JC: Ed Biggers
Part 5: Stasis
Chapter 8
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2004

Ed and John sat by the stream watching the surface as it broke over 
rocks, creating chaotic patterns and swirls. This summer was hot 
and humid, draining the energy out of Ed like he had never 
experienced. After years of moving around in the hot sun of 
Arizona, Ed couldn't believe how hot he felt. His shirt stuck to 
him, his pants felt damp, and sweat dripped from his nose. Looking 
over at John, he said, "I hate it here."

It was tempting to argue that things weren't bad here, but John 
knew that Ed was forced to tell the truth at all times. If Ed was 
saying that he hated it there, he was telling the truth. Sighing, John 
knew that Ed wouldn't be able to stay in North Carolina much 
longer. "I'll arrange for a new instructor to take over for you next 
quarter. Can you hang on here long enough for that?"

"I'm all torn up inside. I want to be here for my family and I can't 
take being here."

"If it harm none, then do it," replied John.

Knowing exactly what John meant, Ed answered, "I can teach one 
quarter here and travel between the home sites."

"I think that would be best," replied John with a sadness that 
almost broke Ed's heart. "I'm going to miss having you around all 
of the time."

Standing up, Ed stripped off his clothes and hung them on a branch 
in the slim hope that they would dry. He knew they wouldn't dry, 
but he couldn't help but hold forth a little hope. Entering the water, 
he lay down so that only his head was above the surface. The swift 
moving water helped him cool off. With a sigh of relief, he said, 
"I'm going to miss you, too. I'm afraid that I'll be alone most of the 
time."

"Linda will be at the home most of the time now. The rest of us 
will stop by on occasion so I don't expect that you'll be too lonely."

Floating in the water, Ed shut his eyes and imagined a sky above 
him that went from horizon to horizon. Coming out of his reverie, 
Ed said, "It's not that I have anything against the people here or 
even the countryside. North Carolina is pretty in many ways. The 
problem is that I can't see much more than a hundred feet and that 
doesn't seem right to me."

John didn't say a word. It was necessary for Ed to get out his 
frustration at the moment. Eyes closed, Ed continued his 
monologue. "What I can see is too soft. Nothing seems to have 
sharp well-defined edges. That lack of sharpness just strikes me 
wrong. It doesn't matter that I know that it is the humidity that 
blurs all the edges out here, I just don't like it."

John understood what Ed was saying about the area being soft. The 
low rolling hills that led to the mountains would blend and fade 
together as the sun set. Ed laughed as he said, "Even the sunsets 
are soft here. In the desert, you can see a clear boundary between 
land and sky. Here, the land seems to reach up into the sky when 
the sun sets. It makes me feel like the land misses the sky as much 
as I do."

Shaking his head, John listened as Ed discussed sunsets. John 
loved the contrast between the sunsets of the desert and the sunsets 
in the mountains here. Each had its own special flavor that had to 
be enjoyed in its own right. He asked, "What kind of soup is 
better? Clam Chowder, Wisconsin Beer Cheese, or French 
Onion?"

Opening his eyes, Ed asked, "That's not a fair question. They are 
each so different that you can't compare them. You have to enjoy 
each kind of soup for what it is."

John smiled and said, "That's that same about sunrises and sunsets. 
They are each so different that you have to appreciate them for 
what they are."

Lying back in the water, Ed closed his eyes as the water rushed 
over his body. He said, "Don't get me wrong. I don't mind the 
softness of the features here. It's just that I can't take it all of the 
time."

"You dislike the humidity."

"True. There's just too much water in the air. When it's hot, the 
water just clings to you making you hotter. I leave a puddle of 
water behind every time that I drink iced tea. I have to dry my 
hands after I set the glass down. There's condensation on 
everything." Ed fell silent having nothing more to say. 

John leaned back against the tree, enjoying the feel of the rough 
bark against his back. His eyes watched the stream while his ears 
picked up the sounds of birds singing, leaves rustling, and the 
water splashing. He appreciated Ed's idea to spend the day on his 
place without the rest of the family. It was very seldom that the 
two men got to spend any time together. Sighing, John said, "Life 
seems to have gotten very complicated lately. What happened?"

"I don't know. If I did, I'd know how to simplify it."

The two men were silent, lost in their thoughts. The time passed 
slowly, each man comfortable in the quiet companionship of the 
other. After a while, Ed said, "I'm going to go rock hunting with 
Nora again."

"You still haven't given up on her?"

Laughing at the suggestion that he would give up on her, Ed 
answered, "I've got a thing for damsels in distress."

The comment brought a chuckle to John as he recalled all of the 
women that Ed had rescued in the past. Since coming to the Druid 
College, it seemed that neither one of them had done much 
rescuing of damsels or anything else. Ed had solved a murder, 
occasionally interrogated terrorists, and brought a number of tax 
cheats to justice. He missed standing side to side with Ed facing 
down monsters. 

Ed lay in the water thinking about the last rock hunting expedition 
with Nora Turner. Although she had talked about getting out of the 
film business, she had remained in it and still commanded big 
money with top billing. The problem was that it was eating her up 
from the inside out. She had been drinking more and her lifestyle 
was getting more erratic. 

Camping with such a physically attractive woman was almost 
painful. Until she learned how to love, he wasn't going to make 
love to her. It seemed to him that she was never going to learn that 
lesson. Men, powerful men in particular, were to be manipulated 
for her career. Beautiful women were competition to be ground 
under her heal. Charity was a means to get publicity and a tax-
break. The only time that she relaxed was when she was alone with 
rocks.

Inside that hard exterior, a real person still survived. It wasn't 
going to be long before that person died and Nora would be 
making the news as her life spun out of control. The last two times 
they had gone rock hunting was out here and Ed was unable to 
help her as much as he had wanted. The area seemed to suck the 
strength from him. He said, "I'm going to take her out into the 
desert."

Looking at his husband resting comfortably in the stream, John 
replied, "You'll be able to help her there."

"I hope so. The nice person inside her is about to die," replied Ed.

"That's a rather harsh assessment." That Ed would make such a 
comment signified that he was very concerned about her. He 
wondered what had happened the last time they had been out in the 
field. It couldn't have been good since Ed had never discussed that 
trip with anyone. "The last trip must have been pretty bad for you 
to say something like that."

"We fought over the fact that she's become a user of other people," 
answered Ed as he opened his eyes and looked over at John. 

The news stunned John. Users violated both rules by which they 
lived and that Nora was becoming a user was very bad news. "I'm 
sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, me too."

John stood up and undressed to join his husband in the water. 
Easing his way into the water, he lay down feeling the coolness 
seep into his body. For several minutes, he relaxed with his eyes 
closed. He broke the silence when he said, "There are only four 
more weeks to this quarter. Are you going to survive them?"

"Yeah," replied Ed with less enthusiasm than John had expected. "I 
just need to see a real sky for a change."

"It's a shame that you get seasick," said John knowing that Ed 
needed to see some sky, but unable to suggest a solution. The first 
time that they had tried to see sky by going out in the ocean, Ed 
had spent the entire trip throwing up over the side of the boat. 

"Don't remind me about that," groaned Ed. Just remembering the 
time spent on the boat made his stomach queasy. The idea of 
sailing had been brilliant. For about the first thirty minutes, Ed had 
felt better under the open sky. It was transitory. Before long, he 
was bent over the side of the boat retching. He lost all the food in 
his stomach and ended up dry heaving. It never stopped. At the end 
of an hour, he was begging to be brought back to shore. Even 
reaching shore didn't stop his dry heaves. 

A noise from the woods disturbed their thoughts. Both men sat up 
at the same time to search for the source of the noise. A familiar 
shape shook the shrubs that grew along the shore, but the leaves 
were too dense for them to see what was moving around. John 
spotted the source of the noise first and whispered, "Bear."

"Fluffy?"

"No."

Staring at the bushes, Ed wondered how long it would be before 
the bear noticed them. They had talked softly while discussing the 
identity of the bear. Rather than surprise the bear, Ed decided that 
it would be better to talk in a normal tone of voice. "It's probably a 
black bear and I don't think it would be wise to surprise it."

Smiling at Ed, John said, "Right. Any speculation on what it is 
doing here?"

"None," replied Ed. 

The bear lumbered out of the brush and paused at the edge of the 
water looking over at Ed and John in the water. With a low 
rumbling sound, the bear entered the water and sat down in it. 
After sitting there for a minute, he rolled onto its back and turned 
from side to side cooling off in the water. The two men watched 
the bear for a minute before John asked, "What do we do now?"

"Why are you asking me? I don't know much about bears, they 
don't come out in the desert."

"There are bears around the White Mountains."

The comment reminded Ed about his trips into the White 
Mountains. Thinking back to those times, he remembered that he 
had taken precautions to keep bears out of his food. It had been 
such a long time ago that he had basically forgotten that Arizona 
had bears. He grunted, "Okay. You're right. Still you hike more 
places with bears than I do."

"We could just stay here for a while and wait for the bear to leave."

More noises originating from the bushes attracted their attention. 
Both men stared as a bear emerged from the brush and headed into 
the water. The bear positioned itself between the first bear and the 
two men. Ed examined the bear and smiled as he recognized it. "Hi 
Fluffy!"

Sid called out, "You boys having bear problems?"

"Boys?" asked John incredulous at the characterization.

Ed called out, "Come on in. The water's cool."

Sid stripped and waded out into the water. Sitting down, he said, 
"Fluffy smelled another bear in the area and I thought I ought to 
check it out."

There was a tinge of lie in the answer, but Ed let it slide. Lying 
back down in the water, he asked, "So what were we supposed to 
do when a bear joins you in the water?"

"Well, the last thing you want to do is surprise it. Talking like you 
were, I'd say you took care of that little problem. Usually, I tell 
people to avoid bears." Sid sighed as the water flowing over his 
body cooled him. There wasn't much of a breeze in the woods so 
the heat and humidity had a very negative effect on the body.

The men stayed in the water keeping an eye on the bears and 
thinking their own thoughts. Breaking the silence, Ed asked, "So 
other than Fluffy smelling another bear, what was the real reason 
that brought you here?"

Sid looked over at Ed with a grin and said, "Can't hide anything 
from you."

Interested in the exchange, John sat up and said, "You're ducking 
the question."

"A call came into the college after you two had left this morning. It 
appears that Devin Renzy escaped from the psychiatric facility in 
which he was being treated," replied Sid.

The news sent a chill through Ed as he recalled the man who had 
tried to burn out an entire community as part of a real estate 
scheme. The man was a sociopath and very dangerous. He was 
disgusted at the idea that a judge would think that an individual 
who had no respect for any life but his own could be reformed. The 
only thing that would stop a person like Devin Renzy was death or 
an infirmity that rendered him unable to move. Shaking his head, 
Ed said, "Let me guess, he was helped by someone on the outside."

"Right. It appears that a small group of individuals that you helped 
capture have gotten together with the purpose of taking you down," 
replied Sid as he watched Fluffy rolling around in the water.

It wasn't necessary to ask why they would target him since the trial 
had shown that Ed was the one that had led the others in capturing 
Devin. Touching the medallion on his chest, Ed wasn't surprised 
that it was warm. Sighing, he said, "I guess it is time to go monster 
hunting."

John who had been thinking that it had been a long time since he 
had gone monster hunting with Ed shook his head at the co-
incidence. Smiling, he said, "Time for us to start planning our next 
action."

"You're going to get involved?"

"Someone wants to kill my husband! You bet I'm going to get 
involved," replied John with more passion than he had intended.

The men, ignoring the wild bear downstream, spent an hour in the 
stream creating a plan designed to pull Devin to an area of their 
choice under controlled conditions. Sid's role was to inform the 
world where Ed would be over the news services as part of an 
unrelated story. The last remaining question was to select a place 
and time to trap Devin.

The men climbed out of the stream, skin wrinkled from having 
spent too much time in the water, and sat on their shirts to air dry. 
The humidity in the air made that a slow process. As they sat on 
the bank watching the bears in the stream, the day passed. The wild 
bear stood and wandered off downstream, ignoring the three men 
on the bank. Fluffy stood and joined Sid on the bank for a moment 
before going off in search of food. 

Ed watched the bear walk off into the woods, sniffing around 
fallen trees in search of grubs or other edible snacks. For the first 
time in a long time, he felt good knowing that his stay at the 
college was coming to an end and that he was going to have a 
project to work upon for the next few weeks to help the time pass. 
Turning to Sid with a smile, he asked, "So is it true that a bear shits 
in the woods?"

The question coming out of left field cracked up Sid who burst out 
laughing almost uncontrollably. In all the years of traveling with a 
bear, he had never been asked that question. From the woods, 
Fluffy gave forth a loud roar as though he knew that he was the 
subject of a joke. The noise only made Sid laugh harder.

John, laughing as well, was having difficulty controlling himself. 
He was used to Ed's odd sense of humor, but it still took him by 
surprise at times. This question reminded him of how Ed had 
reacted to seeing Rover for the first time. He was tempted to 
answer on behalf of Sid, seeing that the man was practically 
incapacitated with laughter, but decided to let Sid handle it. 

It took Sid several minutes to reply, "Yes, it is true."

"Thought so," replied Ed with a wink. Throughout, he had not 
laughed although he did smile at the reaction of Sid.

"Did you know that is the first time that I've ever been asked that 
question?" Sid wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. After the 
seriousness and tension of the planning session, the humor had 
returned his good spirits. 

"Really? I thought kids would have asked you that all of the time," 
replied Ed surprised by the question. 

"Kids already know the answer to that question. They ask 
questions about what bears eat and why they hibernate. For the 
most part, the kids are usually very serious when faced with 
Fluffy," replied Sid. 

Nodding, John said, "The same was true when kids asked 
questions about the big cats. They were usually pretty serious 
when they asked questions."

Thinking back to those days, Ed realized that had been true. 
Laughing, he said, "The kids accepted the cats and asked 
questions. The adults were scared of the cats and asked questions. 
They were entirely different kinds of questions."

It was getting close to sunset and the three men stood up to dress. 
The time had come for them to return to the College and resume 
their duties. As they walked along the path, John said, "I really 
enjoyed today."

Smiling at the idea of spending some dedicated time with John and 
that he was going to be able to use this as a means to get away 
from the area for a while, Ed said, "Don't worry. We're going 
monster hunting again."

Looking over at Ed, John knew there was more to his statement 
than just monster hunting. Ed was getting a break away from the 
college at a time when he really required it. Although he wouldn't 
say it to Ed directly, he was very worried about his husband, as 
was the rest of the family. 

Ling woke up in the middle of the night alone in the bed. Ed's side 
of the bed was cold telling her that he had not been in bed for a 
while. After waiting for Ed to return to bed, she began to worry the 
more time that passed. Getting up, she dressed and went to search 
for him. 

A cursory search of the living quarters failed to locate Ed. She 
went upstairs to the roof where he and John would watch the night 
sky, but he wasn't there. There was one other place where he 
would often seek solace and that was his lab. She made her way to 
that part of the campus and looked in his room. The lights were off 
and it took her a minute to find the light switch. The lab was 
empty.

Her concern had now reached a critical level and she felt that she 
needed some help finding him. Returning to their quarters, she 
went into John's room and shook him awake. When John sat up, 
she said, "Ed is missing."

The news bothered John as he immediately thought of Devin's 
escape. On second thought, he knew that Gods and Goddesses 
wouldn't allow such an individual within the bounds of the college. 
Sighing, he said, "Let's check his lab and see if he is there. I'll 
check the roof and see if he is watching the stars."

"I've already looked there."

Frowning, John wondered where Ed might have gone. Getting out 
of the bed, he dressed in his robe getting ready to search for Ed. 
The pair slipped out of the room going to the living room where 
they could talk without chance of waking others. John asked, 
"What happened?"

"I don't know. We went to bed together and he seemed okay. I 
woke up and he was gone." Ling was very worried about Ed. 

"How was he acting?"

"He was a little restless, but that's been normal for him lately," 
replied Ling on the verge of tears. The past year had been very 
hard for Ed and it was clear to everyone in the family that he was 
miserable living at the college. Initially, he had been pacing around 
acting like a caged animal. Lately, he had become sullen and 
depressed, showing happiness only when playing with the kids. 
She said, "I'm worried about him."

Unaware that Ling didn't know that Ed was leaving at the end of 
the quarter, John said, "It's only four more weeks and he has a 
monster to hunt in the meantime."

"What do you mean, only four more weeks?"

Realizing that she didn't know about their discussion, John said, 
"Ed is returning to Arizona at the end of the quarter."

The news that Ed was leaving came as a great relief to Ling and 
lessened her worries for him. Relaxing a little, she said, "That's 
great news."

The pair went to the entrance of the college and spoke to the 
person on duty there.  The young man, looked up from the book 
that he was reading surprised to actually see someone up and 
around at that late hour. John went over to the counter and asked, 
"Did you happen to see Ed Biggers come through here this 
evening?"

It didn't matter that the young man didn't know who Ed Biggers 
was for him to be able to answer the question. The young man 
answered, "You are the first one that I've seen since I came on 
duty."

"Thanks," replied John as he turned to Ling. "I guess that means 
he's still here on campus somewhere."

"Yes. I'll check the various dining rooms if you'll check some of 
the other rooms."

The pair split up and looked around the campus. John went to the 
library thinking that Ed might be reading a journal since he was 
unable to sleep. The library was well lit with a few students 
studying. John stopped by one of the students and asked, "Have 
you seen Ed Biggers?"

One of the students looked up and replied, "He went through here 
about two hours ago. I think he was headed over to the 
planetarium."

"The planetarium?" asked John surprised at that announcement. 

"Yes. I've seen him over there a number of times at night just 
staring up at the stars on the ceiling," replied the student.

Thanking the student, John headed off to the planetarium 
wondering what Ed was doing there. Entering the room, the lights 
were off and the complex arrangement of projectors was on. It 
projected stars on the domed ceiling. One chair was back in the 
occupied position that allowed viewing the stars without stressing 
the neck. 

Curious as to what he would find, John walked over to the chair 
and looked down to find his husband sound asleep. Ed's head had 
fallen to one side with his mouth open and eyes shut. Watching his 
husband sleep under the bright stars projected on the ceiling, John 
shook his head in wonderment. Why would Ed be here? Looking 
up at the ceiling, he realized that the projection was more like the 
stars seen from the desert than the stars as seen from the roof. 

Without waking his husband, he went to locate Ling. She might 
not like what he had found, but it would at least relieve her to 
know that he was safe. It took him fifteen minutes to locate her in 
the lobby where she was getting ready to leave to search the house 
on his land. John called out, "Ling, I found him."

Turning, she asked, "Where is he?"

"He's asleep in the planetarium."

As her worry turned to anger, she spun around to head to the 
planetarium ready to give him a piece of her mind. John stopped 
her cold when he said, "He's asleep under an Arizona sky."

Shoulders sagging as the statement undermined her anger, Ling 
said, "Let's get back to bed. I'll talk to him in the morning."

Sitting in the fourth year cafeteria sipping a cup of coffee now that 
his classes were over for the morning, Ed was relaxed for a change. 
He was counting down the days before he would be leaving. His 
reverie was interrupted by the arrival of Little John, Beth, and 
William, with Betsy crawling along behind them on a leash. 
Greeting the kids, he said, "Hi. How were your classes this 
morning?"

Beth shrugged and said, "Daddy John said that next year we 
graduate high school."

Little John said, "I thought we had to be eighteen to graduate high 
school. I'll only be six and Beth will be seven. That doesn't seem 
right to us."

Watching his brother and sister complain about their early exit 
from education, William wondered if there wasn't something else 
bothering them. This was old news and had been rehashed several 
times. They weren't here to talk about school, they were here to go 
over to the school to play with some of the kids during recess. 
Shaking his head, he said, "Let's head over to the playground."

Still feeling good, Ed said, "Let's go."

As he was standing, Ling and Kelly rushed into the dining room. 
Noticing their arrival, Ed asked, "What's the rush?"

"We wanted to make sure that we got here before you left," replied 
Kelly as she looked over at Ling for support.

 "Why?"

"We don't want you to take the kids to the school."

The statement was like a punch to the stomach. It physically hurt 
and he put a hand over his belly. Dismayed that his wives didn't 
trust him to take the children to the playground, Ed asked, "Why 
not?"

"You have a madman looking to kill you. If he sees you at the 
school, I doubt that he'll care who else he kills while going after 
you," answered Ling in a tone that would accept no argument from 
him. It was a very real concern amongst the wives and one that Ed 
would have to accept. 

Glancing over at the three older kids, he was surprised to see that 
they didn't react to the news that someone was trying to kill him. It 
almost disappointed him that they accepted it so easily. Feeling 
like a prisoner trapped in the college, Ed said, "Okay. I'll see you 
kids later. Have fun at the playground."

The four kids left with their mothers while Ed stayed behind. He 
was getting more depressed that was accompanied by a 
restlessness to be doing something. It was impossible for him to 
tell if his restlessness had to do with his circumstances or his 
service to the Two-Sided One.  He took a sip of his cold coffee and 
grimaced at the bitter taste. 

When the waitress came around, he flagged her down and said, "I'll 
take another cup of coffee."

It was a minute before she returned with a hot cup of coffee and 
carried off his cold one. Taking a sip, he considered where he 
should try to capture Devin. It had to be someplace where there 
was very little chance of anyone else getting hurt while allowing 
him to have backup nearby. There were only a handful of places 
that he considered. 

The house down the road from the Druid College had the 
advantage that is was close-by and that he would have a large 
number of Druids in close proximity. He could place sensors all 
over the place so that he wouldn't be surprised. The only major 
drawback was that it wasn't a very attractive target for Devin. 

There was the house in Arizona. It was easily defended and the 
staff could handle even a major threat to the occupants. His 
neighbors would give a warning if a stranger came into town 
looking for him. The problem was that the man could decide to use 
the town's people against him. 

The last place was the lake where he occasionally vacationed. That 
was isolated enough that no one would be put at risk. The fact that 
it was a tourist town would also make a good cover for his 
presence there. He could have Ling and George take care of 
security before he ever arrived. Ling would demand to be there 
even though Betsy was just five months old. As he thought about 
it, the more he liked the idea of using that location. He would walk 
out if they held a gun to Maria, Shirley, Rosa, or any of his friends.

Pulling the cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed the house. When 
Cathy answered, he said, "Hello, Cathy. I want you to rent the 
cabin for the next month."

"What cabin?"

"The one where I wrote my dissertation," replied Ed realizing that 
he hadn't been very specific. 

"Starting when?"

"Now."

There was a long moment of silence at the other end of the 
telephone as Cathy tried to figure out how to make that happen. 
"Okay. Let me make some calls."

"Great. Once you've made the arrangements, I want George to fly 
there and put into place a full security system. I want to know if a 
garter snake tries to approach the cabin. I'm sure that Ling will 
want to assist him in doing that."

"I take it this isn't a little unplanned vacation that you are taking," 
replied Cathy as she jotted down notes. Ed was talking as if she 
had already rented the cabin.  "I'll have to get back to you in a little 
while. It's hard to get that cabin on a moment's notice. The owner 
likes to rent it out for the whole summer."

"Thanks." Ed hung up as he thought through the next week. 

Howard had been watching Ed from across the room. After 
working with him for almost a year, he could tell that Ed was about 
to undertake a mission. The man exuded an intensity that was 
frightening to observe. Walking over to the table, he took a seat 
and asked, "So where are we going?"

For the moment, Ed looked at Howard trying to decide if he should 
bring him along or not. "I shall be going away in a week. You shall 
be staying here."

"Why?"

"This is dangerous."

"What does that mean?" asked Howard confused by the insistence 
that this was dangerous. How much more dangerous could it be 
than the time that the two brothers had been shooting at them?

Looking over at Howard, Ed answered, "They already killed a 
Druid."

Shocked at the news, Howard asked, "Who?"

"Jerry Smith."
