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 Zalezak, 2003


Part 1: Shield, Staff, and Compass
Chapter 21

John sat in the chair watching the false dawn break over the 
horizon. He stood and walked into the middle of the yard. Loading 
the lancet, he waited for the wind that would mark true dawn. 
When the morning colors dimmed and the sky turned blue, he put 
the pen to his finger. He felt the first tendrils of the morning wind 
and pushed the button. The sharp pain let him know it worked. 
Squeezing the finger, he forced a drop of blood to form on the end 
of his finger. With a little flick, he threw the drop of blood to the 
ground. He stated aloud, "for the Goddess." The wind stopped as 
the sun broke over the horizon.

He turned to find Beth standing naked on the patio watching him. 
She stated, "You do that every morning."

"Yes, I do." He turned back to face the sunrise waiting for the early 
rays of morning to strike him.

"You won't tell me why."

"It's a blood sacrifice to the Goddess." Beth looked blank. It didn't 
mean anything to her. He added, "That's as much explanation as is 
required."

"You aren't yourself today. You haven't been yourself for a week. 
Why?"

John took a deep breath as the sun finally reached him. His 
morning ritual was over. He replied, "Something bad is going to 
happen. Something real bad."

"What kind of thing?"

"I don't know."

"Where?"

"It's far from here; very far from here."

"When?"

"Not for a while yet. A week from now, maybe two."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll go there and take care of the problem to the best of my 
ability."

Beth stood there watching him. She recognized his mood. He 
would say that he was trying to hear something from far away. 
Usually it only lasted for a short time and then he would leave to 
perform some feat of heroism. This had been going on for a week 
and it worried her. He shook his head, "I'm not getting it. Maybe 
tomorrow I'll know in what direction to go."

He turned and looked at Beth. He nodded in approval. She looked 
better today than she had in ages. He asked, "How are you doing?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm better. I can get through the work 
day now."

"You've been working for six months now. You only missed a 
week."

"I meant without crying."

"Oh. Are you ready to be touched?"

"No," replied Beth. She was terrified of admitting to love again. 
The death of Betsy had broken something deep inside her. John 
didn't know if she would ever heal. He watched her as she stood 
there naked. She had no problems walking around naked and 
staying in the house, but anytime he even went to touch her she 
lost all control. It was difficult living with a naked woman that 
wouldn't let you touch her. The only time she dressed was to go to 
work. He had to order her to go to work. Kelly stated that at work 
Beth was a complete professional. 

He hadn't had sex since Betsy died and felt he was being false to 
Betsy's memory. She would have wanted him to get on with life. It 
was time for a change. He had the feeling that someone was 
coming that could introduce the change. He cleared his throat, "We 
will have company today."

"No, I won't allow it." Beth stated. She could deal with only one 
person at a time. If they had company that meant she would have 
to deal with John and someone else. 

John advanced on her. She stood defiantly with hands on her hips. 
He frowned, "slave, get into the living room and assume kneeling 
position two."

Beth went into the house. He knew without watching that she was 
following his instructions to the letter. She would follow 
instructions exactly as ordered. The only exception was anything 
that involved any kind of emotional attachment, even the most 
minor. She required orders to do everything now. That included 
eating, drinking, and sleeping. He wondered if she thought that by 
being the perfect slave she could bring Betsy back somehow.

He walked around the outside of the house and sat on the front 
porch. He waited for one of two things to happen. Either Ed would 
come over or his unknown visitor would arrive. He hoped Ed 
would come over now that he was between semesters. He needed 
someone with whom he could talk. Beth couldn't hold much of a 
conversation anymore. 

John was in a quandary. Several weeks ago, he defended his 
dissertation and was now Dr. John Carter. Although he wasn't a 
student anymore, he needed to get some work done. He had only 
planned half of the lessons for this coming semester and it was 
starting in three weeks.  Something horrible was going to happen 
in a week or two that would require his attention. Beth needed help 
that he couldn't provide. 

He looked down the street and noticed an RV pass the end of the 
block. He got up and opened the front door. He called in, "Slave, 
make eggs with salsa, toast, bacon, and coffee for three."

"Yes, Master."

He turned and sat back on the porch. He had recognized the RV 
when it passed. It was five minutes later that it turned down his 
street and moved slowly towards his place. He stood up and 
walked to the curb. The driver spotted him and sped up. He waited 
for the driver to exit. "Hello, Lily."

"Hi John."

"I was wondering who was coming."

She laughed, "I wondered where I was going."

He motioned towards the house with his head. "Your patient is in 
there. Her name is Beth, but she'll probably run if you call her that. 
If you want her to stand still, call her slave and tell her to assume 
standing position one."

"Aren't you going in?"

"No. She can't stand having more than one person around at a time. 
She'll run out the back and head to the hills. It'll take us hours to 
find her if she does it."

Lily looked at John for a minute trying to decide what to do. She 
preferred to have more information on the situation that triggered 
the problem. John didn't seem to be too forth coming. She asked, 
"What happened?"

"I met a wonderful girl. Her name was Betsy and I was going to 
marry her. She came here for a visit and Beth came by. I had 
discovered that Beth was a natural submissive by accident and she 
wanted to explore that aspect of herself. Betsy took charge of the 
situation and the three of us ended up having a wonderful time. 
Beth fell deeply in love with Betsy. Betsy left shortly thereafter. 
She was killed in the Middle East. Beth flipped out and hasn't been 
the same since."

Lily nodded her head. She suspected there was more to this story 
than John knew. She was about to go in when Beth called out, 
"Master, breakfast is ready."

He answered, "Slave, fix my plate and take it out to the patio. Then 
return to the kitchen and fix two more plates."

"Yes, Master."

Lily looked at him, "Why did you have to be so explicit?"

John answered, "If I don't tell her to eat, she doesn't. She won't 
sleep without a command."

"Wow."

John nodded, "Yes. I'll go around back and start to eat. I'll order 
her to get the door and let you in. From then on, you're on your 
own. I'll be in the RV after I've finished eating."

"Okay."

John walked around the side of the house to the patio. His plate 
was on the patio. At least he had beaten the ants to it. He called 
out, "Slave, open the front door and let her in. You will follow her 
orders as though they come from me."

John dug into his breakfast only to realize that she had failed to 
bring out his coffee. He was about to order her to bring him a cup 
and remembered that Lily was here. He couldn't interrupt them 
now. He finished the breakfast without coffee. He cleaned the plate 
as well as he could and set it on the chair. 

He opened the door of the RV and sat inside watching his house 
and Ed's house. Undoubtedly everyone in town knew that he had a 
visitor. He wondered which of his neighbors would be over to 
investigate first. He was fortunate that Ed was the first to come out. 
He stepped out of the RV and crossed the street. He waved, "Hi, 
Ed."

"Hello John. How's she doing today?"

"I don't know. She's still strange."

Ed pointed to the RV, "So who's your visitor?"

John smiled, "Lily, she's another servant of the Goddess. She's a 
healer."

Ed looked at John with a funny expression. He pointed to John's 
chest, "You mean she has one of those?"

John nodded. Ed had figured out a lot on his own over the past few 
months. John asked, "You wouldn't happen to have some coffee, 
would you?"

"Sure. Come on over."

It wasn't long before they were sitting in Ed's living room drinking 
coffee. John decided to bring up a topic that hadn't been discussed 
since the day they all went to the university. He asked, "How's 
Kelly taking all of this?"

"Not very well. She's been very upset about Beth."

"Does she still want Beth as a wife?"

Ed looked out the window for a minute thinking about it. Kelly had 
not talked about that subject for several weeks now. Each time she 
saw Beth, some small part of her died. Ed answered, "Well, she 
hasn't talked about it lately. As far as I know, she still wants Beth 
for her wife. I think she feels guilty right now. She's afraid that 
she'll take advantage of Beth's condition."

"I can understand that. I'm terrified that I'm abusing her in some 
fashion."

Ed stated, "Do you know how hard it is when I watch over her 
while you're gone? She's running around naked and all I can think 
of is doing it with her."

"Tell me about it."

Ed laughed, "You must have the worst case of blue balls in the 
world. Why don't you come over here and visit Kelly sometime?"

John shook his head, "I'm not sure that's a good idea right now. 
Speaking of Kelly, any idea who she's identified as a second 
husband?"

Ed blushed for the first time that John had ever seen. It was clear 
that something embarrassed him. He wouldn't look him in the eye, 
"You ask tough questions. I think you'll have to ask her."

John looked puzzled for a moment and then the light went off in 
his head. He was the prospective husband. He stated, "Well, if it is 
the person that I think it is, then you two will have to move very 
slow. Can't really offer until Beth is better."

Ed looked relieved. He really didn't know how to broach the 
subject with John. He couldn't imagine John being interested in 
them, but Kelly thought differently. He answered, "That's our 
thinking."

John nodded, "Wise move. I guess I had better get out to the RV 
and wait for Lily. I have no idea how long this is going to take."

Ed asked, "Do you think that she is going to help?"

"If anyone can, Lily can. I met Lily over four years ago. I didn't 
call her, she came here. She didn't even know I was here until she 
pulled up in front of the house. Something called to her and she 
came."

"Wow."

John returned to the RV. Days passed while John watched his own 
house. He could see activity over there and knew they were both 
alive, but he had no idea what was going on inside. He ate all of 
his meals in town. He slept on the bed in the RV. 

Then, in the middle of the night a hand touching his shoulder woke 
him. He looked up and saw Lily. She looked tired, but she smiled 
down at him. "You might want to go in the house with me. She's 
up."

John slowly climbed out of the bed. He felt dirty. The shower in 
the RV was very small and it was difficult to wash effectively. He 
had worn the same clothes now for almost a week. He followed her 
out of the RV and into the house. Beth was sitting on one of the 
patio chairs that had been brought into the living room. She smiled 
up at John when he entered the room. "Hello John."

"Hello Beth." John examined her closely. She was clothed and her 
hair was combed. Her eyes sparkled again. Her smile was genuine. 
He added, "You're looking good."

"Thanks," replied Beth. She looked over at Lily for a minute and 
then stated, "I guess I've been a pain in the ass."

"I would prefer to say that you weren't yourself for a while."

Beth sat there for a while as though searching for something to say. 
She took a deep breath, "I was waiting for her to return."

"I know. We all knew."

"I want to thank you for not taking advantage of me. I remember 
everything you did. Most importantly, I remember the things that 
you didn't do. It must have been hell living here with me naked all 
of the time."

"Just remember that we love you."

"We?"

"Yes, we."

"Who are the others?"

"Ed and Kelly."

"I hardly know them. I know they took turns watching me when 
you were gone. Kelly took me to work in the morning and brought 
me home at night. I don't think they love me though."

John smiled, "next time you see them, watch them closely. They 
both love you very much, more than you can imagine."

Beth frowned, "They only saw me at my worst."

Lily interrupted, "Beth, you might want to talk to them tomorrow."

John added, "I think that would be a very good idea."

They talked for a little longer about different topics, all of them 
trivial and non-threatening. Finally, John suggested that every one 
get to bed. He offered the ladies the bed in the bedroom. He would 
sleep on his sleeping bag after taking a well-deserved shower. 

When he had finished his shower, he walked past the open 
bedroom door. The lights were out, but he could see both women 
wave goodnight to him. His sleeping bag was in the dining room. 
Settling onto it, he had the best nights sleep since Betsy died.

It was well after sunrise that he woke. It took a second for him to 
realize where he was. Looking around, the first thing he noticed 
was the two women sitting in lawn chairs watching him. He had 
not put on any clothes after his shower. He stood up and stretched. 
"Good morning, ladies."

Beth smiled, "Good morning, John."

Lily frowned as her eyes took in all of the scars that covered his 
body. His medallion hung around his neck. The sight of it made 
her check hers with a quick touch to her chest. She stated, "I think 
your service is much rougher than mine."

"No. I've just been stupid about mine."

"I'd have had to treat my patients in a burning building in the 
middle of a shootout to end up looking like that."

John laughed, "Been there, done that, and I've got the scars to 
prove it."

Beth came over to him. She proceeded to point out each scar and 
tell the story behind it. Lily watched with a wide-eyed expression 
of disbelief. John wondered if she had memorized his medical 
history. When she finished, she turned to Lily. "Betsy used to 
consider them his medals of valor or his badges of courage."

Lily nodded, "I can understand why. You've really had it tough, 
John."

John shrugged, "I take it like it comes."

Beth kissed him on the cheek. She cooed, "I'm all yours if you 
want me."

John nodded, "I want you. Don't ever worry about that."

Beth asked, "Now?"

"Not yet. I want us to take our time." John shook his head. He 
looked over at Lily and then back at Beth. He stated, "I have to go 
today. Something big is going to happen west of here. I've known 
something was going to happen for two weeks now, I just didn't 
know where I needed to go."

Lily looked up at him in shock, "You've felt it too. It's been driving 
me crazy."

Beth interrupted, "You've told me several times that something big 
was going to happen. Do you know when?"

John nodded, "Yes, in two days."

Lily wondered how he knew, but decided this wasn't the time to 
follow up on that. She recognized the seriousness of the situation. 
She stated, "When I came through Colorado I stopped at the town 
where we met. I ran into Jed Hart. He's the guy that runs the 
camping supply store."

John's eyes flicked over to his walking stick. He stated, "I 
remember him well."

Lily continued, "He was packing up a bunch of stuff. Complained 
that something was happening and he needed to be ready."

John whistled, "Three of us going there? Wow, this must be big."

Beth was sitting there listening to what they were saying. Lily had 
ordered her to take a two-week leave of absence from work. She 
had spent a week of that time with Lily and still had a week left.. 
She shrugged, "I'm going."

John looked up in surprise. "What?"

"I'm going with you guys."

Lily frowned, "Are you sure?"

Beth stated, "I'm a trained doctor. If there is something this big, 
they are going to need trained doctors."

John nodded, "Okay. If you are sure that you are up to it."

Beth stated, "Yes, I'm up to it."

Lily was still thinking about Jed. She suggested, "Can you go to 
the pharmacy and get some first aid supplies?"

Beth looked outside for a minute. She decided it was time to prove 
to herself that she had taken control of her life, "Yes, I'll head 
down there right now."

"Good."

John stated, "I'll get dressed and packed. While you're at the 
pharmacy, I'll fix some breakfast."

Lily listened carefully. She added, "I think we had better take two 
cars. There's no telling if we'll be drawn to the same area."

"You're right."

John nodded, "Let's get to it."

The three separated and started on their individual tasks. John 
dressed and went outside to give his blood sacrifice. Lily went to 
the RV and started to straighten it up. Beth headed down the street 
to get first aid supplies. 

There was a knock on the door and John went to answer it. Ed 
stated, "I saw Beth heading down the street. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, we are getting ready to head west. Something big is going to 
happen."

Ed looked down the street. "So what's Beth doing?"

"She's gone to get some first aide supplies. She's coming with me."

Ed thought about it for half a second and then volunteered. "Can I 
help?"

John paused to consider his answer and realized that it was really 
Ed's decision to make. "Would you like to come with us?"

Ed smiled, "You bet. I'll call Kelly. She'll want to come too."

John nodded, "Okay. I can't promise that you'll be safe. We could 
be walking into a riot for all I know."

Ed shrugged, "I'm not asking to be coddled."

John smiled, "Then you better get packed."

"I'll be right back." Ed turned and raced across the street. 

John finished packing up his backpack. He took his walking stick 
apart and packed it in the backpack. He moved into the kitchen and 
started to prepare breakfast. He did a mental count and realized he 
was cooking for five. Checking the refrigerator, he saw that he 
only had six eggs. He guessed that it was pancakes, sausage, eggs, 
and coffee. 

John had just finished laying out plates with the food when Ed, 
Kelly, and Beth returned. He asked Beth to get Lily. They were all 
silent as they ate breakfast. Kelly kept looking over her plate at 
Beth with a happy little smile on her face. She was ecstatic to see 
the doctor acting like herself. Ed was happy to see Kelly happy 
again. 

John and Ed washed and dried the dishes. Each man was lost in his 
own thoughts; John wondering about what they faced and Ed 
wondering about Kelly and Beth. The women were busy dividing 
the first aid supplies into two sets; one complete set for them and a 
small set for Lily.  John kept feeling the urge to leave grow. 
Finally, he could stand it no longer. He gathered everyone, "We 
have to go now."

John and Ed sat in the front with John driving. Beth and Kelly sat 
in the back with Kelly holding Beth's hand. They pulled out of the 
driveway followed by Lily. John drove without a map. He took the 
roads that demanded his attention. He actually had no clue where 
he was heading so he couldn't plot a course. When they stopped for 
gasoline, Lily joined them and told him that she was being pulled 
in a different direction. The caravan split at a highway near the 
western end of Arizona.

They drove until they were outside of Los Angeles. It was getting 
dark and every one was getting tired. John pulled into a hotel and 
shut the engine off. He sat back and relaxed. The tension that had 
been driving him all day had finally dissipated. He turned to Ed, 
"What do you guys want to do about sleeping arrangements?"

Ed looked in the back at Kelly to see what she had to say. She 
shrugged her shoulders like she didn't care. John added, "I really 
don't want us to get spread out. I'd like to know that when things 
go south, that we are together."

Ed nodded, "We either share a room or get connecting rooms."

Beth spoke up, "Let's share a room. I'm so tired I don't care."

"Okay." John got out of the car and went into the hotel. He got a 
room with two double beds. The room was located in the back of 
the hotel and on the first floor. They grabbed their suitcases and 
filed into the room. Kelly looked around at the tired people, "I hate 
to say this, but I'm hungry."

"Same here."

John suggested, "There's a chain restaurant across the parking lot. 
Let's go there and grab something. I'm exhausted and just want to 
get back here and sleep."

After dinner, every one returned to the hotel. John took a very 
quick shower and walked out of the bathroom naked. He didn't 
even notice the looks from the others in the room. There wasn't an 
out of the way spot for him to use his sleeping bag. Lying down on 
one of the beds, he fell asleep. 

He woke to a sucking sensation on his cock. He looked down to 
see Beth's head bobbing up and down on his cock. Her tongue was 
active in licking the head of his cock. Because of the continuous 
excitement of watching her naked and the long dry spell without 
sexual release, he erupted very quickly. She swallowed his cum. 
He was recovering when Beth moved up to lie beside him. She 
smiled, "I couldn't wait."

"That's okay," answered John. He put an arm around her as he 
rolled to his side in a spooning position. He looked at the other bed 
to see Ed and Kelly smiling over at him. He smiled, "Okay you 
guys, it's your turn."

Ed laughed, "sorry, you're too late. You missed last night and this 
morning."

John glanced down at Beth, "No wonder you couldn't wait."

Beth blushed, "Who said that I waited until now?"

"Oh."

They lay in bed for several more minutes. The urge to go started 
growing in John. He stated, "We need to get ready to go."

The others groaned, but they all got up. Four naked adults moved 
around the room taking care of their morning business. There was 
lots of good-natured touching as they got in each other's way. It 
wasn't long before they were ready to leave. John went around to 
the front office to pay for the room while the others loaded the car 
with their luggage. Ed drove the car to the parking lot of the 
restaurant to wait for John to join them. They went in as a group. 

Hours later, John was driving in the inner city of Los Angeles. He 
drove as though looking for something. They were in a part of the 
town that was extremely rough. Gangs, drug dealers, and 
prostitutes walked the streets. Every other store was a pawnshop, 
bar or liquor store. Iron bars covered every window. There were 
very few police in the area. Both Beth and Kelly looked scared. Ed 
was uncomfortable and wondered into what kind of situation they 
had gotten themselves.

John stopped the car in front of a seedy looking hotel; a single 
story building that had been built in the fifties. Clearly, it had gone 
without a single repair since then. John pulled into the parking lot. 
When he got out to go into the office, Kelly leaned forward and 
locked his door. The people in that place scared her. He came back 
in a couple of minutes with a smile on his face. They had charged 
him for the room by the hour. He had negotiated the price down to 
two dollars an hour, rather than the five that was requested.

They opened the door to the room he had rented. Inside the room, a 
horrible smell hung in the air. The furniture was ripped and the bed 
was worn. There were no towels in the bathroom. The lock on the 
door didn't work properly. The ripped and torn curtains were hung 
crooked. Beth looked around, "We can't stay here."

John knelt down and opened his backpack. He removed his 
walking stick and assembled it. When he had finished, he looked 
around at the faces of the others. He sighed, "This is where we 
have to stay. It is the only safe place in ten miles.

Kelly nearly screamed, "Safe? We're surrounded by thugs. They're 
going to kill us in our sleep."

Beth echoed Kelly's sentiments. Ed adopted a wait and see attitude, 
but he wasn't happy with the choice of hotel. The conversation 
carried on around John. While they were talking, he took his 
hunting knife and cut the legs off a pair of jeans. He removed his 
pants and put on the cutoffs. He removed his shirt. He waited until 
everyone calmed down before stating, "I'll be right back. I promise 
you that we won't be disturbed."

He went outside and looked around. A couple of people were 
hanging around the open doors of several rooms. He started 
walking along the walkway in front of the rooms. He could smell 
the sticky sweet smell of marijuana billowing from open doors. A 
smallish Hispanic man, steel hard body covered with tattoos, 
stepped in his path. John nodded, "greetings."

"What you want here?" asked the man. His stance was aggressive. 
There was a dull look of meanness in his eyes. 

"It's what I don't want that is important."

The man stepped back and looked over John. His eyes took in all 
of the scars. He recognized bullet and knife wounds from long 
experience in dangerous streets. He glanced over at the walking 
stick recognizing it only as a weapon.  He decided this wasn't a 
guy to be taken lightly. "What is it that you don't want?"

"I don't want to be disturbed."

"And if you are?"

John looked in the man's eyes and smiled. He stated, "We're in the 
room on the corner. Pass the word."

The man stared at John for a long moment. He nodded, "Okay. No 
one will bother you."

John started to turn and then turned back. He stated, "I may have 
need of your services tomorrow."

The eyes narrowed, "What services?"

"You'll see tomorrow," John turned and walked back to his room. 
He shut the door without ever looking back. 

Inside the room, everyone crowded around him as though seeking 
the safety that he seemed to provide. He stated, "We won't be 
bothered. Now lets get this place cleaned up. We'll move a chair to 
the door and hook it under the door handle. Flip the bed up so that 
it covers the window. I have the sleeping bag here and we'll open it 
up and sleep on it."

"All four of us?"

"Yeah. It'll be fun."


