DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by

sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading

now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes

without the consent of the author.

John Carter

By

Lazlo Zalezac

Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2003

Part 3: Robes of Acumen

Chapter 20

The middle of the afternoon is a quiet time in the living quarters of

the President of the College. John, the President, was on his back,

in the middle the living room. Little Beth, now four years old, was

curled up inside one arm and little John, now three years old, was

curled up inside the other. All three of them were asleep. Ling and

Kelly stood at the door watching them. Ling whispered, "It's hard

to be a mother when the fathers spend all their time with the kids."

Kelly giggled, "Yes it is. Still, I can't believe how much Ed and

John enjoy them."

"So how do we wake him without waking the kids?"

"We'll take the kids to their room and put them to bed there."

The two mothers went into the living room and picked up the

children. Each child woke briefly when they were picked up, but

fell back to sleep immediately. The mothers carried them to their

bedroom. John jumped up looking around for the children. He

relaxed when he saw the mothers walking away with them.

John looked at the clock and saw what time it was. He headed out

to the administration building. He was supposed to go over the

security records. They had detected several people moving around

their property, but no one had been able to locate them. Ling

returned from the bedroom. Kelly stayed to watch the kids. John

and Ling went to the security center. There was no need for

conversation; they were both familiar with the current situation.

Ling was mentally returning to her role as security specialist.

They reached the security center. They entered in the midst of

significant excitement. John walked over to the monitor and looked

at the situation. There were two blips moving through the property.

John looked over the detailed map of the property. He ran his

finger over the course taken by the two blips. He ran his fingers

further along and thought about the time it would take the blips to

reach that point. He turned to Ling, "Stay here. I'm going to see

who they are."

John left the room and headed off into the forest. He moved

quickly and quietly. He wanted to make sure that he reached a

point well ahead of the intruders. The soft floor of the woods

dampened his steps. He circled around so that his path wouldn't be

in their way. It took him ten minutes to reach the location that he

had mapped out. He slipped down and wrapped the cloak around

his body. He went motionless, waiting for the intruders.

It took five minutes for the wildlife to return and act normally.

John sat still watching the birds move from limb to limb as they

went about their business. He watched a squirrel move around on

the ground. It felt good to be back in the midst of nature. After a

few minutes, the squirrel started to act strange. He watched as it

moved to a tree.

As the squirrel moved around the tree, John looked to the area

from which the squirrel would be hidden. Two people were

moving slowly through the woods. They were wearing dark green

outfits with soft leather boots that laced up their legs. Moving

silently, they were totally alert to their surroundings. John could

see no weapons other than knives on their hips. They didn't look

like the average hikers. When they came closer, John could tell

that it was a man and a woman.

The man stopped and knelt down pointing at something on the

ground. The woman knelt beside him and looked. In a very quiet

voice he asked, "What is it?"

Equally quiet, she replied, "Scat from a fox."

"How old is it?"

"The scat has been here about half an hour."

John listened impressed with the level of knowledge the two

people had of the natural environment. Rather than announcing

himself, he chose to wait and see what he could learn.

"What did it eat?"

The woman removed her knife from her belt. At a nod from the

man, she used the knife to break apart the scat. She looked at it for

a moment. She used the knife to point to parts of the scat as she

answered, "It has eaten a grasshopper, a garter snake, and a baby

mouse."

The man nodded, "When the fox shits again, what will be in it?"

"The rest of the mouse."

"Very good. What direction did it go?"

The woman looked around for a second. She used the knife to

point in a direction away from John, "It went that way. It looks like

it was startled by something."

The man nodded again. He looked around the area taking in his

surroundings. He could see nothing that would have caused the fox

to flee, but he asked the woman anyway. "What startled it?"

John answered, "Probably me."

The man and the woman jumped as though they had been shot.

John stood and faced the pair. He asked, "Who are you?"

The man answered, "I'm Ranger Albert Mandel. This is my

student, Cindy Carpenter. Who are you?"

"I'm the Grand Druid, John Carter."

"You are good at stealth. I did not see or hear you."

"You are good at stealth. My people looked for you three days ago

and couldn't find you."

"Ah, the man with the bear. He was very good. It took all of our

skill to avoid them and we were chased off the property." Albert

examined John carefully. He looked around, "It makes sense that

Druid land would have a lot of animal and plant life on it. You

even have several endangered species here."

John smiled, "They are under our protection. That is why we made

such an effort to find you."

"That is our job, as well. We watch over the species here to make

sure they are not threatened. We were worried when the

construction started here."

John nodded, "We were careful. We even transplanted several rare

species of plants to our green house. They have been returned to

the grounds around the school."

"That is good."

John shouted, "It's alright Ling. You can come over here."

Albert turned and looked down the path as Ling appeared behind

them. He smiled, "I had just heard her. She is very good too."

Ling deftly reached out and took the knife out of the hand of

Cindy as she walked past the woman. Cindy was shocked at the

speed at which Ling's hand had moved when it had taken the knife.

She glared at the woman. John stated, "Ling give her back her

knife."

Ling shook her head and said, "She should have used it or put it

away. She's lucky I didn't use it on her. If it had been pointed at

you, I would have."

John shook his head at the logic and said, "Give it back to her."

Ling grudgingly handed the knife back in the proper fashion by

holding the blade. She didn't release it until the woman, in a

strained voice, stated, "Thank you."

The woman slid the knife into her sheath and then looked at Ling

with a slight bit of anger. "Are you satisfied?"

Albert snapped, "CC, stop it. She was well within her rights."

The woman immediately answered, "Yes, sir."

Ling moved beside John and looked at the pair. John broke the

tension, "Would you like to come back with us to the school?"

The Ranger was about to decline, but he happened to look at Ling.

Her look suggested that it would be best to accept. He slowly

nodded and answered, "Yes. That would be nice."

John headed toward the school followed by the Ranger and his

student. Ling brought up the rear. As they walked, John stated,

"You walk Indian style; on the balls of your feet with your toes

pointed inwards."

"You are extremely observant. It helps to walk quieter through the

woods."

John nodded. "I know. Robert White Feather told me the same

thing."

The rest of the walk was in silence. They approached the

administration building. Albert stopped and pointed to a plant. He

asked, "CC, what kind of plant is this?"

She answered, "I don't know."

He smiled, "Draw it and look it up later."

He stood and looked at John. "Sorry, I had to take the opportunity

for her to see that plant. They're very rare."

John smiled and pointed to a small garden, "There's about a

thousand of them over there."

Albert walked over to the patch that John had pointed out. A small

brass plate gave the name of the plant. He stared at the garden open

mouthed, "How? There are more here than I thought existed in the

entire state."

John smiled, "Our horticulturist is very talented. I shall arrange a

tour of the gardens for you. I'm sure he will be more than happy to

talk with someone that knows plants as well as you."

Ling watched over the woman as she drew the plant. She glanced

at the drawing pad and noted that the woman was a good artist. It

didn't take her nearly as long to draw the plant as Ling predicted.

As the woman stood up, Ling stated, "They are over there."

The woman, followed by Ling, joined the two men at the garden.

The woman stated, "Very impressive garden. A little too orderly

for my taste, though."

Albert laughed, "The order is to allow a very weak species

freedom from competition."

John led the group into his office in the administration building.

Rather than sitting behind his desk, he sat at a table while inviting

the others to join him. Ling stood to the side for a moment. She

said, "I'll go check on Little John."

John smiled as he said, "go ahead. I'll be taking our guests to the

first year dining room after we are done here."

Ling nodded, "I'll let the others know not to expect you. I will send

Ed over, though."

After Ling left the room, Cindy stated, "She's rather protective of

you."

John laughed, "She's one of the best security people in the country

and takes great pride in her abilities. She doesn't want anything to

happen to her husband."

Albert carefully looked around the office taking in details. The

furniture was made of wood. Every thing about the room spoke of

permanence. He knew that if he were to walk in this room a

hundred years from now, everything would still be there. Cindy sat

at the table fidgeting, uneasy in the room. She was made even

more nervous by the assessing stare that John gave her. John

stated, "You need to learn to relax in unfamiliar surroundings."

She replied, "I'm fine."

John laughed, "Right. You haven't even bothered to take in your

surroundings as your instructor is doing. He'll be able to come in

here a year from now and notice if anything has changed."

"John, you are extremely observant," replied Albert. He turned to

the woman. "CC, listen to him. Even in this setting, the skills that

you use in the forest should remain with you. You should observe

everything."

Cindy answered, "Yes sir."

The men waited while Cindy looked around the room. When she

returned her attention to John, he asked, "What did you notice?"

"There's a lot of wood in this room."

John smiled, "What do you think of that?"

"You killed a lot of trees to decorate this room," she replied with a

certain amount of venom in her voice.

Smiling, John turned to Albert. "Your comment?"

Albert stated, "Everything in this room will last two hundred years,

possibly more, if it is treated properly. The craftsmanship is the

best that I've ever seen. If all furniture was made this well, the

forests would be safe forever."

"Huh?"

Albert answered, "This room is decorated in solid wood. It is

polished to an extremely good shine. The craftsman that made this

furniture made it to last. No trees will be killed for generations to

decorate this room. That is the way you should use natural

resources. When you use them, you should use them so that they

last forever."

"Oh."

"CC, you may not realize with whom you are talking. This is John

Carter. He's the inventor of the Fusion Battery and the Fusion Cell.

They are the two most environmentally kind innovations in the

history of man."

Cindy's eyes went wide as she looked at John. There was a short

rap on the door and Ed entered the room. He sat down at the table

facing the two visitors. He stated, "I'm Ed Biggers."

John introduced the visitors, "Ed, this is Albert Mandel and Cindy

Carpenter."

Ed nodded. "Ling told me their names already. So, you are

Rangers?"

Albert nodded, "I am a Ranger. She is my student."

John stated, "I am not familiar with the Rangers. Can you tell me

about them?"

Albert looked at Ed for a second. There was something about Ed

that gave him the feeling that this was more than just a friendly

conversation. He answered, "About twenty years ago, a number of

us were worried about the environment. We felt that most

environmental organizations had no clue how nature worked. They

had this idealized Walt Disney view of nature with Thumper and

Bambi talking and having afternoon tea."

John laughed at the image. He remembered the encounter he had

with an animal rights activist that wouldn't accept that Rover was a

wild animal that was where he was by choice. He nodded for

Albert to continue. Albert said, "We decided that we wanted to

make a real difference beyond protesting. We knew that we had to

do it differently. We would learn about nature first and come to

grips with it before we started pointing fingers at who was to

blame for the current environmental crisis."

"We went to virgin forests that hadn't been touched in a hundred

years. We found that wildlife in some areas were not as dense as

we had imagined. In most cases, it wasn't because of humans, but

because that was the amount of wildlife that could be supported.

We are now working to help wildlife balance itself. We make

detailed surveys of the wildlife in various areas of the country. We

give the results to Game and Wildlife Departments to help

establish optimal hunting limits."

John listened attentively, nodding occasionally. "Where do you get

your funding?"

"We function mostly off government grants."

Ed licked his lips, "So you aren't considered a eco-terrorist

organization?"

"No. That doesn't work. We do little things, like put small

protective tents around the nests of endangered birds to keep

predators from getting to them. We put up signs warning people of

endangered habitats. We report illegal dumping and help clean

them up."

Ed looked to John and nodded, "He speaks the truth as far as he

knows it."

"Does he and his serve the Goddess?"

Ed frowned before ansering, "Only by their deeds."

John looked out the window. He stood up and walked over to the

desk. He pushed the intercom button. "Ask Sid and Al to come

here."

He returned to his seat. Albert watched John, attempting to figure

out what was happening. John's face gave no hints. They were

disturbed by the entry of a small girl into the room. John looked at

Beth, "What's the matter, Beth?"

"I had a strange dream."

John nodded, "Strange dreams can be scary, but you don't have to

be afraid of them."

Beth answered, "I dreamed a first year student was in the forest.

She was real pretty."

Ed looked at John with a funny expression on his face. John smiled

at Beth. "Wow, you dreamed of a pretty lady in the forest. Did you

talk with her?"

"Yes."

"That's great. What did you talk about?"

Beth smiled, "We talked about Mommy Kelly. The pretty lady said

that I would hear some bad news tomorrow, but that Mommy

Kelly was going to be okay."

"That's good. Did she say anything else?"

"No. That's when I woke up."

John lifted Beth onto his lap. "Did you like the dream?"

"Oh yes. It was real pretty there. I hope to go back there one day."

John hugged Beth. "I'm so glad you told me about your dream."

Beth giggled, "Mommy Ling said that I had to tell it to you. I

would have told you anyway."

John tickled her for a second. She rolled around in his lap

laughing. John finally set her down saying, "You better go find

Mommy Ling now. She's going to worry about you."

"Okay, Daddy John." She kissed him on the cheek. Then she went

over to Ed and kissed him on the cheek. Ed reached down and

picked her up. Planing a big kiss on her forehead, he told her, "I'll

be right upstairs and we can have a tea party."

She giggled, "Mommy Ling said I have to eat dinner."

"Okay, I'll be up to join you for dinner."

"Goody. I'll be waiting for you Daddy Ed."

John and Ed watched her leave the room. The two men looked at

each other. Ed stated, "Tomorrow the Goddess delivers her gift to

Kelly."

"Yes, I think so."

"I'll go now." Ed stood and went to the door. He turned to Albert

and Cindy, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

He was gone before either could respond. Albert turned to John,

"The little girl, is she your daughter?"

"Yes."

Cindy looked at John strangely for a minute. John gestured for her

to ask her question. She blurted out, "She has two mommies and

two daddies?"

John laughed, "No. She has three moms and three dads. I have

three wives and two husbands."

Albert asked, "The dream. It was significant to you. Why?"

"The Goddess promised Kelly the gift of a death experience. Beth

dreamed of the Goddess to get the message that everything was

going to be okay."

The door to the office swung open as a black bear shuffled into the

room. The bear went to an open space near John's desk and sat

down looking at the people gathered in the room. It yawned as

though bored with what it had seen. Albert and Cindy stared at the

bear open mouthed. The silence in the room was broken by Al,

"Oh my. We have a Ranger."

John looked up at Al and asked, "You know of the Rangers?"

"Sure, the whole forestry department knows about them. They're a

good group."

John asked, "Albert, would you please touch the medallion of Al?"

Albert reached out and touched the medallion. He turned to John,

"It tingles."

John stated, "Thank you."

Sid entered the room. He took one look at Albert and stated, "Ah, a

Ranger and his student."

"Does everyone know about the Rangers except me?" asked John.

"I don't know about that. They've rescued some pretty significant

rare plants."

"Let's go eat." John's stomach growled to emphasize the point that

he was hungry. He stood up and led the others to the dining room

in the first year dorm. He wondered how Cindy would react to the

naked students.

They entered the dining room as a group and seated themselves at

one of the larger tables. Cindy was staring at the eating utensils

and trying not to look around. She was in a constant state of blush.

John handed out the menu's. The group perused the menu. Cindy

was glad to have something to look at. She was surprised that there

were no prices on the menu.

A woman, wearing only an apron, came over to the table to take

their order. John looked up at her, "Helen, since when did you guys

start dressing like that?"

The waitress smiled, "A few of the students were not happy about

us wearing clothes while they were nude. I figured what the hell.

So, I took everything off except the apron. I still need to have the

pockets."

"You didn't need to do that."

"I know. Just some of the shyer kids still feel a little

uncomfortable."

"It's your decision," replied John. He was pleased that some

members of the staff were working to fit in with the students.

Helen asked, "Do you want your normal soup and sandwich?"

John nodded. He looked around the room at the students. He

noticed that two students were arguing. He excused himself,

"There's a minor crisis brewing over there. Let me take care of it."

He went over to two students that were arguing. He asked, "What's

the problem?"

The woman stated, "He cheated on me!"

The man was about the respond when John held up his hand. John

asked, "What exactly did he do?"

"He slept with another girl!"

John turned to the young man. He ordered, "Please stand up and

turn around slowly."

The young man complied despite his confusion at the request. John

looked over the young man's body very carefully. After the young

man had finished turning, John stated, "Please sit down."

John turned to the young lady, "I looked over every inch of his

body. I didn't see a sign that said he was your property. He's free to

sleep with who ever he wants."

She spat out, "He hurt me. He broke the rules."

"How did he hurt you?"

"He violated my trust in him."

"In what way?"

"He slept with another girl."

"Did he promise not to do that?"

"No, but that was what I expected," replied the woman.

John smiled, "So he violated an expectation that you held without

telling him. Now you are hurt that your expectations were not met

by him. Does that sound correct?"

"Yes."

"Now you want to make him feel bad."

"Correct."

John stated, "I can solve your problem very quickly. I've just

decided that you are my property. My expectation is that no one

can talk to you from now on. If anyone does, I'll kick them out of

the school. If you talk to anyone, I'll come yell at you."

The woman looked at John in shock. "You mean no one can talk to

me?"

"Right. That would violate my expectations and hurt me terribly."

"You can't control my life that way."

John smiled, "You can't control his life that way."

"Oh," replied the woman. She looked at John for a minute and then

at the young man. The young man shifted uncomfortably under her

stare. "I understand. He didn't hurt me, I hurt me. I should have

made my expectations clear from the beginning so that he could

decide if he could meet them."

John smiled and nodded. He turned to the young man and stated,

"You are not entirely blameless in this."

"Yes, sir." replied the young man.

"What did you do wrong?"

"I failed to make my expectations clear and that led up to this."

John nodded. "Now talk about this between yourselves and then let

other students know what you learned today."

John returned to the table. His food had arrived and he sat down to

eat. He took a bite and saw that Cindy was staring at him. When he

swallowed, he asked, "You have a question?"

"Yes. Why was she wrong in having her expectations?"

John laughed, "She wasn't wrong in having them. She was wrong

in not communicating them to her lover. She placed him in a

position to hurt and be hurt. He was wrong in the same way."

"Oh. Then why did you bring me in here without asking if I would

be offended?"

"Because offense is not the same as harming. Further more, it was

to continue your education."

Cindy stared at John as she asked, "Continue my education?"

John smiled at Albert. Albert nodded back at John and then John

explained, "You came in here, saw one naked person and stopped

examining your environment. Your first reaction was to forget

your training. You studied the table for ten minutes and then spent

the next five studying the menu. You haven't even looked around

the room yet."

Cindy glared at John for a second and then answered, "Yes, sir.

You're right."

Albert asked, "Why are you so mad at John Carter?"

"He keeps making me look like a fool and he's doing it on

purpose."

Al and Sid laughed aloud at that statement. Cindy shot a look at

them and challenged, "What?"

"You are talking to one of the greatest teachers of all time. He's

literally taught thousands of people how to face up to their

limitations and overcome them. He's been giving you opportunities

to demonstrate what you are learning from your teacher and from

him." Sid reached over and petted his bear. "Isn't that right

Fluffy?"

Albert stared at the Sid in horror. "You call him Fluffy?"

John laughed, "That is the name the bear picked. No one was more

shocked than Sid. I had a cougar named Rover. The animals pick

their own name and won't answer to anything else."

Al stated, "John, you have a family that needs you. I shall show

our guests to the guestrooms. Sid, your bear probably wants to go

out for a while."

John and Sid left the table. Albert and Cindy watched him walk

off. Albert turned to Al, "Is he always like that?"

"Like how?"

"So distant and yet so present. When he looks at you, you have his

total attention. Then he looks away and suddenly you feel like you

are alone in the world."

Al nodded, "Yes. His whole family is like that. All of the Druids

are like that. You have met Ed?"

Cindy answered, "Yes. When he looks at you, you feel like your

soul is being examined."

Happy that his student had actually noticed the intensity of his

examination by Ed, he congratulated her. "You noticed."

For the first time since she had entered the college, Cindy smiled.