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



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


Part 2: Mantle Of Aries
Chapter 11

Midwinter's day was rapidly approaching. John had been working 
in the FBI office in Phoenix every day. He was investigating a 
pattern of abductions that looked suspicious to him. He was 
pushing himself as hard as he could to identify what was going on. 
The urge to solve this case was pushing him to work day and night. 

He stared at the bank records of a number of individuals that had 
been arrested for abducting young kids and women. They all had 
significant deposits about every three months before they had been 
caught. Yet none of them had jobs that could explain it. He pulled 
a few of the records together and then realized that those deposits 
had occurred within a week of unsolved disappearances. In an 
epiphany, he realized that they were dealing with a while slavery 
ring that was operating all over California. 

He rapidly began gathering the data that supported his idea. He 
traced the locations where people had been abducted or reported 
missing under unusual circumstances. They formed about twenty 
clusters in different parts of California. After each arrest, the 
number of missing people in a cluster dropped. Significantly, the 
individual lived within that specific cluster. After some time had 
elapsed, another cluster would appear elsewhere in the state. He 
then identified where all of the arrests had been made. It looked 
like three arrows all pointing to a desert region below Las Vegas.

He jotted down a list of individuals that were serving time in 
prison. Under each individual's name, he jotted down the list of 
people that he suspected they had abducted. He got up and walked 
over to the office of Ann Moore. He entered without knocking and 
sat down in a chair. She studiously ignored him. He set the list of 
names on her desk and stated, "There is a white slavery ring 
operating in California."

She looked up startled, "What?"

"I said there is a white slavery ring operating in California. They 
are abducting young women and children. They are being taken 
somewhere in Nevada south of Las Vegas."

As the implications of what John was saying sank in, Ann started 
mentally reviewing any warnings that might have been issued. 
There were none. She asked, "Are you sure?"

John nodded, "Very sure."

Ann challenged, "Prove it to me."

John took her to his office and presented his data. She stared at the 
relationships that he had found among the missing individuals and 
the people in custody. His argument was airtight. She asked, "What 
do you suggest we do?"

John smiled, "Send agents to interview the people on this list. 
Confront them with the names of the other individuals that were 
abducted within their specific cluster. Convince them that we will 
be prosecuting them unless they give us the location where their 
victims were taken. Stake out that location and when a car arrives 
with another victim, arrest everyone. Roll them all up at once."

Ann nodded, "It will take a couple of weeks to set things up."

John shook his head, "I'm sorry, but we don't have a couple of 
weeks. There are going to be a rash of abductions starting in about 
four days. We need to be in place by then or else I believe that at 
least eighteen people are going to be victims. I don't know if we'll 
be able to find the past victims, but we can save the current 
bunch."

Ann stated, "it is going to be tough. It's going to take that amount 
of time to line up all the agents we'll need."

 John was blunt, "Bullshit. If it were a nuclear weapon, we would 
be there in five hours."

Ann stared at John realizing that he was correct. She picked up the 
phone and dialed a number. She asked for the director and when 
she was told that he wouldn't be able to take her call, she became 
more insistent. She used John Carter's name in an effort to speed 
things along. Finally, she stated, "Tell him it is a broken arrow type 
of situation."

Those magic words opened doors. She put the call on 
speakerphone. Within seconds, Mike was on the telephone 
shouting, "Did you say broken arrow?"

"I said it was a broken arrow type of situation, sir."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that as a result of John Carter's research over the past three 
weeks, we have a huge case that is time critical. A white slavery 
ring is about to take another eighteen people in the next four days. 
I need FBI agents in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and, 
of course, here in Arizona. I want a conference call with deputy 
directors in all of those areas in an hour."

Mike paused, "Are you sure?"

John stated, "Mike, have I ever been wrong?"

"No you haven't."

John added, "As far as I can tell, over the past five years this ring 
has been responsible for at least three hundred missing persons. As 
far as I know, they are probably being sold for child pornography, 
lock box prostitution, or snuff films. In my opinion, this is the 
ugliest crime there is. I haven't even looked at the East Coast yet. It 
may be national in scope, I just don't know yet."

Mike was silent for a moment as he thought about it. He stated, "I 
agree. I'll set things in motion."

All of the agents assigned to the Phoenix Office were called into 
the conference room. The room was filled to capacity. John entered 
the room followed by Ann and Rover. Many of the agents had 
never seen Rover, although the cat was already a legend in the 
office. As soon as he reached the front of the room, John stated, 
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I know that the holidays are rapidly 
approaching. Everyone has shopping to do and family gatherings 
to attend. However, for the next five days everyone will be on duty 
twenty-four hours a day."

After the grumbling quieted down, John continued, "We have 
identified a white slavery ring that is operating on the west coast. 
Within the next four days, we expect that at least eighteen people 
will be abducted. Although little Timmy may not get his dream 
bike, I want to make sure he gets to spend Christmas with his 
family rather than as a sex slave to some pedophile. And maybe, 
just maybe, we might be able to rescue three hundred others that 
have been abducted in the past."

The noise level in the room rose as people considered what John 
had said. They all looked at each other. This kind of case makes 
the national news in a big way. John waited patiently for the noise 
to abate, "go call your families and let them know you won't be 
home for the next couple of days."

The next hour was a flurry of activity as agents got busy faxing 
John's data and conclusions to the various offices that were going 
to participate in the conference call. John estimated that they were 
going to have over two hundred agents involved in this arrest. 
Other agents were arranging for cots to be brought into the office 
and for catering services to providing meals. 

The conference call went like a dream. Other offices had already 
had a chance to look at John's data. Everyone had to agree with his 
conclusions and recognized the need for a fast response. All 
courtesy procedures were suspended for the duration.  Rather than 
interviewing people one at a time by a single pair of agents, all of 
the interviews were going to occur at the same time by fifty pairs 
of agents. Instead of business hours, they were going to wake 
people if necessary to get the interviews. They would wake judges 
if necessary to get warrants. 

John watched as the agents left the conference room to attend to 
their individual tasks. He could imagine the same scene playing 
out in twenty-three other offices. John returned to his office and sat 
there starring at Rover. He asked, "Rover, would you be willing to 
go back to the house with Ed and stay there a couple of days 
without me?"

The cat sat there and didn't move or react in any way. John added, 
"You wouldn't like to stay in this office for three days straight, 
would you?"

Rover, as if in answer to the question, got up and walked to the 
corner of the room where he lay down. In seconds, he was asleep. 
John stated, "Okay, stay with me. I'll call Ed and have him arrange 
for food and a cat box. Maybe we won't be stuck here too long."

John called Ed at the school. When Ed answered, "Hello?"

"Hi there, hubby to be!"

"Hey John, how are you doing?"

John considered his answer, "Well, it looks like I'm stuck here at 
the FBI for a couple of days. Can you pick up some burger for the 
cat and a cat box?"

Ed frowned, "What's up?"

John stated, "We have a big case with a four day deadline. I have 
to be here to help correlate data. I need to be ready to leave at a 
moments notice. Maybe you can get my backpack from the house 
when you come into school in the morning."

Ed stated, "I'll be there in an hour with the food and cat box. Be 
ready to tell me the details when I get there."

John answered, "Okay."

Ed hung up. John was left with Rover in the office. He could hear 
the activity outside his office, yet no one disturbed him. He felt bad 
about having all of the agents locked up for the next few days. A 
knock on the door to his office interrupted his musings. He stated, 
"Come in."

One of the newer agents came into the room struggling with a cot. 
He stated, "Here's your cot sir."

John looked at the cot and then at the agent for a minute. He asked, 
"Did they put you in charge of sleeping arrangements?"

"Yes, sir."

John reached into his wallet and pulled out a platinum card. He 
handed it to the agent. "Go to the nearest hotel and request a block 
of rooms equal to the number of agents here. Take this and have 
them charge it to my card. When you get the keys to the rooms 
hand them out to the agents. Maybe their families can join them 
there."

The agent stepped back in surprise, "You can't be serious. That'll 
cost a fortune and our budget can't handle it."

John stated, "I'm a very rich man. My budget can afford it. Happy 
holidays."

"That is most generous of you sir."

John was about to reply and then added. "Do the same for the other 
offices involved in this. Contact the hotels and arrange the rooms. 
Use the card. If they need verification, then I'll talk to them. Ask 
the hotel to deliver the keys to the offices and then let the 
receptionist hand them out to the agents."

"How many days should I request the rooms?"

"Make it five. At least that way the families can make plans."

The young agent stared at John. He cleared his throat, "You do 
realize that there may be three hundred agents involved. You're 
paying for fifteen hundred nights of hotel rooms."

John nodded, "Yes. So long as the bill is less than half a million, 
do it."

"Half a million?"

"Yeah. You might authorize each room for fifty dollars worth of 
extra charges a night."

The agent looked at the card in his hand. He looked at John, "Yes, 
sir. I'll get right to work on it."

When the agent had left the room, John sat back feeling a little 
better. Maybe he hadn't ruined so many holidays. He called Jack 
and let him know what he had done in case the credit card 
company called. Jack squawked when he heard the amount he was 
authorizing, but he didn't say anything else. He knew John very 
well, at least well enough to know that there was no way to get him 
to change his mind.

Ann came into the office. She sat down, "What do you think needs 
to be done now?"

John smiled, "I don't know. You're in charge of this case."

"Me. It's your case."

"Okay, I just turned it over to you. You're doing quite a good job 
so far. I'm just here to help out."

Ann snorted, "You are impossible. Do you know the headaches 
you're giving to me?"

John laughed, "Yes. You'll have to deal with the press, the other 
enforcement offices, and transportation services. I don't envy you 
at all."

Ann smiled as an idea crossed her mind. She stated, "I want you on 
site when the arrests are made."

John frowned. He looked at his calendar. Midwinter was in six 
days. He needed to be in Colorado in case someone was picked by 
the Gods to take over Jed's duties. If they were able to bring down 
the ring in four days, he might make it. If it took longer, he would 
be late. Of course, he did have some time leeway. People always 
lost time when they were there. He answered her, "I absolutely 
have to be in Colorado on the twenty-first. Of course, you might 
not have thought about some logistical problems. The airlines 
won't take Rover onboard unless he's in a cage, so I'll have to 
drive."

Ann smiled, "That will be handled. We do own some planes of our 
own."

John shrugged, "Mind if I take some people with me?"

"Who?"

John smiled, "Oh, a doctor and a nurse to care for the victims. 
Another guy who will help take care of them. I know they'll 
volunteer their time."

Ann frowned, "You're talking about your future husband and 
wives?"

"Yes."

"You do realize that some agents may have a problem with that 
when they learn about it."

"I'm not worried. They're going to be too busy to cause any 
problems."

Ann shrugged her shoulders. "It's your life. Live it how you wish."

"Thanks," replied John. He added, "You might want to see if you 
can get me some detailed maps of the area. I might be able to 
identify some likely spots and locate staging areas for launching 
the raid."

Ann nodded. John had changed the subject to work and that was 
the end of any discussion of his personal life. She stood and left the 
room. He received several maps half an hour later. He spread them 
out on a table and examined them carefully. He was looking for a 
place that was more or less isolated with a private landing field. 
Several places fit that profile. 

John's next interruption was the arrival of Ed. He looked up happy 
to see him, "Thanks for coming here."

Ed shrugged his shoulders, denying that he had done anything 
special. He answered, "I put the hamburger in the refrigerator and 
set up the sand box next to the dumpster."

Rover lifted his head and looked at Ed. He stood up and left the 
room.  Ed watched him leave. "What's the matter with Rover?"

"I'm not sure," replied John. 

He followed the cat out of the room. He finally located the cat at 
the elevator door. The receptionist was standing next to him. She 
stated, "He wanted to go down, so I pressed the down button. 
When the elevator comes, I'll press ground floor. I think he wants 
to go out."

John went over and scratched Rover behind the ears. He asked, 
"Do you need me to come along?"

Rover shook his head. John stated, "Okay, big guy. You're on your 
own."

John went back into the office. He stated, "It looks as if he wanted 
to use the cat box you brought."

Ed shook his head, "That's a smart cat."

John couldn't help but agreeing. "Yes he is."

"So what is the big deal. Why have you got to be here?"

John considered his answer carefully. "A white slavery ring is 
operating in California. I've established that they are going to 
abduct about eighteen people in the next four days."

"You mean kidnap like that sick fuck did with those two young 
ladies in Utah?"

"Yes, I do."

Ed looked in the distance remembering that time. He had to help, 
but he had finals coming up and John wouldn't take him. "You're 
going to take them down, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am."

Ed looked at John with his eyes half closed. He knew what John 
was going to answer to his next question. "Who is going to watch 
your back?"

"Rover."

"John, you can't count on Rover to tell people what they need to 
do."

Rover returned even as they were speaking. He went back to his 
corner and went to sleep. John smiled, "Ed, you have finals this 
week. I'm not going to pull you out of school for this. Rover can 
keep me from getting killed."

Ed snorted and left the office in a huff. John watched him go and 
knew that he was going to come along with him anyway. 
Tomorrow afternoon, he would return with Kelly and Beth. They 
would stay for the duration. 

John was asleep on the floor next to Rover. Rover lay on his back 
with his feet up in the air. Ann looked in the office at the sleeping 
pair. She shook her head and debated waking him. He had rented 
rooms for all of the agents and yet he slept on the floor in his 
office. He startled her, "What can I do for you Ann?"

"For one, you could use one of those hotel rooms you rented for 
the agents here."

"It would be a waste. I always sleep on the floor." John sat up and 
looked at the clock. He stated, "I'm expecting a call. I need to be 
here to get it."

"For another, I've got a telephone message for you."

John got up frowning, "Why didn't you patch it through here?"

"You were asleep."

"Okay, what was the message?"

Ann sat down and looked at her nails. She was tired of him just 
walking into her office without knocking. She was tired of his 
audacity at telling her to drop everything and doing what he 
wanted right then. It was time for a little payback. She smiled up at 
him, "What is the magic word?"

John looked at her blankly. Puzzled he asked, "Pardon?"

"I asked you for the magic word."

John had been around too many science types. When a scientist is 
working on a problem all conversation becomes very direct. The 
questions become short and to the point. You answer and then they 
go on. He muttered, "I don't understand. I thought we were trying 
to solve a problem here. You're wanting to play games?"

Ann swore in a very loud voice, "Damn, you are an idiot 
sometimes. I'm saying you should use the word please when you 
ask for something. Haven't you ever heard of manners?"

John replied, "At the university, when you're working on a 
problem you tend to drop manners. Conversations become a little 
blunt and straight to the point. You need a piece of information and 
you ask for it. You only bother the people that have the 
information that you need. The fact that you came to ask them is a 
kind of honor, as you're recognizing their expertise. Things don't 
work that way here?"

Ann shook her head, "Do you mean that when you come barging 
into my office without knocking that you are actually being 
respectful?"

John nodded, "Yes. I wouldn't do it if your office door was closed 
since that would mean you didn't want to be interrupted."

Ann made a noise that was a lot like a growl. She gave up. "John, 
you are a different kind of person. Anyway, the message was that 
three prisoners all identified site number two as the drop off 
location. They verified all of your suspicions."

John sat back and tired to remember all that he could about site 
number two. It was the most difficult of all the locations to 
approach without being seen. He turned to Ann, "Can we get a 
plane to fly over the site and get photographs?" 

There was a slight pause and then he added, "please."

"That's a great idea. I'll get to work on it immediately. Anything 
else?"

John thought about it for several minutes. He stated, "We need to 
set up some staging areas. I guess we should start moving agents 
into the area. It will have to be done slowly, we don't want to 
spook them. Small towns are rumor mills and a bunch of strangers 
showing up will create a lot of excitement."

Ann looked surprised, "You're right. I hadn't thought of that."

The plane landed at a small landing strip outside Las Vegas. John, 
Ed, Kelly, Beth, and Rover got off the plane. Once Rover touched 
the ground, he turned and growled at the plane. John stayed behind 
and explained to the pilot that he had no idea that Rover would get 
airsick. The pilot motioned a cleaning crew over to the plane with 
a disgusted look on his face.

A RV was waiting for them at the airport. It had been confiscated 
in a drug operation several months earlier. It was large enough for 
four adults and had Ohio tags on it. The group got into the RV and 
headed off to the desert. They drove until they reached the town 
north of the site. Ed slowed on reaching the town and pulled into a 
small restaurant. He parked the RV while John went into the back 
of the camper to lie down. Rover joined him on the bed. Ed, Beth, 
and Kelly exited the RV and entered the restaurant with Ed leading 
the way.  Inside, Ed asked around to identify someone that might 
allow them to look for rocks. There weren't any takers until Ed 
stated that they were willing to pay. The waitress finally suggested 
that they drive down the road and talk to Alfred with the warning 
that they were never to call him Al. After eating, they went back to 
the RV and followed the driving directions they had been given.

It wasn't long before they reached the place. It was perfect, only 
about seven miles from the targeted site. John exited the RV and 
went to the door. For some reason, Rover stayed in the RV. He 
knocked on it with the hand that wasn't holding the walking stick. 
It took a minute before an old man opened the door. John asked, 
"Are you Alfred Ledbetter?"

 "Who the hell are you and what are you doing on my property?"

As he flipped his badge open, John smiled, "I'm John Carter, 
special agent for the FBI."

 The old man looked at John in the eye for a full minute, measuring 
John to see if he was worthy. John looked back at him directly in 
the eye. Albert decided John was worthy and nodded, "You here 
about them thugs down the way?"

"Yes. If you are talking about the folks at the Crazy Z."

"It's about time."

John asked, "What do you mean?"

Albert stated, "Well, them guys down there are just mean. I don't 
know what they're up to, but I do know that it ain't good."

John nodded. That was exactly the kind of report that he would 
have expected from one of the law-abiding citizens in the area. He 
told the man, "I've got to get about a hundred FBI agents into the 
area without raising any suspicions. I want to arrange a night 
landing of an airplane out in the field."

Albert shook his head, "Won't work."

"Why not?"

"The noise out here carries for miles. I can hear the planes landing 
and taking off at the Crazy Z from here. There is a better way, 
though."

John looked at Albert in surprise. He asked, "How?"

"Through my back door. Hell, there's a gate along the highway on 
the other side of the mountain. Have your people come in there at 
night. If their drivers have them night vision things, they'll be able 
to follow the road right up to the house. Only about a six hour 
drive."

John laughed, "Thanks a million. I'll call it in."

Albert asked, "So how did you find out about me?"

John stated, "Well, we stopped in town and asked who might let us 
look for rocks on their place if we paid them. The waitress in town 
suggested you."

Albert shook his head, "Damned kid of mine. She does that kind of 
shit to me all the time. Thinks I need money. Well, I better call her 
up and tell her that I'm letting y'all look for rocks free of charge. 
That'll really piss her off and help your cover. I do that to her all 
the time. Anything else would be suspicious."

John laughed as he thanked Albert and returned to the RV. He set 
up the satellite telephone and made a call back to Phoenix. He told 
them about gate at the back of the property. He stated it was near 
mile marker 111. They revised their plans on how to get the agents 
in place. He and Ed would set up the camouflage netting to hide 
the vehicles once the sun set. Until then, it was time for a nap. The 
action would happen the day after tomorrow.








