Kazakhstan?

Boris Solovyev had settled in nicely in Volgograd over the past few months. He managed to score a nice one-bedroom apartment in a brand new development, with his 20th-story room offering a commanding view of the new business district of the city. Modern furnishings, a comfortable bed to sleep in, heating and air conditioning, a television... if you had told him 10 years ago where he'd be living today, he wouldn't have believed you in the slightest. Hell, he'd even started dating a girl - a lovely girl named Valentina, who he met at the bar about 3 months ago. They'd met each other's parents and everything.

Which brought him to the question; where to for their first vacation together? He had managed to score a few weeks off work, and the same could be said for her as well. The first destination on the list had been Moscow, of course; nothing could match the Third Rome in beauty and prowess, even after decades of rot and mistreatment by the Germans. Petrograd was also on the table, but seeing as it was still being rebuilt it wasn't on it for long. However, Valentina was no ordinary woman, and she certainly didn't want any ordinary vacation.

"Kazakhstan? I mean, if you want to go I wouldn't be opposed..." Valentina's face lit up.

"Oh, there's so much to do there! Just imagine us, riding off into the steppe on a majestic stallion, while we drink horse milk..." Boris struggled to swallow a gag that popped up upon hearing that, but for her he was more than willing to endure the horror that invoked in him.

So now, after a week or so of preparation and packing, they were now in the newly built Pyotr Anokhin International Airport, which was had just begun offering nonstop service to Alma-Ata via Russia's new flag carrier, Air Russia. After passing through the security checkpoint without incident, and after Valentina successfully negotiated the acquisition of matching neck pillows, they found themselves aboard a new Yak-42 trijet airliner, flown by a veteran crew (quite literally) and served by well-trained flight attendants. Everything was laid out for the flight to be great, but still Boris found himself a bit anxious - he'd never been in a plane before, so that was to be expected as much.

All of that melted away once he saw the buildings of Volgograd fade away into clouds, giving way to the brilliant Russian sky, now free of foreign oppression and terror. Joy overtook him as he stared out into the seemingly endless sea of blue before him, and he looked back at Valentina.

"Signs of what's to come, eh?"

Back to home