Chapter 1

The Esprit Roma yacht cruise ship was luxurious but not too big. Emily had done her research. She did not want one of those huge family cruise ships with water slides, hot dog buffets and long lines for shore excursions. This ship did not have many of the amenities of the larger commercial ships but this one was limited to 72 passengers and promised gourmet meals and interesting ports that were inaccessible to those giant boats. It was also more than double the price for similar accommodations on those more commercial boats. The 360-foot yacht had a crew of 48 and was luxuriously appointed.

Emily convinced her husband, Tom, that putting off trips for a couple years and saving up for this one was worth it for this dream trip. Tom and Emily Evans were not wealthy but were comfortable. Tom was in middle management with an insurance company with a decent salary. Emily supplemented their income with a part time librarian job at their local high school which allowed her time to serve as president of their local Evanston, Illinois PTA. Their 14-year-old daughter, Alexa, was in Junior High now and just starting to date, which was a bit terrifying to Tom. For this two-week dream vacation, Lexie was staying with Emily’s mom and dad.

Emily and Tom were High School sweethearts married at 19 right after graduation. Lexie came along a year later. Now at 34 years old, the couple were finally able to be at a point financially where they could indulge in some dream travel after struggling with paying off college debts, day care, mortgage and other expenses of a young family by saving, investing and working hard.

Tom considered how lucky he was to have such a beautiful wife. Emily kept in great shape and her figure never failed to turn him on. She had long ago opted to sport a short, pixie haircut as more practical than the long black hair she had in college. Her almond shape green eyes complimented her heart shaped face and full lips. Emily was always more critical of her own appearance, wishing for something slightly larger in the bust line than her pert B cups. She worked out diligently to keep her tummy flat but still thought another inch should come off her thighs. She knew the ship was equipped with a nice gym and spa and hoped she could at last maintain her figure while indulging in all the gourmet food on this trip.

It seemed to Emily that she had loved Tom for all her life. He also kept in good shape, even though he was no muscle-bound guy. He was smart and sensitive. She was proud of his professional success and he was a great father to Lexie. In bed, Tom was always more adventurous than Emily and she wished he did not push her limits as much. She was no prude and enjoyed sex but liked to do it the ‘regular way’ which was on her back. She accommodated Tom’s desire to mix things up on occasion like licking his cock but would never actually allow him to put it in her mouth. She would try different positions to please him but something in her strict religious upbringing just made her prefer the warmth of him on top of her. Despite those road bumps in the bedroom, they both loved each other deeply.

They met their cruise in Rome’s port city of Civitavecchia after a few days exploring the sites of the romantic city. The ship was dwarfed by the many other mega ships in the harbor and with passports in hand they boarded the Esprit on the third deck. The receptionist, Molly was an attractive young lady, Emily estimated to be about 22 years old. Her red hair and Irish accent betrayed her country of origin. Molly informed them their bags would be delivered to their balcony suite on the 5^th deck.

Emily splurged for the more expensive cabin on the 5^th deck while the 4^th deck was cheaper, it had the most cabins and due to this, they were smaller. She liked the idea of being a bit more exclusive and thought her handsome successful husband deserved to feel important. She wasn’t nuts though and refused to reserve a suite on the aft of each deck nor would they likely see much of the owner’s suites on the 6^th deck unless a door was open on their way up to the pool deck.

Emily was quite pleased with Balcony Suite 509. They explored all the nooks and crannies in the cabin. The bed was queen size and equipped with high thread count sheets. A small nightstand was on each side and a folding door for closet access. There were flat screen TV’s in both the bedroom and seating area. The second room looked out to the balcony with two small chairs and a tiny low table she could picture as just large enough to set two cups of coffee in the morning while enjoying a sea view.

Tom occupied himself with learning the cabin temperature controls and exploring the TV offerings, including a video on the luxury yacht features, itinerary and schedule of activities while Emily explored and unpacked. She joined him on the bed to cuddle and watch the ship’s channel. She was pleased to learn the wi-fi was available in the rooms and not just in the lounge. She made a mental note to send a text to her mom once they were underway and see if Lexie was doing OK. Video chats on board were a bit expensive and hard to schedule with the time difference to the states.

Shortly their cabin stewardess knocked on the door to introduce herself. Zara was a skinny and pleasant young girl from Slovenia. After handing Emily a card with her name and checking to affirm everything in the room was to their satisfaction, she offered to store their empty suitcases which they gratefully accepted to allow for more closet space.

Soon there was an all-ship announcement by their captain. His name was Captain Erik Larson and after a short welcome speech he said all passengers needed to participate in a muster drill to abide with safety regulations and when the alarm sounded all passengers were required to vacate their cabins and follow crew directions to their muster stations.

When the ship’s alarm sounded Tom and Emily left the cabin and were greeted by Zara who indicated they should descend the steps to a lower deck. As they reached the stairs, they started down the steps there was an older couple coming down from Deck 6. They looked like they were in their late 60’s or early 70’s. Emily smiled and allowed then to descend in front of them. She noticed how classy and beautiful the woman was. Both her and her husband moved well for their age. As they reached the 3^rd deck and their mustard station as indicated by the deck crew, they were given life jackets which they put on. Tom figured out the more populated deck 4 mustard station must be on the starboard side of the boat while decks 5 and 6 were evacuated on the port side lifeboats.

After the ship alarm stopped clanging and everyone could hear again. They received a short instruction on safety protocols in a thick German accent from Safety Officer, Otto Franken. They had to remain at their station for some time and Emily struck up a conversation with the pretty older woman from the stairwell. She and her husband were introduced as Harriet and Oscar Ford of Los Angeles. Emily said she noticed they were on Deck 6 and knowing the price tag for the owner’s suites she asked how they liked their cabins.

“Oh, we always get that suite because we love it so.” Harriet explained. “This is our fourth trip on the Esprit, since I convinced Oscar to retire. You are more than welcome to come see for yourself after we finish this ridiculous drill. Its 601.”

Emily quickly leaped at the opportunity “Yes, we would love to see it! I guess we picked the right cruise if you have done this so many times. We should get some pointers on what sights to see and which to avoid from the professionals here.” Tom nodded in agreement.

“We have been on different cruises on this same yacht and this destination is about the only one we haven’t done yet. We just love the crew and the boat.” Oscar explained. “I guess the destinations will be new for both of us so we will have to compare notes as we go along.”

They found out that Oscar had been in the TV entertainment business as a producer of shows and he was keen to relate many stories that kept the younger couple more than entertained as they watched the departure from Rome. The Owner’s Suite was massive in comparison to their tiny cabin. Instead of the small balcony there was a deck with lounge chairs and private spa. The Fords treated the young couple to a glass of champagne to enjoy with the lights of the city slowly fading. The four developed a genuine liking for each other and vowed to share more experiences together on the trip.

Their seating at dinner was with three other couples from deck 5. Steve and Marcie Young were a couple from Ft. Worth in their 40’s and were in cabin 510 across the hall from the Evans. Steve owned a car dealership and Marcie was a stay-at-home mom of three. This was their first trip on such a small yacht but they had taken cruises before on large mega ships. Tom quickly learned not to allow conversation turn to politics in front of Steve. He was a Republican gun nut and was quick to voice his opinion on gun control with anyone he considered a liberal. Steve was a big guy, as in overweight, but friendly if you stayed on the right conversations. Marcie pretty much deferred all thinking to her husband. She was nice to everyone. She was slightly pudgy and had curly blonde hair that blew around her face with every gust of wind.

Mark and Tanya Chatham were an interracial couple in cabin 507 next to Emily and Tom. Mark was also in his 40’s but Emily guessed Tanya was closer to her own age. Later she found out Tanya was a year younger than her at 33. Tanya was a statuesque black woman that looked like a model. She wore her hair short cropped and always seemed to have large hoop earrings that gave her a very exotic look with her cocoa-colored complexion. She was quick with a brilliant smile and it turned out she did have a prior career modeling. Mark was also very nice and he was an executive with a health care group in Connecticut. He was also a heath nut that ran marathons and iron man competitions and his muscular and trim physique made Tom a bit jealous.

Finally, the couple in 508 were young newlyweds on their honeymoon as a joint present from their parents. Chuck and Tammy Henderson were both 20. Emily could identify with them since their story as college kids in love reminded her of Tom and herself at that age. They were both blonde and fresh faced. He was a high school athlete and she was a cheerleader, so stereotypical Midwest rural romance. You could tell they could hardly keep their hands off one another and actually still held hands through most of dinner.

The cruise seemed perfect to Emily and Tom. The crew was very attentive to their every need and they liked most of the people on board they met. The itinerary was to take them ultimately to the exotic location of Istanbul before returning home. After leaving Rome and sailing south, they had shore excursions with their new friends in Naples, Messina, Crotone in the heel of Italy, Bari in the Puglia region and then an overnight in beautiful Venice.

The romantic trip of a lifetime for Tom and Emily crashed to a halt seven days into their tour and a day after Venice as they sailed down the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. They were sound asleep when they were awakened in the middle of the night by a loud sound. Once awake they heard it again and to Tom it sounded like gun shots.

He scrambled from bed and told his very frightened wife to get up and get dressed. Tom was scrambling for pants and shoes and he threw on a pullover shirt. When they heard shots again. They seemed like they were some distance from their cabin. Tom crept to the door. Emily panicked “Tom, what are you doing? Don’t go out there!”

“I just want to peek in the hallway. Stay in the bedroom.” He cracked the door and looked out the slot and saw Steve Young standing in the hallway in his bathrobe. “Steve, what’s going on?”

The big Texan looked nervous. “I’m not sure Tom. I heard gunshots. Dammit they wouldn’t let me carry my piece on board. It sounds like AK rounds. I am worried because when I talked to that Kraut security officer over drinks, he told me the only thing they carried on board were light sidearms. I think we are being boarded by someone. Shit!”

Tom opened the door wider and it seemed like most of the other males and a few of the female passengers from the 5^th deck were in the hallways.

Then they heard the ship’s com click on and a heavily accented voice announced. “Your attention passengers and crew. This is Commander Rankovic of the Serbian Revolutionary Army. I and my men are now in command of this ship. Your captain, his first officer and the security officer along with several other very foolish crew members tried to dispute my right to command this vessel. They are all dead and have been fed to the sea.”

Gasps could be heard from both passengers and crew throughout the ship.

“You and this ship have become a bargaining chip in our war against the filthy capitalist governments that imprison our comrades. The authorities have been informed that this vessel has been wired to explode if any attempt is made to board us. You will remain our guests until I receive confirmation that our comrades that have been unjustly imprisoned have been released with full pardons and the treasury money stolen from our country by the Dayton Accords in 1995 are returned with interest to my people. Every passenger and crew member should now return to their respective cabins until told otherwise. Anyone caught outside their cabins until they are told to leave will be joining the captain and his unfortunate officers. Anyone seen on balconies or outer decks will be shot. Anyone passengers caught in a cabin with 3 or more people will be shot. All remaining crew members will immediately report to the main dining hall with their passports. Any crew caught hiding and not in the dining hall in 15 minutes will be shot. No excuses will be accepted and no exceptions will be made.”

Everyone in the hallways, including Tom, started toward their respective cabin doors when a shot was heard down the stairway from deck 4 followed by a scream and another shot. Tom heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and quickly closed the door. He thought momentarily that he should block the doorway but realized nothing in his cabin that wasn’t bolted to the floor or walls would prevent someone from kicking in the door and would probably only make an armed intruder angry.

He sat on the couch and held Emily who was now shaking. “Tom, while you were in the hallway, I tried the internet to get help. They have disabled the Wi-Fi. I cannot get any signal on my phone.” It was evident that these revolutionaries were not only murderers, they were prepared and smart as well.

For the longest time, Tom and Emily sat huddled on the couch in their cabin. Tom did not dare open the door nor the balcony door but as far as they could see out the windows here was nothing but open water. They could hear heavy booted footsteps occasionally in the hallway indicating some of the terrorists were patrolling. It sounded like when they passed, they were in pairs. Tom tried to use the peep hole in the door and was careful to be sure the room was dark behind him to make certain no one in the hallway could detect his motion in using the spy hole. To his dismay he could not see anything. The terrorists had evidently taped over the peep holes on the outside of all the doors.

They still had water and electricity and the bathroom still worked. Tom concluded they either kept the engineering crew for the ship or they had their own crew to keep things running. The sun rose and the air conditioning kept the room from becoming too stuffy. Breakfast and lunchtime passed with no change. Their stomachs were starting to growl and they dozed on the couch several times while holding each other. The TV was no distraction since it was nothing but static now.

The sun as starting to set again when there were more boots in the hallway only this time there seemed to be more than a few men. They heard doors being pounded and some voices from the forward cabins. After some time, they heard pounding on the door of Mark and Tanya’s cabin next door. They heard angry voices yelling and Tom could barely make out Mark’s voice sounding like he was trying to comply. He could hear Tanya shout something and then cry. Then there was some movement then quiet.

After several minutes of relative silence, the outer door to their cabin exploded with noise of pounding fists. A voice in accented English ordered the door to be opened. As soon as Tom turned the handle on the door, it was kicked open against the wall and he was staring down the barrels of two automatic rifles. Tom immediately raised his hands to show surrender. One of the men pushed Tom’s back against the wall. The other grabbed Emily by the arm and dragged her to stand next to Tom also with her back to the wall. A third man walked in behind the armed men and placed plastic zip ties on Tom’s wrists in front of him then did the same with Emily. He yelled “Eyes front!” And pushed Tom’s head back against the wall. He pulled a black marker from his pocket and proceeded to write something on Tom’s forehead. He then moved to Emily grabbed her by her jaw and did the same. He then yelled “Face the wall, NOW!” As Tom turned, he saw what was on Emily’s forehead. It said “509”. It was their cabin number. He assumed his said the same.