A Plain Jane Book One (24 page)

‘
I must admit, Stone, that I am
still very confused by the situation. Yet perhaps I can help to
shed some light on it. Before I became the Director of this
institute, I worked extensively on xeno biology. In fact it was my
pioneering work in that area that enabled me to take this command
in the first place. If specimen . . . if Jane here
is willing, I can do a full analysis of her DNA and genetic
structure to assess what race she is from.’

Lucas suddenly clamped his
teeth together, and Jane could see that he breathed a hiss through
them. He looked at her immediately, his expression tensed and
obviously waiting for something.

She didn't react. Jane knew
what Lucas was waiting for though. Whenever Lucas
had . . . whenever he’d . . .
questioned . . . . Jane just couldn't think
about it. Every time she tried to, she started to get a headache
again and the buzzing would return. So instead she put a hand up to
her brow, and tried to distract herself with something inane,
something safe.

Lucas looked concerned,
and took several quick steps to the Director, even tapping him on
the shoulder and suggesting they fall back to discuss
something.

A part of Jane knew
exactly what they were going to discuss, but the rest Jane knew
enough about what was going on with her not to press that fact. So
she left it as an elusive impression in her mind and tried to
concentrate on something a lot easier. Something distracting,
something almost pleasant.

She had once spent a very
boring afternoon in the office with nothing to do. She’d set about
trying to find something to read, and of course the only thing had
been Mandy's incredible collection of Lucas Stone fan supplements.
Jane had tried her hand at one of the quizzes she’d found. Somehow,
she’d managed to get every single answer right apart from one.
Nowhere in the entirety of all of the fan supplements she had read
had she come across that one fact though. What was Lucas Stone's
favorite thing to do in all of the universe? It was such an
important question, and she was surprised that she hadn't come
across it before. The quiz was loaded right into the holo
projector, and it marked your answers, but it didn't give you the
correct answers if you were wrong. It probably reasoned that if you
didn't know enough about Lucas Stone, then you jolly well had to
research and read all of the fan supplements like a good little fan
should.

So what was Lucas Stone's
favorite thing to do in all the universe? Now Jane had actually met
the man, surely that gave her an edge on this. Could she try to
derive the answer from all of the experiences they’d shared
together?

Well, he seemed to look
awkward a lot. But Jane doubted that was his favorite thing to do
in all the universe. What else did he do? He often tried to pat his
hair down even though his helmet was still on. That seemed more
like a mistake and not like an incredible thrill though. What
else?

She also knew, from his
reputation, that he had a certain way with the women of the Galaxy.
Perhaps that was his favorite thing to do?

Jane found herself
blushing, and tried not to suck her lips in and give a chuckle of a
laugh.

Here she was, behind the
security field, while a Darwai discussed what to do with her, while
some kind of creature was still out there trying it’s hardest to
hunt her down, and she was imagining Lucas Stone in very
compromising situations in deed.

If Jane were a little bit
less like herself, and quite a bit more like Mandy, she would come
out and ask Lucas straight.

Though Jane could
appreciate that now was not the time to ask that
question.

So she just sat there and
tried to come up with even crazier answers to it.

Despite the fact she knew all
of her answers were absolutely stupid and highly improbable, she
had to admit one little thing to herself: she didn't have a
headache any more. She felt fine in fact. The more she didn't think
about her current situation, and especially the more she didn't
think about that thing in her mind, the better and better she felt.
The more she felt like herself again. Right now as the world was
going crazy around her, that was a nice feeling to indulge
in.

Chapter 13

Lucas Stone

He kept on glancing
towards 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 very 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 again, trying to
hammer the point home. Whereas Jane had been able to walk out of
the room whilst 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
though: 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 towards 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 certainly
appeared to be running the show. And though he hated the damn thing
for controlling her life, he had to admit that it was dammed
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
certainly 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 am
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 very 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
very 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 as
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
had not 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.