Captain, he conferred with him briefly, and then the captain shouted orders to his soldiers. The protective circle then broke ranks as the guards scattered to break up the camp. Everyone continued to remain alert, however, and kept their weapons within easy reach. Once everything was packed and the boats had been boarded, Ivanov turned to the fisherman.

''We are leaving. You are going to navigate us back to New Providence. If you try anything, I will kill you. If I suspect that you are plotting something, I will kill you.'' Seeing as he didn't really have a choice, the fisherman decided to try a bargain.

Tentatively, he quavered, "If I take you back safely, will you let me go?" Dimitri considered the frightened fisherman, a mere tool in his quest for power, soon to be one of the countless who had died, sacrificed so that Ivanov could get  closer to his goal.

His facial expression held no semblance of guilt, or something akin to pity. "I do not bargain. Do as I say, please me, and you might live." The fisherman's entire countenance brightened, and he eagerly ran to the boat. Ivanov had already notified the Prime Minister that he was leaving and wished to do so quietly, and now the boats drew up to the dock. From there it was a short drive to the airport. Once there, Dimitri was escorted towards his private plane in the center of a tight knot of armed soldiers, all trained in military warfare. Their circle was so tight and impenetrable, that nobody who thought to look twice would have noticed the scared young man being pushed along.

He would have tried shouting, had not the hard pressing of the pistol into the back of his neck decided differently. When everyone was safely in the plane and it had taken off the fisherman realized that his last chance of escape had slipped through his fingers, he seemed to give up. Clearly he wasn't going to live. There was no point in prolonging the agony. The sooner he died, the sooner he would be out of this nightmare.

Having come to this conclusion, the fisherman turned to Dimitri, who had been watching him with interest. "You're going to kill me, aren't you," It was a statement rather than a question. Dimitri smiled. "All good things must come to an end, musn't they?"

"I don't see how this is a good thing."

"It is completely normal, as you aren't the one who will have the pleasure of watching the killing."

"Since you're gonna kill me, can't you just get it over with?"

Dimitri sipped his glass of champagne thoughtfully. It was always amusing for him to watch people give up on surviving, to resign themselves to their death. He considered for a moment before answering. "If that's what you really want, I suppose that I can accommodate your wishes."

He continued, enjoying the look of terror on the fisherman's face as he realized that Dimitri meant it . "I always try to cater to my guests' every wish. How exactly would you prefer to go? Would you rather have a quick bullet to the skull? Or would you prefer a drawn out torture? Since we are on my plane, I think it would be easier to clean up if I shot you through the head."

Motioning his hand to a guard that stood behind him, Dimitri got up and left the cabin. The guard hefted his rifle, aimed, and fired a single shot. The fisherman's final wish was fulfilled. A few minutes later, Dimitri returned. He sat down and eyed the body on the floor.

"I wish he hadn't given up so quickly," he remarked to no one in particular. "It's so much more fun to torture them when they still want to live." Reaching for his champagne, he began to take a sip, only to find that blood from the fisherman had splattered into his glass. Disgusted, he set it down and called for another glass.