A Plain Jane Book One (8 page)

Lucas looked at Miranda
pointedly and gave a sigh, though his expression wasn't exactly
mean. ‘Thank you, Miranda. But . . . ’ he
trailed off yet again.

Miranda finally threw up her
hands and shrugged emphatically. ‘Look, Lucas, you have a lot more
to think about right now than this. Plus, you also have a party to
get ready for, and what exactly would all your adoring fans think
if you didn't show up looking your very best?’

He gave a snort. ‘That I am
only human?’

‘
Oh no, Lucas, you are a walking,
living legend. And walking, living legends always look their very
best. Now, for the love of god, get some rest.’

He just smiled. He wasn't
about to tell Miranda that he had no time to sleep. That in about
half an hour he had to go to the hangar-bay to oversee the arrival
of a strange artifact from Paran space. Because while Miranda often
joked that she would break his legs and put him into a coma in
order to see that he finally rested, he actually wouldn't put it
past her to jab him with a potent sedative and knock him out for a
couple of hours. She was plucky, after all, and with just a dash of
determined madness.

‘
I suggest you put her out
of your head for the time being. I can absolutely assure you that
all of the correct security measures have been put in place, I even
asked the Security Office to relay a live feed of Jane's biometrics
to me here. I will know the second something goes wrong,
if
it goes wrong,’ she emphasized
if with a great puff of air. ‘But the likelihood, Lucas, is that
whatever happened last night was an accident and it will not happen
again. I can assure you that Jane is fine, but I can equally assure
you that you won't be unless you tuck your head under your wing,
get some shut eye, and get your priorities
straight.’

He twisted his head to the
side and gave Miranda a smile as he shrugged. It was something he
always did, and though he’d thought it was painfully awkward and a
great embarrassment growing up, now it was apparently his signature
move that drove the fans wild. In fact, he’d once caught a rookie
on Galactic Force grounds with a small, palm-sized holo-recording
of him doing exactly that same gesture.

Get his priorities
straight – they always said that too. From Alex, to Miranda, to his
commanding officers. They always told him to narrow down, to focus
in on what was important, that he couldn't do everything and he had
to find where his priorities really lay. But that was just the
thing – they would say one thing and expect another. Everybody,
each and every freaking citizen of the Galactic Union seemed to be
relying on him to get everything done. From the security of Earth,
to the upcoming mission, he was expected to do it all and never to
fail.

These weren't thoughts he
was about to share with Miranda though; she would probably whack
him over the shoulder for being pathetic and self-indulgent, and
just maybe he would deserve it.

Before he could find an
excuse to stand there any longer – before he could find some way to
put into words the questions he really wanted to ask about Jane –
another live com-feed came in. Apparently the transport had arrived
early.

Chapter 5

Jane

Jane wasn't tired anymore,
but she felt agitated. Though she sat at home, pressed up on her
window ledge, her eyes couldn't focus, and her mind wouldn't
wander. Something had her in its grip. That something was Lucas
Stone.

She felt a headache well
up inside her skull. The same low-grade, irritating buzzing that
had filled her mind ever since she’d run into the assassin
robot.

After several hours, she
gave up trying to get some more rest. Instead she sat down to read
her messages.

Jane let out an enormous,
incredibly frustrated sigh. There was a message from Mandy telling
her she’d stuffed up her work last night and needed to come in to
fix it. Either Mandy was not aware of what had happened to Jane
last night or she didn't care.

Tho
ugh the doctor at the Galactic Force had
told her to go home and rest, in whatever way her race rested, Jane
simply threw up her hands and decided to go back into work anyway.
Who was she kidding? She just wasn’t in the mood to sit there and
rest, and frankly, she had nothing else to do.

So very soon Jane found
herself back at work. After all, there was always more work to do.
While she wasn't in the business of saving the Galaxy, and was
rather in the business of crunching data, it was still work, and it
still needed to be done. Yet all too soon Jane realized her
mistake, but it was far too late. The second she sat down at her
desk, was the second Mandy scooted over to her, tail whipping about
with great excitement. As soon as Jane asked what her mistake had
been, Mandy instantly fobbed her off, telling her it had all been a
ploy.

Jane sat there and stared
at Mandy for a moment, completely confused.

Mandy stared back, her wide,
beautiful eyes absolutely busting with obvious interest. ‘So,’ she
said slowly as if she were talking to a three-year-old or one of
those alien races that was especially hard of hearing, ‘tell us
what happened.’

Jane glanced sideways and
realized that Tarta was also staring at her, an obviously
interested look on his insect-like face. In fact, everyone who was
sitting close to Jane had now turned in their chairs in order to
see her more clearly.

She felt herself starting
to blush.

‘
So,’ Mandy bent down, her face
practically hovering right in front of Jane's, ‘tell us what
happened,’ she smiled widely.

‘
What do you mean?’ Jane
stuttered.

Mandy dropped her head back and
she let out a very robust laugh. ‘You are just so innocent and
plain, Jane. What do you mean what happened? It is all over the
internal news. You,’ she poked a finger right into Jane's chest,
‘were attacked last night by a creature on Galactic Force grounds.
Your savior,’ Mandy poked Jane two more times, ‘was Lucas freaking
Stone.’

Jane blinked rapidly. ‘You
heard about that?’

Mandy just rolled her eyes.
‘Everybody has heard about that. Stop dodging the question, what
was he like?’ Mandy used her tail to whip her chair closer, and
then sat, her knees pressed right up against Jane's. Her race,
after all, was not big on personal space.

Now that Jane realized she
had an audience, she started to recede a little, trying to hide in
the collar of her uniform. She never, ever had attention like this
usually. She was the one they all ignored, she was the one who
never had exciting stories about her weekend. She was the one
everyone assumed was boring. Yet she was the one who now had the
complete attention of nearly every single person in the
room.

Jane wasn't quite sure how she
felt about that, but with a resolute smile flickering across her
lips nonetheless, she told her story. Though, as far as she could
tell, it wasn't much of a story at all. Walking home and being
attacked by something called an assassin robot and being saved by
Lucas Stone, well, it probably happened to all the
girls.

Mandy kept on clapping her
hands, a look of thorough and genuine interest on her face. When
Jane had finally finished her story, she actually fanned her face.
‘I can't believe it, I can't believe it. You actually met him, you
now know Lucas Stone.’

Jane, still feeling
awkward, shrugged her shoulders. She hardly knew Lucas Stone.
Granted, he’d saved her life and she’d had a brief, if thoroughly
awkward and irritating conversation with the man. Yet the way Mandy
was now phrasing it – it was as if Jane and Lucas were bosom
buddies, or more.

Tarta looked thrilled, he even
closed his eyes a little. ‘You handled the situation well, Jane,
for a human,’ he added quickly.

‘
She isn't human,’ Mandy
clarified quickly.

‘
Whatever,’ Tarta
retorted.

Mandy waved him off, and
bent down again, her smile still conspiratorial
. ‘I have to admit, Jane, I thought you
were boring, but this is fantastic. You do know what that creature
that attacked you was, right? I mean, we didn't know until you told
us, as there was no information on it on the news. But you know
what an assassin robot is, right?’ Mandy's eyes were almost glowing
now.

Jane shook her
head.

‘
They use them to, funnily
enough, assassinate dignitaries, leaders, kings, queens. Not
mild-mannered office workers. And somebody sent one after you,’
Mandy poked Jane in the chest again, ‘this is just so
fantastic!’

Jane knew enough about
Mandy's race not to take anything to heart. Hoyans were known for
their love of adventure, their love of anything that moved
practically. One of the humans had once said that Mandy was exactly
like a house cat, and she would bat at anything that shifted even a
centimeter, her interest peaking, eyes going wide. Jane could
expand that theory to include the fact that Mandy always tried to
hit you with her tail and often ate whatever food you left on your
desk.

It was almost nice to have
somebody else interested in Jane's life for once, even if it was
Mandy, and even if Mandy had obviously lied to get Jane to come in
to work in the first place. Also, even though Jane had never and
would never tell Mandy, the Hoyan was probably the closest thing
Jane had to a friend. A sharp, acerbic friend with a tail, that
was.

‘
I mean, Jane, think about it,
something interesting has finally happened to you. You were
attacked by an assassin robot, I am just so proud of you,’ Mandy
said again, looking genuinely enthused. ‘This is just such
fantastic news.’

Before Jane could process
what it meant that Mandy, who was the primary user of the phrase
'plain Jane', now thought that Jane was interesting, someone
cleared their throat.

That was when Jane looked
up to see none other than Lucas Stone standing there. She’d
obviously been far too interested in the fact Mandy was now
interested in her to realize that the room had gone solemnly
quiet.

Lucas stared down, not at
Jane, but at Mandy, with an extremely terse look on his
face.

‘
I think you'll find that being
attacked by an assassin robot is not fantastic,’ he said, tone
curt.

Mandy's eyes lit up again,
and she practically snapped to her feet.

Jane just sat there,
looking up at Lucas, and then quickly shifting her gaze to the side
as she blinked.

Lucas opened his mouth to say
something, but before he managed to get it out, there was a
commotion behind him as the general manager practically burst into
the room, running around and through the door so quickly that he
had to hold onto the doorframe so he didn’t fall over and roll into
one of the computer panels. Obviously someone had told him over the
com-line that Lucas Stone was visiting again. ‘Lucas,’ the general
manager boomed, ‘to have you visit twice in two days,’ he shook his
head to the side, ‘is an honor indeed.’

Lucas turned around to
face the general manager, his expression a confused one.

The second he did was the
second Mandy bent down to Jane and fanned a hand in front of her
face wildly, her smile very toothy and wide.

Jane couldn't help but
press her lips together and grin back. Which was strange, really,
as Jane was almost certain she wasn't the kind of girl who would
smile at the fact that Lucas Stone had popped in to see
her.

‘
To what do we owe this fantastic
pleasure?’ the general manager asked at once, his eyes glittering
with excitement. ‘Are you here to rally the troops again? I can
assure you that you have our full support. Whatever help we can
give you in order to make sure your mission is a success, is help
we will gladly offer.’ The general manager gave the cheesiest of
smiles.

Lucas nodded, returning
the smile, though his was far more pained.

‘
Thank you very much. The
Galactic Force knows that it can rely . . . on your
support,’ he managed, his words coming out in a choppy manner, his
usually eloquent speech apparently abandoning him. ‘But I have to
admit I'm here on other business.’

The general manager, cheesy
smile still spreading his lips, clapped his hands together. ‘You
are welcome to drop by any time, Lucas. I can have my secretary
clear my calendar—’ he began.

Lucas put up a hand. ‘I'm not
here to see you, Yiro, I am here . . . ’ he
trailed off.

Mandy was practically
dancing around on the spot now, and was pretty much draped over
Jane's shoulder as she tried to fan the both of their
faces.

‘
This is so incredible,’
she whispered into Jane's ear, ‘look at him,
look at him,
he’s awkward,’ she hissed a little bit
louder.

Jane didn't need to be a
genius to know that with the armor that was built into Lucas' body,
he would be able to hear very clearly what Mandy was saying. Yet
Jane knew enough about Mandy to realize she wasn't the kind of
alien who cared. Mandy was built for intrigue and gossip. While
that had meant that for most of the time Jane had known Mandy,
Mandy hadn't had two seconds for her, that had all changed
now.