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 Zalezak
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezak, 2003


Part 2: Mantle Of Aries
Chapter 8

The meetings were over for the day. The mechanical engineers that 
had worked with John to develop the device had left a couple of 
hours ago. A light dinner had been eaten and everyone was 
relaxing in the living room. Jack had canceled his return home to 
work out some more of the details for the charity that John wanted 
established. 

Sherry asked, "This cold fusion thing, is it really that big of a 
deal?"

Jim answered, "It will be worth trillions before everything is said 
and done. John's share for the basic fusion chamber and the fusion 
battery will probably run around 250 billion dollars. Even giving 
away 95% of the money as charity, he will end up with about 
twelve billion dollars."

Jack added, "It's going to be a lot of work managing that charity. I 
hope you realize that John."

John laughed, "No it's not."

"What do you mean?"

"We'll set up the foundation so that it has five major functions: 
education, health, crisis, research, and arts. Each of those functions 
will have a separate board that oversees the moneys allocated to 
them by the primary board. Education can start by endowing a 
chair at every university. Health can set up special programs for 
children in hospitals and special facilities for the aged. Crisis can 
manage a team for response to earthquakes, floods, fires, and other 
natural catastrophes. Research can set up an endowment system 
much like the academy of science for proven researchers. Arts can 
set up a academy of art for well known artists, authors, and music 
companies."

He looked around to see if he still had everyone's attention. He 
continued, "There will be a board of directors that shall set funding 
allotments and establish the primary directions for each of those 
functional areas. The goals should be established to improve the 
life of the average person here and around the world."

Sherry stared at John in amazement, "I find it amazing that you 
could have all that money and you would give it away like that. 
That you would want to help others to that extent is absolutely 
amazing."

John added, "Well, I would like to be on the foundation board of 
directors in charge of allocating moneys to the five divisions. I 
think I would like Ed, Beth, Sherry, and Mrs. South on the board 
of directors as well."

Mrs. South frowned, "I'd loose all of my retirement benefits. 
Besides, you don't want an old lady on the board."

John laughed, "Mrs. South, don't worry about your pension. You 
will be taken care of for the rest of your life. I want you to set up 
the sex education program!"

Mrs. South laughed aloud. Wiping tears from her eyes, "I can see it 
now. First course will be basic fucking. Second course will be on 
swinging and alternative lifestyles. The third course will be on 
bondage and discipline. The fourth course will be a hands on fuck-
fest."

Sherry looked at Mrs. South in open-mouthed astonishment. She 
had not expected that kind of language form a eighty-year-old 
woman. Recovering she stated, "You left out sex toys and fetish 
costumes."

Mrs. South winked, "Honey, that's covered in basic fucking."

John was laughing and hitting his thigh in amusement. Jack added, 
"I bet pornographic novels are taught in the English classes."

Jim was holding his sides, from laughing so hard. He added, "Talk 
about motivating kids to learn how to read!"

Mrs. South chuckled as she tried to get control of herself. "Okay, 
John. If I can help develop the sex education program, you've got 
me."

Jim asked the question that had been bothering him all day. "Why 
are you so willing to give up so much money and power?"

John was quiet for a moment as he thought about how to answer 
that question. "I would rather improve the world so that my 
grandchildren or great-grandchildren do not need to be financial 
wizards in order to have a good life. I have many friends and I 
would like to see their children live in a better world. If I kept the 
money, then everyone in later generations would live in a lesser 
world."

John looked at everyone in the room. He continued, "This 
invention is going to change the entire world. Almost everyone 
that makes their living through petroleum products are going to 
loose their jobs. Utility companies could end up being the 
secondary source of power rather than primary source that they are 
today. Wall Street will suffer major losses in some areas and gains 
in another. The next ten years could be very rough for many 
people. If we don't invest the money to train people for different 
jobs, then we are looking at massive unemployment. If we ignore 
the arts and sciences, then the future for our children shall be 
dismal."

John paused to take a sip of his coffee. His audience was 
spellbound by what he was saying. "A lot of things are going to get 
cheaper. Thirty dollars worth of material will run all of the 
electrical appliances in a typical household. Trains will be the most 
cost-effective way to move merchandise from one part of the 
country to another. Traffic will decrease tremendously. Cars will 
be powered by fusion batteries with the result that air pollution 
could become a historical footnote. Disadvantaged countries will 
not need to build a huge infrastructure to bring the benefits of 
civilization to remote areas."

"The entire world is embarking on a fascinating journey. It is up to 
those with a vision for a good future to work hard to bring such a 
future about. We can make that future a reality by giving the right 
information to the people who are willing to accept it. It may be a 
small minority in the beginning, but in time it will grow as they 
live a better lifestyle than those that reject the ideas we give them."

John lamely finished with, "Besides, I would never be able to 
manage that amount of money. It's way too much for my needs and 
I don't have many wants."

Jack looked around the room at everyone else. He had known that 
John was able to attract good people to his side. Again, John had 
gotten good people to help him. He had to wonder what would 
happen when John Carter became a household name. He stated, 
"How will you maintain your privacy?"

John replied, "Sherry, do you think I'll have any problems retaining 
my privacy where I currently live in Arizona?"

She laughed, "I don't think so. First, they'll have to get through 
town. We're a nosy bunch there. Everyone is protective of his or 
her privacy, particularly with respect to strangers. Then they'll 
have to get past Maria. To do that, they'll have to kill her. She is so 
protective of you, that you wouldn't believe it. Then you have Ed, 
Beth, and Kelly. They will move heaven and earth to make sure 
that nothing bothers you. Finally, anyone that wants to go after you 
will have to get by Rover."

Jim smiled, "Odds are, after the first dozen unwelcome visitors, 
they'll make the whole town a gated community. Only residents 
allowed."

Jack smiled, "Okay. You win. I guess you've made an impact on 
the whole town."

Sherry smiled, "He changed a few people that made it less than 
paradise. We appreciate the difference that he has made to the 
town. We don't even care that he is going to have two wives and a 
husband."

John's eyebrows went up, "How did you know that?"

Jim stated, "You can't hide it in that town. Those three look at you 
with absolute love, with a little lust thrown in."

Jack mused, "I'm gonna have to mention that to Jenny. She might 
like that idea a lot. Besides, it might give me a chance to sleep late 
in the morning."

John laughed, "Knowing Jenny, I bet she wakes you up two hours 
early just for a morning glory."

Jack agreed, "Morning glory, afternoon delight, evening tango, and 
midnight madness, she loves them all."

"And you complain?"

"Not at all!" Jack laughed at the thought. He couldn't get enough of 
Jenny. His life was completely changed since meeting her. 

Sherry winked at Jim who smiled back at her. They had just agreed 
that at some point in time they were going to meet Jack and Jenny 
together. Who knows, they just might form a multiple partner 
marriage. John noticed the exchange. "So what great secret are you 
two hiding?"

Sherry smiled demurely, "What do you mean?"

John answered, "Most successful lawyers that I've met are married 
to skinny bitches with silicon enlarged breasts. Trophy wives, if I 
can use that term. So how is it that Jim married a real woman?"

Sherry frowned, "Jim is a better man than that."

John quickly clarified his statements, "I understand that Jim is a 
good man."

Jim smiled, "Sherry, you know what he means. He's the only one 
in town that doesn't know about us."

Sherry shrugged, "I didn't think about that."

Jim answered, "I was dating one of those trophy women. I had 
gone to one of those horribly boring social functions with her. She 
was a real bitch, but everyone was jealous of me. Even I couldn't 
believe that she was with me."

Sherry made one of the first catty remarks John had ever heard her 
make. "She had so much silicon that it had become a rare 
commodity."

Jim laughed, "It wasn't that bad. Anyway, I'm standing there with 
blue balls because that woman hated sex. It is a common trait 
shared by all trophy wives. I'm trying out the finger foods in the 
buffet line and Sherry's standing over there. I tell her that the food 
is great. She thanks me for the compliment. I introduce myself and 
we start talking. Sherry asks why I'm not with a real woman."

"The idiot tells me that he is with a real woman."

Jim shook his head, "Then she tells me that a real woman loves to 
fuck her lover. She's not concerned about how her makeup looks. 
She's concerned that he feels well-fucked and appreciated."

 "He's looking at me like I just told him that I was from the moon. 
All he can do is say really."

Jim laughed, "I was really thinking, REALLY, in all capital letters. 
So I ask her what will a real woman do. She tells me anything. 
After I ask for some clarification, she says, regular, oral, anal, 
threesomes, swinging, and anything else his imagination can come 
up with."

"He asks me if I'd do a woman for him."

John added, "Well, she up and tells me that she would for her 
lover, but what made me think that I qualified as her lover. She 
adds that I wasn't good enough for her. You talk about feeling like 
a fool. I'm standing there with an erection. I'm trying to pick up a 
woman that I figured would give her right arm to be out with a guy 
like me and she refuses."

Sherry laughs, "You should have seen him. He really looked hurt."

"I was hurt!"

Sherry continued, "Well, he asks me why he isn't good enough. I 
tell him that a real man loves to fuck his woman and will do 
anything for her. I told him that he wasn't a real man."

"Believe me, when I tell you that her comment really pissed me 
off. I wasn't a real man? Bull. I told her that I was more of a man 
than she could possibly handle."

Sherry continued, "So I ask him if he'll suck a cock for me. You 
should have seen his face. He turned three shades of red."

"I'm standing there being told that I wasn't a real man because I 
was unwilling to do what my lover may ask. First request that she 
spouts, I'm standing there like an idiot realizing that she was right."

Sherry was quiet for a moment, "I had no idea what he was 
thinking. He just stood there and looked at me for a long time."

"I wasn't seeing a fat woman standing in front of me. I was looking 
at someone that actually understood love. It wasn't about what you 
could do to make me happy, but what we could do to make each 
other happy. There was nothing that could be better than having a 
woman in my life who understood love and loved me."

Sherry stated, "Well, the time that he spent looking at me was 
beginning to get very uncomfortable. Finally he blurts out that he 
would for a real woman."

Jim shook his head, "It took me some time to convince her that I 
was serious, but finally she said that I could ask her out for a date. 
She warned me that it would take some wooing to land her. I've 
never regretted it."

Sherry, "I took a chance on him. Poor skinny bitch with silicon 
boobs was out the door that night!"

John smiled, "I knew you were the one that taught him how to give 
and receive love."

Jack interjected, "John got me and Jenny together. He taught us 
about sharing ourselves with each other. It's a shame that people 
don't understand what love really is."

John looked over at Mrs. South and noticed tears running down her 
face. He asked, "Mrs. South, are you okay?"

She replied, "It was such a beautiful story. It reminds me of when I 
met my husband. I wouldn't marry him until I was sure that we 
were both willing to give as much to the marriage as possible. 
Every morning I woke my husband with a blowjob. I felt like it 
sent him off to work in the proper frame of mind."

Sherry chuckled, "I do the same thing. Every morning, he wakes 
with my mouth on his cock."

John looked at Jim for a minute trying to decide what to do. 
Finally, he stated, "We are making a group marriage. Jim, we 
wanted to ask you if you would help us with the legal issues. Jack, 
we wanted to ask you if you would help us with the financial 
issues."

Mrs. South exclaimed, "That's great news John. Congratulations."

Sherry got serious suddenly, "Ed is a part of that marriage?"

"Yes, he is."

"What does he say about Jim being involved?"

John looked at Sherry and understood her concerns. He answered 
her question, "He was the one that recommended Jim."

Sherry looked puzzled, "Ed hates Jim. He hates me."

John smiled, "I hate to disappoint you, but he doesn't hate either of 
you. In fact, I think that he respects you."

Jim frowned, "You don't know the kinds of things he said to 
Sherry. I told him that I would kill him if he ever said another 
word to her."

John argued, "I do know."

"There is no way you would ask me to do that if you knew."

John was quiet for a minute. He asked, "Did you know that Ed was 
with me at the California Earthquake and in Salt Lake City when 
the serial killer was captured?"

"No way. If he had been, we'd have heard all about it from him."

John smiled, "Yes, there was a time that would have been true. Ed 
was the fourth person to reach the killer and make sure he wasn't 
going anywhere. He was the first person to get the victims out of 
the back of the car. He took care of them while everyone else was 
doing FBI kinds of things."

Sherry looked very surprised, "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"That doesn't sound like Ed to me."

John nodded in understanding. He stated, "We had a long talk 
about judging things by appearance afterwards. He said that he had 
been guilty of that with regards to you two. He mentioned that no 
matter how many nasty things he had said to you, that you still 
treated him politely."

Sherry looked down at the ground, "That's true, but it was only 
because I was afraid of him."

John stated, "he feels very badly about how he has treated you in 
the past. He has been trying desperately to find some way to make 
it up to you."

Jim was quiet for a long time. Finally, he said, "I will do it because 
you have asked and I know you are a good man. That is if Sherry 
says it is okay."

Sherry wasn't quite so forgiving. She asked, "What happened that 
day in the hospital that changed Ed?"

John shrugged, "Do you really want to know?"

"I must know."

"The first time I met Ed he called me a wimp and wanted to get 
into a fight. You might say I won the fight handily. The next time I 
met him was when he took me to the hospital after the snake 
bites."

"Why did you pick him to take you there?"

"He was the only one who I knew there," replied John. 

"Wow! And you trusted a guy who had tried to beat you up the 
night before to take you straight to the hospital?"

"Don't forget, he had just seen me walk through a hundred 
rattlesnakes. He was watching me cut each bite with a knife the 
whole drive."

Jack interrupted, "Man, that must have been something to see. I 
never knew that."

John waved a hand as if to signal that it was nothing. He continued 
with the story, "When we got to the hospital he saw my scars and 
learned the history behind them."

"I've heard all about your scars, but I've never seen them. Would 
you show them to us?"

"It would require me to disrobe completely."

Sherry smiled, "It wouldn't bother me."

Mrs. South added, "Nor me."

John stood and stripped off his clothes. He stood in front of Sherry 
and slowly turned so that she could see all of the scars. Sherry 
paled as she saw the burn, the bullet holes, and the jagged cuts.  
Mrs. South had her hand over her mouth. She stated, "My God. 
Betsy told me that you were all scarred up, but I never realized."

He continued with his story, "Beth was the doctor on staff at the 
hospital. She treated the bites and then asked if she could see my 
scars. Ed was standing there with a funny look on his face. As I 
stood there, just like I'm doing right now, Beth pointed to each scar 
and stated the history behind it. I think that is when Ed underwent 
his great change."

Sherry stated, "you must have been in an explosion."

John shook his head, "I received each one, one at a time. Everyone 
represents someone that I saved. Betsy called them my medals of 
valor. I don't know about that."

"Each one represents a saved person?"

"Yes, sometimes more than one person."

Mrs. South stated, "He ran into burning buildings, covered people 
in shot-outs, carried injured people out of gun battles, and pulled 
people out of burning cars. Of course, most people that he saves 
aren't in such dire circumstances. I don't think anyone actually 
knows how many people whose lives he has saved."

Jack added, "He's probably affected the lives of more people than 
I've ever met."

Sherry stared a John for a long time. She hadn't seen anything that 
affected her more. She was startled that after looking at him so 
long that she hadn't noticed the size of his cock. She licked her lips 
and looked down at Jim. Jim smiled back at her. She finally said, 
"I can see where that would affect Ed. Ed had always been a 
braggart and a bully. He talked a good story, but he had never done 
anything. He learned in that moment what it meant to be a real 
man. He doesn't boast or brag, he just acts and then goes on."

John nodded in agreement. Jim looked at Sherry and asked, 
"Well?"

Sherry was silent for quite a while. She sighed, "I guess you should 
do it."

Jack had watched the interaction among John, Jim, and Sherry. He 
could see that Sherry had been hurt significantly by Ed. He 
remembered Ed from the funeral and had a hard time reconciling 
the description of him from his memory of the guy. He asked, 
"When do you want me to come there?"

John smiled, "Why don't you and Jim work out when would be a 
good time for you both? I'll arrange my schedule accordingly, the 
Gods and Goddesses willing. In the meantime, I'm going to go to 
bed. I have to get up early. I'll drop you guys off at the airport, then 
visit the hospital and the school. The big press release is tomorrow 
afternoon."

John picked up his clothes and left the room. He went to the 
bedroom that he would be sharing with Jack. He planned to sleep 
on the floor like always and let Jack have the bed. He moved his 
sleeping bag to a spot where Jack wouldn't trip over him. He 
promptly fell asleep. Rover lay on the floor beside him gently 
purring.

In the living room, the four adults were talking about John. Jack 
asked the question that had been bothering him, "What could Ed 
do that would make things right between you?"

Sherry answered, "Nothing."

Jim heard Sherry's flat answer. He stated, "You don't really mean 
that."

"I really don't know what he could do that would make up for his 
past actions. I mean, he's a proud person and would never admit 
that he had done something wrong." Sherry sighed. One day, Ed 
and his torments would be nothing more than an unpleasant 
memory. She couldn't wait for that day.

Mrs. South was watching them talk. She stated, "You know, 
people can surprise you. Ed may have undergone a fundamental 
change. If he's been around John for an extended period of time, he 
has learned love."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Same here."

She pressed her point, "Would the guy that you know ever 
consider taking a husband?"

Sherry and Jim just looked at each other for a minute. Neither one 
of them could give a positive answer that question. Ed would have 
taken someone apart who did that.

She added, "Don't answer me now. Just think about it."

Jack asked, "Is there a legal way for the four of them to be 
married?"

Jim shrugged, "Marriage is actually a set of financial contracts 
between individuals. The most basic contract is a fifty-fifty sharing 
of assets. Pre-nuptials agreements are more complicated. This will 
be a much more complicated contract, but I don't see any reason 
why it can't be done so that it works well for them. The tax 
questions are more significant."

Jack replied, "I know. I'm not sure how to set up something like 
that. I guess I'll start by looking at the tax laws for historic 
communes like the Oneida and Amana."

Jim suggested, "You might consider setting them up as a religious 
organization."

Jack shook his head, "John would never go for that. He wouldn't 
accept using religion as a means for justifying what he wants to do. 
He does what his religion drives him to do."

Mrs. South chimed in, "If you do something illegal or morally 
wrong, then John will make sure that you are arrested. His first law 
is that you shall protect the weak from the strong. His second law 
is that you shall do no harm to another. It would be best that you 
remember that in drafting your agreements."






