A Plain Jane Book One

  Chapter 13

  Lucas Stone

  He kept on glancing at her, just to check she was okay. Her expression kept on shifting, her lips wobbling around erratically, her skin even flushing. She was clearly worried, because she had no idea what was going to happen next. Or maybe it was the effect of the implant. He didn’t put it past that sophisticated piece of technology to know exactly what they were discussing, even though Jane herself was out of earshot.

  At least the implant hadn’t done anything yet, though. For all he knew, maybe it was still too taxed to take full control of Jane’s body yet. Yes, it could make her shout at him. Yes, it could make her clamp her hands over her ears to stop her from hearing “Paran,” but perhaps it couldn’t completely control her limbs, giving her the strength, agility, and technological skills she would need to break out of the security field.

  “I find it curious,” the Director whispered, “that the implant is set to protect itself. This is most fascinating. This is incredible technology.”

  “… Look, it sounds crazy, but you can’t mention it around her, okay?” Lucas repeated, trying to hammer the point home. Whereas Jane had been able to walk out of the room while aboard the reconnaissance ship, she was now in a security field. Lucas didn’t want to find out what the implant would make her do when she was trapped. It probably wouldn’t be pretty.

  “I see. Perhaps there is a way around that. If it is an implant, after all, it will have some kind of mechanism by which it exerts its control over her brain’s physiology, whether it is chemical or electrical. If we could find something we might be able to—”

  Suddenly there was a beeping sound, and the security field in front of Jane began to flicker.

  “Ahhh, we have got incredible interference coming into the computer,” the other scientist began.

  Prack, the Director hadn’t even finished his sentence. Lucas knew what he’d been about to say – the Director wanted to suggest interfering with the implant – finding a drug or synthesizing some kind of device that could block it somehow. Without even mentioning it, and without even being within earshot, the implant had obviously picked up on it. And it had acted.

  “Lucas,” Priya snapped, “what is she doing?”

  Jane was now sitting on the edge of her bed, eyes darting around wildly. Her skin was deadly pale.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay.” He put his hands up and took a step toward the security field. “You have my word that we aren’t going to interfere with the implant.” He saw Jane wince at the word, but in another few seconds, the interference with the security field stopped.

  Hell… what were they dealing with here?

  When Lucas was sure the implant was no longer interfering with the security field, he turned around and walked back to the Director. Yet he looked over his shoulder at Jane the entire time.

  “I see,” the Director said quietly, “I now understand what we are dealing with.”

  “You do,” Lucas shook his head, “because I have no idea. It won’t let us—” he quickly stopped what he was saying. He didn’t want to provoke the implant any further. He was now starting to get the distinct impression that the only reason Jane was still in the room was that the implant trusted them, or at least it trusted them a measure. If they ruined that measure, if they broke that trust, then she would get out of there. He couldn’t let that happen. Because he could easily imagine Jane huddled over the navigational console of a ship, her hands moving effortlessly under the control of the implant, yet her face crumpled with fear.

  He just couldn’t let that happen.

  “I believe we must be exceptionally careful here,” the Director nodded. “I do not think that the device will let me do the studies I wish to perform.”

  Lucas pressed two fingers into his temple and gave a brief nod. The implant appeared to be running the show. And though he hated the damn thing for controlling her life, he had to admit that it was damned effective. If you wanted to keep someone safe, then that implant would be exactly how you would do it.

  “Lucas, I don’t… what the hell are we meant to do here?” Priya asked him, and there was a real note of pleading in her voice.

  He turned to her and shrugged. “Look, I think the best thing to do is… just let me take Jane back onto the reconnaissance ship and then we will….” He had no idea what they would do next. Run? Run where? Specimen 14 had already proved itself to be incredibly canny. It had managed to hack into the Galactic Force communiqués and had sent a message to Central Shipyards, a faked message yes, but still a message along official Galactic Force lines. If it had managed to do that, Lucas wouldn’t wonder if it could do the same to any Galactic Force ship, cruiser, or institution. Hell, maybe it could even hack into official Galactic Union com system, even though it was meant to be impossible. The point was if Lucas honestly wanted to run with Jane, he wasn’t sure where he could run to and whether it would safer than here.

  Plus, he still didn’t know what was going on. Confirming Jane was a Paran might be a start, but at what cost?

  “I suggest that whatever means we use to prove her… particular racial identity that they are arranged from a meta-analysis of other data, and not from any invasive procedure or scan,” the Director noted quietly.

  Lucas nodded. That was a damn good plan considering the current circumstances.

  “If only we had access to the Central Galactic Union databases. I know though it is not common knowledge and though it requires a great deal of security clearance, that they have information on the Parans. Information that we do not have the privilege to access through the Galactic Force databases.”

  “I didn’t know that,” Lucas frowned.

  “Though you are Lucas Stone, I’m afraid there is much that you do not know about this Galaxy,” the Director stated as he dipped his head low.

  Apparently. A fact that was being made clear to Lucas today. It wasn’t just the Galaxy he didn’t know much about – it was turning out that he had a wealth of ignorance when it came to the administrative staff of the Galactic Force.

  “Where can we access this?” Lucas shifted his weight. He was tired, really tired, and he would give anything for some rest. But he had to keep moving.

  “If you go through the correct diplomatic channels, it may take the Galactic Force several months to clear this information,” the Director said.

  Lucas gave a frustrated laugh. “I don’t have several months. I honestly doubt whether I have several days, let alone hours here.”

  The Director put up a hand. “If you go through proper diplomatic channels. There are other ways, Stone.”

  Lucas narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “There are…” the Director glanced at Priya and then back at Lucas, “certain members of the Galactic Union that have been interested in the demise of the Parans,” his voice went low at that point, “for some time. They feel that there must be a proper and full investigation into how such a technologically advanced and powerful race came to fall. Particularly to whom it fell.”

  Lucas shared the sentiment. It was such a strange and curious fact about the Galaxy, and one he’d often wondered whether other people found as mad as he did. The most powerful race in the Galaxy had been almost completely wiped out in the space of several years. Nobody knew anything about how it had happened. Sure, now Lucas knew more than most, as he had access to the Paran database. Yet without being able to access it properly, he was still left with questions. What exactly were the Darq capable of, and why had they attacked the Parans? Was it a prelude to an invasion of the Galaxy, or simply an isolated incident?

  “There are those who believe that whatever it was that destroyed the Parans so easily is not something that we should just—” the Director looked to the side for a moment, “sweep under the rug, as I believe you humans used to say. Something with such power – the Darq as you put it, though I hadn’t heard that name until today – should not be allowed to fall forgotten into history.?
??

  Tension gripped Lucas’ arms and shoulders as a dull surge of fatigue washed over him. He tried to ignore it; he had to. “Where do I go to get this information?”

  “I can give you a contact. They are on the Yaran home-world,” the Director nodded his head low, “if anybody can confirm whether specimen… whether Jane is Paran, it will be that contact. For they are,” the Director glanced sideways again and blinked his eyes closed for a moment, “Paran themselves,” he added carefully.

  Lucas immediately darted his gaze over to Jane to see whether she would react to that news. She didn’t. She was still sitting on the edge of the bed, her limbs huddled together, her eyes wide as she watched them.

  Right, so apparently the implant didn’t care if they were to go and meet with a Paran, but it objected if someone tried to tell Jane she was one. It seemed remarkably fickle.

  “They may be able to help you with the…” the Director moved his pincers up and down.

  Lucas got the picture. The Paran might be able to help them with Jane’s implant. After all, if all the scans had been correct and the thing was Paran, then it stood to reason that a Paran would be able to at least decipher what it was, maybe even give them some idea of how it worked.

  “Okay,” Lucas breathed through his teeth, “okay. Give me the contact.”

  The Director dipped his head. “I will, but there is one thing I must warn you of, Stone: there are certain elements of the Galactic Union, even of the Galactic Force, that do not approve of this line of thought.”

  Lucas frowned heavily. “What are you talking about?”

  “Let us just say that… over the years…” it was clear that the Director didn’t want to be forced to say it. Perhaps he was wary that he’d already said enough in front of Priya and the other scientist, or maybe he just didn’t want to give away too much information in front of the implant.

  “It’s dangerous, right? Well, I guess that’s all I need to know,” Lucas straightened up. “Actually, there is one more thing I need to know. Are you going to let her out? Are you going to let us go?”

  The Director took a moment and then nodded. He walked over to the console where the other scientist was sitting and clicked over the panel with his pincers. The security field flickered off.

  Jane didn’t react immediately; she didn’t jump off her bed and run out of the room, happy that she was finally free.

  Even if she didn’t jump up and run, Lucas had to stop himself from running over to her and checking that she was fine. Checking that she was okay… because it seemed to be really important to him that she was okay. Only several hours before he’d faced the prospect that Jane was some kind of highly trained and disguised spy who’d bided her time in the Administrative Division of the Galactic Force only to hack into its systems when the Paran Artifact had arrived. Now that thought was far from his mind. He couldn’t identify when his attitude had changed. He could simply appreciate that now he was determined to sort this out for her. He was also determined to get that implant out of her brain, though he knew that would take time.

  It was strange. Though Lucas had saved people in the past – in fact, it was pretty much the entire point of his job – this was different. Maybe he felt sorry for her; she didn’t belong in this world, his world. Or maybe she did. The implant had been controlling Jane her entire life. Who knew what she would have done without it? She could have joined the Galactic Force herself, hell she could have become his superior. One thing was clear – Jane was more than she believed herself to be. Something else was also clear – Lucas was now determined. And when he was determined, things got done.

  …

  Jane

  Jane was fighting the urge to jump off the bed and practically throw herself right at Lucas Stone. After all, it was a little inappropriate; she’d spent nearly every interaction she’d had with him either shouting, glowering, or throwing up next to him. Still, he was the only thing she could count on right now. Everything was crazy and unknown. Yet she knew Lucas Stone. Hell, she’d practically studied the man. With all the fan supplements she’d read, she probably knew more about him than he did. It was that bedrock of certainty that she now wanted to hold onto.

  Fighting the urge until the end, Jane slowly got off the bed. Taking several steadying breaths, she waited there, not wanting to act until she was told to. She didn’t want them to suddenly change their minds and disintegrate her.

  Eventually, Lucas gestured toward her. “It’s okay,” he shifted his head to the side, “we can go.”

  Rather than simply believe him, she made sure to look at everyone else in the room. While the Director looked at her curiously, and Priya stared on with angry confusion, the other scientist… he looked… well, Jane couldn’t put her finger on it.

  Then Jane moved.

  She didn’t intend to, but she did.

  She snapped up, and she ran right at Lucas.

  She wasn’t in control of her limbs. It wasn’t a cute and rather romantic way of suggesting she was giving into her desire to throw herself at Lucas. Oh no, it was in control.

  In another second a containment field snapped into place just where she’d been standing. In fact, she could feel the arc of it sizzle against the back of her arms.

  “What—” Lucas began.

  Jane slammed into him, pushing him to the ground just as a shot sliced past Lucas and ate into the opposite wall.

  Jane didn’t wait. She snapped up to her feet, twisting her head to the side, tracking the scientist.

  He shot again, but she dodged, or her body dodged more accurately.

  “It’s happening again,” Jane managed. In the time it took to speak, she tucked into a roll and came up behind one of the consoles, close to the scientist.

  “What’s going on?” the Darwai roared, his usually staccato voice booming.

  Jane didn’t wait for the scientist to answer, she just rolled to the side as some kind of energy beam sliced through the console she was hiding behind. She flicked herself onto her feet, moving easily and with an agility that she’d never, ever shown in her ordinary life.

  Before she could jump up and her body could do whatever it was planning on doing, she saw a black flash streak past her. In another moment there was a heavy grunt, and she saw Lucas plow right into the scientist. There was a flash of a light blue energy, but Lucas reached for his plasma handgun and managed to squeeze off several rounds.

  Then the scientist fell.

  Something clattered out of his hand. Something Jane had never even seen before. It was a long blade that had an arcing electrical field traveling all the way up it.

  The scientist lay still, and Lucas snapped to his feet, bringing his gun around, firing several more rounds into the man.

  Jane knew enough about plasma weapons to know that it was set to stun and that none of the shots would kill the man. Lucas was clearly just being thorough.

  Lucas took several steps back and knelt down to pick up the strange electrical blade. He twisted the handle. The electricity shooting up and down it stopped, and the actual blade disappeared back into the hilt. He stared at it for a moment, then finally turned to face her.

  “It’s okay,” he said clearly, “the situation is now under control. You can leave this to me.”

  Jane got the distinct impression that while he was speaking at her, he wasn’t talking to her. He was talking to it.

  “You can leave this to me,” he repeated once more. Though his helmet was set to opaque, Jane could just imagine the look of pressed, perfect sincerity on his face.

  She slowly stood up, and it was her that did the standing.

  She could tell that Lucas watched her the entire time, his helmet angled down toward her. After a long pause he let out a massive sigh, his chest punching forward. “Is that you, Jane?”

  She gave a brief nod.

  “What the hell was that?” Priya said, her voice shaking as she took several nervous steps toward Lucas.

  “How long ha
ve you worked with that man?” Lucas asked immediately. While his voice was direct, his words quick, he still reached out a hand and latched it onto Priya’s shoulder.

  Jane noted the move and realized that even though Lucas was standing stiffly, his armor affirming the impression he was nothing but a soldier, he still managed to look tender.

  “He must have been some kind of spy,” the Director said, his hands clicking over each other at such a frantic pace he had to raise his voice to be heard. “But how did he get here? What was he waiting for?”

  Jane stood there and listened. Soon she started to realize that she was feeling sick, and she clutched a hand on her stomach.

  She watched Lucas twist toward her, his helmet angling her way, light tracking along the smooth metal finish. “Jane?” he asked warily.

  She pitched forward and threw up. This time it wasn’t on a command chair; this time it was all over a console.

  She didn’t mean to do it, it kind of just happened. She grimaced, pressing her back into the wall behind her. “I feel terrible,” she admitted honestly.

  Lucas just stood there, and he shook his head.