A Plain Jane Book One Read Online Free Page B

him because of the
distinct blue and white lines down his shoulder which glowed in the
dark. Whatever he was fighting was completely black, completely
light-less.
    It was over quickly, and
in just a few seconds, the security officer snapped up, grabbing
his hand to the side and latching it onto the same tail that had
almost killed Jane only moments before. He tugged on it, then
pulled a pulse rifle from his back holster and shot the
thing.
    . . . .It was
over.
    It had barely lasted for
30 seconds. Yet now it was over.
    But what was over? What on
Earth had just happened?
    ‘ Are you okay? Are you okay,
ma'am?’ The soldier in question now straightened up, but still kept
his rifle trained on the strange black shape before him. His head
was half-turned towards her but she could not tell his expression,
as his face was completely covered by the dark black of his helmet
and visor.
    Jane didn't answer him;
she just kept on standing there. She was aware that her mouth was
hanging open, her lips pouted, not in an attempt to look
attractive, but because she didn't seem to have any control over
them. Her gaze, though it did flicker up to the soldier, now locked
on the creature at his feet. She couldn't tear her eyes off the
strange black tail, the strange glinting, pointed tail that had
only moments before been ready to slice right through her chest. It
honestly felt as though her body had frozen in place, as if she had
no control over it whatsoever.
    The buzzing was still in
her head, but the more she stared down at the creature, and the
more it remained still and lifeless at the soldier's feet, the more
it subsided.
    Jane clutched a hand to
her chest, but she still did not answer the soldier, and she still
did not remove her gaze from that tail for even a
second.
    ‘ We need a security team here,’
the soldier said very quickly. He did not move or clutch a hand to
any kind of communication device. He just spoke. Though Jane had
never had the fortune of trying out one of the fancy bio mechanical
armor suits that all the security forces wore, she knew what was
happening here. They could connect to the wearer's motor and
sensory systems, wind right in there as if they were an extension
of the wearer's very body. They were controlled by thoughts alone.
So if the guy wanted to make a call, all he had to do was think
about it.
    ‘ Make it quick, we need a MAG
team as well,’ the soldier snapped out his words quickly and
efficiently, but did not once shift his gun: keeping it firmly and
unwaveringly pointed at the thing by his feet.
    F inally Jane began to shake. It was a
considerably delayed reaction, and she even let out a whimper. She
also wanted to scream, just open up her mouth and let loose with
her lungs, give the most high-pitched, rattling, and frightened
screech of her entire life.
    ‘ What the hell is this thing?’
the soldier asked, though his voice was low, his words directed
more at himself. ‘How did it get to Earth?’ There were long pauses
between his words as he no doubt accessed the on-board sensors of
his armor to scan the creature.
    Jane of course did not
have that advantage, and the only thing she could use to gain
information on the now lifeless carcass that had almost killed her
was her sight. And she could not stop looking at it.
    ‘ Are you injured?’ the soldier
asked again. ‘Are you okay?’
    Jane could hear the man
perfectly, and she also knew that she wasn't injured, but she still
did not answer. Things like this did not happen to Jane. She had a
simple, easy, almost mundane and imminently comfortable life. While
she was an outsider, Jane had never faced prejudice to the extent
that she’d been attacked, and had never feared it could happen to
her. In fact, in all of her life she’d never been in any danger.
She had never been thrust into a terrifying situation, she had
never been mugged, she had never been assaulted, she had never been
on a cruiser when it had lost power, she’d never even