Jane went away not much comforted and no wiser about her future actions. Should she sit quietly and wait for her teammates to come to their senses? Or hang around waiting to pick up the pieces? Or push off at the first opportunity and leave the pair of them to deal with the inevitable consequences of their own stupidity? Because there would be stupidity and there would be inevitable consequences, she was convinced of it. But why? Smith was obviously aiming for the top – she wasn’t going to waste her time on the likes of such small fry as Parrish and Farrell. They weren’t her type at all. They had no power. No influence. They couldn’t further her career.

Luke Parrish is the only offspring of one of the richest men on the planet.

The thought came out of nowhere. And Matthew Farrell’s ability to read and manipulate the Time Map had been causing comment for some time. Weird but gifted was the general verdict. Something else to think about. Was Smith ingratiating herself with Luke to further her personal ambitions? Or with Matthew to further her professional ambitions? Either way, Plain Jane obviously had nothing to offer and could, therefore, be discarded without a qualm.

Plain Jane with a brain, she thought defiantly, and lacking anything else to do, went off for an early lunch.

Over the next few days, Luke became even more full of himself, and under Smith’s flattery and encouragement, even Matthew occasionally uttered enough sentences to be considered a short paragraph. By this time the three of them were a tight unit and Jane was definitely on the outside. She hardly knew who she despised most. Sarah Smith for being such a manipulative bitch, the two of them for being such hormonally manipulated idiots, or herself for caring either way.

During quiet sessions in the library, she frequently considered putting in for a transfer. Major Callen had expressed an interest. Perhaps he would take her before she’d completed her gruntwork. It seemed unlikely. She was barely halfway through and every day they weren’t allocated an assignment added to the time she still had to serve. If the six-month training period passed and they weren’t considered to have enough experience the period could be extended. Which was not something she wanted to think about.

‘Just hang in there,’ said Wimpy Jane, choosing the soft option. ‘It’s not usually this quiet. We’ll get an assignment soon and then that’s another one ticked off.’

‘Oh yeah?’ said the new Brave Jane. ‘Would you really trust Smith to watch your back if things got rough?’

Wimpy Jane couldn’t really find anything to say about that because even when Team Weird had been at their most disconnected, she had, at some level, always known she could trust them with her life. Could she say the same now that Smith had joined them?