From		: Chihuahua
Date		: 13th January 2000
Disclaimer	: I don’t own any of the TRA:JQ characters as they belong to HB. 
Any unrelated characters belong to me except for those in Greek mythology. 
Any alteration in the myths are for the convenience of the story line.
Category	: DBN-HR, JJ-HR, HJ-HR, A, F
Rating		: PG-13
Archiver’s Permission : Granted to those who want it. Just inform me on 
where it can be found.

SACRIFICES by Tan Wenxian

	The air was humid and the sun was high in the sky. Jonny Quest mopped his 
forehead with his sleeve. The Mediterranean weather in summer was warm, 
rarely scorching, but real warm. After just three hours of sun bathing, his 
body was already evenly tanned.
	"Anybody feel like hitting the waves?" Jonny asked, looking at his friends 
from behind his sunshades. He looked over at Jessie and Hadji who lay beside 
him.
	"Yeah, sure." Jessie got up and kissed him on the lips gently. Then, she 
said, "Last one in is a really slow snail!" She began running towards the 
warm waves, Jonny close behind her.
	Jonny reached the water before her. What a perfect summer, thought Jonny, 
as he admired his beautiful girlfriend. Jessie’s flaming mane had been cut 
stylishly short for the summer and she wore a dark green one piece suit. Her 
long legs were deeply tanned and so were her face and arms. Her deep green 
eyes completed her beauty.
	"Slow as usual," he taunted as she waded towards him.
	"You’ve got a problem with that?" she challenged, driving a playful punch 
to his well sculpted chest. Jonny always reminded Jessie of a Greek statue. 
He was handsome, no denying that. With his head of golden waves, deep set 
clear blue eyes, perfect nose and chiselled features, he was a hunk in any 
prepubescent teenage girl’s vocabulary. His body was a living masterpiece of 
Michealangello.
	"Not if you don’t." Jonny stared deep into her eyes, challenging her to 
continue the argument. He leaned forward and kissed her passionately in the 
waist deep water, the waves gently rocking them. Suddenly a big wave hit 
them and caused them to fall under water. Jonny got up and hauled Jessie to 
her feet, a big smile on his face.
	"Where are our dads, by the way?" asked Jessie, as she headed back to her 
blanket, feeling the scorching sands under her feet.
	"Over at the senior section." Jonny smiled at his little remark. His father 
and Race were on the other side of the beach. He saw Race’s white head in 
the distance. As usual, he was in the company of an exotic looking young 
woman.
	"Don’t tell me. My dad’s flirting again?" Jessie said in disgust.
	"You have to admit that that’s a fact you can never escape, Jessie," said 
Hadji from his blanket. His dark body was toned and muscular and his hair 
wasn’t under a turban. His dark eyes glimmered like coals. He wore a pair of 
baggy maroon swimming trunks.
	"Yeah, but I wish I could!" Jessie said, reapplying sun block lotion on her 
body.
	"Pass the lotion, will you, Jessie?" said Hadji, reaching out.
	Jessie passed him the brown bottle and settled down on her blanket. She 
glanced fondly at Jonny who sprawled on his front, reading a magazine. They 
had been together for the past two years.
	Suddenly, Jonny raised his head and saw her. He smiled at her. The smile 
was almost shy. Jessie smiled back. She allowed him to hold her slender hand 
in his much bigger one.
	"What time is it?" asked Hadji, interrupting their tender moment. He 
oblivious to the annoyed look Jonny gave him.
	"Ten to noon." Jessie said calmly. "Ten to noon!" she exclaimed loudly.
	"We’re late again!" Jonny yelled and jumped to his feet. He hauled Hadji up 
so quickly that he nearly ripped Hadji’s arm off. He grabbed his clothes and 
bag and ran back to the hotel, Hadji and Jessie close behind.
	Jonny reached first. He grabbed the key from the bag and opened the door. 
He entered, leaving it open for Hadji. Jessie went into the room next door.
	"No time for a shower!" said Jonny as he dashed into the bathroom and 
emerged a minute dressed in a thin white shirt and tan cargo pants.
	Hadji ran in and came out dressed in dark blue T-shirt and brown Bermudas. 
His long dark hair was tied neatly into a pony tail. Jonny wet his hair and 
ran a comb through his hair twice.
	"Ready?" The blonde teenager asked. He sniffed at his forearms and made a 
face. I still smell of coconuts.
	"Me too. Yeah, I’m ready. Better go now." Hadji slipped on a pair sandals.
	The two of them left the room they shared with their father. Jessie wasn’t 
out yet so they waited for a few minutes. She emerged a minute later, 
wearing a light, cream coloured sun dress. Jonny could still smell the 
tanning lotion on her so he guessed she hadn’t taken the time to shower too.
	The three of them set off to the restaurant they were supposed to meet 
their fathers in. They were ten minutes late. Their fathers were already 
waiting, with expectant looks on their faces.
	"Late again?" asked Race, raising an eyebrow at the three of them.
	"Yeah." Jonny sat down on a chair. The other two did the same.
	"You all were in a hurry weren’t you?" questioned Benton. "Spent too much 
time on the beach again."
	"You can smell the lotion, can’t you?" asked Jessie.
	"No. I saw you three down at the beach fifteen minutes ago when you were 
all supposed to be back in the hotel rooms." Benton smiled. "But, you all do 
smell rather strongly of coconuts," he added.
	"Are we going to see the parade later?" asked Hadji, trying to change the 
subject. He was looking forward to seeing the parade.
	"If we finish lunch in time, yes." Benton signalled for a waiter to bring 
them the menus.

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	"Hurry up, Jonny!" urged Hadji as he walked quickly towards the growing 
crowd.
	"What’s the hurry?" grumbled Jonny as he followed behind. "The parade 
doesn’t start for another ten minutes."
	"All the good viewing places will be taken up by then," explained Hadji, 
trying to be as patient as he could.
	"And I’m supposed to by the hyper one," Jonny muttered under his breath.
	Benton smiled as Race as the same thoughts ran through his mind. Race was 
busy picking at the seedless raisins he had just purchased from a vendor.
	"Want some, Ben?" asked Race, offering the box to Benton.
	"No, thanks, Race." Benton refused and continued walking. Jessie was 
walking beside Jonny and talking to him.
	"Ever got used to the fact that our kids are seeing each other, Ben?" asked 
Race suddenly.
	"Not really. It still hits me as strange whenever I see them together. A 
few years ago, we had to pull them out of fist-fights. Now, we have to make 
sure they don’t get too close." Benton emphasised on ‘too’.
	Race nodded in agreement. "As Jade once said, he has become quite a 
heartbreaker."
	"You sure they weren’t switched at birth?" asked Benton, grinning slyly at 
Race.
	"I don’t think so. Look," said Race, gesturing at Jessie.
	Benton turned and saw Jessie giving Jonny a playful kick. "Guess not." They 
both laughed. "Jessie has become quite, erm, how do you say it? Looker?"
	Race laughed at Benton’s struggle for words. Words like looker weren’t in a 
typical Ivy League graduate’s vocabulary. Over the years, Race had changed 
his first perceptions about Benton. At first, he thought the man was a 
uptight old bloke who spent all his time in his stuffy old lab. But he soon 
saw that Benton was a caring, responsible family man.
	"Yeah, looker might be the word I would use." Race tried to conceal his 
pride but it showed.
	"The parade is beginning," said Benton, hurrying up.
	The parade was a tribute to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, on the 
bountiful harvest that year. The crowd cheered as the performers marched by. 
A young boy, no older than eight got a lot of applause as he skilfully 
juggled six colourful skittles. He pranced and skipped but never missed a 
single catch. Even Jonny was awed.
	After a while, the crowd began to thin down. The last performances were 
either bland or repeats of the first few performers. Only Hadji remained by 
the side, cheering occasionally.
	"Anybody thirsty?" asked Benton. The rest shook their heads.
	Benton walked to a nearby coffee shop and bought himself a Diet Coke. As he 
was coming out of the shop, a woman in her early thirties bumped into him, 
spilling her soda on the front of his shirt.
	"Why don’t you watch whe..." Benton’s annoyance quickly faded as he looked 
at the woman. She was beautiful, a slim figure, clad in a simple green 
dress. Her hair was the colour of a raven’s plumage and her skin the colour 
of ivory, a rarity in the Mediterranean. But what really caught his 
attention were her eyes. They were the colour of clear amber.
	"I’m terribly sorry," apologised the woman.
	"That’s okay. It was an accident," said Benton courteously. He was still 
transfixed by the vision of loveliness in front of him. For the first time 
in many years, Benton actually felt smitten.
	"You can send the cleaning bill to me. I’ll give you my address." The woman 
offered.
	"That will not be necessary, Miss...," said Benton, ending his sentence 
with a questioning tone.
	"Stheno. Stheno Marquez," she completed for him. "And you are?"
	"Dr. Benton Quest." Benton was slightly embarrassed by how formal it 
sounded.
	Stheno sensed his discomfort. "Not very casual, are you?"
	"No, I’m not. I’m a little stiff and awkward. Especially with strangers."
	"Then, you’ll have to forget your awkwardness. The Greeks are very friendly 
people, very talkative."
	Benton laughed, a little awkwardly. He stole another glance at Stheno, 
noticing her full figure. Her lips were full and sensuous, coated with a 
thin layer of pinkish lipstick. Sand coral, Benton recognised the colour. 
There were no other signs of make-up on her porcelain-like features.
	"Don’t you know it’s not nice to stare?" teased Stheno. Her voice was 
seductive and she looked deeply into Benton’s warm hazel eyes. Her eyes were 
teasing, seducing. They drove Benton wild with prepubescent lust.
	Benton shook his head to clear his thoughts. He apologised hurriedly.
	"Hey, Pops. You going to buy a drink or the Mediterranean sea?" asked 
Jonny, hurrying over.
	"I had a little accident. Jonny, meet Stheno Marquez. Stheno, my son, 
Jonny," introduced Benton. He spied a faint lipstick stain on Jonny’s cheek.
	"Great to meet you, Miss Marquez," said Jonny, offering a handshake.
	"Does formality run in your family?" asked Stheno as she shook Jonny’s 
hand. She looked questioningly at Benton. Jonny just shrugged.
	"I’ve to go. Jessie is waiting for me at the parade." Jonny excused himself 
and left his father with a questioning look.

**********************************************************************************
	"What’s taking your dad, kid?" asked Race, as he saw Jonny hurrying towards 
them.
	"Try a major babe." Jonny grinned.
	"The doc? Seriously? No! Is it?" Race’s jaw fell slack.
	Jonny nodded. "Her name is Stheno Marquez. Where’s Hadji by the way?"
	"Over at the souvenir store. He suddenly had an urge to buy some skittles 
to practise his monkey act," said Jessie, a wry smile surfacing on her face. 
She gave a sudden snicker. "Here he comes now."
	Hadji ran towards them, clutching a paper bag. The bright head of a skittle 
jutted from the top of the bag. "Anybody wants any of these? There are 
plenty for sale in the shop."
	Race mumbled something that sounded like no. He had a mouthful of raisins.
	"Dad, are you going to eat raisins all day long?" demanded Jessie. She 
suppressed a giggle. Her father had a raisin stuck on his crew cut hair.
	Race swallowed the mouthful of dried grapes. "Oh yeah, I won’t be in till 
late tonight, Ponchita."
	"Hot date, huh?" Jessie raised an eyebrow suspiciously at him.
	Race looked slightly uncomfortable and nodded. He still felt queasy 
whenever he saw that look.
	"Fine. I’ll just hang around with Jonny and Hadji. Maybe you can double 
with Dr. Quest tonight. Looks like he’s got quite a looker with him." Jessie 
jerked her head towards Race’s back.
	Everyone turned and looked. Benton was approaching them with a beautiful 
woman.
	"That’s Stheno," whispered Jonny.
	"The doc got lucky today," muttered Race.
	"Stheno, I’ll like you to meet my good friend and bodyguard, Race Bannon, 
his daughter, Jessie and my adopted son, Hadji Singh. You already met 
Jonny," said Benton, introducing them to Stheno. "Guys, meet Stheno 
Marquez."
	"Good to meet you, Miss Marquez." Race held up a hand. He had turned on his 
Southern charm, full blast.
	"Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Miss Marquez." Hadji gave a small bow.
	"Same here, Stheno," said Jessie. She decided to be casual about the 
greeting.
	"It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. Please refer to me as Stheno."
	"Do you want to double tonight, Ben?" asked Race, looking over at Benton.
	"Sure, Race. What time shall I pick you up, Stheno?" asked Benton.
	"Don’t worry about it. I’ll be at the hotel lobby by eight." Stheno smiled 
sweetly at Benton.
	"Okay. I’ll meet you then. I’ve got to be going now." Benton sounded sorry 
about his departure.
	"Me too." Stheno kissed him lightly on the cheek, and walked away.
	"Not bad, Pops. A date on your first acquaintance," said Jonny. He had been 
urging his father to go see other women for a long time.
	"Yeah, way to go, doc." Race clapped Benton on his back.
	Only Jessie remained silent. There was something about Stheno that didn’t 
seem right. Her female intuition told her so. Jessie had learned after many 
years of experience to trust her instincts.

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