The Fifth Profession

Return to me a week from now. Read the Iliad and the Odyssey. We'll discuss its ethics.”

Savage hadn't questioned this seemingly irrelevant assignment. He was used to obeying, yes. But he sensed that Graham's command was not a mere test of his discipline but rather the beginning of a new kind of knowledge. A skill that would make his previous training-as superb as it was- seem a minimum requirement for the greater demands of what Graham eventually told him was the fifth and most noble profession.

After the Iliad and the Odyssey, Graham had insisted on discussing other classics that merged military and executive-protection skills. “You see, tradition and attitude are paramount. There are rules and codes. Ethics and yes, aesthetics. In time, I'll teach you tactics. For now, you'll learn a beautiful devotion to your principal, but as well an unrelenting obligation to control him. This relationship is unique. Perfectly balanced. A work of art.”

It was Graham who made Savage read the Anglo-Saxon account of the loyal comitatus who fought to the death to defend their master's corpse from the ravaging Vikings at the battle of Maldon. And it was Graham who introduced Savage to the remarkable Japanese fact- become-legend of the forty-seven ronin who avenged their insulted dead lord by beheading their master's enemy and in victory, obeyed the shogun's command to disembowel themselves.

Codes and obligations.

3

“I have an assignment for you,” Graham said.

“Why so solemn? Is it dangerous?”

“Actually it's fairly routine. Except for one thing.” Graham told him.

“The client's Japanese!” Savage said.

“Why does that make you frown?”

“I've never worked for a Japanese.”

“That intimidates you?”

Savage thought about it. “With most other nationalities, I'm able to take for granted common elements of culture. It makes the job easier. But the Japanese… I don't know enough about them.”

“They've adopted a lot of American ways. Clothes and music and…”

“Because of the U.S. occupation after the war. They wanted to please the victors. But their habit of mind, the way they think, that's unique, and I'm not just talking about the difference between the Orient and the West. Even the Communist Chinese, to give one example, think more like Westerners than the Japanese do.”

“I thought you said you didn't know anything about the Japanese.”

“I said I didn't know enough about them. That doesn't mean I haven't studied them. I knew one day I'd be asked to protect a Japanese. I wanted to be prepared.”

“And are you prepared?”

“I'll have to think about it.”

“You're afraid?”

Savage's pride made him tense. “Of what?”

“That you can be a comitatus but not a samurai?”

“Amae.”

Graham cocked his head. “I'm not familiar with the word.”

“It's Japanese. It means the compulsion to conform to a group.”

“Yes? And so? I'm puzzled.”

“Omote and ura. Public thoughts and private thoughts. A traditional Japanese never reveals what he truly believes. He always says what he thinks the group will accept.”

“I still don't-”

“The Japanese caste system, the absolute command of masters over retainers. In premodern times, the order was shogun to daimyo to samurai to farmer to merchant to untouchables, those who butchered animals or tanned hides. Apart from that hierarchy, the emperor existed with little power but great authority, the descendant of the Japanese gods. That rigid system was supposedly erased by the democratic reforms of the U.S. occupation. But it still persists.”

“My compliments.”

“What?”

“As usual, you've done your research.”

“Keep listening,” Savage said. “How am I supposed to protect a man who wants to conform to a group but won't tell me what he's thinking and who secretly believes he's better than his inferiors, which in this case is me? Add to that, the Japanese habit of avoiding favors because they impose an obligation to repay those favors in greater degree. And add to that, the Japanese habit of feeling mortally insulted whenever an underling assumes authority.”

“I still don't-”

“Everything you've taught me comes down to this-a protector must be both servant and master. A servant because I'm employed to defend. A master because I'm obligated to insist that my employer obey my instructions. A balance, you said. An artistry of give-and-take. Then tell me how I'm supposed to fulfill my obligation to a principal who won't reveal what he's thinking, who can't stand being obligated to an underling, and who won't take orders.”

“It's a dilemma. No doubt. I agree.”

“But you still recommend I accept this assignment?”

“For purposes of education.”

Savage glared at Graham and abruptly laughed. “You are a bastard.”

“Consider it a challenge. A broadening of your skills. You've succeeded so far-commendably. Nonetheless you haven't achieved your full potential. Ignorance is death. To become the best you must learn the most. And the samurai tradition offers the greatest opportunities. I suggest you immerse yourself much further in the culture of your principal.”

“Does the fee he offers make the effort-”

“The challenge?”

“-worthwhile?”

“You won't be disappointed. It more than compensates.”

“For?”

“Giri,” Graham said, surprising Savage by his mentor's knowledge of that essential Japanese word. “The burden of obligation to your master and to anyone who does you a favor. Even if the assignment's uneventful, my friend, you won't be bored.”

4

A dingy drizzle fell from a soot-colored sky. It sprayed off the greasy tarmac, forming a dirty mist that beaded against the dusty windows of LaGuardia Airport.

Savage sat in a crowded American Airlines concourse and watched a DC-10 approach an arrival dock. He periodically scanned the confusion of activity around him, on guard for potential danger, sensing none. Of course, an enemy skilled in surveillance would not allow himself to attract attention, so Savage remained alert.

“What's the principal's name?” he'd asked Graham.

“Muto Kamichi.”