Joshua ran out of the medical bay, Lisa followed and went back to her mother. Joshua went to his quarters and got his gun. He told Lisa he would wait 15 minutes before causing the diversion so that Erica could destroy Anna's soldier eggs. The only thing he could think of was to run into the main corridor and bring the attention of the guards to himself, shooting them if he had to. He shook his head sadly and shuddered at the thought of having to kill his own kind, but it had to be done. His own life would end today, he knew it. He sat back on his bed to wait until it was time to go, alone with his thoughts.
It wasn't supposed to be like this. He always knew of Anna's plans to rule this land, but he thought that it would be a benevolent rule, not the cruel tyranny she was planning. When she picked him to be her Chief Medical Officer he was honored at first. He remembered being sent down in disguise seven years ago as a medical intern at Johns-Hopkins Hospital to learn about human anatomy, disease processes and human technology and he was excited to develop blue energy technology for healing not only his species but humans as well.
When they found this world with its rich resources, he and many others thought that it would be a good opportunity to share knowledge, to bridge a gap between their worlds. At first he found the humans to be simple and overly excitable, but as he came to know them he found their world interesting, colorful, so unlike the drab, rigid and humorless world he was used to. It took him awhile to get used to his new skin, but once he did he enjoyed the warmth of this new body instead of the cold and clammy feeling of his real skin. He loved cold showers, skiing and hiking in the mountains, something he could never do in his own skin. Most of all he appreciated the differences in all faces and bodies he saw. "How odd, everyone has the same parts, but no one really looks alike." He came to like the look of his body and so did many of the female human interns he worked with as his colleagues often told him whenever they tried to set him up on a date. He eventually came to respect and admire humans, even if they were overly emotional. Joshua could never really get the emotional part. He remembered his first taste of cooked meat, a big steak that his fellow Visitor, John May grilled for him and other Visitors at his home on the earth. It was the most delicious thing he had ever had. Joshua smiled at that memory as he waited for the minutes to pass.
Things soon began to change, however. Joshua gave weekly reports to Anna, and the questions she asked made it increasingly apparent to him that her intentions were not as noble as he had originally thought. Her ultimate goal was to dominate and destroy the earth once all of the resources including the humans were exhausted. He and John May discussed the situation at length and when John started the Fifth Column, Joshua was the first member. His position, they agreed would work in their favor since Joshua had her trust. They recruited fellow V's who felt the same way but were careful in selecting their members for they knew that many were loyal to Anna. They worked on ways to resist Anna's bliss, and thwart her evil plans. When it was time for Joshua to go back to the ship, he and John devised the comms system so that they could communicate and keep each other aware of Anna's actions without being detected. Joshua found other V's on the ship who also were against Anna and soon they were mobilizing, but when John May disappeared, Joshua had to modify his plans and look for new allies on the ground. Thankfully he found Ryan and Erica. They would have to carry on now without him to defeat Anna.
The time was getting near. Joshua thought about his fellow resistance fighters, hoped they would be able to find a way out, and that they could forgive him for his mistake that would most likely cause them a painful death. He thought about Lisa. When he addressed her as his Queen, it was to give her the courage she would need to carry on without him. He felt a peculiar feeling as he thought about her, a feeling of affection, of caring, and sadness that he would no longer see her again.
He looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes were up, it was time to go. "For you my Queen," he said to himself and was surprised to feel the hot sting of tears running down his cheeks as he headed down the corridor to meet his fate.
