I live among barbarians.

Suicidal and murderous barbarians. They are killing themselves, their kin, their world. A veritable nightmare of epic proportions.

My term is only seven years so I must endure this hell for only one more year. Then I can return home, to true civilization. To where people truly know how to live.

But, I have a job to do and it entails sacrifice. And I have always strived for excellence, for dedication to duty.

I have made this journey before, six times actually. Though each time gets more difficult as the barbarians get only worse. I am sure they will bring themselves to the brink of extinction.

I always thought that my competitors would be the greatest threat here but that has not been anywhere near the case. There is a Pact, unwritten but accepted nonetheless.

We do not interfere in our basic duties. We allow each other to operate at will, provided we each remain focused on the business.

Neither side wishes to disrupt the balance, to make this a battleground. The plots and schemes are reserved for elsewhere. This was to be neutral ground and violators were to be slain, even by their own if necessary.

This Pact had been in existence for quite some time, so many, many years. We were all instilled with the idea that the Pact needed to be adhered to and protected.

We all knew the stories of those who had violated the Pact. They were cast out by their own, exiled from civilization. And a bounty was placed upon their head.

Most never survived past six months. None past a year.

The exile alone was a death sentence of sorts, to be forced to dwell among the barbarians for the long entirety of one’s life. To be deprived of the simple pleasures of true civilization.

And now I contemplate violating that Pact.

How has it escalated to this point? Why would someone as I even dream of committing such a gross violation of my duty?

Yet none of this could have been predicted. It was just that weird synchronicity of events, where each disparate piece suddenly fell together to form a vast and strange picture.

And it all began with a smile.

Many men in my profession become jaded. We deal with beautiful women all the time, stunning women in such a great variety. Maybe we lose focus on the individual, simply categorizing them all into certain well-defined groups.

We never want for companionship, for sex, for servants. It was a given, a benefit of the profession.

It was always business as usual.

Until that damn smile.

I spoke with many different women, under a myriad of guises, assessing them for potential recruitment. If I discovered a potential candidate then I would assign my assistants to do the necessary background investigations.

Based on their results, a candidate might then be placed under surveillance. If everything worked out, she would eventually be harvested with others.

It was an ordered system, effective, reliable and secure.

On a daily basis, I received a few pictures or even a video clip. In most of them, the subject was naked or nearly naked. In the others, it was only a matter of time before they progressed to the point of sending more revealing shots.

Some of the pictures were phonies, pictures clipped of models. My assistants quickly determined which were which. And those deceivers were immediately dropped from my consultation list.

Every day, I flipped through the images of these women, eyeing them with a dispassionate view. Strictly business.

Until that incredibly sexy smile.

It was a head shot only. No nudity, not even a shot of the whole body. Just a face and the top of her shoulders.

She was attractive but not extraordinarily beautiful. Long dark hair, brown eyes, pleasant features. And she was smiling.

How do I describe what I felt? How can I describe something I have difficulty comprehending myself? Can words do it justice?

How can a mere smile touch one’s soul? All I know is that her smile pierced me like no other woman before. That damn smile contained a multitude of promises, a plethora of clues to hidden depths.

It oozed sensuality. It oozed carnal delight. It oozed passion.

And somehow it reversed the natural order, enslaving my heart. And they were chains I allowed to be placed upon me. I stood by and let it all occur.

That damn sexy smile.

I removed her picture from the group and had her file given to me. I had her name removed from the list.

Anne-Marie.

I recalled our earlier conversations, very pleasant experiences, and I reviewed my notes. I had noted her potential. She was intelligent, imaginative and possessed of a positive initiative.

I needed to spend more time with her, to understand my feelings. To learn why that smile had affected me so.

So I spent more time with her, online and on the telephone. We talked nearly every day. And our conversations ranged across a wide morass of different topics.

The nude photos and even live video came in time. Beneath her more demure exterior was a rather uninhibited individual, a sexual lioness. And she felt no guilt in this regard, freely accepting her innate sexuality, her true femininity.

And I saw that smile more and smile. And each time that I did, another nail slid into my heart and soul, sealing my fate.

In my business, you gain an innate sense of female psychology. You learn how they think, how they try to deceive. You learn a true response as opposed to a faked one.

And Anne-Marie evidenced sincere interest in me, a strong passion that was almost overwhelming at times. My feelings were being reciprocated though I had not voiced any of them.

And each time she smiled at me, I fell deeper into that chasm of love.

Of course I desired to meet her. So after a few months she flew out to see me, to spend a weekend with me by the sea.

Our passionate kiss at the airport was but the beginning of an incredible experience. The raw chemistry between us exploded in a fiery sexual frenzy. And in between the heated couplings, we talked, we shared, we laughed.

And fell madly in love.

Amazing. Almost indescribable. Unless you have experienced the emotion, you will probably never understand its depths.

I certainly never understood it before that stunning smile.

I had known men who had been in love. I had listened to them try to explain their feelings but I always listened with a modicum of disbelief. How could any such emotion be that potent?

Now I knew.

We met four more times, each time more passionate than the time before. Our feelings grew stronger, deeper, more fulfilling. The pleasures became keener, more erotic.

And her smile still held such a power over me. Each time she smiled it was if I was falling all over again for her. And though it seemed like a weakness, it actually seemed to make me stronger.

The paradox of love.

It was our sixth meeting though that sent everything unraveling. And so strangely appropriate that it would be the sixth, that number of such significance to my competitors.

I was supposed to meet Anne-Marie at her hotel at 3:00 p.m. Her plane was due in at 12:45 p.m. and she was going to head directly to the hotel from there. I had told her that I had some business that was going to delay me so that I could not meet her at the airport.

But at 1:00 p.m., I was waiting in the hotel lobby, sitting in a corner chair and reading the newspaper, though keeping an eye on the lobby entrance. I wished to surprise Anne-Marie.

When she eventually walked into the hotel, I watched as she went to the front desk to check in. I admired the sway of her luscious body as she moved. I sat, waiting for her to finish checking in and move toward the elevators.

But I soon realized that I was not alone in watching her. I was used to other men staring at her, entranced by her allure. But this was different.

I am a predator. And I clearly know the look of a predator in other men. This man was also a predator. I would have understood that even if I did not know him.

Harrison was part of the competition, a business rival. He was equivalent to one of my field assistants though he held a high ranking. He was one of their best. And he did not waste his time.

If Harrison was here, when he resided in New York, then he was here on business. And with his eye clearly on Anne-Marie, and his efforts to blend into the background of the lobby, I knew the identity of his target.

When Anne-Marie went to the elevators, I remained seated, using the newspaper as cover. I needed to watch Harrison now/

As Anne-Marie entered the elevators, a man entered the lobby and joined Harrison. Again, it was someone I knew. Krall.

Krall was a bodysnatcher and quite skilled at his trade. But he was only ever involved in the final stage of an acquisition.

Which meant that Anne-Marie had been under surveillance for quite some time. And that her time was now quite limited. She might not last the entire weekend.

I was sure they were aware of my existence in Anne-Marie’s life. They had to have known who she was coming to see. And Harrison knew exactly who I was and what I did.

And somehow they must have known as well that Anne-Marie was no longer on my list. Thus, they could hunt her.

They were relying on the Pact.

When I became involved with Anne-Marie, I immediately her from my list. She was no longer part of my business. She was simply part of my life.

As such, pursuant to the Pact, I had no claim to her. My feelings and emotions were irrelevant. All that mattered was business.

If she was now on my competitor’s list, then I could not interfere in her acquisition. To do so would violate the Pact. To do so would be equivalent to a death sentence. To do so would lead to my actual death.

Harrison and Krall turned to leave. They likely were going to finalize their plans. They would probably acquire her sometime within the next 48 hours.

Just before they exited through the revolving door, Harrison stopped, turned in my direction and smiled. Then they left.

That smile was intended for me. Harrison knew I was there and wanted me to understand that. He could afford to be bold with the protection of the Pact.

Harrison and I had clashed in the past. Our clashes had not been on this barbarian world. They had been in a more civilized place.

I was the one who had cut his face, leaving a scar from his left eye to the corner of his mouth. He had allowed it to scar, relishing the fearsome look it gave him.

He was the one who had nearly tossed me to my death over a reddish cliff. If it had not been for a jutting rock I was able to cling to, and the darkness that hid me, Harrison would have ensured the matter.

What in the hell could I do? To even so much as warn Anne-Marie would violate the Pact.

I could try to appeal to Harrison, even to offer to buy her from him. I could trade him other girls, some of my latest acquisitions. But I very much doubted he would deal with me, considering our past.

And what could I do if he refused?

I could not let her be acquired. I could not lose her. I had to devise some course of action, something to keep Anne-Marie and myself together. But no solution seemed obvious.

I could not sit in the lobby wallowing in despair. I should go to Anne-Marie, to hold her, to touch her, to kiss her. So I rose to my feet and walked to the front desk to find out her room number.

I took the elevator to the sixth floor and went to her room, #612.

Anne-Marie enthusiastically greeted me at the door, smiling, and was soon thereafter tearing my clothes from me. We hungrily devoured each other over the course of the next two hours.

I held her fiercely tight on the bed and she spooned against me. And as we lay there, a few tears fell from my eyes though I ensured Anne-Marie did not notice them.

She then fell asleep, the long flight having drained much of her energy and the last two hours have emptied even her reserves.

I remained awake, contemplating my limited options. My mind raced trying to discern any solution.

If I failed to act, if I did nothing to oppose Harrison, then Anne-Marie would be abducted within the next couple days.

She would be drugged, bound and taken elsewhere. When she awoke, she would find she was now a legal slave, a mere piece of property. And there would be no escape, no rescue. She would be on a near irrevocable path, unless some owner ever decided to free her, which was very unlikely.

I could not return for another year so there would be nothing I could do there. I would not be able to buy her until after that year had passed. And that would only be if I could locate her. Who knew which market she might be sold from?

If I opposed Harrison, I would violate the Pact. That would be a death sentence where I would be dead within a year. And my own people would assist in hunting me down.

And in the end, they would also help Harrison recover Anne-Marie. So I would have only delayed matters for a short time period.

In addition, and maybe most importantly, I was honor bound to obey the Pact. I had sworn to obey the Pact when I was hired on. And I did not break such oaths.

Two options. No real choice.

Inaction or opposition. Neither had a beneficial result. There were many different forms of opposition but it all boiled down to the same thing, violating the Pact. Dishonoring myself.

My heart ached out of frustration. The futility of it all.

Later that night, we dined in the hotel restaurant, a fine Italian place with ample portions and hot, crusty bread.

Anne-Marie told me how she had just quit her job before flying out here. It was time for a change and the old job had become monotonous and mundane. She even hinted around that she might be considering a move.

I knew what she wanted. She wanted me to ask her to join me, to move into my spacious home. We had discussed this a bit briefly before.

I had been thinking on this train of thought recently myself. The visits were too infrequent. I desired more, to see her far more frequently.

But I steered the conversation away from that direction. With my current dilemma I could not look to the future. I needed to resolve the present first.

I finished my vodka, looked up into her eyes and Anne-Marie smiled.

And in that smile I found my deliverance.

That damn sexy smile.

Inaction had never been a true option for me. I could not have abandoned Anne-Marie to the predations of Harrison.

But I had not conceived of a way to oppose Harrison without violating the Pact. The Pact covered even some of the most innocuous of matters. I could not give Anne-Marie any clue to the existence of my world.

But, unknowingly, she had provided me with the key to save her.

My option would not come without a substantial cost. I would be making a significant sacrifice for the woman I loved. I would lose much.

But was it really a true loss? What was the most important aspect of life? Did it matter where you lived, or who you lived with?

Was my love for Anne-Marie worth exile?

I excused myself from the table and went toward the rest rooms. Anne-Marie would be safe in the restaurant. Harrison and Krall would not take her in such a public place. They would simply wait until she returned to her room.

I found a quiet area and made a phone call to my employer. I explained my situation and we exchanged a few heated words. My decision was final though and he finally understood.

I had made an irrevocable choice. I had opted for love.

After dinner, I booked my own room at the hotel, using a false identity. Neither Harrison or Krall was visible in the lobby.

Anne-Marie was confused but I told her I would explain soon enough and just to trust me. That was not a problem for her.

We went to my room, on the fifteen floor and I told her to remain there while I collected her things from her room. I told her to secure the door and not let anyone in unless she saw me through the peephole.

Though she was a bit worried at this point, she asked no questions.

I went down to the sixth floor, unlocked the room door and pushed it aside. I did not enter right away. I peered into the room, my foot holding the door open.

After a few minutes, neither seeing or hearing anything within the room, I carefully entered. I let the door close behind me as I turned on the lights.

Not surprisingly, the switch at the door did not seem to work. I immediately opened the door again to illuminate some of the room.

As the light peered in, I saw Krall emerge from the shadows, his hand holding a moist rag. Capture scent.

He was surprised to see that I was alone. He called out to Harrison and they turned the lights on.

Harrison was confused and a bit angry. The scar on the side of his face reddened a bit as he demanded an explanation. He was ready to accuse me of violating the Pact. He was ready to have Krall kill me.

I closed the door behind me and asked Harrison to listen to all I had to say before making any conclusions.

He begrudgingly nodded and Krall put away his rag. They were professionals and would at least hear me out.

I took a deep breath, collected my thoughts and explained to Harrison the situation.

I had hidden Anne-Marie away and I intended in preventing her acquisition. I would take whatever steps were necessary to guarantee this. It would be in their best interests to forget about her, to find someone else to replace her. They would have little problem doing so.

At this point, Harrison was getting more angry but still restrained himself. To him the matter was very clear. I was violating the Pact by opposing him.

But that was not the case. My actions did not violate any provision of the Pact. I was not guilty of any such offense. And my honor was intact.

And I needed to explain that now.

The Pact bound the employees of both our sides. It bound each and every employee, no matter where they fell in the hierarchy, from the lowliest of laborers to the highest of supervisors. No exceptions.

The key though was “employees.”

If I no longer worked for my organization, then the Pact was not applicable to me. Thus, I could actively oppose Harrison and not violate any of the Pact provisions.

My earlier call to my employer had been my resignation. I had quit my profession, severed the ties to my employer.

My resignation had come at a great cost. I was now confined to Earth. I could not return to my own world. I would spend the rest of my long life among the barbarians.

I had lost my connection to my Home Stone, my City, my Caste. I had lost a great deal.

In compensation, I had love. A superb woman who reciprocated my feelings. It had been my choice.

Some would consider this an uneven sacrifice, that I had lost far more than I gained. But then those people may never have been in love before.

What was most important to me was inside, my virtues, my happiness, my feelings. The externalities of life, such as one’s profession, place of residence, fraternal organizations, ultimately mattered little. They did not guarantee joy, they did not bring honor.

In essence, I sacrificed nothing that truly was of importance in the overall scheme of life.

Harrison wanted to protest, to criticize my actions. But he understood the ramifications of my decision. He knew what items had been stripped from me.

And Harrison was one of those who valued those items. To him, I had already lost. I would be better off dead. He could not conceive of anyone valuing the sacrifice I had made. So he felt that he had won.

He then told me they would now leave Anne-Marie alone.

I thanked Harrison and left the room, the sound of Harrison’s mocking laughter echoing through my mind.

I returned to Anne-Marie and held her tightly, the tears flowing freely now. She just held me, without asking any questions.

She understood I would explain everything in time.

We now had all the time in the world to share together.