Chapter 1

“Chris, I really want to get some photos of Biserica Taslic. I saw something about it online that it is a beautiful blue domed church.”

“Janet it’s pretty far out of our way.”

“Please, please, please? We don’t have to stay that long. According to the GPS its only about 10 kilometers.”

“OK, Janet. Good thing I love you.” Chris teased his wife. He really would do anything for her. They had been together for 33 years and he thought she was still about the most beautiful thing in the world. He was 54 and she was 52 and Janet could still rev his engine. Chris loved her 36C breasts that miraculously showed hardly any sag. She put on some weight since their younger days but, shit, Chris had his own belly, so no complaints. He wore it fairly well on his 6-foot 3-inch frame. Both of their hair had turned mostly gray but she still wore her hair shoulder length like she did when she was younger.

Chris considered himself lucky that they still had a very active sex life. Janet was somewhat conservative but once in the bedroom, she was still willing to do almost anything to please her husband. She was comfortable in most sex positions and had no hang-ups about oral sex especially if it was mutual. She would even swallow, although Chris got more of a kick out of painting her beautiful face while she looked up at him with those beautiful brown eyes. Janet even agreed to try anal. Once. A long time ago. They decided it was physically impossible and never tried again. Janet and Chris even spiced up their love life through the occasional role play that some times including some pretend rape fantasies and some anonymous internet bondage postings. But Janet made sure it all stayed in the bedroom. She was conservative enough to not involve others or do public sex. She always reserved her kinky side for Chris as the sole beneficiary.

The vacation was her idea. It was off season in the Balkans. The weather was less than ideal but the prices, even at top resorts on the Black Sea were a bargain. Neither had visited this part of Europe before even though they were well travelled. It was a great time to knock some of these regions off their list. Their holiday started with a flight into Bucharest and renting a car. They made reservations beforehand at a beautiful seaside resort in Constanta and spent most of the time in bed watching the storms and sunrises on the sea. It was far too cold to spend much time on the beaches but the views were fantastic and Janet spent much time taking photos of the nearly empty beaches. Another advantage of off-season rentals was the best restaurants were not crowded nor was the wonderful Museum of Natural History and Archeology that held many Roman artifacts.

Since they had a car, they decided on the spur of the moment to do a side trip to Moldova just to say they had been there. After some internet research of the sights, they found a bed and breakfast on a lake north of the Capital and decided to spend a couple days there to do some day trips, hence the trip to see Beserica Taslic. The church was spectacular with its bright blue domes and white walls. The docent was very helpful and spoke passable English. After many pictures and a pleasant hour discussing the history of the church, they decided it was time to head back to their lodgings.

Chris pulled out of the parking lot and turned left on the narrow residential street. “Chris, I think we need to go the other direction.”

“Bloody hell, I think you’re right. Let me go around the block. There is no way to turn around on this street.” Chris could not find a place wide enough to turn the car around until they came to the next crossroad, marked M4, so he made a right turn intending to do another right to turn the way toward the capital. Before he could get to another road to turn there was a tank flying a Russian flag in the middle of the road and armed soldiers waving at them to stop.

Chris and Janet had not turned on the news or even checked a newspaper while they were on holiday. It was Janet’s rule to shut the outside world out and concentrate on ‘being in the moment’. What they failed to realize was Russia was preparing to invade Ukraine and was using their alliance with the Moldovan breakaway republic of Transnistria to stage troops there for an attack. Like most other nations Moldova had condemned Russia for its aggressive build-up of troops at Ukraine’s border but the tiny and largely unrecognized break-away Republic invited the Russians army as allies which Putin gladly accepted to stage a battle group that could push toward Odessa when the invasion started. Britain had joined loudly in condemning Russian aggression as a member of NATO so Russian troops were not inclined to view British citizens favorably. When Chris made the wrong turn at the church, he did not realize the church was on the border between Moldova and Transnistria and that residential street and M4 were on the rebel’s side of the border bristling with a Russian army prepping for a full invasion and on edge.

Two soldiers with Vityaz submachine guns raised approached each side of the car. The one on the driver’s side tapped the window with his gun and Chris lowered the window. “I’m sorry we made a wrong turn and are trying to get back to Chisinau. If we can turn the car around, we will go back the way we came in.”

The soldier frowned and looked into the car to see Janet. “English?”

“Yes, we are British citizens on holiday and...”

The soldier suddenly pulled the car door open and grabbed Chris by his jacket collar and pulled him out of the car with the Vityaz pushed against the side of his head. Chris heard Janet scream at the sudden assault on her husband. Chris put his hands up immediately as he was pushed against the side of the car realizing this could be a life and death situation for both of them. Another soldier approached the car as the second soldier was pulling Janet out of her side of the car and slammed her against the opposite side from Chris. The new man approaching was an officer and he had his sidearm drawn.

“You are British?” he asked.

“Yes, as I was trying to explain to your man here, we are on holiday and took a wrong turn.”

“I think that is an unlikely story.” The officer spoke in heavily accented but passable English. “I think it is much more likely that a British agent for NATO is trying to get information on our military positions and equipment here and you two are spies. Where are your passports?” He and Janet were both being handcuffed behind their backs as the officer questioned Chris.

“Mine is in my jacket pocket and I believe my wife’s in in her jacket pocket. Both of our jackets are in the back seat of the car.” The car had been warm so they had stowed them while they drove. Now the February air made him wish they had not. Janet was dressed in black slacks and a light turtleneck jersey. He could see she was already shivering both from the cold and from fright. As the officer grabbed both their jackets from the back seat, the soldiers marched them away from the car and toward an armored troop transport. “Where are you taking us? We are British citizens and tourists.”

The officer returned reading their passports as the other soldiers patted down Chris and Janet. At one point Janet objected loudly as the soldier searching her mauled her breasts through her jersey and ran his hand hard into her crotch. He merely smiled and made some wisecrack in Russian as he continued to grope her. The officer issued an order and they were pushed up the step into the troop transport. The soldiers opened and reattached their cuffs to a rail behind the bench in the transport.

There were several other people in the transport. None of these families were handcuffed like Chris and Janet. Most looked like they may have been locals being picked up for relocation. Chris assumed they live in an area that was being occupied by the Russian military so they had to be removed from their dwellings. The large transport held two families and three other couples without children who stared at the British couple but did not speak.

Janet quickly addressed the English-speaking officer before he could jump down from the back of the transport. “Please sir, could I have my jacket. It is very cold without it.”