How to? Setup JDBC with Informix SE

I am trying to make a Java applet communicate with our Informix SE. We have in the past only used 4GL and E-SQL on the localhost. We have made E-SQL calls from CGI programs. Do I need to buy add-on products to use JDBC? I was going down the path of using RMI to make C calls through E-SQL. But I found that to be a dead end road, as none of the browsers seem to work with RMI. I am going to try good old CGI for now, but I would like to try using JDBC. Thanks in advance