A Fan Fiction Inspired
By Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”
By Karen
CHAPTER 4
“Alright, ‘Miss I’m the
beautiful, special queen of the sea’”, I growled, narrowing
my eyes. “It’s time
to get what’s coming to you!”...
Unintimidated, Kida
leaned forward, accepting my challenge. “I have not yet
begun to fight! It is
you or me this time Helga Sinclair!”...
“Hah!”, I sneered. “Prepare
to die, amateur!”... I then took my chess piece and
expertly moved it across
the board, jumping more then half of Kida’s pieces!.
Checkmate!.
“Oh no!”, the queen
moaned in defeat. “Not again! I was sure I had you this
time!”.
I leaned back in my
chair, crossing my arms in satisfaction. “Once again,
undefeated chess champion
of Frankfurt!”, I purred smugly.
“That is not fair!”,
Kida protested. “You took advantage of me, just because I
have never played this
game before!”.
“Well, it’s not my fault
you never learned!”.
Kida shot me a dirty
look. “You had better not tell Milo about this! It would be
humiliating!”.
I had to smirk. So,
Kida wanted to impress Thatch as much as he wanted to
impress her. Not that
she would admit it outright of course. I supposed she could
have had worse taste
in men... after all, he was a skilled cartographer and
linguist, not to mention
a good plumber...
As if on cue, Milo James
Thatch entered the throne room, a small handful of
guards following him.
He looked concerned about something... Kida saw it too
and in an instant she
was on her feet.
“Milo, what is it?”,
she asked. “Is something wrong?”.
Thatch adjusted his
glasses. “Well, we’re not exactly sure yet, Kida, but the
scouts have important
news... They’ve found fresh tracks and other signs of
survivors near the volcano...”.
“What!”, the queen gasped.
“I was sure the lava would have finished those
plunderers off for good!”.
“Excuse me!”, I snapped,
indignant to Kida’s bluntness. “But in case you two
haven’t noticed, it
did not finish off this plunderer!. I wouldn’t be surprised if
Rourke or one or two
of his troops survived, just like I did”.
Milo and Kida looked
at each other for a moment... then Milo shook his head
slowly... “No”, he said.
“If anyone else besides you did survive that eruption it
wouldn’t be Rourke”.
“And why not?”, I demanded.
Rourke may have turned out to be an insane
double-crosser, but
he was the first one I would have expected to survive...
mainly because he was
the first one I would want to strangle, and make suffer a
slow, painful death,
if he had survived...
“Helga, you’re probably
not going to believe this”, Thatch said. “But Rourke was
crystallized on board
the gyro-evac... He got caught in the propellers... and...”.
“Oh, say no more!”.
I held up my hand. “I take it that it gets a little messy from
there, right?”.
“That is not the point”,
Kida said sharply. “Your commander was destroyed by the
crystal, but there is
no possible way the crystal would restore him unless there
was a special reason
or purpose for it”.
I raised an eyebrow.
“Such as?...”.
Kida silently twisted
her bracelet around her wrist... “The crystal took my mother
as a punishment for
my people’s arrogance in thinking they could conquer and
dominate every other
civilization... then it brought be back because we had used
it’s power to protect
the city, and because I am still needed to care for our
people...”. Here her
voice trailed off... then at once her tone changed from sad
and wistful to keen
and business-like. “Milo, we must take a search party to the
outskirts of Atlantis
and find out more. Helga, you will come with us”.
“Excuse me?”, I asked,
eyeing them. “Would you mind running that by me
again?”.
Kida crossed her arms
impatiently. “You were once a warrior and a spy, were
you not?’.
“Yes”, I answered without
hesitation. “But now I’m a former bodyguard and
chauffer”.
Thatch shrugged. “Hey,
close enough!”.
I grinned at them. “Don’t
tell me you actually trust me enough to go on a spying
mission with you”.
Kida grinned back. “No,
it is just that I trust you even less when you are alone
here in the city”.
Minutes later, I was
canning the terrain outside of the city, accompanied by
Thatch, Kida, and a
small handful of Atlantean scouts... Even though Thatch had
doubted that Rourke
himself had survived, and if anyone had it was most likely
one or two of the troopers
or Atlantean warriors, the queen was taking no
chances...
As we drew nearer to
the volcano, Kida turned and began giving instructions.
“We will each go a separate
way, so that we may cover more ground. This will
be our meeting place
before dark, but if anyone sees something, or if anything
goes wrong, remember
to give the signal”. And with that, our small spying party
separated...
I made my way through
the ashy ground to the cave that had saved my life
during the eruption...
Once there, to my surprise, I was able to make out a few
fine prints in the ash...
They were large, so I knew right off they were not from
when I was here... Whoever
had made these prints had been careful enough to
cover them up as they
left, but in too much of a hurry to do it thoroughly...
I was not an expert
in tracking, but I knew enough to tell where whoever had left
this shelter had been
headed... Where they were by now, I could only guess...
Just then, I felt a
strong hand grip my shoulder... Before I could even spin
around in surprise,
I felt a hard object strike the back of my head... I sank to my
hands and knees in pain
as everything went black...
“Open up! Police!”, the
harsh voices commanded as angry fists pounded on our
door...
I sat up in bed, terrified.
“No”, I whispered. “No, they couldn’t have found out so
soon!”.
I jumped from my bed
and, barely taking the time to throw my housecoat over
my nightdress, I left
my room.
The boys were all awake,
and peeking timidly from behind their bedroom doors.
“Stay there!”, I ordered
them with a hiss and they all nodded. They were just as
afraid as I was, but
unlike me, they were not to proud to show it...
There was more loud
banging on our front door...
“I know, I know!”, Mutti
cried rushing from the main bedroom, Vati following her.
“I am coming, just a
minute!”.
“Mutti!”, I cried, grabbing
her hand. “No! You can’t!”.
She shook her hand free.
“I have to, they’ll be through the door in a minute!”.
Taking a deep breath,
my mother unlocked and opened the door... At least three
or four armed soldiers
pushed their way into our house...
Vati moved in front
of me and put his arm protectively around Mutti’s shoulder,
but my mother was in
no need of comforting or protection.
“Good evening, gentlemen”,
she crossed her arms, meeting their angry glares
unflinching. “What can
we do for you?”.
One of the men stepped
forward. “We want the schoolmistress, Katrina Sinclair”.
“Well then, congratulations.
You have just found her”.
Upon hearing this, the
soldiers came forward and seized her by her arms. “Frau
Sinclair, you are to
come with us”.
My eyes widened in horror.
I wanted to scream, “No! You can’t take her! She
didn’t do it!”, but
Vati was quicker then I.
“Now, wait just a minute!”,
my father cried, pulling Mutti from the soldier’s grasp
and standing in front
of her. “What is this?!”, he demanded angrily, his light
Scottish brogue growing
more noticeable as he raised his voice. “Why are you
treating my wife like
a common criminal?!”.
“Because she is a criminal,
herr Sinclair!. Do not be so surprised, after all you
are the one who encouraged
it!. Teaching your wife and children to throw knives
and shoot guns!. It
was only a matter of time before one of them practiced their
skills on our officers!”.
At this, Vati’s face
hardened as he fought to control his anger. “That is
ridiculous! Katrina
has never harmed a soul in her life!. She’s been against my
lessons in weaponry
from the start!”.
“Save your lies!”, another
of the soldiers growled. “We have a testament saying
that Frau Sinclair was
spotted near the body of one of our men. Not only that,
but she had an army
revolver in her hand and was trying to throw it away”.
I bit my lip... Mutti
had told me to run straight home while she disposed of the
weapon... I was trying
to decide weather or not to admit this when my mother
spoke...
“It’s true, Tommy”,
she said softly, bowing her head, putting a hand on my
father’s arm. “That
soldier tried to attack Helga and I on the street today, but I
was the one who killed
him...”.
I opened my mouth in
shock as Vati took her hands, his face pale.
“What?!”, he gasped.
“But Kat, that can’t be true... You wouldn’t...”.
“I am sorry to tell
you, Herr Sinclair”, interrupted another of the soldiers. “But
your wife is a murderer,
and a traitor as well. Not only has she murdered a highly
respected local officer,
but she has, on a number of occasions given aid and
information to French
and even Russian spies in secret!”.
At this, Mutti’s head
came up and she glared at the soldiers. “That is not true! I
hid escaped and wounded
prisoners in secret at my school”, she snapped.
“Some were only children!.
Russian, French, why is that such a terrible crime?.
It is Germany that is
trying to start a war with the rest of the world!”.
“Treacherous vermin”,
the soldier snarled. “You and your American husband!”.
And with that, he roughly
seized my mother.
“Leave her alone!”,
Vati screamed, lunging at him, but the other soldiers grabbed
him by the arms and
dealt him a hard blow to the stomach. He doubled over,
clutching his stomach
in pain.
“Thomas!”, Mutti cried,
trying to break away, but her captors held her tight, then
struck her face when
she tried to resist. She fell against the wall with a sharp cry.
“Mutti!”, I screamed
as the men began to advance towards her... Vati, wounded
on the floor, was powerless
to help...
Thinking quickly, I
grabbed the sharp cutting knife off the kitchen table, and with
a shout of anger, ran
towards the soldiers, my new weapon drawn...
“Helga, no!”, my father
cried...
The men saw me coming
and their hands slowly reached towards the guns in
their holsters...
Quick as a cat, my mother
scrambled to her feet and moved towards me...
Shocked, I stopped and
stared at her in bewilderment...
Mutti’s clear, dark
blue eyes met my own... “Helga”, she said quietly, but sternly.
“Put the knife down”.
My eyes widened as I
stared into her pale, steadfast face... I felt my hands
tremble... the knife
slipped out of my hand...
At once, the soldiers
relaxed... Their guns remained in their holsters...
My mother knelt by me
and gently took me by the shoulders. “You are never to
do anything so foolish
again!”, she hissed. “You must take care of your father
and brothers from now
on, and never tell anyone about what happened, do you
understand?”.
“But Mutti”, I pleaded.
“It wasn’t your fault! I...”.
“Hush! Hush!”, she interrupted,
drawing me close to her in an embrace. “I am
doing what is best for
all of you, and you know it”.
I knew no such thing!.
I threw my arms around her neck and buried my face in
her shawl as she lovingly
stroked my hair.
“Du bist frohlich sein,
Helga Sinclair... Kein es nicht verdufte aus du...”, my
mother whispered into
my ear. “You have a good heart, Helga Sinclair... Don’t
let anyone beat that
out of you...”.
It was then that the
soldiers pulled her away from me, and though she made no
move to fight them,
they began to drag her away...
“Mutti!”, I cried as
I tried to follow, but my father rushed to my side and held me
firmly by my shoulders
as she had just done.
“No, Helga”, he sighed
brokenly as he drew me close to him. “They’ll only take
us too, and the boys”.
I looked away from the
tortured expression on his face, trying to swallow back a
sob... Stubbornly, I
blinked back the tears that were beginning to blur my
vision... I had never
cried in my life, especially not in front of my family, and I
wasn’t about to start
now...
Slowly, the aching pain
in the back of my head brought me to my senses... My
eyes flickered open
and I bit my lip, rubbing my head as I got to my hands and
knees...
It was then that I realized
I was not alone... I looked up and gasped, nearly
collapsing from shock...
He was alive! Thatch had said it was impossible, but
there he was, smirking
down at me, his eyes cold and emotionless...
“Hello, Lieutenant”,
he greeted me in his usual easy manner. “Still alive I see.
Well, you always were
quite the scrapper”.
“Rourke!”. I glared
up at him in hatred, my shock melting away into anger. I
thought I had made him
pay for what he had done to me, and somehow he had
escaped!.
I scrambled to my feet
and lunged at him in a rage. “I’m going to kill you!”, I
screamed, trying to
strike at his face... but I was to weak and dizzy from being
knocked unconscious,
and my former teacher and commander was stronger then
I was...
He soon overpowered
me, throwing me to the ground and landing a sharp kick in
my side. I winced in
pain as he jerked me up by my hair and pinned my arms
behind my back...
“Close but no cigar”,
he said coolly into my ear as I struggled to free myself.
“You bastard!”, I snarled.
“When I get free I’ll...”.
He swiftly brought his
hand to my mouth, cutting me off. “How about you let me
do the talking, alright,
Helga?”, he said tauntingly, I could almost see his leer.
“Now, first off, in
case you’re wondering, I don’t know how I survived the volcano
after turning crystal
and being sliced and diced three different ways, but I do
know I’m going to take
advantage of a good thing. Second, that crystal is still out
there, and still mine
for the taking...”. He then turned me around to face him...
“That’s where you come
in. You’re going to help me find it again. Hah! Just like
old times, eh, Lieutenant?”.
Three years ago I had
jumped at this chance... Now, instead I shook my head...
“Forget about it, Rourke”,
I snapped. “That crystal’s probably long gone by now,
and in a better hiding
place. It’s a lost cause!”.
“Oh, I don’t know about
that”, he answered with a small smile, thoughtfully
fingering the crystal
pendant around my neck. “Something that huge can’t be to
easy to hide... Besides,
did I mention I would split the profits with you, fifty fifty?.
That’s a way better
offer then last time!”.
I sneered. Did he really
believe I was that gullible?. “The last time I got an offer
like that, I seem to
recall being thrown off a gyro-evac!. Nice try, commander, but
your on your own with
this one!”.
“Maybe I’m not being
clear...”, Rourke said in a deadly calm tone... The next
thing I knew he had
landed a swift punch in my stomach, throwing me hard
against the cave wall.
“I think you’ve been
hanging around Thatch and his little princess to long!”, he
growled, pinning me
against the wall by my throat. “Don’t forget, if it hadn’t been
for me you’d still be
that wayward German immigrant, with prospects but no
future!. Lieutenant,
I’m not going to ask you again!”.
“Ass!”, I gasped, struggling
to pry his hands away as their grip on my throat grew
tighter. “If you think
I’m going to help you find that crystal, just so you can kill me
and keep it for yourself...”.
My voiced trailed off
as Rourke drew his Colt. 45 from his holster and pointed it
at me...
I bit my lip and stopped
fighting... Rourke’s grip lessened and he soon released
me... I fell to my hands
and knees again, coughing and gasping and grimacing
from the pain of my
previous beating.
“Alright...”, I whispered,
lowering my eyes in defeat. “Alright... I’ll do as you
say...”. What else could
I have done?. I had been trained to follow Rourke’s
orders for almost half
of my life!.
The commander grinned,
looking like a little boy who’d just won a game or had
gotten good marks at
school. “Nice to see you have some sense after all, Helga,
and who knows? If Thatch
doesn’t blow a hole in our escape vehicle, I might not
have to get rid of you
this time!”.
Minutes later, I was
making my way towards the agreed meeting place, the spot
near the volcano...
I must have been unconscious for quite sometime. It was
already beginning to
grow dark...
Just then, I noticed
she shining blue lights of two Atlantean war masks coming
towards me from the
shadows as they had the day I was found... only this time I
did not run...
“Kida?...”, I called.
“Thatch?...”.
“Helga?”. Milo removed
his mask. “Where have you been?. We’ve been
searching for you?”.
I bit my lip, not meeting
his questioning gaze... “I... uhhh... I got a little
sidetracked... “, I
answered, then, remembering Rourke’s orders, I added, “But I
think I’ve seen more
signs of survivors around here”...
“Where have you seen
this?”, Kida asked. “My scouts and I have found nothing”.
This was my chance.
“Over there, by that cave”, I said, pointing...
Trustingly, they followed
me... But I think Kida must have been telepathic...
“Helga, what is the
matter?”, she asked after a moment, placing a hand on my
arm.
I cringed, that arm
had been severely bruised when Rourke threw me against the
cave...
Milo and Kida both noticed
me cringe. “Helga, what happened?”, Thatch
demanded.
Kida put her hands on
her hips assertively. “Who did this to you and who took
your pendant? What is
going on?”.
I shook my head. “Look,
let’s just forget about this, alright?!”... then I lowered my
voice... “Thatch, Kida...
you have to get away from here... “.
Kida’s eyes widened
and Milo gasped. “What?! What are you talking about?!”.
“Just trust me, alright!”,
I hissed, glancing nervously from the cave and back to
them...
“Let us take care of
your wound first”, Kida insisted, bringing her pendant
towards my arm.
I pushed her hand away.
“No! Don’t you understand?!”, I cried. “There’s no
time!”...
“Oh, there’s always
time”, a calm voice said... and at once Commander Lyle
Tiberius Rourke stepped
out from the shadows...
Thatch and Kida both
let out startled cries, while I held my breath, unsure of how
much the commander had
seen and heard...
“Nice work, Lieutenant”,
Rourke grinned at me. “Thanks for distracting em’”. He
then seized Milo before
he could get away. “Nice to see you again too, Thatch”.
“Rourke!”, Milo gasped
as he stared at his captor. “You’re... you’re alive...”.
“Yeah”, the commander
smirked. “Sorry to disappoint you!”.
Enraged, Kida started
towards Rourke, her spear drawn... “Let him go, intruder!”,
she growled...
“Sorry, honey”, I purred.
“Not today!”. Quickly, I seized her and forced the
weapon out of her hands.
Kida was almost too
shocked to resist. “Helga!”, she gasped, staring at me.
“How... how could you?!”.
I smirked. “What can
I say? He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse!”.
Upon hearing this, Thatch
stopped struggling... “I’m such an idiot!”, he said with
an exasperated sigh.
“I should have known you wouldn’t give up on that
crystal!. Helga, we
trusted you!”.
“My people will die
without the crystal!”, Kida added, trying to break out of my
grip. “Woman, children,
babies!. Does this mean nothing to you?!”.
I was silent for a moment...
“Any culture that’s so weak it has to depend on an
oversize jewel to survive,
doesn’t deserve to be saved!”, I answered coldly.
“And what are you going
to do with the crystal?!”, Thatch challenged. “Sell it to
the Kaiser?!”.
“Or the President, or
the Czar”, I shrugged. “Whoever makes the biggest offer”.
“Hah!”, Rourke laughed.
“Spoken like a true mercenary! I’m proud of you,
Helga!”.
Milo shot me a betrayed,
angry look... the same look he had given me that time
in the crystal chamber...
when Kida, frightened and overwhelmed by the place,
had sank to her hands
and knees in prayer, and I had done nothing to help or
comfort her... I had
only stared at her, eyeing her as though she were some
crazy beggar on the
streets...
“Mercenaries! You’re
all the same! All that matters to you is money!”.
“Oh please Thatch!”,
Rourke scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Don’t start this again!.
Less time on the soapbox
and more time showing me the secret entrance to the
palace!. When you translated
the journal you said it was on the outskirts of the
city!”.
“Forget it! I’m not
showing you anything!”, Milo snapped.
Rourke pointed his gun
at Kida and skillfully took aim... There was a sound like
lightning... and Kida
crumpled to the ground... Her shoulder was bleeding...
“Nooo!!!”, Milo screamed,
his fight returning. He struggled to break free of
Rourke’s grasp. “Rourke!
I’ll kill you for that!”.
The commander released
him and he ran to Kida’s side, cradling her in his arms
and stroking her long
white hair.
“Rourke, there was no
need for that...”, I said quietly. “If Thatch is right, they’ll all
be dead in a matter
of hours once we take the crystal...”.
He frowned, narrowing
his eyes. “Are you arguing with me, lieutenant?. You
know what happens when
you argue with me!”.
I bit my lip and stared
down at Thatch and Kida, who lay motionless in his arms...
“Is she?...”, I whispered.
Milo shook his head
in relief. “No, she’s alive... “. He then tore off a piece of his
clothing and used it
to bandage the wound.
Rourke pointed his gun
again. “She won’t be for long, Thatch, unless you take
us to that hidden entrance!”.
Milo stood up, lifting
Kida’s feather light body in his arms. “Alright... Alright
Rourke, you win... for
now...”. He drew his pendant towards Kida’s shoulder...
“Ah ah ah!”, Rourke’s
finger tightened on the trigger. “Crystal first, Lover Boy!”...
Sighing in defeat, Thatch
nodded. “This way”... Still carrying Kida, he led us
down one of the worn
pathways, leading away from the volcano...
Within moments after
leaving the volcano, we were nearing the vine covered
entrance to what looked
like a tunnel...
“I’ve already told you!”,
Thatch continued to argue with Rourke. “The crystal isn’t
in that chamber anymore!
It isn’t even in the palace! You’re wasting your time!”.
“Better let me be the
judge of that, Thatch!”, Rourke answered. “Don’t forget, I’m
the one with the gun!”.
“Gun! Hah! You wouldn’t
have the nerve to say that if we had our stone vehicles
with us right now!.
Remember, Rourke? Remember their lasers?!”.
The commander’s jaw
tightened... his eyes narrowed... Clearly, he did
remember.
We continued to approach
the secret entrance in silence...
Worriedly, Milo put
a finger to Kida’s neck, feeling her pulse, then he gently
brushed a few strands
of silvery white hair away from her face.
“She’ll be alright,
Thatch”, I assured him, lowering my voice so Rourke wouldn’t
hear...
At this, Milo glared
at me. “Maybe not. She’s never had to handle a bullet wound
before, Helga!. It isn’t
enough that you helped kill her father, now you let Rourke
shoot Kida and destroy
the city just so you can get a percentage?!”.
I rolled my eyes in
disgust. Thatch, if you think I’m going to pass up this chance
just so you can have
your dream-land, marry your princess and live happily ever
after, you’ve got another
thing coming!”.
“Is that what you think
this is all about?”, he snapped. “You’re even crazier then I
thought!”.
I glared back at him
as we entered the darkness of the cave and moved further
underground... Thatch
and Kida’s amulets glowed brightly, lighting our way...
Soon, after a number
of twists and turns, we came to a place that looked
familiar...
“Bingo!”, Rourke grinned.
“The crystal chamber!”.
Milo rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, the crystal chamber!”, he snapped. “But in case you
haven’t noticed, there’s
no crystal here!”.
I smirked. “True, but
I’ll bet you know exactly where it is, don’t you?”.
Thatch’s jaw tightened
and his mouth became a stubborn line.
“Listen to the lady,
Thatch”, Rourke said with a cruel chuckle. “Where’s the
crystal now?”.
Milo shook his head.
“Not until you let me help Kida!”.
“I said the crystal
was first, Romeo!”.
“Please! There might
not be enough time left! She could die!”.
Rourke shrugged. “Hey!
Survival of the fittest!”.
Thatch shot him a look
of pure hatred... then he defiantly knelt down, still
cradling Kida, and brought
his glowing pendant towards the unconscious girl’s
wounded shoulder...
With an angry growl,
Rourke advanced towards them... his hand reaching for the
gun in his holster...
“No!”, I snapped, stepping
in front of Milo and Kida...
Rourke stepped back,
surprised... Then he fixed his stony gaze on me, his face
hardening... “No, Lieutenant?.
What is this?”...
Biting my lip, I looked
towards Milo and Kida... then back to Rourke... “Let him
help her...”, I whispered.
“It doesn’t change anything, and it won’t do them much
good in the long run...”.
The commander and I
stared at each other for a moment... Neither of us
flinching, nor lowering
our eyes...
Finally, Rourke let
out an exasperated sigh and drew his hand away from his
holster. “Alright, what’s
the difference if she dies now or in a few hours?. Maybe
she’ll be of more use
to us then Four Eyes here”...
I turned and nodded
towards Milo. “Alright, go ahead”...
He looked at me strangely...
“Thank you...”, he whispered...
I rolled my eyes. “Thatch,
just get it over with before I change my mind!”.
Milo nodded quickly,
and once more brought his amulet to Kida’s wound... A
whitish blue light surrounded
her shoulder... then all at once, the bullet wound
healed... Kida stirred
in Thatch’s arms, her eyes slowly fluttering open...
“Milo...”, she whispered...
“Kida!”, he cried, embracing
her. “Thank goodness! I thought I was going to
loose you!”.
Kida threw her arms
around him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why,
Milo?!”, she cried.
“Why did the crystal restore life to that insane monster?! Why
are we being punished
again?!”.
“I... I don’t know...”,
he stroked her hair soothingly. “I just don’t know...”.
I bit my lip and looked
away... It seemed like hours, though it was probably more
like seconds, before
Rourke's amused laugh make me look back...
“Well, this has all
been very touching, but we still have a crystal to find and an
escape plan to make”...
He strode over and grabbed
Kida, still weak and dazed, by the hair. When Milo
tried to stop him, he
pointed the gun at her head, and there was no more
resistance...
The four of us stepped
onto the ‘aquavator’ that would take us up to the
throne-room...
We arrived in the middle
of the calm, reflecting pool in the throne room...
“Step lively”, I said
as we waded out of the shallow water...
Once we neared the throne,
Rourke turned to Kida, firmly gripping her arm.
“Alright, Princess,
where is it?”.
She shoved his hand
away. “I am a queen!”, she exclaimed with a defiant glare.
“And you will destroy
yourselves!”.
I had to smirk. She
sounded just like her father!.
“Nerve and stupidity
must run in the family!”, the commander said, narrowing his
eyes... and before Kida
could reply, he raised his hand and struck her face hard,
sending her sprawling
to the floor...
“Kida!”, Milo cried
rushing to her. He helped her to her knees as she rubbed her
smarting cheek.
“Let’s try this again”,
Rourke hissed as he aimed his gun at Thatch and Kida,
who clung to each other
like frightened children. “Now I’m going to count to ten”...
His finger tightened
on the trigger... “One... two... nine...”...
But before he could
shoot, I stepped forward. “Commander, wait!”.
Rourke lowered the gun,
giving me a disgusted look. “What is it now,
Lieutenant?. I’m starting
to lose patience with you!”.
“Ooo”, I purred in a
falsely injured tone. “You cut me to the quick, and I was
going to offer to get
rid of them for you”.
He eyed me. “And why
would you want to do that?”.
“To show there are no
hard feelings”, I smirked. “I am still your lieutenant after
all”.
He seemed to be considering
it... then he smirked back... “Alright then, Helga”.
He handed me the gun.
“Be my guest”...
Standing directly beside
Rourke, I pointed the gun at Thatch...
“Go on, do it!”, Kida
hissed, her light blue eyes narrowing in anger. “We were
fools to have ever trusted
you!”.
Milo just stared at
me calmly through his glasses. “So, this is what you’ve
chosen. We helped you,
gave you a place to stay, and now you wipe us out for
the sake of the almighty
dollar!. Congratulations, Helga!. You’ll be the richest
German war criminal
in America!”.
I had to sneer at that.
German war criminal?. Why did people continually
overlook the fact that
I was half Scottish?... My finger tightened on the trigger...
“Say goodbye, Thatch”...
Still clinging to each
other, Milo and Kida looked away, preparing to meet their
deaths... They should
have known me better then that by now!.
In one lightning swift
movement I spun around and aimed a fierce martial arts
kick in Rourke’s stomach!.
He let out a startled gasp as he landed hard on the
floor.
“That was for throwing
me off the gyro-evac!”, I growled, pointing the gun at the
commander, then I turned
to Milo. “Thatch, take Kida and get out of here! Now!”.
He and Kida stared at
me, wide eyed and open mouthed...
“But... what about...
you?...”, Milo finally whispered...
“Dammit, Thatch!”, I
snarled. “That was an order, not a suggestion! Now move!
Go go!”.
Milo obeyed. Scrambling
to his feet, he helped Kida up and the two of them ran
as fast as they could
out of the throne room...
“Not so fast!”, Rourke
cried. Getting up, he started after them... but I pointed the
gun at his chest...
“Take one more step!”,
I hissed...
He stopped... We glared
at each other... Finally, a cold smile spread across the
commander’s face...
“Well, what are you waiting for, Lieutenant, Christmas?. Pull
the trigger already!”.
My finger tightened
on the trigger... I prepared to shoot...
“Funny, isn’t it”, Rourke
said, stepping towards me with defiant smirk. “I was the
one who taught you how
to use military firearms. Remember, Helga?. You were
sixteen, and you promised
to obey your commanding officer, no matter what?.
It’d be a good end to
your training, shooting me, so go ahead! That’s an order!”.
I bit my lip... Slowly,
I lowered the gun... “That was then, this is now”, I
whispered. “I’m not
taking orders from you anymore, Commander”... I wouldn’t
shoot him... Shooting
was to good for him... and I wasn’t going to let him order
me to do anything, ever
again...
“Well, that’s just to
bad”, Rourke leered... The next moment, he lunged at me,
seizing my arms. We
struggled to the floor and I dropped the gun. He managed
to pin me down by my
throat with one hand while reaching for the gun with the
other...
But before he could
reach the gun, I lashed out and kicked him right where it
hurt a man the most...
He fell over backward, with a cry of pain...
I leapt to grab the
gun... but just as I reached it, Rourke’s boot came down on my
hand...
“You’re the last one
I expected to go quality of life on me!”, he leered. “You turn
on me and throw away
a chance to get rich, just to become a bleeding heart
idealist?!”.
I sneered. “Well, like
you said, I’ve been hanging around Thatch and Kida to
long!”.
Rourke snatched the
gun from me, releasing my hand. “Fine”, he scoffed. “More
for me then. Just imagine
the profits I’ll make from selling Atlantis’s power
source...”, then a greedy
look clouded his eyes... “Not to mention the praise for
capturing the princess
of Atlantis and disposing of a dangerous German spy!”.
My eyes widened. So
that was what he had had in mind for me all along!. I might
have known!.
“I’m not a spy for Germany!”,
I snapped.
“You are if I say you
are. Besides, they were already getting suspicious of you
back in America. I’d
just be proving them right”... He lowered the gun towards me
and his finger tightened
on the trigger...
Before I could make
a move to escape, I felt the ground rumbling beneath me...
The vibrations grew
stronger and stronger until it felt as if the whole palace was
shaking...
Rourke glanced about
in shock as parts of the ceiling began to fall...
“It’s an earthquake!”,
I gasped as I scrambled to my feet. I had to get out of
there!. They were likely
to be ten times more powerful below the surface!.
I hurried towards the
doorway, but the commander made a grab for me, still
ready to fire his gun...
Before he could shoot, I raised my free arm in an upwards
thrust, knocking the
weapon out of his hand, then I aimed a swift punch at his
face, sending him stumbling
backwards...
Dodging falling debris,
I ran as fast as I could out of the palace as it began to
collapse behind me...
Outside there was chaos.
People were rushing frantically around, trying to get to
the emergency shelters...
I looked around for Thatch or Kida, but I couldn’t make
them out in the confusion...
Just then, someone clumsily
brushed past me in a panic. I stumbled forward,
landing on my hands
and knees... but before I could get up and rush to an
emergency shelter myself,
I looked up... There in front of me was Kida. Unlike
the others, she stood
there calmly, with a gentle peaceful expression that
seemed familiar... then
I remembered... it was the same expression as Kida’s
mother had had in the
portrait...
The queen’s eyes grew
brighter, shining with whitish blue light... She looked at
me and smiled... “Kwahm
teh-red-seh-nen, Helga Sinclair-toap”...
I did not know what
she was saying, but somehow it was reassuring... I smiled
back, despite the turbulence
around me...
Just then, a familiar
red beam landed on Kida, instantly turning blue... I looked
up... There, coming
out from beyond the thick clouds and the steam, was The
Heart Of Atlantis!.
No wonder Milo and Kida had said that it could never be
found in the palace!.
I watched in amazement
as the crystal’s beam drew Kida upwards to it... It was
exactly like that time
in the underground chamber... Only this time I did not feel
afraid...
I was so intent on watching
the amazing scene that I didn’t notice Rourke had
gotten out of the palace
too, and was coming up behind me...
I watched in amazement
as the crystal’s beam drew Kida upwards to it... It was
exactly like that time
in the underground chamber... Only this time I did not feel
afraid...
I was so intent on watching
the amazing scene that I didn’t notice Rourke had
gotten out of the palace
too, and was coming up behind me...
The next moment, he
had seized me from behind and plunged his army knife
into my side...
I let out a strangled
cry, collapsing to my side in pain as Rourke withdrew the
knife... He stood over
me, a cruel smile on his face... “Nothing personal”, he
leered...
He raised the knife
again, preparing to finish me off... Just then, the earth’s
shaking grew even more
violent... the ground began to crack open... I barely
managed to grab a hold
of the ledge as the ground gave way beneath me...
I looked down... There
was fire... more like lava... It was slowly beginning to rise
upwards...
Rourke casually walked
over to where I was grasping the ledge... Raising his
booted foot, he prepared
to crush my hands, making me loose my grip...
But I would not be thrown
to my death this time!. Quickly, I seized his foot with
one hand and pulled
him over the side... but he was able to save himself by
grabbing onto my foot...
Though I was slowly
beginning to loose the feeling in my arms, I looked down,
giving my former commander
an icy glare... “Nothing personal”, I growled, then,
summoning all my strength,
I lashed out with another fierce martial arts kick,
making him let go of
my foot... He fell, screaming, into the boiling lava...
Searching with my foot,
I found a small ledge below me. With that, I managed to
hoist myself up and
out of the chasm... Exhausted, all I could do was lay there,
breathing heavily...
but soon I began to focus on what was happening around
me...
The stone giants around
the city were glowing, and their hands were placed
together... Blue light
and energy seemed to be radiating from them and
surrounded the city...
The rumbling and shaking stopped... Houses and buildings
that were about to collapse
were righted... Steaming chasms from the quake
began to close... I
watched in relief as a pillar that was about to crush the shelter
where Milo, Kash, Neda
and the others were was stopped and placed upright
again...
I struggled back up
to my feet... then I saw Milo, who had been the first to leave
the shelter, gazing
anxiously up at the sky...
More people began to
emerge from the shelters as the smoke and clouds above
the city began to clear...
then Kida began to float down from the sky... The
crystal had, once again,
decided to give her back...
Milo came forward and
she landed into his arms... They embraced... then shared
a warm kiss...
I slowly approached
them... “Congratulations, you two. You’ve saved Atlantis
again”, I said with
a small smile.
At this, they turned
to me, still holding hands. “Helga, you know we couldn’t have
done it without you”,
Thatch answered, smiling back.
I shrugged. “You did
it before without any help from me, and you did it again... I
just... want to apologize
for...”. It was then that the aching in my side began to
take over... I looked
down and saw the blood beginning to stain the lower part of
my shirt... I sank to
my hands and knees with a hiss of pain...
Milo and Kida knelt
by me . “Helga, your hurt!”, Thatch said when he saw the
wound from Rourke’s
knife. Kida held me gently by the shoulders, keeping me
steady.
“No kidding, genius!”,
I smirked with a roll of my eyes... then I looked at them
seriously... “Thatch?...
Kida?... I... I’m sorry... I’m sorry...”. But I was unable to
finish my sentence before
I collapsed to the ground and darkness overtook me...