To call the land devastated, or vacant - even abandoned, would be an exaggeration. There was nothing. He had been walking for a day and a half. It had been a hard couple of years. Ironically a decade ago the path had seemed clear. Sure, his profession was hard and dangerous. But he had thought everything was about as perfect as could be expected. 

 

He had had a good dog, a loyal friend, and a beautiful woman. What more could be asked for? Now, after giving his last full measure of devotion he had literally lost everything. The desolate terrain suited his life as he thought about what would happen next. 

 

He hadn’t even asked Stowe for vacation time. He had simply vanished. Not that such actions ever would have flown in corporate America. But this wasn’t an office with a cubicle.

 

He was after all, a spy.