Chapter 7

The mountains of North Carolina are much older than the Rocky Mountains. The lines of the mountains are gentler and more rounded. They are more peaceful than the Rocky Mountains, which tend to invoke greater awe. It was here that John chose to build the Druid College. Five thousand acres of land had been purchased and a road cut a third of the way into it. The building sites had been cleared of trees. The parking lot had already been poured.

The architect, Melvin Harrison, took them to the first building site by the parking lot. He pointed to the area and explained. “This will be the administration building. It will be four stories high. The first story will provide public services, such as admissions and testing. The business areas will be on the top three floors. Initially, only the second floor will be occupied. The top two floors will be available for expansion, as per your request.”

John asked, “All floors will be completely finished, correct?”

“Yes. All walls and fixtures shall be included.”

Ed looked at the site and commented. “It’s a rather large building area.”

Melvin replied, “Yes it is. I felt that increasing the overall area of the building would help give a spacious and calming feel to the building. The waiting areas, testing areas, and admissions areas are large and spacious. With the incorporation of carpet and plants throughout the building it will also be quiet.”

The architect led them to the site just to the left of the administration building site. He paused and then said, “This building will be the faculty quarters. Like the other building, it will be four stories. The building is huge because of the number of faculty members you wanted to support and the amount of space for each apartment you requested.”

The architect led their party to the other side of the administration site. He pointed to the site as he said, “This building will be the maintenance facility. This will be a three-story building. The bottom level will be a garage for repair of college vehicles and a loading dock. The second level will be a set of repair rooms and machine shops. The third level will incorporate office spaces. There will be freight elevators at both ends.”

John nodded and asked, “There is space over there for an extension if necessary?”

Melvin answered, “Yes.”

The architect took them to a building site behind the administration. He smiled and said, “This is the first year dorm. Three stories of rooms set up for four occupants per room. A large public area in the center of the first floor for recreation, a similar study area on the second floor, and a dining room on the third floor.”

Melvin pointed to building sites off to the sides and said, “The other dorms are off to the other sides. They have individual private rooms. The dorm sites form a semi-circle around the library.”

Melvin walked to the next site. “This is the library and will be built in the shape of a circle. It stands in the center of the great circle formed by all the other buildings. There will be second floor walkways from all of the other buildings to it.”

He pointed to the sites on the other side and said, “Those will be the science buildings to the right and those to the left will be the liberal arts.”

Pleased with what he had seen, John said, “I like the layout. You’ve allowed for the expansion outwards from the circle. So when will it be done?”

Melvin looked a little nervous as he answered, “Well, if we start now, we can finish it all in four years. That will require a very large work crew.”

Ed asked, “Can you finish five of the buildings in the next year?”

“Perhaps, it would be tight.”

John said, “I would like to see the administration building, faculty apartments, first year dorm, library, and the liberal arts building completed first.”

Melvin replied, “That’s kind of spread out all over the place, but I don’t see why not. We should be able to get five buildings done in a year.”

John looked at Ed for his impressions. Ed said, “Depends on the crew. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find a couple of good crews.”

John nodded his agreement and said, “Okay, let’s do it.”

John walked off with Ed, while the architect talked to the rest of his party. John said, “We should be able to open in two years. I guess it will be time for us to start our faculty search, soon.”

Ed said, “We’ll need someone to do the ground work for us.”

John nodded his agreement and, thinking about hiring another person, said, “Maybe we can get another guy in the house.”

Ed walked along beside John. He didn’t say anything for several minutes. Finally, he blurted out, “I’d like to start trying to get another husband.”

“Robert?”

“Yes.”

John nodded and said, “Good choice. All the wives like him. Have you talked to them yet?”

“No, I wanted to talk to you first.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t know how well you like him.”

John thought about it for a minute. He wasn’t sure how much he liked Robert. They had very little interaction. He did respect him a lot. “I don’t know. Is he interested?”

Ed said, “I don’t know. I guess we should start dating him.”

John laughed before he asked, “So who is going to ask him out first?”

Ed walked along with John until they reached the rental car. Ed went over to the passenger side and said, “I guess it should be me.”

John got into the car and started the engine as Ed got in the car. Ed fastened his seat belt as John pulled out of the parking lot. They had an hour drive to the nearest airport. As John turned right onto the highway, he said, “Maybe we ought to invite him over to dinner with all of us.”

“Not a bad idea. His sister is still waiting to have her night with you and she doesn’t have a loved one to bring for the wives. Maybe we should suggest that he come over that night.”

John drove for a bit thinking about the suggestion. He said, “Not good. I want to keep the two things separate.”

Ed thought about it. “You’re right. Let’s just invite him over for dinner.”

“Okay.”

The rest of the drive was made in silence, as the men were lost in their own thoughts. Ed was wondering about the chances of getting Robert into the family. John was thinking about the college. He considered how to find the person to search for the faculty. Of course, much of the faculty would come from the Druids who had advanced degrees.

John returned the rental car at the airport. He and Ed walked over to the private jet terminal where they were greeted by the flight crew. Ed got on the jet to return home. He would set up a dinner for Robert to be held on the night that John returned home. John watched the jet take off and disappear into the clouds. He went inside the terminal to wait for a jet to arrive to take him to the capital. He was told that he would be in the air in an hour. In the mean time, he watched the television in the waiting room while drinking a soft drink. It was a quiet news day.

The plane landed at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. It was his first time in the nation’s capital and he had no clue how difficult it was to maneuver through the traffic there. Deciding not to risk getting lost, John grabbed a cab to take him to FBI headquarters. The traffic in the downtown area of Washington was horrible and he was glad that he hadn’t rented a car. The cab driver pulled up to FBI headquarters and let him out.

John wasn’t aware of why he had been summoned to Washington, but he wasn’t concerned. He walked through the doors. There was a line of people at the security gate, but the line moved rather quickly. John stepped up to the security gate. He handed the guard his walking stick and then passed through. The guard wasn’t going to give back his walking stick until John showed his FBI badge.

At the elevator, John looked at the directory trying to locate Mike Holden’s office. He didn’t see it there. He went to the information booth and asked for directions to Mike’s office. The woman looked at him, taking in his strange attire, and made a quick call. A security guard came to take John to Mike Holden’s office. John had a feeling that he was being treated as a suspected villain rather an as an agent. He smiled as they headed up to Mike’s office.

John entered the front office of Mike Holden. A woman was seated at the desk; her nameplate stated she was C. Berard. She was a nice looking woman, probably in her early sixties. Her gray hair suggested that she was a woman comfortable with her age.

She looked up at John and asked, “What can I do for you?”

He smiled as he recognized her voice. “Hello. I’m John Carter.”

She smiled up at him and said, “Oh, Dr. Carter. Mr. Holden has been waiting for you to arrive.”

“Please call me John. I think you are the only person in the world that calls me Dr. Carter.”

“Yes, Sir,” she said and then laughed at his pained expression. She then corrected herself, “Yes, John.”

“Before I see him, may I ask what the C stands for?”

“Claudia,” she replied. Despite his strange attire, she liked this man.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Ms. Berard.”

“Well, let me take you into his office.” She stood up and walked over to a door. Knocking on it, she opened the door and announced, “Dr. Carter is here to see you.”

John entered the office as Mike came out from behind the desk. Mike extended his hand. John accepted the hand returning the strong handshake. “John, please take a seat.”

John sat down asking, “So what am I doing here?”

“Claudia, can you please ask Deputy Director Olim to come here?”

“Yes, Sir,” Claudia said. She left the room shutting the door behind her. It closed with a soft click.

Mike turned his attention to John. He said, “I have a few minutes to prepare you for this meeting. I’m retiring in a month and Deputy Director Olim is taking over my position. I wanted a chance to introduce the two of you so that you can continue the work relationship that you have with the FBI.”

John replied, “Congratulations. I hope that you come out to Arizona and visit us. We have a house with many spare rooms, as you well remember. My husband and wives would be happy to see you.”

“I will, don’t worry about that.”

There was a knock on the door and Claudia entered. She announced, “Deputy Director Olim is here.”

Mike made a waving motion and she ushered in a tall man. John rose and faced him, examining his features. He could read the displeasure on his face as the man examined him. John extended a hand and said, “Hello. I’m John Carter.”

The incredulous look on the man’s face suggested that he didn’t quite believe him. He took the hand with a strong grasp and shook it. He asked, “Is that your normal attire and hairstyle, Special Agent Carter?”

“Yes.”

Mike Holden pointed to a chair and said, “Samuel, have a seat.”

John returned to his chair and sat down. Samuel was a little slower in complying with Mike’s request. John smiled at the other man’s discomfort. Samuel asked, “May I know why you’ve requested me here? I must assume that it has something to do with Special Agent Carter’s presence here.”

Mike looked at Samuel for a moment. He knew his replacement was a little more rigorous in enforcing dress codes among the agents that reported to him. “Samuel, I wanted to give you a little background on John before I retired. This young man is John Carter. I take it that his name doesn’t invoke any recollections of who he might be?”

“None. I do remember that a serial killer was picked up because of some information that originated from him.”