Disclaimer : I don't own anything except for the original characters.
Chapter 14: The final sacrifice
Elvis quickly came to help Joanna. They didn't encounter a lot of problems. They quickly found the bomb with its detonator and left Cassandra's office. Some guards again tried to kill them but they were too weak compared to the team Elvis and Joanna formed. They quickly entered the ship and brought Jonathan and Heleny with them. Joanna tried again to find Heleny's pulse but there weren't any. Elvis saw what she was doing.
"Joanna, don't try to help her. If her heart isn't beating anymore, it's already too late", said Elvis as he sat on his seat and tapped a few buttons.
"But I can do a cardiac massage", suggested Joanna.
"Joanna…she's dead. If you don't want Jonathan to live the same fate as her you'd better help him", said Elvis as the ship got off the ground.
Joanna wasn't sure what she should do. That was unfair. Heleny had just got out from the hospital and she was already killed. Some tears ran down Joanna's cheeks. She was tired to see everyone around her die one after the other but Elvis was right. She had to help Jonathan. She kneeled next to him and checked his injuries. She took a first aid kit and opened it. She took a lot of bandages and put it on Jonathan's injury. He winced as she pressed on his injury.
"Jonathan…can you hear me", asked Joanna softly.
"…Jo…the bomb…did you take it", asked Jonathan as tried to open his eyes.
"Yes, don't worry about the mission anymore. It's gonna be alright", murmured Joanna.
"…Heleny…is she…okay", questioned Jonathan.
"Shhh, take rest Jonathan. You truly need it", said Joanna as she tried to not cry at the mention of Heleny's name.
It was already too late to do anything. Jonathan had already turned his head and he saw the dead corpse of Heleny. Even if Joanna tried to hid him the truth, he already understood what was happening.
"Joanna…don't tell me…", murmured Jonathan.
"I'm sorry Jonathan", responded Joanna as she saw what Jonathan was looking at.
"No…please anyone… tell me this is just a big nightmare", murmured Jonathan.
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A few days later
Jonathan laid on a bed in the infirmary. He had woke up a few hours ago and now he was looking outside through the window that was next to his bed. He sighed. A lot of people recently died. He knew that he could have been with them if Joanna and Elvis wouldn't save him. So much things had changed in his life since Joanna's return from the Skedar planet…His life didn't have any sense now. The only reason why he didn't shoot himself when he had the chance to was Joanna. His only source of happiness…his only source of hope… He didn't thought that he deserved someone like her.
"Hey Jonathan", said Nathaniel as he entered in the room.
"What do you want", asked Jonathan who seemed slightly annoyed.
"Did you take your medication recently", questioned Nathaniel.
"Who do you think you are to ask me a question like this? You're not a doctor. The only person who will convince me to take those stupid pills is Sarah", replied Jonathan.
"You know that Sarah isn't there and maybe will never come back anymore. And you also know I'm here to replace her", responded Nathaniel.
"I don't care about this medication", said Jonathan as he looked through the window.
"Since the mission you've done at Datadyne corp. you don't care about anything Jonathan. This is why you should take them", replied Nathaniel.
"For how long must I take those stupid pills?", asked Jonathan with a depressed tone.
"I don't have any idea. You're the 2nd human who used this cure but it seems that the secondary effect isn't gone yet so you're gonna take them", responded Nathaniel as he gave Jonathan the bottle.
"In how many days can I get out from here?", asked Jonathan.
"The day you'll be able to smile again", said Nathaniel with a grin
Jonathan sighed as he heard Nathaniel's answer. Time was running out and he wanted to finish the Skedar race in the quickest way possible. He didn't wanted some of Nathaniel's trick to slow him down.
"The day I'll smile again will be the day those stupid Skedars won't cause us any trouble anymore", retorted Jonathan.
Joanna entered the room. She smiled slightly as she saw Jonathan.
"Hi guys", said Joanna.
"Joanna, please tell Jonathan to take his medics", begged Nathaniel with a desperate tone.
"Jonathan isn't taking his medicine?", asked Joanna worriedly.
"Yep, and I don't know how I'm gonna convince him to take them again", replied Nathaniel.
"Give me those pills and leave me alone with him", instructed Joanna to Nathaniel.
"You're not gonna torture him, aren't you", said Nathaniel with a faked scared tone.
"No I'm not. Now get lost or you'll be the one who's gonna be tortured", answered Joanna.
"Why no one is respecting me?", pouted Nathaniel.
"Do you really think we're gonna respect a 22 years old mentally retarded student", asked Jonathan.
"At least, I'm not the one who quit school at the age of 18 and wished to become an actor", retorted Nathaniel with a smirk.
"Someday you'll regret those words…", murmured Jonathan with a deadly gaze.
"Stop! Nathaniel go away and Jonathan shut up!", said Joanna with a very annoyed tone.
Nathaniel left the room with a satisfied look and Jonathan was fulminating silently. He always hated when his brother was remembering him of his past wish of career. Joanna looked at him with an amazed look.
"Was Nathaniel telling the truth. You already wished to become an actor", asked Joanna.
"You have the right to laugh.", responded Jonathan with an ashamed look.
"I don't think this is funny in any way Jonathan. This only explains why you're so talented to imitate someone you're not", replied Joanna with a smile.
"Liar, you're smiling. You probably retain yourself to laugh out loud", said Jonathan.
"9th things you need to learn about me. Respect is very important to me. Everyone needs to be respected. And anyway why are you feeling shame of this?", asked Joanna.
"Well…it's just…extremely different of what I'm doing right now", answered Jonathan.
"…Anyway I'm not here to talk to you about this. Why aren't you taking your medicine", questioned Joanna.
"I don't see the point of taking those things. They didn't helped me to feel better at all when I was taking them", replied Jonathan.
"If you don't want to take those pills to help you, at least do it for me. You were so smiling and cheerful before…I was able to compare you to a hyperactive little boy…", said Joanna with a sad smile.
"…alright…if you think it is that important…I'll waste my time and take these stupid pills", answered Jonathan just after he sighed.
Joanna wasn't sure what to think about him. Of course he can be sad because of all the people who died and the secondary effect was only amplifying his sadness but…something was worrying Joanna…What if…Jonathan's sadness was mainly caused by Heleny's death? Sure, he can feel sad but…the last time they met before was…when she tried to kill him. She betrayed him and broke his heart but what if…Joanna remembered the sentence her mother told her when she was a teenager. Love makes us blind Joanna…never forget that…Before Heleny and Dave met them, Jonathan never talked to anyone about this story…what if he never truly stopped to love her? Now he won't have any other choice than forget about her but Joanna was sure that there will always remains a place for Heleny in Jonathan's heart…always…
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The day his fate changed
Everyone were ready to leave. A lot of qualified agents were coming. Velvet was happy to have her place belong them too. Everyone tried to not think about the similarities this mission has with the last one they've made on the Skedar planet. The only big difference was that there were Maians with them. The mission will probably be very easy. It's simple after all: you throw the bomb on the ground, you enter the ship and you use the detonator…well it was supposed to be easy. Jonathan didn't wanted to take risk so he preferred to bring too many people than not enough. Trent was coming with them too. A lot of people contested this idea but Jonathan was sure that Trent was a person he could trust to kill a big amount of Skedars. He hated those creatures so much.
"Hey Elvis! Don't you think that even if we enter the ship to protect ourselves we won't be stricken by the bomb?", asked Velvet as she took a seat.
"Of course not. Us Maians protected ourselves against almost all the Skedars' weapon. This one isn't an exception. This ship is equipped with a very powerful shield. This shield is able to resist these kind of bombs so you don't have to worry", answered Elvis.
The ship got moving and they left the ground…and soon after the Earth planet…
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It was hard to find a way to enter the Skedar planet without encountering any enemies. This race didn't have any radars to detect the ship who are approaching but they were expert to detect the presence of an intruder when he was on their planet.
"We don't have any choices. The Skedars will see us but that doesn't matter if we end this job quickly. We'll land on an inhabited territory and put the bomb there. The second we'll put a foot on this planet the Skedars will already know we are there and they'll also know our location. It will take approximately 5 minutes for the Skedars to come. It's enough to put a bomb and leave", said Elvis.
"If the mission is that simple, why are we so many?", questioned Joanna.
"…We never know Joanna…we never know…", answered Jonathan.
They landed on the planet. Some people had goosebumps when they thought that there already were Skedars who detected their presence. Elvis opened the door. Velvet (because she was the first volunteer to raise her hand) got out from the ship and she gently put the bomb on the ground. After she jumped in the ship and the door closed behind her. Elvis took the detonator…He pressed on the only button that was on it. Silence was their only answer.
"This is very strange…", commented Elvis.
"We shouldn't worry, it will probably takes a few seconds to react", said Joanna that tried to calm herself.
They waited for several seconds…a minute passed and the bomb didn't exploded yet. Elvis began to panic.
"Crap! It's not working!", exclaimed Elvis.
"No! That's impossible! We must wait another minute", replied Jonathan.
"We can't Jonathan! The Skedars will come soon. We must leave now!", retorted Elvis.
"But…there's probably a way to make it work…we must absolutely make it work!", responded Jonathan with a frightened tone.
"It's impossible that those kinds of bomb truly broke…it's probably the detonator that's broken…Yes, we can make the bomb work but those kinds of bomb instantly explode after you pressed the deadly button…", said Elvis.
"So…" , said Jonathan that was loosing his temper
"…So if we you truly want it to work…someone must sacrifice his life…in your language, it would be called 'kamikaze'", answered Elvis.
Everyone stayed silent. No one truly wanted to sacrifice their life even if it was to save their planet. Trent looked at Jonathan. Even if Jon wasn't saying anything, it was easy to read his mind. Trent instantly understood what was happening…but didn't said anything.
"…No…it's a bad idea…We'd better leave and we'll find another way to arrange things", said Joanna.
"…Joanna…", said Jonathan with an extremely serious tone.
"Yes…", answered Joanna.
"We need to talk…come with me", replied Jonathan.
Joanna didn't say anything and followed him. She had the bad feeling she knew what he was going to say but she tried to ignore what her mind was telling her. Jonathan stopped when he was next to an exit door. He looked at Joanna and smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry Joanna…", Jonathan whispered.
"…Sorry for what?", asked Joanna worriedly.
He didn't answered. He just approached her and kissed her deeply. Joanna began to worry even more than before. Jonathan wasn't like himself…something was wrong…horribly wrong… Joanna's eyes filled with tears. She didn't wanted this to happen.
"…I don't have any choices Joanna…you must understand", murmured Jonathan.
"The final thing you need to learn about me…I will never let anything happen to the one I truly love…you won't do this Jonathan…you can't", responded Joanna.
"DAAAAAMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTT!!!!!", shouted Elvis.
Joanna went to see what was happening. As she was walking to go see what was wrong, she heard a noise coming from behind her. Instantly, she understood what was happening and ran in the opposite direction.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JONATHAN!", shouted Joanna.
When she arrived in the room where she was with Jonathan a few minutes ago, it was already too late…he wasn't in the room anymore and the door was opened. Joanna tried to jump to go on the planet too but someone caught her ankles. Someone had forced her to stay in the ship and this same person closed the door. She turned to see who was this person. It was Trent Easton.
"WHY DID YOU DO THIS YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE", shouted Joanna as sobs ran down her face.
"I would have been a bad idea to kill yourself for nothing young one", answered Trent very calmly.
The ship left the atmosphere of the Skedar planet, letting behind the most experienced agent of the Carrington Institute. Elvis shouted a minute ago because he saw that the Skedar came quicker than they were supposed to. They had to leave or the ships of the Skedars would pursue them until they arrived on Earth. No one, except for Joanna and Trent, knew that Jonathan was left behind…Velvet arrived in the room where Joanna and Trent were.
"Joanna, Jonathan. What are you d.."
Velvet was very surprised to see Joanna that was sitting on the floor, silently sobbing.
"Joanna! What's wrong? And where is Jonathan", asked Velvet worriedly.
"…He's gone", replied Trent.
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The Skedars saw a human that got out from the maian ship. They also saw that the human never looked back and was desperately searching for something. They approached the human, slowly. They didn't needed to capture him very quickly, the ship where he was had already left their atmosphere. They were disappointed to see the ship retreat but at least, they had a consolation prize. The human saw that they were coming. He just waited for them. It seems that he was carrying something…
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Everyone on the ship were depressed to heard what happened to Jonathan. They couldn't turn back and save him, he was probably already dead…and the Skedars too. Joanna didn't wanted to see anyone. She was alone in a room of the ship and locked the door. No one dared to disturb her… Velvet tried desperately to think about something else.
"Excuse me Mr Easton. How did you knew that Jonathan would do such things and why didn't you tell us", asked Velvet with a tone full of reproaches.
"He's a man we can easily guess what he's thinking of…I didn't stop him because he was our only way to get rid of those stupid Skedars…we needed someone like this", answered Trent.
Before Velvet could reply, a loud bang echoed in the ship. Velvet went to see Elvis and ask him what was wrong.
"Elvis! What's happening", asked Velvet with a panicked tone.
"We're under attack!"
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All their Skedars stopped as they saw what was Jonathan carrying. It was their technology. Jonathan smirked as he thought that he saw fear on the Skedar's monstrous faces. Jonathan looked at the small bomb he was carrying. There was only one button on it. The button of destruction…
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Joanna got out from her room after she heard the noise. Everyone were carrying guns and a Maian was shooting with the laser of the ship. He was apparently shooting on something in space. Joanna quickly understood that they were under attack. She guessed that the attackers were Skedars…wait a minute…the Skedars weren't supposed to be dead? A small hope crossed her mind. Velvet saw that she was there and threw her a gun.
"Joanna! We're under attack!", said Velvet with a very nervous tone.
"Who…who are the attackers", asked Joanna with a hoping tone as she caught the gun.
"…Elvis told me this ship don't belong to the Skedar race…it belongs to the Maians", answered Velvet.
"…I…see…", responded Joanna with a disappointed tone.
The other ship shot on Elvis' ship. Almost everyone fell on the floor. They all hoped silently that the attackers won't be able to make a hole in the ship or it will mean death to everyone…
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Jonathan pressed on the button…Everyone were paralysed. It was supposed to explode instantly after the button was pressed…it didn't exploded…After a few seconds, Jonathan understood what was happening. He had failed…he sacrificed his life for nothing. The bomb didn't worked. Then Jonathan realized…
"…I've been fooled…Datadyne tricked us…this bomb isn't a real one…", murmured Jonathan.
Jonathan threw the bomb on the ground…It was finished. His last hope…didn't worked. The Skedars quickly understood what happened. They approached Jonathan. He didn't try to defend himself…anyway…his life was finished. They captured him and brought him to their master. Only him had the choice to decide what will happen to the human one…
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Finally, the Maian that was shooting on the enemy was able to destroy the ship that attacked them. Everyone sighed in relief, except for Joanna. She was slightly disappointed that she didn't died.
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A week later
The Carrington Institute didn't have any news since they came back of the Skedar planet. Almost everyone thought that everything worked correctly: the threat of the Skedars was finished and Jonathan was truly dead. Elvis went on his native planet to report this event. Joanna wasn't showing any signs of sadness anymore. She was just like the calm and cold agent she was before. A lot of people suspected that she was just hiding her feelings. All the employees of the Carrington Institute went to the funerals of Jonathan. Again, Joanna didn't showed any emotions. It was Nathaniel's turn to take anti-depressant. They stood in front of Jonathan's gravestone. They were all silent and looked at Joanna and Nathaniel with a sorry look. Joanna read the words she didn't wanted to see…the words on the tombstone.
Jonathan Fraser1995-2024
Sleeping in an eternal slumber
for the people he loved
Joanna couldn't believe what she just read. No…she couldn't. The only way she could someday believes Jonathan was truly dead was that someone shows her the dead corpse of the one she loves. She just hoped this day will never came so she will always be able to hope silently that someday he'll return to her and annoys her with his stupid jokes again…
The End…for now…
A/N: Please don't kill me! I know this isn't truly an end, it's more like a 'lord of the rings' ending but I promise you the sequel will come soon. The only reason I stopped the story now was because I think that this story will be very…very long. I didn't wanted to make a 100 000 words story so I split it in a second part. The sequel will probably be darker than this story…there will probably be more: gore, violence and ahem…other things but the rating won't definitively goes up. It will be on the border line of the PG-13…I think.
Peachrocks: Thanks for your review! I thought that the part of your story when Suzan was in was very funny ^_^ I'm looking forwards to see an update.
Spider-bear: Yeah, I understand you. Me too, sometimes, I live like in a nazi camp at school…grrr stupid school! Thanks for your reviews!
I would like to give a special thanks to the people that were kind enough to give some of their time to read my story and post a review. Special thanks to Peachrocks and Spider-bear, who reviewed each chapter of my story. I would also like to thanks: TetraLink17, Rachel and MyOwnAntagonist. Thanks again!