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 18

John stared at the black three-inch binder as if it were some sort of 
poisonous snake. Nine months of work distilled down to four 
hundred pages of documents separated into twenty-two chapters. 
One chapter was the introduction which gave a high level view of 
the document. Twenty chapters laid out an action plan for the 
twenty largest cities in the country. The final chapter was the 
conclusion detailing the consequences of following the program 
laid out in the rest of the document. This binder was the executive 
summary intended for three people to read.

There were twenty boxes of additional material to go along with 
the binder. The boxes were in storage at his house in a safe. Each 
box contained a set of sealed envelopes with orders addressed to 
specific agents. Inside an envelope were detailed instructions 
identifying where they were to go, when they were to be there, and 
what they were to do. On the cover of each envelope was the name 
of the agent for whom it was intended and a time at which it was to 
be opened. 

The essential element of his plan was secrecy. It was targeted at 
removing a number of leaks within the FBI and local police while 
avoiding judges known to be in the payroll of organized crime. 
Once the plan was put into effect, organized crime would have lost 
hundreds of millions of dollars. Hundreds of crack houses would 
be out of commission. Several dozen middle-level drug dealers 
would be removed from the streets. Three dozen fencing 
operations would be shutdown and the goods confiscated. Several 
credit card fraud farms would be eliminated. Four banks that 
provided money-laundering services would be raided and essential 
people arrested. The goal was to remove an entire tier of the 
organizations thereby forcing higher level leadership to get dirty. 
The exposure would make it easier to catch them committing a 
crime.

John wrapped the binder in bubble wrap and set it inside a box. It 
was a snug fit. He sealed the box with packing tape and then 
wrapped the box in brown paper. He wrote a single name and 
address on the paper. His part in this whole effort was nearly done. 
He turned to Ed, "Bring him in, please."

"Sure thing," replied Ed with a twinkle in his eye. He knew this 
was an important moment. He opened the door and leaned out. 
With a single gesture, he beckoned the man waiting in the hall into 
the office.

The nondescript man entered the room without saying a word. 
Everything about this man was average. He was of average height 
and weight. His dull brown hair was styled in a simple hairstyle. 
He was middle aged with the slight paunch that was common 
among men his age. Even his speech had the standard Midwestern 
accent. 

Ed stated, "Do you know what you are to do?"

"Yes."

The courier was telling the truth. At a nod from Ed, John pushed 
the package across the desk. "This is to be delivered to Mike 
Holden at the FBI building in Washington DC by three tomorrow."

"I'll be there."

Ed nodded again. John stated, "You can go now. I'll have need of 
your services in five days."

The man left the office carrying the package. Ed shut the door 
behind him. Turning to John he stated, "I'm glad that is gone. It 
will be good to avenge Sean's death."

"I agree." John went to the computer, removed the disk drives from 
the computer, and put them into his brief case. He added, "I'll be 
glad to get these drives into the safe at home."

Ed stated, "We have four days off. What do you want to do with 
them?"

John smiled, "I want to pamper the women for most of it. We 
haven't been home in two days and I'd like to make it up to them."

"Excellent idea."

"If we go straight home, we can drop this off and come back to 
town to get some presents for them. We'll be home before they get 
off from work."

"Let's go!"

John, Ed, and Rover left the office. They stopped at the 
receptionist, "We're leaving now. We won't be back for four days."

"Hold on. Ann wants to see you before you leave." The 
receptionist picked up the telephone and dialed Ann's extension. 
After a pause, she stated, "They're leaving."

Ann came running out of her office. As she entered the reception 
area, she demanded, "Tell me what you are working on."

John calmly looked at her. "No."

Ann froze, "What do you mean, no?"

Ed answered, "I think he meant he wasn't going to tell you what 
he's working on."

Ann glared at Ed for his restatement of the obvious. Her question 
was intended for them to explain the answer. "I'm the head of this 
office. If you sent something out of this office, I should know 
about it."

"Generally, that's true. However, in this case I can't tell you."

Ann exploded, "Get out of here!"

Ed smiled, "That's what we were intending to do."

 The three exited the office leaving behind them an infuriated Ann. 
She stormed off to call Mike Holden. John had walked the border 
on just this side of proper behavior, but he had leapt across that 
line over the past nine months. Ed was just as bad. One day he 
comes in and flashes Treasury Agent identification. She knew that 
he was a full time student at the university.

John drove them directly home. They went straight to the safe and 
locked up the briefcase. Relieved at having the material safe from 
prying eyes, the two men went to the door to leave. They waited to 
see if Rover or Shadow would join them. Tiger was at the hospital 
guarding the women. Until the war with organized crime was over, 
no one went alone. One cat would go with each pair and another 
would stay in the house. Ed asked, "What's keeping the cat?"

John thought about it and slapped his forehead. He answered, "Of 
course, Rover's gone out to hunt. He's been locked up in the office 
for a couple of days. Shadow won't leave until Rover returns. 
We've got an hour to kill."

"We can get something to eat."

John agreed, "Sounds good to me. How about grilled cheese 
sandwiches and tomato soup."

"Campbell's?"

"Of course."

"Marguerite is not going to like that," remarked Ed with a laugh. 
The chef they had retained was professionally trained and hated 
cooking out of the can. She would mutter and complain the whole 
time.

The pair walked into the kitchen. Marguerite was singing in time to 
the music on the radio. She was standing in front of the stove 
slowly stirring a concoction in a large pot. She was dancing in time 
with the music. John asked, "So what kind of foul potion are you 
trying to brew up now?"

Ed laughed at the look on her face as she spun around and glared at 
John. She was embarrassed at having been caught dancing while 
she was cooking. She continued to glare at them as she asked, "So 
what kind of canned crap do you want today?"

"Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches."

"I bet you want that horrible store bread with American Cheese 
Slices on it."

Ed smiled as he answered, "Yes, and the more horrible the store 
bread the better."

She sneered. "Why in the hell did you hire me if all you want to eat 
is crap? You can hire a Vegas whore to cook this junk."

John stated, "True, but who would be able to cook dinner tonight?"

"Huh?"

Ed knew where John was going with this. He added, "Yes. We 
need one of those dinners that last for hours with all kinds of 
courses. The whole works. We'll even let you include a little wine, 
except for us men."

John turned to Ed. "Do you think she's up to the challenge?"

Ed laughed, "She might have forgotten how to cook after making 
all of that canned crap for us."

Marguerite was hardly listening as she started to mentally 
assemble a full ten-course dinner for them. She went to the meat 
locker and started going through the meats. She had completely 
forgotten their request for lunch. John and Ed watched her at work, 
knowing that for one of the first times since she had arrived they 
had truly made her happy.

John tapped her on the shoulder startling her. He said, "You forgot 
about our lunch."

She cried out, "Oh, I'm so sorry."

Ed joked,  "Just for that, you and the staff have to serve us in the 
nude tonight."

She blushed and ran to make their lunch. John laughed at her 
reaction. "She went off to make our crappy lunch without any 
complaints. Maybe you should threaten her with that more often."

The men went to the table to wait for lunch. She was much more 
prompt than usual and set their plates in front of them without a 
complaint. She ran out of the room as soon as the men started 
eating. They enjoyed the meal tremendously. 

Shadow joined them at the front door. They left for Phoenix and 
discussed the purchases that they would make as they drove along. 
They initially thought they would go for elegant dress that would 
be fitting for the evening that they planned.  However, as they were 
driving, they passed a medieval store. Both men looked at each 
other with a knowing smile and John turned the car around. They 
pulled up in the parking lot and got out.

Entering the store was an experience. There were swords, suits of 
armor, tapestries, and costumes. Most of the stuff in the store had 
no real counterpart in medieval Europe, but it was nice and showy. 
The jewelry was large and gaudy, necklaces that were intricate 
weaves were intended to show off breasts barely covered by tight 
fitting dresses.

John and Ed wandered about looking at the general layout of the 
store. Shadow found a corner where he could keep an eye on 
everything and yet remain unnoticed. There was a man and a 
woman in medieval garb behind the counter. They glanced over at 
John and Ed with the lack of interest that comes of too many 
months of bored interactions with window shoppers. John knew 
they probably had a small circle of customers that accounted for 
the majority of their business. John winked at Ed and marched up 
to the counter. "Greetings my young entrepreneurs. We are having 
a dinner tonight and wish to dress our guests and ourselves in 
medieval attire. The whole works including shoes, clothes, jewelry, 
and whatever else is appropriate. You have two men and two 
women to outfit, money is no object."

Ed interrupted, "Nay, my good man. You have forgotten the 
servants. They too must be properly attired!"

As the couple behind the counter stared at them in shock, John 
countered, "Ah, you forget. You had requested the servants to 
serve us naked for their transgression of lunch today!"

"Alas, that was under the formal, but decadent theme we would 
have followed. We have changed the theme!"

John nodded. "So be it. I have no idea of their sizes, though."

The woman behind the counter suggested, "Call them and ask."

John gestured to the telephone. She handed it to him and he dialed 
the number for the kitchen. After Marguerite answered, John 
handed the telephone back to the woman and stated, "Here's 
Marguerite. Get the data that you need from her. Only tell her that 
you are a uniform shop. I'd like to surprise her."

The woman behind the counter smiled. She picked up the 
telephone and after an animated exchange agreed to hold until 
Marguerite got all of the information required. She covered the 
mouthpiece, "She doesn't sound too happy."

John laughed, "That's okay. We're interrupting her cooking. She's 
passionate about that and we don't let her cook that often."

Ed turned to the male clerk who was still staring at both of them. 
Ed turned to the clerk, "How about locking up so that we aren't 
interrupted. And don't mind Shadow, he won't bite."

The male clerk got out from behind the counter and moved 
towards the weapons. He decided that this was a holdup and he 
was going to resist in a most medieval manner. Ed noticed the 
move and nudged John. John reached in his wallet and removed his 
platinum card. He set it on the counter. The clerk took one look at 
the card and moved to lock the door.

John and Ed waited patiently for him to return. John stated, "Here's 
a picture of the women. We want things that will make them look 
outstanding."

The clerk looked at the pictures for a moment and then smiled, 
"Let Chrissy handle outfitting you and the ladies. She has 
impeccable taste and will make you look like real lords and ladies. 
I'll handle the clothes for the servants once she gets the data. For 
now, let's get you outfitted with the necessary accompaniments for 
a lord."

Ed stated, "Lead they way, my good man."

They went over to the weapons. The majority of weapons were 
huge and threatening looking. The clerk walked right past those to 
a simple counter containing small knives. He stated, "That big stuff 
is just for show. A real lord would carry a small weapon like this 
for personal defense within his castle. Outside, he'd carry a simple 
sword, which was more a sign of rank than for actual use."

He picked out two simple blades and presented them to John and 
Ed. John stated, Okay. Put them on the counter. We are in your 
hands."

Chrissy came over with a list of clothes sizes. She handed it to the 
man and stated, "Here you go, Greg . Make them look sexy! The 
woman on the phone said the staff didn't want to look like hotel 
employees."

Greg smiled as he had an interesting thought, "How about the 
chain mail clothes?"

John looked at the chain mail bikini and shook his head. He stated, 
"I'm not quite sure the staff would go along with that look."

Greg nodded, "Okay. I'll lay out several outfits for you."

Chrissy requested their attention. She stated "Let me start with the 
men since you are so much easier. You will want to wear a shirt 
like those over there. You will wear breeches with hosen. Over that 
you will wear a doublet with a hat and a belt."

Ed and John looked at each other. John said, "this sounds a little 
complicated. Can you round up some friends to help us dress 
tonight? We'll pay and treat them to a Mexican dinner."

Crissy looked over at Greg who shrugged. "Sure we'll help out."

John stated, "Good. We'll need someone for each person. So there 
are four of us and four that work for us, so we'll need eight 
people."

Ed smiled, "How about men to dress the women and women to 
dress the men?"

John frowned, "I'm not sure the staff would like that, but for the 
four of us -- why not! Greg, can you line up eight people?"

Greg shrugged, "Sure, I'm pretty sure that I can do that."

John smiled. "Okay, have everyone get here around 5:30 tonight. 
We'll send a van over for you."

Chrissy nodded at Greg, "Count me in. This sounds like fun."

Greg went to the telephone to make some calls. Chrissy selected an 
outfit for John and then one for Ed. Both men looked at their 
outfits and whistled. John looked at Chrissy, "Wow, this looks 
outstanding."

Ed agreed, "This is great! I love it."

Chrissy stated, "Do you want to try them on?"

"Sure."

"Why don't you strip down to your underwear and I'll help you 
dress?"

John and Ed shed their clothes rather quickly. As John removed 
his, Chrissy stared at the scars as they were revealed. The only part 
of his body that wasn't scarred was his face and hands. In a way, he 
looked like a medieval man that had lead an active and rough 
lifestyle. She handed them items one at a time, telling them how to 
put them on. She had to help them tie the doublets. The last thing 
was a pair of high leather boots. They looked in the mirror amazed 
at the transformation. John slipped the knife into the belt and 
stepped back. 

Chrissy was about to suggest a medallion when her eyes fell upon 
the medallion around his neck. She reached out to touch it, but the 
hairs stood up on the back of her neck. She quickly pulled her hand 
back with a great sense of relief that she hadn't touched them. She 
looked at Ed and noticed the similar medallion around his neck. 
For some reason, trying to examine the medallions made her skin 
crawl. 

Ed looked at him and stated, "You are a fine looking medieval 
lord."

"Thanks, Ed. So are you!"

Chrissy studied the pictures of the two women for several minutes. 
She frowned, "They are going to need very different styles to look 
good."

"Do what you must!"

She went to the wall and pulled down several pieces of clothes. 
She assembled a velvet outfit in green that incorporated several 
layers of clothes. She put them together to show what the final 
outfit would look like. She suddenly remembered that they would 
need period shoes and got out a pair that went with the clothes. 
John frowned, "I just don't see it."

Chrissy stepped back. She went to the wall and pulled down 
another outfit. "I'll be right back."

She left the room. John went over to Greg and asked, "How's it 
going?"

Greg pointed to an area on the floor where he had four separate 
female outfits and two separate male outfits laid out on the floor. 
"Well, I've come up with those options. The one on the right is a 
serving wench and next to it is the assistant serving wench. This is 
a simple woman's two-tone dress. The last one is a peasant outfit. 
The men's outfits are appropriate for a peasant and a swordsman. I 
wish we had something that was appropriate for a male servant, but 
the closest is the peasant outfit."

John pointed to the serving wench and the two-tone dress. "We'll 
take one of each of those two outfits for each of the women. Both 
outfits for the men."

Ed called out, "Add whatever accessories are appropriate."

John turned around and saw Chrissy in the outfit. "Wow! That 
looks great. That would be perfect for Beth!"

Ed took one look, "Oh yes. I agree completely. She'll love that 
outfit. I bet she'll wear that everywhere."

John nodded, "Add a necklace, bracelets, rings, and headgear. I'll 
trust your judgement as to what would go well with that."

Chrissy went to the jewelry counter and started putting on 
accessories. She put on a fancy metal headdress, body jewelry, and 
a hand flower. She picked out a waist chain and put that on. When 
she stepped back the effect was amazing. John looked at the 
jewelry case and pointed to various different styles of the same 
accessories. "Add those and let them take their pick."

Chrissy frowned, "I'm afraid these tend to be a little expensive. 
You might want to select one."

John shook his head, "Are they under a thousand each?"

"Yes."

"Then go for it. Now lets see the outfit for Kelly."

Chrissy went to the wall and put together a completely different 
outfit. This was black velvet outfit. She laid it out and picked out 
another copy. She winked, "I'll be right back."

John and Ed decided that they should probably get dressed in their 
regular clothes. Greg and Chrissy would want to get all of the 
information off the clothes and pack them up for them to take. 
They had changed by the time Chrissy came out of the back in the 
other outfit. John and Ed looked at her and nodded appreciatively. 
She was right, it was more appropriate for Kelly's appearance. 
John stated, "That's great. We'll take it."

Greg was busy writing up the order. As he wrote down the items 
and the prices associated with them, he was getting increasingly 
more worried. He had already totaled up close to four thousand 
dollars worth of merchandise for the help and hadn't even started 
on the accessories that John had picked out. He feared these guys 
would see the total price and drop the whole thing. 

John looked at some of the table settings. He motioned Ed to come 
over. Ed looked at the table settings and nodded. They turned to 
the very worried Greg who had just finished adding the accessories 
to the bill. John stated, "Hey Greg, can you add forty of these 
plates, eight of these small plates, eight of these small glasses, 
eight of these large wine glasses, eight more of these water glasses, 
sixteen bowls, and full set of silverware? Oh, and add serving 
dishes that match."

Greg went over to the stock and realized that he couldn't fill the 
order. He turned to John, "I can't do it. I just don't have enough of 
them."

John asked, "Can you fill half the order?"

"Just."

"Okay. Do it then."

Greg got the rest of the merchandise and added that to the bill. He 
hadn't even got to their costumes yet. He was in shock. This sale 
was more than he usually had in six months here at the store. Most 
of his sales were single items at Renaissance Fairs.  He knew it 
was too good to be true. In a very depressed mood, he finished 
totaling up the sale. He sucked in his breath when he realized that 
it came to more than twenty-five thousand dollars.

John asked Ed, "should we add some stuff for atmosphere?"

"Like what?"

"Oh, a couple of those tapestries."

"Sure."

John turned to Chrissy who had just changed back into her original 
clothes.  John pointed to two different tapestries, "Add that 
tapestry and that tapestry."

She nodded and removed them from the walls. She stated, "You do 
realize that this one is an original tapestry. It costs fifteen thousand 
dollars."

"Add it."

Greg looked positively green when she brought the tapestries over 
to him. He added them to the bill and frowned.  He turned to Ed, 
"I'm afraid the total is $44,546."

John smiled, "Okay. Put it on the card."

Greg looked scared, "I'm sorry, but do you mind if I call the credit 
card company? I've never handled a sale this size before."

Ed could tell Greg was worried. He reassured the man, "Yes, 
please call them. However, if you prefer we can do this on a debit 
card, certified check, or direct transfer into your account."

Greg stuttered, "No, the credit card is fine."

He called the credit card company. He was shocked when they 
laughed at the amount and called it paltry. They gave him an 
authorization number over the telephone and wished him a nice 
day. The sale was legitimate, which pleased him. It wasn't until he 
really looked at the name on the credit card that he realized who 
his customer was.

He hung up the telephone in time to hear John tell Ed, "Wow, we 
got out of this cheap. I was going to pay that for one necklace if we 
went the formal route."

Ed and John laughed at the thought of the fun they were going to 
have tonight. John turned to Greg and stated, "Let's get all of this 
stuff into the jeep."

When John and Ed got to the door of the store, Shadow came out 
from under the table where he had been watching over them. Greg 
nearly dropped the bags that he was carrying when he saw the cat. 
Chrissy screamed in surprise. Shadow just looked at her as if she 
was a complete idiot and not worth his time. 

After loading the car and reminding them to be there at 5:30, John 
and Ed drove off to their home. Shadow's ride was uncomfortable 
with packages shoved in every spare space of the jeep. The men 
were in very good spirits. They arrived home before their wives.

At home, they finished setting up the plans for the evening. 
Marguerite looked at the plates and glasses they had purchased. 
She laughed and went back into the kitchen. At least the meal she 
had planned would fit a medieval theme well enough. On reaching 
the oven where the roast beef was cooking, she had a horrible 
thought. They were going to expect her to dress up like some sort 
of medieval serving wench; she'd rather be naked.