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 22

John looked at the calendar in front of him. It was three weeks to 
Midwinter's day. The graduating class would present themselves to 
the Gods and Goddesses on Midsummer's day. He checked his 
schedule. Today he was to help shutdown a number of radical 
organizations that were behind the assassination of a number of 
individuals that disagreed with their political agenda. These 
organizations included fundamentalists and environmental 
activists. A fundamentalist organization had been behind the 
assassination attempt on his life.

John sighed. He talked to the wall, "So much to do and so little 
time."

Ed had been about to enter the room and heard John talking. He 
asked, "Talking to the wall?"

"Of course, it's healthier than talking to yourself."

Ed laughed, "I guess it is important to know the difference."

John signed again. He sat back watching Ed take the other chair in 
the room. A careless wave of his arm closed the door behind him. 
John stated, "Oliver Brown has obtained all three medallions. He 
can replace me now as Grand Druid."

"I heard that he's arriving here tomorrow."

"Yes, he's going to serve as my assistant."

Ed stared at John for a moment, "John, don't lie to me. Beth, little 
John, Kelly, and I know what is going to happen. I'm not sure if 
William or Betsy knows. I do know that Ling, Linda, and Leroy 
are clueless."

John sighed, "I know. I'll be happy when Linda and Leroy arrive 
with William and little Ed. I want a chance to spend some time 
with them."

Ed nodded, "I've made arrangements for us to return to Arizona in 
September. That will let Beth and little John finish the year. They'll 
spend the next year with the family of Robert White Feather."

"I'm not looking forward to this afternoon."

"You are going to take down the Neo-Nazi organization?"

John nodded, "They've bombed several churches, killed a couple of 
doctors that perform abortions, and have threatened the Native 
American College. Other agents are taking down the other 
organizations in other parts of the country."

A sense of quiet settled in the room as the men thought about the 
events that would take place. The men were comfortable just 
sitting together in the room. They didn't need talk to fill in the 
silences. The silence was finally broken by a knock on the door.

John stood up and answered the door. It was agent Haroldson 
arriving exactly on time. John invited him in, "Come in."

Agent Haroldson entered the room and sat down in a chair. He 
turned to John, "You were right. He was the head of the 
organization. We arrested him and found the evidence of all the 
crimes."

John nodded, "So has the call gone out?"

"Yes, we updated the web page and send out the e-mail yesterday."

"How did you know what to put on the page and in the e-mail?"

The agent laughed, "We found their code book at the house."

John shook his head, "It doesn't surprise me."

"So are you ready to go?"

John nodded. Ed stood up, "I'll be joining you."

Agent Haroldson shrugged his shoulders, "That's fine with me."

The three men left the campus in Agent Haroldson's car. John and 
Ed rode in the back. Agent Haroldson started a monologue as he 
drove, "The place we're going to is an old abandoned rock quarry. 
There's one road into it. They've used this meeting place many 
times in the past. We've put agents around the top of the quarry 
with two undercover agents at the gate. They would be suspicious 
if there weren't guards."

John asked, "Are there any passwords that have to be exchanged at 
the gate?"

Laughing, Agent Haroldson stated, "Yes. We found a book 
containing all of that information. The great thing about having 
secret codes and secret handshakes is that each person has to get a 
copy of them. It means written records."

Ed stated, "Except when the codes are so simple that you can 
memorize them without difficulty."

Agent Haroldson got silent. He asked, "Do you think there might 
be some codes like that?"

"You can't always carry a code book with you where ever you go."

John stated, "Have the first two people that arrive act as guards. It's 
a good idea no matter what. You have the real bad guys letting in 
the real bad guys. They know each other and will feel more 
comfortable having one of their own at the gate."

Agent Haroldson got busy on the cell-phone making a call. It didn't 
take him long to convey the instructions to the agents that were 
waiting at the gate. After ending his conversation, he asked, "How 
come you think of these kinds of things?"

"You just have to think like the most distrusting person in the 
world. Odds are, you aren't even close. Then you try to think crazy. 
You still won't be right. However, you will be a lot closer than if 
you try thinking like a rational person."

The rest of the drive was in silence. They turned down a small dirt 
road about a mile from the rock quarry. They were able to watch 
cars pass on the way to the meeting place. A dozen cars were 
parked there. John did a little mental arithmetic and realized that 
there were probably fifty agents present. An agent came out of the 
woods and knelt next to the car. A whispered discussion took place 
between Agent Haroldson and the other agent. 

John tapped Agent Haroldson on the shoulder. "Excuse me, but we 
would like to watch from above the quarry."

"Oh, I thought you would want to be down there in the action."

John stated, "I'd rather move into the action from above. I don't 
like operating in an environment that I haven't scouted out."

"I guess that makes sense."

John stated, "Give me a walkie-talkie. We'll go over to there and 
scout out things. If I see a problem I'll turn it on and contact you."

"Okay."

John and Ed got of the car and slipped into the woods. Ten feet in, 
both agents lost track of them. They eased their way to the rock 
quarry. The path was rather easy to find, the agents before them 
had not tried very hard to hide their tracks. The agents were also 
not very attentive to noises behind them. John and Ed were able to 
easily slip up to one of the agents. They lay down beside him 
before he even realized that they were there. He almost shouted in 
surprise.

John looked over the rock quarry. He realized that it looked bad for 
them. Individuals inside the quarry had no route of escape, but lots 
of cover. If they resisted, then any attempt to get them out of the 
quarry would result in massacre. They would have to shoot down 
at them since a frontal assault would leave the FBI agents totally 
exposed. Even worse, they had driven their trucks and cars into the 
quarry. They would be able to force their way out of any blockade 
that the agents might put up.

John moved away from the edge of the rock quarry. Ed backed off 
as well to have a chance to talk with John. When he reached John, 
he whispered, "That looks really bad."

John nodded, "I don't see how Agent Haroldson expected to 
accomplish the arrests."

"I don't think that he even scouted the area."

"Right. They have so much cover down there they could hold off 
an army in a frontal attack. They have their cars so it would be 
easy to force their way out the trap. We're expecting over a 
hundred of them."

Ed nodded, "Very bad."

John thought about the situation for a while. There had to be a way 
to impose some control on the guys below. John asked, "Do you 
think there is a way we can get them to leave there in some orderly 
fashion so that we can take them as they leave?"

Ed shrugged, "Maybe there's something that an appropriate person 
could say to them."

John and Ed smiled at each other. John got out the walkie-talkie 
and turned it on. He stated, "We need to get most of the agents 
together at the cars. I only want six agents at the rock quarry. 
There's a change in plan."

John and Ed made their way back to the cars. Agent Haroldson 
frowned when the two men arrived. He asked, "What's the problem 
with our current plan?"

John asked, "How do you expect to get them out of the quarry?"

Agent Haroldson stated, "We were going to call down to them and 
let them know they were surrounded. Tell them to surrender."

Ed laughed and said, "And then they drive off. What happens 
next?"

Agent Haroldson replied, "They only have one way in. We put a 
road block there and they can't leave."

"They have a hundred cars down there. They've even got some 
monster trucks down there that can flatten a car. They are going to 
go through your barricade like a hot knife through butter."

Agent Haroldson stated, "Then we'll have to reinforce the 
barricade with more cars. They'll still be trapped."

Ed snorted and said, "And then they open fire at you. What 
happens next?"

"We return fire."

John asked, "How many of them would you have to kill before 
they gave up?"

Agent Haroldson stated, "They'd never do that. They know they're 
surrounded."

John stated, "They are going to try and fight their way out. It's 
going to be a massacre."

"So what you are suggesting?"

John smiled, "We tell them that there is going to be a FBI raid in 
two hours. They should leave a few cars at a time so that the FBI 
won't get suspicious."

Ed continued, "We arrest them as they leave. They only have two 
ways to turn out of the quarry. We put agents down the road each 
way."

Agent Haroldson looked very surprised as he thought their plan 
through. He actually liked it. He nodded, "Okay, we'll do it your 
way."

When the other agents arrived from the quarry, Agent Haroldson 
briefed them on how they were going to make the capture. Most of 
the agents looked very relieved at the change in plans. John and Ed 
weren't the only ones that didn't like the original plan.

The agents discussed how to implement the new plan. The 
discussion was intense, but the details were worked out quite 
quickly. There were still two undercover agents inside and they 
could be used to deliver the message. With the number of agents 
present, there were many great ideas on how to execute the 
mission. 

The agents got into position. A call was made to the inside men. 
They were told to warn everyone that the FBI was planning to raid 
the rock quarry in two hours. In order to prevent anyone from 
getting suspicious, they were to leave a few cars at a time with half 
turning right and half turning left at the exit from the quarry.

The agents located above the quarry notified them as each set of 
cars left the quarry. The agents used a rolling mechanism for 
arrest. The first cars out were stopped well down the road. Later 
cars were stopped closer to the quarry. The individuals inside the 
cars were quickly cuffed and moved into a bus. Each stop took 
about ten minutes to accomplish. Once a team was free, they 
would move further down the road to make the next stop. It was a 
very hectic hour and a half. Tow trucks came to take the cars to a 
holding area.

Once everyone had been cuffed and put into a bus, the process of 
establishing identity began. Enough evidence had been found in 
the home of the leader of this group to convict nearly everyone 
they had stopped. It was now a matter of correlating the individuals 
with the crime.  That activity would take place in a gymnasium 
that had been reserved for that purpose.

John and Ed watched the proceedings. It was slow and took most 
of the day. The suspects were fingerprinted, photographed, and 
then transported to cells at various jails within the county. The 
sheer number of suspects prevented them from being incarcerated 
together. It would have also been a dangerous situation. 

Agent Haroldson came to John as the last suspects were being 
processed. He smiled as he stated, "Well, we've taken a lot of scum 
out of circulation. The list of crimes they are charged with will 
keep them in jail for years."

John nodded and said, "There are still so many groups out there to 
catch yet."

Agent Haroldson said, "I like the way you put together the whole 
case for huge groups of people before acting. We would have been 
arresting them one at a time for years as we gathered evidence 
about each individual case. The organization would probably still 
be operating ten years from now under that old model."

Ed added, "That's the way he's always operated. Nothing happens 
for a long time and then everything comes together at once. It 
looks a lot more impressive than the slow but sure approach."

"Different situations require different approaches," stated John.

Agent Haroldson said, "You take the investigation in FBI to a new 
level."

"Thank you. Your agents did an excellent job." John looked at 
Agent Haroldson for a minute. He stated, "I'm turning this case 
over to you now."

"I understood that you would do that."

"Good." John looked around at the last few suspects being led out 
of the building. He reached in the pocket of his robe and removed 
his badge and identification. He handed it over to Agent Haroldson 
stating, "I'm retiring today."

Agent Haroldson looked at the badge in shock. "Pardon?"

"I'm retiring. This was my last case."

"There's still so much you can do to help us."

John stated, "There's no time left for that. You will do well in the 
FBI. Ann Moore, Joe Fredricks, and Agent Mauz are now assistant 
deputy directors. I expect you will follow in the same career path."

Agent Haroldson stated, "I appreciate your confidence, but I just 
got into this position."

"You have time before you retire to move up a couple of levels 
yet."

"Thanks."

Ed nodded, "We're going to head back to the school. We have a lot 
of work to do over the next few days."

"Okay. Thanks for your support and effort."

"You're quite welcome."

Agent Haroldson said, "I'll get an agent to drive you home."

"Thank you."

Ed left in search of a restroom. John stood alone watching. He was 
saddened by the number of people that held such strong hatreds of 
others different from themselves. He had hoped that with the 
energy problem solved that people would come to accept each 
other. Of course, he had known that hope was foolish.

Agents started stopping by to shake his hand. The news that he was 
retiring had spread quickly among the individuals assembled there. 
Each agent told of his pleasure to have worked with him. Many 
stated that he was a legend within the Bureau. John thanked each 
one for his praise. 

Ed returned and stood at the back of the line of agents. When the 
agent in front of him moved out of the way, Ed stepped forward 
with his hand extended, "It has been an honor working with the 
great John Carter. I never thought I would get the chance."

John was about to answer automatically only then realizing it was 
Ed. He cracked up laughing.   Ed joined him, as did several other 
people around them. He hugged Ed and stated, "When Roman 
conquerors would ride through the city in honor, they had a man 
that stood behind him holding a laurel leaf crown over his head. 
The man would whisper in his ear a reminder that he was mortal 
and a man. I'm glad that you are standing behind me."

Ed laughed, "I'll leave it up to Ling and Kelly to remind you that 
you are a man."

The two men chuckled. John's bad mood had evaporated. He 
appreciated the efforts of Ed to remind him of the good parts of 
life. An agent came over and stated, "I'll drive you back to the 
College, sir."

John laughed and said, "Don't call me sir. I'm John."

"Yes, sir."

Ed turned to John deciding to have a little fun with him. With a 
great big smile on his face, he said, "Well sir, it is time for us to 
leave, sir. Okay, sir?"

John shook his head and followed the driver out to the car. He and 
Ed sat in the back watching the scenery go by. A little snippet of 
the Star Spangled Banner came from the front seat. The driver 
fumbled with his cell-phone before answering it. He talked for a 
minute and then stated, "Sir, a call for you."

John accepted the cell-phone from the driver. Holding it to his ear, 
he stated, "Hello."

Samuel Olim stated, "This is Sam."

"Oh, we finished the arrest phase of the operation. I've turned it 
over the Agent Haroldson. They all did excellent work in pulling 
off the operation."

"I know. That's not why I called, though."

"What did you call about?"

Samuel Olim was silent for a moment. He stated, "I understand 
you turned in your badge."

"Yes, I'm retiring. There isn't enough time left for me to contribute 
any more. I was going to call you when I returned to the college."

"I'm sorry we're losing you."

"I'm sorry to be leaving. Working with the FBI and all of the fine 
agents within it has been one of the most rewarding things I have 
done. I will miss the opportunities to make a difference that the 
FBI has afforded me." John was telling the truth. His collaboration 
with the FBI had been very satisfying. He had made a difference in 
many lives because of his work with them.

"Well, I'll be sending some items for you to keep. Little things to 
help you remember us."

"Thank you, Sam. It has been a pleasure working with you."

"Same here. Good bye, John."

"Good bye, Sam."

John ended the call and handed the cell-phone back to the driver. 
There was a little moisture in his eyes. It was nice to be 
appreciated.  The driver stated, "Wow, the director himself called 
you. I'm impressed."

"He and I got off to a rough start, but we get along alright now."

"You must know some very important people."

John smiled as he replied, "Yes, I do. There's Ed, Kelly, Ling, 
Leroy, and Linda. Then there are the kids. They are the most 
important people I know."

"Who are they?"

"They are my family."

The driver went on in silence for a while. Finally, he asked, "You 
and Ed are married, right?"

Ed nodded, "Yes we are."

"Was it tough to defy convention like you did?"

John answered, "For me it wasn't that difficult to accept a group 
marriage. I guess the hardest part was having sex with a man."

"That was true for me too. In fact, our wife Kelly was the one who 
pulled it together. We had a lot of good times and some rough 
times. Probably the roughest was right after Betsy died." Ed was 
silent as he thought about how Beth had reacted to that. 

The driver asked, "Do all group marriages require the men to have 
sex with each other?"

"No, it is up for the people in the marriage to decide what it will be 
like. Are you considering one?"

"Yes I am."

Ed stated, "In many ways a group marriage is a lot harder than a 
conventional marriage. You have to get along with more people. If 
you can't talk out your problems, the fights can really be big. Of 
course, when things are good there's nothing better than a group 
marriage. You come home after having a bad day at work and odds 
are that someone there knows what to say to cheer you up."

The driver pulled onto the road to the college. It was only minutes 
before they were in the parking lot in front of the administration 
building. The agent turned around and extended his hand. "It has 
been a real honor talking to you both. I studied your white slavery 
ring case when I was in school. Amazing work, sir."

John shook the hand, "It has been a pleasure meeting you."

The agent extended his hand to Ed. "It was an honor meeting you, 
sir. I've read several of your cases too. Your name is very well 
known among treasury agents."

 Ed shook his hand. "It has been a pleasure meeting you. I wish 
you luck in your marriage."

The agent smiled as John and Ed got out of the car. When they had 
reached the door of the administration building, he waved and 
drove off. John turned to Ed and said, "It's kind of strange to be 
treated like a legend."

Ed laughed as he said, "I know what you mean. The last time I was 
in a Treasury Office, I had people offering to fetch me coffee. I 
swear, I was never so uncomfortable in my life."

Ling came charging over to them. She looked at them with 
suspicion and asked, "Did you guys stay out of the way of the real 
cops?"

Ed smiled and replied in a baby voice, "Yes, Mommy Ling. We 
were good boys."

"Yes, Ed only wrested a hundred of the bad guys to the ground!" 
John joked. When he saw the look on Ling's face, he retracted his 
words, "Okay, we sat in the back and watched everything. It was 
so boring."

Ling smiled and said, "Good for you."

Ed's stomach growled extremely loudly. It sparked a similar noise 
in John. John frowned as he said, "We didn't have a chance to eat."

Ling grabbed them both and pulled them to the dining in the first 
year dormitory. They sat down and a waitress immediately 
appeared. Ed and John ordered Tuna Fish sandwiches. They were 
waiting for them to be brought out when a young woman 
approached the table. She bashfully looked down at the table. In a 
whisper, she asked, "Could I ask you to help me get some relief?"

John and Ed looked at each other not sure which one she was 
asking. Neither one of them really wanted to do it. They were both 
hungry for real food. The silence at the table stretched on. The 
young lady whispered, "Please ma'am, could you help me?"

John and Ed smiled at each other, somewhat relieved. Ling looked 
embarrassed and then looked at the woman. She was only nineteen 
or twenty. Her oriental features mirrored Ling's. Ling looked at her 
and it was as if she were looking in a mirror only the image 
looking back was eighteen years younger. She smiled as the idea of 
making love to a younger version of her self interested her. She 
answered, "Sure." 

Ling stood up and moved the girl into a chair. She began by 
kissing her gently on the lips, taking her time to arouse the woman. 
She kissed her way down the woman's neck. Her efforts were 
rewarded by the visible blush indicating the woman's arousal. 
When Ling reached the woman's breasts, she lovingly kissed the 
hardened erect nipples. The woman began to moan loudly.

John and Ed watched the older Ling do everything she could to 
arouse the younger woman. The younger woman's moans turned 
into small panting screams. Others in the room turned to watch, it 
was that difficult to ignore. Ling's kisses finally worked the way 
down between the woman's legs. The scent of the aroused woman 
was impossible to ignore. Even John and Ed, sitting several feet 
away, could smell the aroma of the excited woman.

Ling kissed her way around the woman's pussy. The subject of her 
attentions was now screaming. When Ling touched the lips of the 
woman's pussy with her tongue, the woman erupted in a major 
orgasm. She let loose a scream that was worthy of the best that 
Ling had ever let loose. John and Ed looked at each other with a 
smile.

Ling went to work on the woman's pussy. Her tongue slipped in 
and out of the woman's inner passage. As her excitement rose 
again to an orgasmic threshold, Ling turned her attention to the 
clit. Ling's head was locked between the excited woman's legs as 
she screamed out her orgasm. The scream was loud enough to 
bring others into the room to discover the source of the 
commotion.  

Finally, the woman's legs relaxed and Ling sat up with an amazed 
look on her face. It was hard to believe that a woman could 
produce that volume of sound because of sex. The woman 
slouched back in her chair almost unconscious. She moaned, "Oh, 
that was outstanding."

Ling sat back on the floor between the woman's legs. She looked 
up at John and Ed, "It's an amazing feeling to have someone 
scream like that."

As the woman recovered, she realized what had happened. She 
looked around very embarrassed. John leaned over to her and put a 
hand on hers, "You sounded exactly like Ling when she enjoys a 
sexual encounter. Don't be embarrassed. You have no idea how 
good it makes your partner feel to know that they were able to 
deliver that much pleasure."

When she later left the room, people came up to her and told her 
how amazed they had been. Everyone was overwhelmed by the 
ability of her to accept pleasure. She smiled and nodded her 
thanks. For the entire year, she had avoided having sex because she 
had been ashamed of her screams during pleasure. Her 
performance in the dining room had brought more invitations than 
she thought possible.

Ling joined John and Ed at the table. She was speechless. John 
kissed her, "We love you very much. You now know how much 
we love your screams during sex."