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 21

John and Kelly stepped out the door of the administration building 
into the bright morning sun. The deep clear blue sky reached down 
to touch the soul. The clear air was cool and crisp. It carried the 
scent of trees and the aroma of the soil. Kelly stretched and smiled. 
She turned to John, "What a glorious day to be alive!"

"Yes, it is a glorious day."

She skipped to the end of the walkway and twirled around like a 
young girl. Her happiness was contagious. John raced down the 
walkway to catch her, intending to chase her into the woods for a 
little morning glory. He made five steps before a shot rang out, 
dropping him like a rock.

Kelly screamed in anguish and ran to John. A second shot rang out, 
taking her in the shoulder. She spun around and fell to the ground. 
Without thought for herself, she crawled to John. A third shot rang 
out and caught her in the leg. This was followed by the roar of a 
bear and a scream of horror. 

Druids poured out of buildings all around the college, green and 
black robed Druids converging on where Kelly and John lay 
bleeding on the ground. Red robe Druids ran in the direction from 
which the shots had been fired. The apparent chaos turned quickly 
into a self-organizing order. The victims were immediately treated 
and then carried into the school hospital. The unconscious 
perpetrator was rescued from the bear and taken into a holding area 
to wait for the arrival of the local police. 

John had a team surrounding him. His wound wasn't bad. The 
bullet had grazed his forehead knocking him unconscious. His care 
took less than ten minutes, requiring only a few stitches. Two 
people remained with him to clean up the additional abrasions 
received from falling. 

Kelly was in far worse shape. She had lost a lot of blood and the 
bullet was still lodged in her shoulder. The surgical team was 
struggling to get the wound cleaned and the bullet removed. In the 
middle of the operation, Kelly's heart stopped. The team used the 
time to remove the bullet and sew up the artery. After less than 
three minutes, the team stepped back as a second team attempted to 
shock her heart back into working. The doctor in charge stated that 
she had been dead for three and a half minutes. 

The surgical team returned to working on her shoulder, removing 
bone fragments and checking for damage. The work was extensive 
and required tremendous concentration. 

A second surgical team turned their attention to the wound in her 
leg. The wound was a simple flesh wound that missed all of the 
major arteries and veins. It was quickly treated. The wound was 
wrapped and the team disbanded. 

The first team finished after four hours. They stepped back and 
examined the patient. She was getting a unit of blood. The wounds 
had been bandaged. The scrape she had received when she had 
fallen had been cleaned. Her heartbeat was regular. 

In a private room, Ed, Ling, and Sheriff Lundy stood looking at a 
thin man tied to a chair. He was completely naked. Unshaven and 
unkempt, they looked at an empty shell of a human being. The man 
was literally foaming at the mouth, spittle dripping from his lips. 
When he spoke, his statements were incoherent.

"Can I kill him?" asked Ling. She entertained visions of cutting off 
his cock and watching him bleed to death. 

Ed replied, "That's not the Druid way."

"I'm not a Druid," retorted Ling. There were times when all of the 
talk about Druids irritated her. She really wanted to hurt this guy.

Sheriff Lundy stated, "No one is killing anyone. This individual is 
now in my custody."

"He's insane now. I don't think he was insane when he took the 
shot, though." Ed knelt and looked at the man more carefully. He 
looked up, "Ling, could you ask one of the Druids to locate 
someone that can help us?"

Frowning Ling muttered, "Okay. I still say you should just let me 
kill him."

Laughing Ed shook his head, "Too easy. We will let the Gods and 
Goddesses take care of him."

Ling left the office after shooting a dirty look at the man in the 
chair. She knew that he would have an insanity defense and get 
away with attempted murder of her husband and wife.  She wished 
that Druids practiced human sacrifice.

"She's a mean one when she's mad!" The Sheriff was extremely 
happy that she had left the room. If anyone had looked at him like 
that, he would never get another nights sleep. She was small, but 
he had dealt with some small people that could cause some major 
damage.

"She's not mad. She's only upset. If she were mad, he'd be dead."

The Sheriff laughed until he saw the look on Ed's face. His 
laughter died as he asked, "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Very serious."

"That's scary."

Ed looked at the Sheriff, "We're lucky the bear got to him first. 
Ling was the third person to reach him. It took the first two people 
to hold her back, at least long enough for more to show up. It 
finally took five people to keep her from him."

"He was stopped by a bear?"

"Yes, Fluffy took him down and then sat on him until help showed 
up."

The Sheriff looked at the captive for a moment. He stated, "I know 
why he's crazy. I think I would go crazy to have a bear sitting on 
my chest."

Ed laughed, "You're probably right. We had to clean this guy up. 
He had shit and pissed on himself. His clothes are sealed in a 
plastic bag over there." 

"I'll have to take that as evidence."

Ed nodded, "I know. We also have the gun. We left it where he 
dropped it. The car that he used to drive here is still parked where 
he had left it. We didn't touch anything. We figured that you would 
want to follow your own evidentiary procedures."

"You seem familiar with handling evidence. Care to explain to me 
how you know so much?" The Sheriff didn't trust people that knew 
too much about his business. In many cases, it meant they were 
part of it.

Pulling out his ID, Ed stated, "I'm a Treasury Agent."

"Oh, I see."

"Half of the red robed Druids are associated with law enforcement 
in one way or another. John, the intended victim, is a special agent 
with the FBI. The head man in this area should be arriving here 
any time now."

"That explains why you have asked me to wait before taking the 
suspect out of here." The Sheriff had met John and Ed previously. 
He had harbored suspicions about them, particularly as they 
represented the heads of a cult that was moving into his 
jurisdiction. His queries into this group had all returned with 
nothing but praise. To find out that they held high positions in 
government surprised him.

"Would you like to see the college while we are waiting for them?"

The Sheriff thought about it. He had wanted to get a tour through 
the building for a long time, but had never found a reason. He felt 
that he couldn't leave the prisoner alone. "I would love to see your 
school, but I wouldn't feel right leaving him here alone."

Ed laughed, "We'd never leave him alone, particularly with Ling 
around."

Ed picked up a telephone and made a call. He spoke softly into the 
handset and then hung it up. He stated, "Would you trust a US 
Marshall with the task of watching your prisoner?"

"Sure."

"Okay. One is on his way down here now."

There was a knock on the door and then Sid entered the room with 
Fluffy. He stated, "Excuse me, but Fluffy is still a little upset about 
earlier. I think he wants to look at the guy and make sure he won't 
hurt him back."

The Sheriff stared at the bear while Ed nodded. Ed turned to 
Fluffy, "You're safe now. He's being watched constantly by us. 
The Sheriff will take him off to jail."

The bear looked at Ed for a minute and then turned to stare at the 
Sheriff. The Sheriff swallowed heavily out of nervousness. The 
bear then turned around and left the room. Sid stated, "Thanks a lot 
for letting him get that out of his system. Maybe he can get a little 
rest now. It's not fun trying to take a nap when you have an upset 
bear in the room with you."

"I understand."

"Did he raise that from a cub?"

Ed had to laugh, "No, the bear adopted him when his last bear got 
too old. One day, his previous bear wandered into the woods while 
this one wandered out. I think this is his seventh bear."

"It's a wild bear?"

"Yes."

"Oh," replied the Sheriff. He sat back, realizing that dealing with 
these people was going to be a lot more challenging than he had 
anticipated. 

A solid knock on the door announced the entrance of Ted Harper. 
A very large man entered the room and nodded to Ed. Ed returned 
the nod. Ted held up a badge, "I'm Ted Harper, US Marshal." 

An hour later, an FBI agent arrived looking rather tired. He was 
shown into the college by one of the administrators and taken to a 
room to wait for Ed and the Sheriff. His wait was less than ten 
minutes. Ed performed the introductions, "Hello, I'm Ed Biggers 
and this is Sheriff Lundy."

The man stood up and stated, "I'm Agent Haroldson. I received a 
call from the director himself that one of our agents was the subject 
of an attempted assassination. Can you fill me in on the details?"

Ed nodded, "Follow me gentlemen and I'll lead you through the 
sequence of events such as we've been able to reproduce."

Ed took the Sheriff and the FBI agent outside the building. He 
pointed to the small patch of blood on the ground. "This is where 
John fell when he was shot. It was a single shot to the head. 
Fortunately, the shot grazed his forehead and knocked him out."

Ed took several steps forward to where there was a large spot of 
blood with a long thin trail of blood. "Kelly was shot here. The 
first shot appears to have been in her shoulder. She fell and was 
dragging herself to John when she was shot a second time."

Ed then led them to where the suspect had been apprehended. Ed 
pointed to the site and pointed out three empty shell casings. "He 
fired three shots from here. The bear that took him down, came out 
of the woods over there."

He pointed to the rifle. "The suspect fell down as the bear ran into 
him. The rifle flew over to there. We have not touched it."

Ed then walked a hundred yards down the road to where a car was 
parked. "We assume this is the suspects car. He parked it here out 
of sight of the buildings and moved up to where he fired the shots."

Agent Haroldson asked, "Excuse me, but who was the FBI agent 
that was wounded?"

"John Carter."

The blood ran out of the agent's face as he realized the magnitude 
of the situation. He fished out his cell-phone and made a call. He 
turned to the Sheriff, "Ah, I've called for additional agents to come 
out. They will collect evidence under your supervision, since this is 
your jurisdiction. John Carter happens to be one of the most well 
known agents in the FBI and we will do anything to make sure that 
justice is served."

Shocked by the reaction of the FBI agent to John's identity, the 
Sheriff just numbly nodded. He stated, "Thanks."

The agent turned to Ed, "I'm so sorry I didn't recognize your name 
earlier. I studied all of the cases solved by John. You were with 
him for the amputation murderer and the white slavery ring. You 
were also responsible for the Druids Revenge campaign against 
organized crime. My God, you two are legends."

"Thanks, I appreciate your kind words. Now let's go to the 
infirmary and see how they are doing."

Ed led them to the infirmary. Kelly was just wheeled out of 
surgery and John remained unconscious. Laura Anderson, the 
person in charge of the ward, stopped the visitors. Ed asked, "How 
are they doing?"

"Kelly was dead for three and a half minutes, but her condition is 
stable now. We are worried about John. He should be conscious by 
now. We have ordered an ambulance to take him to the nearest 
large hospital where we can do a MRI."

  They were surprised by the arrival of Beth. Ed knelt down and 
picked her up. "Hey, Beth. What are you doing down here?"

"I came to see Mommy Kelly and Daddy John."

"You know both of them were hurt?"

Beth looked at him with a funny expression, "Of course. I told you 
about my dream yesterday, Daddy Ed. The pretty lady in the forest 
said that I would hear bad news about Mommy Kelly, but she was 
going to be okay. I dreamed about the pretty lady again and she 
told me that Daddy John was visiting her and would return when 
Mommy Kelly woke him up."

Ed looked up at Laura, "Cancel the ambulance."

Laura just stared at Beth. With a shaky voice, she asked, "Do you 
know the lady in the forest?"

Beth looked at her, "Of course, she's a first year student!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Silly, she doesn't ever wear clothes."

Ed nodded at Laura. He gave Beth a great big hug and then set her 
down. "Beth, why don't you go look at Kelly and John?"

"Okay," Beth smiled and skipped down to where the beds were 
located. 

When she was gone, Laura asked, "Does she see the Goddess 
often?"

Ed nodded, "She sees her in her dreams. You will notice that she 
doesn't act four. Her brother dreams about the God. He doesn't act 
three."

Agent Haroldson and Sheriff Lundy looked around uncomfortable 
about the topic of discussion. The Sheriff leaned over the agent, "I 
think they live in a different world."

The Agent laughed, "I think you are right."

Beth returned from visiting the patients. She looked at the FBI 
agent for a second and then stated, "You are from the FBI. Did you 
ever work with Daddy John?"

"No, I've never had the privilege."

Beth stood there for a moment, "You will. There's a big piracy out 
there. He's going to need your help to stop the bad guys."

Ed looked over at Beth, "A big piracy? I don't think that is the 
word you mean."

She frowned, "What is the word when bad people get together to 
figure out how to do bad things?"

"Oh, conspiracy," answered Ed. He smiled and wondered how 
many four-year-olds could even get close to that word.

Beth nodded, "A big conspiracy."

Agent Haroldson looked at Beth and asked, "How do you know?"

Beth put her hand on her hip in a very adult gesture, "It is his last 
task to perform before he goes to live with the Gods and 
Goddesses forever."

The agent looked at Beth with a strange expression. Ed went over 
to Beth and hugged her. "Beth, you have to promise me that you 
won't tell any of your other Mommies and Daddies a word about 
that. Okay?"

"Sure Daddy Ed. Can I go now?"

Ed hugged her tightly, "Yes, go play with your brother."

"I'm going to go play with the first years. One of them is teaching 
me mathematics."

"What's your brother going to do?"

Beth shrugged, "He's still learning to read."

Ed tickled her, "Check with Ling before you go off by yourself. 
Otherwise the tickle monster is going to find you."

"Yes, Daddy," replied a giggling little girl. She skipped out of the 
infirmary. 

The FBI agent and the Sheriff returned from observing Kelly and 
John. Ed stated, "I'll take you to the suspect."

He took them up to the private room where the suspect was being 
held. The man was still in the same shape. Another Druid, wearing 
a black robe, was present in the room. He turned to Ed, "He's been 
touched by the God. He won't ever recover."

Ed nodded, "Well, Sheriff. I guess we won't learn anything from 
him. He's all yours."

The sheriff stated, "I need to get some clothes for him. I can't take 
him in naked."

Ed nodded, "We can get a maintenance coverall for him to wear."

Ed took care of that detail. While he was getting the coveralls, the 
other FBI agents arrived and started collecting the evidence. They 
dressed the suspect and the sheriff took him away. Ed stated to the 
Agent Haroldson, "If we hurry, we can still get lunch."

"Sounds good to me."

They went to the dining room in the first year dorm. Albert and his 
student were seated at a table eating their lunch. Ed and Agent 
Haroldson joined them. Ed stated, "I'm sorry about not getting in 
touch with you earlier. John was shot this morning and things have 
been rather chaotic here."

Albert looked surprised, "He was shot?"

"Yes," replied Ed. He added, "We don't know the motive. The 
assassin is completely insane. The FBI are going through the 
evidence even as we speak to see if they can determine what was 
going on."

Albert nodded, "Sounds like a good plan. I know John wanted to 
talk with me. It might be better if I came back at a later time."

Ed stated, "I have an idea of what John wanted to discuss with you. 
He wanted to find out if there was anyway that we could help you 
in your work. We have many different mechanisms for providing 
funding. John can do it personally, through the Druid College, or 
through the Fusion Foundation."

Albert said, "That would be very good. We can use a more 
permanent source of money for our operations."

Ed nodded and then said, "He also wants to extend an invitation for 
you to have a small area of the campus for class rooms for your 
students like CC. It is his hope that you'll have someone that will 
help train students of the college as well."

"I'll have to think about it. It does add a bit to our operating costs."

Ed nodded in understanding. He said, "That won't be a problem. 
John had mentioned setting aside a hundred million in a trust fund. 
There are a number of restrictions associated with this fund since 
your organization is very different from ours."

Albert looked at Ed in shock and said, "A hundred million?"

Ed shrugged and answered, "That would cover operating costs of 
five million a year in perpetuity. That money would be separate 
from the other funding that he was talking about. This is targeted 
solely at training. I believe he is planning on using his own money 
for that."

Cindy looked shocked, "I knew he was rich, but that's amazing."

Ed stated, "Actually, he gives away almost 98% of his income."

"You're not kidding, are you?" asked Agent Haroldson. 

"I very seldom kid and never about serious subjects. John has very 
little use for money. His greatest pleasure comes from watching 
the sunrise and sunset. He takes care of his basic needs, supports 
his family, and gives away the rest of his money."

A shocked expression spread across Cindy's face. She pointed to a 
table a short distance away, "Is that couple over there doing what I 
think they are doing?"

 Ed looked in the direction she pointed and turned back. He smiled, 
"Yes. I do believe that she's giving him some relief."

"Aren't you going to stop them?"

"Their actions are not harming anyone. I would be imposing on 
them if I asked them to stop."

Cindy turned and watched the couple. Despite her embarrassment, 
she was fascinated by the total concentration each had for the 
other. She wished that she could find someone that would focus on 
her needs as much as the woman was focusing on the needs of the 
man. Her breasts ached and she found herself growing increasingly 
horny. 

Ed noticed, "If you would like some relief yourself, you could ask 
someone to help you out."

Cindy's head swiveled, "What? Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"No thank you." She wasn't about to be serviced in public. Sex was 
something that was private.

Helen arrived and took their orders. Ed had a simple hamburger 
and fries. Agent Haroldson ordered a steak. Cindy looked at him 
and was about to comment, but stopped herself. She looked at 
Albert and he shook his head. She thought about it and realized 
that any comment would not have been received nicely by anyone 
at the table. Ed would have stated that his order hurt no one. Agent 
Haroldson would have been hurt by her comment. Albert would 
have been disappointed in her for not having learned another 
lesson. She thought about what lesson she should have learned.

Ed noted the exchange, "So what lesson are you learning here?"

"If someone is doing something that harms no one, then you have 
no right to ask them to stop?"

"Very good. Believe me, it is a very hard lesson to truly master. It 
takes most of our students two years to really understand it. These 
students have been experiencing that lesson for nine months and 
still fail to apply it properly. Believe me when I say that their 
experiences have been very intense. We have stripped away all 
privacy. In fact, this is probably the most private place that couple 
could have found to engage in that act."

Cindy smiled at the praise. There hadn't been much of that during 
her stay here. It made her realize something else. "You live that 
way every day."

"Yes. It actually leads to a very peaceful and tranquil life. Our first 
set of students has over ninety people in it. You never hear an 
argument in their dorm. It is one of the most peaceful places you 
can find. That doesn't mean that they are serious all the time. They 
laugh and tell jokes. They play games in their free time."

"What kind of games?"

"I think that kick the can is their favorite right now. John taught it 
to them one afternoon. It gives you a chance to run, hide, and act 
young again."

"Do you play?" asked a confused Cindy. This guy was in his 
forties and talked about playing games.

"Oh, yes. I couldn't live without playing games occasionally. My 
personal favorite is Hunt the Bug Eyed Monsters. My husbands 
and I play that with the kids all the time. The wives really enjoy 
watching us. They laugh and giggle at our antics. Of course, we 
have extensive tea parties with little Beth."

"Your husbands?"

"Yes. I have two husbands and three wives. We have two kids and 
another two on the way."

Cindy was about to make a comment about polygamy, but chose 
not to say a word about it. Instead, she asked, "Don't you think that 
playing children's games undermines your authority?"

"What authority?"

"You're a leader."

"No. I go my way and some people think that is a good way to go. 
Would you lose respect for Albert if you were to find him on the 
floor playing go-fish with a child? No, you respect him for what he 
is teaching you." 

Cindy nodded. She looked over to where the woman had been 
giving head to the man. Now the woman was sitting there with her 
legs spread while the man was eating her out. She felt a twinge in 
her pussy and blushed as though she was sure that everyone would 
know what she was feeling. She stood up, "Excuse me, I need to 
use the restroom."

Ed chuckled and pointed to a door. "It is over there."

Albert looked questionably at Ed. Ed waited a moment for Cindy 
to get out of hearing range, "She's going to be surprised in there. 
It's a unisex bathroom."

Albert laughed, "She's used to that. Hikers have to get used to 
having a common toilet pit."

"There are no privacy partitions in this one."

"Oh my. She's going to scream."

Ling showed up holding Beth's hand. She frowned at Ed and 
asked, "Do you know where little John is?"

"No."

"He's missing."

Ed called out, "Has anyone seen little John lately?"

A student that was reading a book at a nearby table looked up and 
stated, "He's in the library reading a book."

Ling stared at the student as he returned to reading his book and 
then glared at Ed. It was hard to watch the two kids alone. With 
John and Kelly in the infirmary and Ed dealing with the law 
enforcement people, she couldn't keep track of them. She stated, 
"Could you watch Beth for a moment?"

"With great pleasure," Ed answered. He turned to Beth, "Come on 
over here Beth."

 Beth climbed up on Ed's knee. "Hello Daddy Ed. I see you are 
talking to the Ranger."

"Yes, I am Beth." He looked up at Ling and stated, "When you find 
little John, why don't you leave him with me? You can go down to 
the infirmary and watch over John and Kelly. Or, you might get a 
little rest."

Hardly able to contain her anger, Ling looked at Ed as if she 
wanted to hit him. He looked back at her with an easy calm look. 
Her anger deflated, "I'm sorry. I blame myself for their current 
condition. I should have been able to do something."

"It is hard to carry the weight of your own actions on your 
shoulders, much less the weight of the rest of the world. You are 
not to blame for what happened and there was no way that you 
could have prevented it. I know of nothing else to say to relieve 
you of your anger."

Ling softened a little. She was always amazed at how John and Ed 
could say the right thing at the right time. She smiled, "Thanks."

"In case I haven't said so lately, I love you."

A tear came to Ling's eye. She smiled, "I love you too."

Beth watched Ling walk away. She turned to the FBI agent, "Do 
you have someone that needs beaten up?"

"We don't beat up people."

"Mommy Ling needs to fight with someone. Maybe you have 
someone that would like to fight her. She would like that."

Agent Haroldson laughed and answered, "I'm sorry to disappoint 
you, but I don't have any agents here that like to fight."

Beth turned to Ed, "Daddy, when little John comes here, can we go 
with Annie to her class?"

"Which one is Annie?"

"She's the one coming out of the restroom with the other Ranger." 
Beth pointed to the two women walking their way. They were 
accompanied by a young man that was smiling happily. 

Cindy arrived and noticed the attention her arrival had generated. 
She turned to her companions and as a blush spread across her face 
as she stated, "Thank you so much for your assistance."

The young man smiled and answered, "My pleasure."

Beth grabbed Annie, "When little John comes here, can we go to 
your class with you?"

Annie smiled, "You really like algebra?"

Beth's face lit up with a glowing smile. "Oh, yes. It is amazing. 
Little John will probably want to read, but I will listen."

"Your parents will have to say that it is okay."

Ed smiled and asked, "Does John normally give you permission to 
take her to class with you?"

"Yes, he does," replied Annie. She added, "Beth comes to my class 
almost every day."

The discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Laura from the 
infirmary. She stated, "Kelly has woken up. I tried to keep her in 
bed, but she, uh, insisted on giving John a blowjob. It appears to 
have woken him up. I don't suggest bothering Kelly with 
questions, but John is alert and wide awake."

Beth giggled and said, "That sounds like Daddy John."

Ling arrived with little John. Ed stated, "good news, Ling. Kelly 
and John are both awake. Apparently, they were very horny as the 
very first thing Kelly did was give John a blowjob."

Annie asked, "Is it alright if they come with me to class?"

Ed smiled after a glance at Ling. He answered, "Sure."

He turned to Ling and said, "I think you forget that you have seven 
hundred willing baby sitters around here. Now go visit your 
husband and wife in the infirmary and relax, my love."




