Black Seas, inspired by a true story is a stylized espionage thriller set in the late 80’s at a time of war and at the cusp of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Our story follows a Vietnam vet, Jack, who has been struggling to cope with the traumas and pains that the atrocities of war have left him with. He is sent into the epicenter of the cold war on the last mission before the fall of the USSR.
Jan 11, 1988 in the wake of a massive earthquake that killed over 25,000 Armenians, intelligence arrives at Langley Virginia indicating that the Soviets may have employed a new Tectonic weapon on their own people.
“This was only a test run,” says Armen, the CIA’s Soviet informant. “Kerimov’s lab has a new target within the U.S.”
At the heart of the Soviet’s discovery for remotely triggering seismic faults is the research of Eduard Babloyan, an Armenian geo-physicist held captive at a secret base near Lake Sevan, Armenia. Cut off from the outside world and unaware of the damage his research has already done, Babloyan is being pushed round the clock by his superior, Azeri scientist Dr. Kerimov, to complete the calculations needed for their next target — Yellowstone Caldera, the dormant super volcano in the Western United States.
Exfiltration specialist Joe Batista is tapped to lead a special ops team that will attempt to extract Babloyan and retrieve the schematics for the weapon. The cover story being arranged to get them behind the Iron Curtain involves an Armenian jazz singer, Anush Sayan, now living in Los Angeles.
“Anush is an icon in Armenia. The Soviets are allowing her back into the country to perform and lift the people’s spirits after the earthquake. You and your team will go in as roadies, then work with our local informants to reach Kerimov’s lab and get Babloyan out.”
Joe is unsure about Anush, a notorious drunk. Even more concerning is a last-minute addition to the team, Berkeley physicist Peter Ojakian, Babloyan’s ex-research partner and skeptic of his work. An absent-minded ex-hippy with no training in special ops, Ojakian is the only person in the world who can identify Babloyan and who also understands Seismic Field Theory at the heart of tectonic weaponry.
Yerevan, Armenia — a wild blend of Soviet repression, inflamed Armenian Nationalism, and heartbreaking devastation from the Earthquake. Armenian-style jazz, raw and passionate, spills out of every cafe. Joe and his team arrive with Anush, a legend to the locals and despite the constant watch of KGB agents, contact is made with Armen, their local agent. He informs Joe that Moscow’s head of military geophysics Colonel Petrov has made an unexpected visit to Armenia to check on the progress of Kerimov’s lab.
“Security at the base will be impenetrable while the Colonel is there.”
However, Armen has discovered that Petrov is secretly a fan of Armenian Jazz — Anush Sayan in particular. A new plan is conceived, and after an arranged encounter between Anush and the Colonel, a private concert is arranged at Lake Sevan for him and his men.
With their plane scheduled to leave the Soviet Union the next morning, the night of the concert must go exactly as planned. But as Anush struggles to stay sober enough to not blow their cover with Colonel, Joe and his team encounter an even bigger problem after breaking into the base — Babloyan is dead, and the schematics for the Tectonic weapon are incomplete.
“But if they didn’t trigger the earthquake, why act like they did?” Ojakian asks Joe.
“To get you here.” Joe realizes as Soviet forces descend on the base…
Black Seas is a Cold War thriller where espionage, jazz, science, and the looming threat of world destruction all collide into a heart-pounding race against time. MUNICH meets ARGO set in Soviet Armenia, the story keeps you on the edge of your seat while exploring questions of nationalism, loyalty, and ethnic identity.
