"Does Duke know about the White Coat man?"
"Nooo…" he gasped for air against the pain. "Secret organization."
"What do you get out of all this?" she asked with curiosity.
"To live… holding … my.. parents." He passed out.
Lana cancelled her spikes and got off his lap. Then she healed him.
"Remind me never to anger you," Duff said.
She smirked.
"What happens next?" Almin asked.
"We take them to Dr. Hayley and show her the footage. After Logan sees it and copies it so it doesn't get vanished."
"No need," she hears from her shoulder. "Did you forget these are cameras as well as voice?"
Lana laughed. "I guess my parents weren't too bright either…"
Dobin replied, "Speak for yourself!"
She looked to the guys, "who is going to carry these people?"
Almin carried the heaviest one, Crow and Dobin carried Pucket.
They got to the doctor's office and placed the captives on a spare bed each. Lana pulled her aside and showed her the footage. Hayley copied it off the camera and sent it to General Mike and General Paul.
Just as the others got to the dorm building and were heading up to Logan's room, Duke's men arrived to collect the boys. No explanation. They also took the camera.
Lana let them into Logan's room. "What next, Logan?" she asked as she crossed the distance to his desk.
"I had an extra spider on you and left it in the Doctor's office. Duke's men picked them up and took them away. Hayley didn't call him and according to the computer screen, she really did send it to General Mike and General Paul, not Duke. Nor did she get a chance to examine them. The question is, is General Mike on Duke's side or does Duke have that many spies? Paul isn't even here right now"
"It's not over, is it?"
Logan replied matter-of-factly, "No, it is not. For now, I would suggest laying low in your rooms for the rest of the evening and seeing what happens tomorrow."
As everyone turned to leave, Lana was the last to reach the door. "Lana" Logan called to her. "I can protect you better than I could Peter. You work for my parents and are a valuable asset. I'll do everything I can."
She nodded and went back to her room, followed by Vorden.
After she left, Logan made a call to his parents and filled them in on Lana's situation.
Vorden was nervous about leaving her "alone" in her room. Sil was pinging.
Vorden: You heard what Logan said. There is nothing we can do right now.
Sil: She's still in danger as long as all those involved are alive.
Vorden: We can't just go and kill a general nor do we know who the white coat person is as she calls them.
Sil: We need to stay by her side!
Vorden: And what about Quinn? Do we abandon him? Logan has a tracker on her. We need to trust him.
Sil: What if they put her where we can't get to her?
Vorden: Then we deal with it if it comes to it.
Raten: Sil, she works for the Green Family. You heard them talking earlier. Even if they send her to the dungeon, the Green Family will get her out.
Sil went to the back, wrapped his arms around his knees and rocked.
Lana saw the argument going on again and smiled. Outside her room she stopped. "I want to thank you, Vorden, again for a lovely training session. I learned a lot today. Sleep well," and she entered her room leaving him in the hall.
The sun was beginning to set and she was tired. She and Kattie did their meditations and Lana went to bed. It was hard to believe that only two days had passed. It felt like an eternity since they returned from Caser's home planet.
An hour later, Caser woke her up. She forgot to give him a new bottle. She stumbled to the kitchen and got a new one. There was a message blinking at her.
I wish I was holding you. I wish you could sleep up here.
She smiled, I miss you. See you in the morning. Come down and help me feed Caser in the morning?
Same time?
Yes.
See you then.
Smiley face
Smiley face.
The next morning, the day started with the new normal. Caser was fed by Sil. Bottle was placed in the bra with him for when he needed it throughout the day so he wouldn't make any noise. Lana made sure the bottle from last night was clean since she was too tired to clean it then. Restocked her bag with daily food necessities and their escorts for breakfast arrived. In homeroom the day was going okay though Lana was nervous. What was Duke's next move going to be?
Just at that moment, the same four men who took Peter away showed up and mentioned her name and were in front of her hauling her to her feet. They tried taking her bag but Logan had installed some sort of anti-theft device. The straps in front suddenly were connected. Yes. She was sitting in the chair with her bag still on her back. She knew there was a threat and wasn't willing to risk it.
In Duke's office she discovered he was quite intimidating. She wanted to curl up and hide. Knowing what Logan had said, however, gave her some courage.
The soldier had reported the Lana refused to take the bag off.
"What are you hiding in there? Secrets of Pure?" Duke asked.
"Excuse me? Pure? What do they have to do with anything?" Lana was shocked at the idea.
"You and I both know you work for them, now hand over the bag."
Just then, General Mike entered the room without even knocking. "Duke, what are you doing with Miss Plantwell?"
"She is an agent of Pure and I'm interrogating her. She is refusing to hand over that bag of Pure secrets."
Mike walked over to her. "So this bag that says "Proprietary Property of the Green Family" is from Pure"
"Yes, it's a ruse."
"Duke, I got a call this morning from Mrs. Green. She is an important person in their company and is being upgraded to VIP status if Miss Plantwell wishes. Do you have solid evidence that she is with Pure?"