DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. If you are offended by 
sexually explicit material or are under the age of 18, stop reading 
now. This material cannot be reproduced for commercial purposes 
without the consent of the author.


John Carter
By
Lazlo Zalezac
Copyright (C) Lazlo Zalezac, 2003


Part 3: Robes of Acumen
Chapter 20

The middle of the afternoon is a quiet time in the living quarters of 
the President of the College. John, the President, was on his back, 
in the middle the living room. Little Beth, now four years old, was 
curled up inside one arm and little John, now three years old, was 
curled up inside the other. All three of them were asleep. Ling and 
Kelly stood at the door watching them. Ling whispered, "It's hard 
to be a mother when the fathers spend all their time with the kids."

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

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

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

The two mothers went into the living room and picked up the 
children. Each child woke briefly when they were picked up, but 
fell back to sleep immediately. The mothers carried them to their 
bedroom. John jumped up looking around for the children. He 
relaxed when he saw the mothers walking away with them.

John looked at the clock and saw what time it was. He headed out 
to the administration building. He was supposed to go over the 
security records. They had detected several people moving around 
their property, but no one had been able to locate them. Ling 
returned from the bedroom. Kelly stayed to watch the kids. John 
and Ling went to the security center. There was no need for 
conversation; they were both familiar with the current situation. 
Ling was mentally returning to her role as security specialist. 

They reached the security center. They entered in the midst of 
significant excitement. John walked over to the monitor and looked 
at the situation. There were two blips moving through the property. 
John looked over the detailed map of the property. He ran his 
finger over the course taken by the two blips. He ran his fingers 
further along and thought about the time it would take the blips to 
reach that point. He turned to Ling, "Stay here. I'm going to see 
who they are."

John left the room and headed off into the forest. He moved 
quickly and quietly. He wanted to make sure that he reached a 
point well ahead of the intruders. The soft floor of the woods 
dampened his steps. He circled around so that his path wouldn't be 
in their way. It took him ten minutes to reach the location that he 
had mapped out. He slipped down and wrapped the cloak around 
his body. He went motionless, waiting for the intruders.

It took five minutes for the wildlife to return and act normally. 
John sat still watching the birds move from limb to limb as they 
went about their business. He watched a squirrel move around on 
the ground. It felt good to be back in the midst of nature. After a 
few minutes, the squirrel started to act strange. He watched as it 
moved to a tree. 

As the squirrel moved around the tree, John looked to the area 
from which the squirrel would be hidden. Two people were 
moving slowly through the woods. They were wearing dark green 
outfits with soft leather boots that laced up their legs. Moving 
silently, they were totally alert to their surroundings. John could 
see no weapons other than knives on their hips. They didn't look 
like the average hikers. When they came closer, John could tell 
that it was a man and a woman.

The man stopped and knelt down pointing at something on the 
ground. The woman knelt beside him and looked. In a very quiet 
voice he asked, "What is it?"

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

"How old is it?"

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

John listened impressed with the level of knowledge the two 
people had of the natural environment. Rather than announcing 
himself, he chose to wait and see what he could learn.

"What did it eat?"

The woman removed her knife from her belt. At a nod from the 
man, she used the knife to break apart the scat. She looked at it for 
a moment. She used the knife to point to parts of the scat as she 
answered, "It has eaten a grasshopper, a garter snake, and a baby 
mouse."

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

"The rest of the mouse."

"Very good. What direction did it go?"

The woman looked around for a second. She used the knife to 
point in a direction away from John, "It went that way. It looks like 
it was startled by something."

The man nodded again. He looked around the area taking in his 
surroundings. He could see nothing that would have caused the fox 
to flee, but he asked the woman anyway. "What startled it?"

John answered, "Probably me."

The man and the woman jumped as though they had been shot. 
John stood and faced the pair. He asked, "Who are you?"

The man answered, "I'm Ranger Albert Mandel. This is my 
student, Cindy Carpenter. Who are you?"

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

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

"You are good at stealth. My people looked for you three days ago 
and couldn't find you."

"Ah, the man with the bear. He was very good. It took all of our 
skill to avoid them and we were chased off the property." Albert 
examined John carefully. He looked around, "It makes sense that 
Druid land would have a lot of animal and plant life on it. You 
even have several endangered species here."

John smiled, "They are under our protection. That is why we made 
such an effort to find you."

"That is our job, as well. We watch over the species here to make 
sure they are not threatened. We were worried when the 
construction started here."

John nodded, "We were careful. We even transplanted several rare 
species of plants to our green house. They have been returned to 
the grounds around the school."

"That is good."

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

Albert turned and looked down the path as Ling appeared behind 
them. He smiled, "I had just heard her. She is very good too."

 Ling deftly reached out and took the knife out of the hand of 
Cindy as she walked past the woman. Cindy was shocked at the 
speed at which Ling's hand had moved when it had taken the knife. 
She glared at the woman. John stated, "Ling give her back her 
knife."

Ling shook her head and said, "She should have used it or put it 
away. She's lucky I didn't use it on her. If it had been pointed at 
you, I would have."

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

Ling grudgingly handed the knife back in the proper fashion by 
holding the blade. She didn't release it until the woman, in a 
strained voice, stated, "Thank you."

The woman slid the knife into her sheath and then looked at Ling 
with a slight bit of anger. "Are you satisfied?"

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

The woman immediately answered, "Yes, sir."

Ling moved beside John and looked at the pair. John broke the 
tension, "Would you like to come back with us to the school?"

The Ranger was about to decline, but he happened to look at Ling. 
Her look suggested that it would be best to accept.  He slowly 
nodded and answered, "Yes. That would be nice."

John headed toward the school followed by the Ranger and his 
student. Ling brought up the rear. As they walked, John stated, 
"You walk Indian style; on the balls of your feet with your toes 
pointed inwards."

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

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

The rest of the walk was in silence. They approached the 
administration building. Albert stopped and pointed to a plant. He 
asked, "CC, what kind of plant is this?"

She answered, "I don't know."

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

He stood and looked at John. "Sorry, I had to take the opportunity 
for her to see that plant. They're very rare."

John smiled and pointed to a small garden, "There's about a 
thousand of them over there."

Albert walked over to the patch that John had pointed out. A small 
brass plate gave the name of the plant. He stared at the garden open 
mouthed, "How? There are more here than I thought existed in the 
entire state."

John smiled, "Our horticulturist is very talented. I shall arrange a 
tour of the gardens for you. I'm sure he will be more than happy to 
talk with someone that knows plants as well as you."

Ling watched over the woman as she drew the plant. She glanced 
at the drawing pad and noted that the woman was a good artist. It 
didn't take her nearly as long to draw the plant as Ling predicted. 
As the woman stood up, Ling stated, "They are over there."

The woman, followed by Ling, joined the two men at the garden. 
The woman stated, "Very impressive garden. A little too orderly 
for my taste, though."

Albert laughed, "The order is to allow a very weak species 
freedom from competition."

John led the group into his office in the administration building. 
Rather than sitting behind his desk, he sat at a table while inviting 
the others to join him. Ling stood to the side for a moment. She 
said, "I'll go check on Little John."

John smiled as he said, "go ahead. I'll be taking our guests to the 
first year dining room after we are done here."

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

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

John laughed, "She's one of the best security people in the country 
and takes great pride in her abilities. She doesn't want anything to 
happen to her husband."

Albert carefully looked around the office taking in details. The 
furniture was made of wood. Every thing about the room spoke of 
permanence. He knew that if he were to walk in this room a 
hundred years from now, everything would still be there. Cindy sat 
at the table fidgeting, uneasy in the room. She was made even 
more nervous by the assessing stare that John gave her. John 
stated, "You need to learn to relax in unfamiliar surroundings."

She replied, "I'm fine."

John laughed, "Right. You haven't even bothered to take in your 
surroundings as your instructor is doing. He'll be able to come in 
here a year from now and notice if anything has changed."

"John, you are extremely observant," replied Albert. He turned to 
the woman. "CC, listen to him. Even in this setting, the skills that 
you use in the forest should remain with you. You should observe 
everything."

Cindy answered, "Yes sir."

The men waited while Cindy looked around the room. When she 
returned her attention to John, he asked, "What did you notice?"

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

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

"You killed a lot of trees to decorate this room," she replied with a 
certain amount of venom in her voice.

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

Albert stated, "Everything in this room will last two hundred years, 
possibly more, if it is treated properly. The craftsmanship is the 
best that I've ever seen. If all furniture was made this well, the 
forests would be safe forever."

"Huh?"

Albert answered, "This room is decorated in solid wood. It is 
polished to an extremely good shine. The craftsman that made this 
furniture made it to last. No trees will be killed for generations to 
decorate this room. That is the way you should use natural 
resources. When you use them, you should use them so that they 
last forever."

"Oh."

"CC, you may not realize with whom you are talking. This is John 
Carter. He's the inventor of the Fusion Battery and the Fusion Cell. 
They are the two most environmentally kind innovations in the 
history of man."

Cindy's eyes went wide as she looked at John. There was a short 
rap on the door and Ed entered the room. He sat down at the table 
facing the two visitors. He stated, "I'm Ed Biggers."

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

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

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

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

Albert looked at Ed for a second. There was something about Ed 
that gave him the feeling that this was more than just a friendly 
conversation. He answered, "About twenty years ago, a number of 
us were worried about the environment. We felt that most 
environmental organizations had no clue how nature worked. They 
had this idealized Walt Disney view of nature with Thumper and 
Bambi talking and having afternoon tea."

John laughed at the image. He remembered the encounter he had 
with an animal rights activist that wouldn't accept that Rover was a 
wild animal that was where he was by choice. He nodded for 
Albert to continue. Albert said, "We decided that we wanted to 
make a real difference beyond protesting. We knew that we had to 
do it differently. We would learn about nature first and come to 
grips with it before we started pointing fingers at who was to 
blame for the current environmental crisis."

"We went to virgin forests that hadn't been touched in a hundred 
years. We found that wildlife in some areas were not as dense as 
we had imagined. In most cases, it wasn't because of humans, but 
because that was the amount of wildlife that could be supported. 
We are now working to help wildlife balance itself. We make 
detailed surveys of the wildlife in various areas of the country. We 
give the results to Game and Wildlife Departments to help 
establish optimal hunting limits."

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

"We function mostly off government grants."

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

"No. That doesn't work. We do little things, like put small 
protective tents around the nests of endangered birds to keep 
predators from getting to them. We put up signs warning people of 
endangered habitats. We report illegal dumping and help clean 
them up."

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

"Does he and his serve the Goddess?"

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

John looked out the window. He stood up and walked over to the 
desk. He pushed the intercom button. "Ask Sid and Al to come 
here."

 He returned to his seat. Albert watched John, attempting to figure 
out what was happening. John's face gave no hints. They were 
disturbed by the entry of a small girl into the room. John looked at 
Beth, "What's the matter, Beth?"

"I had a strange dream."

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

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

Ed looked at John with a funny expression on his face. John smiled 
at Beth. "Wow, you dreamed of a pretty lady in the forest. Did you 
talk with her?"

"Yes."

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

Beth smiled, "We talked about Mommy Kelly. The pretty lady said 
that I would hear some bad news tomorrow, but that Mommy 
Kelly was going to be okay."

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

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

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

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

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

Beth giggled, "Mommy Ling said that I had to tell it to you. I 
would have told you anyway."

John tickled her for a second. She rolled around in his lap 
laughing. John finally set her down saying, "You better go find 
Mommy Ling now. She's going to worry about you."

"Okay, Daddy John." She kissed him on the cheek. Then she went 
over to Ed and kissed him on the cheek. Ed reached down and 
picked her up. Planing a big kiss on her forehead, he told her, "I'll 
be right upstairs and we can have a tea party."

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

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

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

John and Ed watched her leave the room. The two men looked at 
each other. Ed stated, "Tomorrow the Goddess delivers her gift to 
Kelly."

"Yes, I think so."

"I'll go now." Ed stood and went to the door. He turned to Albert 
and Cindy, "It was a pleasure meeting you."

He was gone before either could respond. Albert turned to John, 
"The little girl, is she your daughter?"

"Yes."

Cindy looked at John strangely for a minute. John gestured for her 
to ask her question. She blurted out, "She has two mommies and 
two daddies?"

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

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

"The Goddess promised Kelly the gift of a death experience. Beth 
dreamed of the Goddess to get the message that everything was 
going to be okay."

The door to the office swung open as a black bear shuffled into the 
room. The bear went to an open space near John's desk and sat 
down looking at the people gathered in the room. It yawned as 
though bored with what it had seen. Albert and Cindy stared at the 
bear open mouthed. The silence in the room was broken by Al, 
"Oh my. We have a Ranger."

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

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

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

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

John stated, "Thank you."

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

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

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

"Let's go eat." John's stomach growled to emphasize the point that 
he was hungry. He stood up and led the others to the dining room 
in the first year dorm. He wondered how Cindy would react to the 
naked students.

They entered the dining room as a group and seated themselves at 
one of the larger tables. Cindy was staring at the eating utensils 
and trying not to look around. She was in a constant state of blush. 
John handed out the menu's. The group perused the menu. Cindy 
was glad to have something to look at. She was surprised that there 
were no prices on the menu. 

A woman, wearing only an apron, came over to the table to take 
their order. John looked up at her, "Helen, since when did you guys 
start dressing like that?"

The waitress smiled, "A few of the students were not happy about 
us wearing clothes while they were nude. I figured what the hell. 
So, I took everything off except the apron. I still need to have the 
pockets."

"You didn't need to do that."

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

"It's your decision," replied John. He was pleased that some 
members of the staff were working to fit in with the students. 

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

John nodded. He looked around the room at the students. He 
noticed that two students were arguing. He excused himself, 
"There's a minor crisis brewing over there. Let me take care of it."

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

The woman stated, "He cheated on me!"

The man was about the respond when John held up his hand. John 
asked, "What exactly did he do?"

"He slept with another girl!"

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

The young man complied despite his confusion at the request. John 
looked over the young man's body very carefully. After the young 
man had finished turning, John stated, "Please sit down."

John turned to the young lady, "I looked over every inch of his 
body. I didn't see a sign that said he was your property. He's free to 
sleep with who ever he wants."

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

"How did he hurt you?"

"He violated my trust in him."

"In what way?"

"He slept with another girl."

"Did he promise not to do that?"

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

John smiled, "So he violated an expectation that you held without 
telling him. Now you are hurt that your expectations were not met 
by him. Does that sound correct?"

"Yes."

"Now you want to make him feel bad."

"Correct."

John stated, "I can solve your problem very quickly. I've just 
decided that you are my property. My expectation is that no one 
can talk to you from now on. If anyone does, I'll kick them out of 
the school. If you talk to anyone, I'll come yell at you."

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

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

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

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

"Oh," replied the woman. She looked at John for a minute and then 
at the young man. The young man shifted uncomfortably under her 
stare. "I understand. He didn't hurt me, I hurt me. I should have 
made my expectations clear from the beginning so that he could 
decide if he could meet them."

John smiled and nodded. He turned to the young man and stated, 
"You are not entirely blameless in this."

"Yes, sir." replied the young man.

"What did you do wrong?"

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

John nodded. "Now talk about this between yourselves and then let 
other students know what you learned today."

John returned to the table. His food had arrived and he sat down to 
eat. He took a bite and saw that Cindy was staring at him. When he 
swallowed, he asked, "You have a question?"

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

John laughed, "She wasn't wrong in having them. She was wrong 
in not communicating them to her lover. She placed him in a 
position to hurt and be hurt. He was wrong in the same way."

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

"Because offense is not the same as harming. Further more, it was 
to continue your education."

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

John smiled at Albert. Albert nodded back at John and then John 
explained, "You came in here, saw one naked person and stopped 
examining your environment. Your first reaction was to forget 
your training. You studied the table for ten minutes and then spent 
the next five studying the menu. You haven't even looked around 
the room yet."

Cindy glared at John for a second and then answered, "Yes, sir. 
You're right."

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

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

Al and Sid laughed aloud at that statement. Cindy shot a look at 
them and challenged, "What?"

"You are talking to one of the greatest teachers of all time. He's 
literally taught thousands of people how to face up to their 
limitations and overcome them. He's been giving you opportunities 
to demonstrate what you are learning from your teacher and from 
him." Sid reached over and petted his bear. "Isn't that right 
Fluffy?"

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

John laughed, "That is the name the bear picked. No one was more 
shocked than Sid. I had a cougar named Rover. The animals pick 
their own name and won't answer to anything else."

Al stated, "John, you have a family that needs you. I shall show 
our guests to the guestrooms. Sid, your bear probably wants to go 
out for a while."

John and Sid left the table. Albert and Cindy watched him walk 
off. Albert turned to Al, "Is he always like that?"

"Like how?"

"So distant and yet so present. When he looks at you, you have his 
total attention. Then he looks away and suddenly you feel like you 
are alone in the world."

Al nodded, "Yes. His whole family is like that. All of the Druids 
are like that. You have met Ed?"

Cindy answered, "Yes. When he looks at you, you feel like your 
soul is being examined."

Happy that his student had actually noticed the intensity of his 
examination by Ed, he congratulated her. "You noticed."

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


