Disclaimer: Jonny Quest belongs to Hanna Barbera and Turner Productions. I am not affliated with the mentioned companies in any way. The JQ characters here are used without permission of the owners. No cash is made from this.

A Question of Identity: Chapter 5

by Ina-chan

�Jessie! I was about to contact you!� Hadji�s voice filtered through Jessie�s wrist communicator, �Is Amanda and Jonny with you?�

�Yes, and we are having the greatest time of our lives,� Jessie grumbled

�Make sure that you do not lose sight of her,� Hadji said, ignoring her comment

�Why Hadji! Nothing else will give me more joy!� Jessie replied sarcastically, �So did you find anything?�

�My friend, it is what I had NOT found I am more worried about,� Hadji responded gravely, �I checked every possible resource I could secure. I even searched the latest information on Dr. Harrison�s family background. We could be liable for criminal charges due to invasion of privacy here, Jessie.�

Jessie frowned impatiently, �Cut to the chase Hadj.�

�All I could pull out on the Amanda Harrison that we know are her school records in Maryland. I cross referenced her school data to their respective ministries, and I could not find such documents existing. No birth certificate, no hospital immunization records, nothing. I can only conclude that the details in Amanda�s school records are fraudulent.�

�What about Dr. Harrison�s brother?�

�Dr. Harrison did have a younger brother, a Joshua Harrison. But he died of complications of polio more than thirty years ago. There was an Amanda Harrison, who happened to be Dr. Harrison�s mother who died shortly after Joshua. I know this may sound a little peculiar, but all the facts point out that Amanda Harrison does not exist.�

�Then who is this girl claiming to be Amanda?� Jessie asked rhetorically as she slumped back in shock

�That is one question I hope we would answer. I just started a DNA testing on the hair sample you gave me in Questworld. I should be able to get the results and hopefully a match in Questworld�s data banks within a few minutes.* In the mean time...�

�RUN! RUN MY FAITHFUL STEED! THE WHITE COATS ARE COMING! THE WHITE COATS ARE COMING!�

Jessie spun around at the sound of Amanda�s voice. She stopped and carefully peeked behind a corner. She saw Jonny and Amanda being led away by an unknown man. Then she caught Jonny looking at her direction.

�Be warned! The scythe! Lady Jessica!� He yelled at her

�I said shut up!� The man hissed as he gave the boy a violent shove forward.

Jonny stumbled and gave Jessie�s direction a final look before he continued to move forward stiffly. Jessie swore under her breath in frustration.

�Jessie! What is happening!� Hadji yelled urgently from Jessie�s communicator

�Someone�s got Jonny and Amanda. Jonny just warned me that he has a weapon,� Jessie replied helplessly, in reference to a recent game she played with the boy in Questworld, �I think you better tell Dr. Quest what happened. I�m going to follow them. Jessie out.�

�Jessie wait!� Hadji called out frantically as the communication between them went dead.

Hadji fell heavily back on his seat and took several cleansing breaths to calm himself down. Then proceeded to type several commands on his terminal in order to track down Jessie and Jonny�s location through their communicators. His screen changed into a grid of the compound's parameters and two lights pulsed regularly on a certain spots. Moments later, to Hadji�s dismay, the lights faded and the signal was lost.

�This is not good,� Hadji said to himself, frantically typing more commands in desperation.

Nothing happened.

�This is very, very, very bad.� Hadji said out loud as he stared, powerless, at the screen before him

�What is bad?� Dr. Quest suddenly inquired behind Hadji as he entered the room.

Jonny was getting tired of this. Sure, he loved going out to adventures with his dad. Or having a chance to crack a mystery now and then. Or having to outsmart his opponents to beat them at their own game. He loves the challenges that his family�s lifestyle brings to him. How many people his age are able to do that?

But getting kidnapped by people he didn�t know, or being painfully handcuffed to a jeep, or having an uzi pointed at his face were things part of the job description he could do without.

The man returned the intimidating weapon to its hiding place in the jeep... within easy reach... and smirked at the two teens. Every trace of the nervous wimp he portrayed earlier, gone from his features. He took a jacket and draped it strategically on both teens� arms to disguise their restraints.

�I certainly hope, for your sakes, that I made myself perfectly clear. We�re going for a little ride now. If one of you talks, the other one dies. If one of you tries something funny, the other one dies. If one of you tries to escape, the other one dies. So if you value each other�s life, I would advise you to cooperate.�

�You�ll never get away with this,� Amanda said indignantly

The man smoothly pulled out the smaller gun in his lab coat and fired at Jonny, the silencer muffling the sound. Jonny froze as he heard and felt a whoosh of air pass near the side of his head.

�That was a warning, to show you that I�m not completely heartless,� The man said turning to the girl, �Next time I won�t miss. I�d recommend that you shut up. It would be a shame if your final words be nothing but a cliched phrase.�

Amanda clenched her teeth and gave an apologetic look at Jonny. Jonny was about to give her a reassuring smile when he saw a flash of red duck behind a bush. He turned to their captor in alarm, and gave a silent sigh of relief when the man started the jeep, oblivious to the fact that they were being followed.

Jonny wanted to scream in frustration. The jeep drove through the compound with every perfect opportunity to yell for help. He just hoped that Jessie would be her usual more or less sensible self and won�t do something stupid like follow and try to rescue them without making sure she had something to back her up.

The jeep stopped at an almost ignored section of a compound. The man took the uzi and unlocked their restraints. then proceeded to shove them roughly into the small building.

There was a younger looking man hunched in front of a computer in one of the corners, surrounded by messy bits and pieces of high tech equipment and food containers.

He looked up in surprise then pointed at Jonny hysterically, �What�s he doing here?�

The taller man glowered at his companion, �You said, �Get the blonde kid.� There were two of them. So I took both of them rather than take my chances.�

�You moron!� The younger man screamed, �This is the Quest kid. If they find out this one�s missing too, they�ll be all over us like flies!�

�Then you�ll just have to start working faster now, don�t you?� The other man retorted, �Relax, nobody saw me. Now do your job. They will be here any minute.�

Jonny smirked.

�They will not be happy about this,� The younger man whined, unconvinced.

�I know you!� Amanda suddenly yelled at their younger captor. Then she crossed her arms and gave a twisted smile, �I see we meet again, �Wee-wee Boy�.�

The younger man turned bright red, �Shut up!�

��Wee-wee Boy�?� The older man said puzzled, his earlier order obviously forgotten

Jonny snickered at upon realizing what Amanda was talking about.

�So, are we wearing our Pampers** today?� Amanda continued sarcastically

�SHUT HER UP!� the younger man screamed at his companion

The older man laughed, �Not when the lady has something to say.�

The younger man glared at the blonde girl, �Very confident, aren�t we? Don�t forget who�s life is in danger here? Who do you think you are to pass insults at me when I can snuff you out just like that?�

Amanda stood straight and put two figures on her forehead dramatically. She walked a few steps then suddenly spun around, eyes flashing, �I AM SAILORMOON, CHAMPION OF LOVE AND JUSTICE. IN THE NAME OF THE MOON, I WILL PUNISH YOU!***�

The two men stared at her blankly.

�BANDIT ATTACK!� Another voice suddenly yelled from behind.

Before anyone can figure out what was happening, a flash of black and white sprung into the room and viciously attacked the younger man�s pants leg.

With the grace and accuracy of a dancer, Jonny hit the gun from the surprised older man�s hand with a reverse roundhouse kick, following a roundhouse to the head****. The unfortunate man�s noggin met a piece of wood swung by Jessie from behind. The man�s screaming companion hobbled to his workstation and reached out to grab something.

Jonny grabbed the uzi from the floor and stumbled on the fallen man�s prone body.

By a coincidence of misfortune, the safety latch was not on.

Which was a very bad thing for someone who has never fired an automatic rifle in his life.

There is a reason why it takes at least three firemen to control a water hose in full power.

�Cool!� Amanda whispered from under Jessie, who managed to push her down to the floor, as she took a peek at the aftermath.

Jessie sat up and glared at her best friend, �YOU IDIOT!�

�IT�S NOT MY FAULT!� Jonny shot back between gasps

Bandit whimpered.

Jessie turned to the blonde girl, �Well, THAT was a STUPID stunt!�

�Hey, it worked, didn�t it?� Amanda shot back defensively

Bandit licked Jonny�s hand as the boy tried to calm his breathing.

�Do you think he�s dead?� Amanda asked quietly as she gestured to the younger man�s prostrate figure.

The three stared at the body in shock.

Jessie looked worriedly at Jonny�s ashen face. �Hey, snap out of it. You�ve seen plenty of dead people before,� she said with a nervous laugh

Jonny stared at her wide-eyed, �But I�ve never killed anyone before.�

Amanda crawled over to the fallen man and whistled, �Well what do you know. He fainted.�

Jonny and Jessie both made a sigh of relief.

Amanda wrinkled her nose, �And �Wee-wee Boy� strikes again.� She turned her two companions and gave a playful grin, �Well, that was a disappointment. I was hoping he was dead. I�ve never seen a dead body before.�

Jonny glared at her.

�Come on we gotta get out of here! With all the noise we made, if these guys had more friends lurking around outside, They�ll be here any minute,� Jessie said frantically as she stood up

�Not without recovering whatever information they managed to take from my Dad�s project,� Amanda replied as she dashed toward the mangled equipment, �Cool, the system�s still operational. This should only take a minute.�

Jonny hurried behind her and looked over her shoulder, �You know how to crack all this?�

�Jonny, I�m hurt! After seeing my little demonstration yesterday on your handy-dandy system, I�d expect you�d have more faith in me,� Amanda replied in mock anger, �Gotcha!�

Jessie eyed the other girl suspiciously, �Well, hurry up.�

�Wait a minute...� Amanda said in a puzzled tone, �This... this isn�t my Dad�s project.�

�And what made you think we would be interested on your Father�s silly little experiment?� A sultry voice called out from the doorway

All three spun around and came face-to-face with the evil smiles of the daughters of Zin.

***

�Well, he took it very well,� Hadji said softly to himself as he watched Dr. Quest desperately try to contact his missing friends.

He told everything he could to the older man within ten minutes, then had to stand back and brace himself as the scientist sprung into action.

Dr. Harrison entered the room with concern etched on his face, �What�s going on? One moment I was talking on the phone, the next moment the line goes dead.�

Dr. Quest slammed his fists in frustration, �Someone is jamming every form of communication within the compound. There is no way to find out where the kids are...�

�Kids!� Dr. Harrison cutted in, �What do you mean kids? Has something happened to the kids? Where�s Amanda?�

Before Dr. Quest could answer, Hadji�s terminal called out for attention.

�Dr. Quest, the results have arrived,� Hadji announced as he turned back to his monitor.

DNA sample identified, matched and confirmed: ...

Hadji stared in disbelief, �This is not possible!�
Dr. Quest drew a breath, �What in the world...�

... Rachel W. Quest

And the plot thickens...

* I cheated a bit here. I know in the �Moai� episode, the DNA test took mere seconds. And Hadji even had the results on the grass DNA even before he got a sample! (maybe he did a little Sim Sim Salabim subconsciously ^_^). According to the forensic specialist that visited my OAC Biology class back in grade 13, on average it usually takes around 2 weeks before you get the results on a DNA test. So I guess I cheated a little using Questworld as a cheesy excuse for plot purposes. ;-p
** TM. Not mine and not affiliated with it on any way.
*** You guys know where this came from. And you thought Sailormoon only made that speech to get attention! Shame on you!
**** I used to do this. It�s tougher than it looks. Specially if you�re not flexible anymore.
© Ina-chan, 1997