by T E Olivant
“I’ve taken another job.”
“And it’s a big one? Must be or you wouldn’t be calling.”
Biddy nodded. “Pretty big.” She told her mother about the plastic man. Then she told her about the fee.
“He offered you Tirnanog. Just like that?”
“Just like that. He says he knows the Knights. If I find this Augment.”
“Blessed be.”
“Blessed be,” Biddy repeated awkwardly. “If I find the Augment and hand him over then Iona Beach is ours.”
Mary Mackay gave out a long sigh. “But you told him no, of course.”
Biddy grimaced. “I… I said that I would take the job.”
Mary’s mouth turned down at the corners, exposing the wrinkles that artifice had done its best to conceal. “Biddy Mackay, you cannot go hunting down a God. It’s not right.”
“But the price…”
“Is the price of your soul!”
“Oh, mum.” Biddy shut her eyes. The conversation was going just as badly as she’d feared. “You know that the Augments are not really Gods. I mean, the scientific explanation…”
On the viewscreen Mary Mackay held up a hand for silence. “I know what our people have believed for centuries. The Augments are Gods. That means we should offer them our respect. The idea that you would hunt them down like common criminals…”
“But don’t Scotclan believe that no one is above the law?”
“No human is. But the Gods…”
“…Are not human. I get it, believe me I do. But it’s Iona Beach.”
“I know, child. But there will be another time, another chance to get back Tirnanog.”
Biddy snorted. Her mother wasn’t fooling anyone.
“If you do this, Biddy, the Gods won’t be the only ones you have to worry about. If Scotclan find out –”
“They’ll know soon enough. I filed the mission with them an hour ago.”
“Why did you do that?”
“It’s an interstellar mission, mother, I can’t do anything without their permission.”
“Well, that’s it settled then. There’s no way that Scotclan will let you chase after a God.”
“We’ll see.”
On the grainy screen Mary Mackay bit her lip. She clearly had more to say on the topic, but had decided to keep her mouth shut. Biddy was surprised. Her mother didn’t often feel the need to hold back.
“This man who came to see you, you said he used an avatar?”
“That’s right.”
“Never liked falsebodies.”
“Me neither. I’m going to get the Geek to check the guy out.”
“You’re still travelling with that kid?”
“Sure. He’s the best.”
“And you have a thing about looking out for precocious kids trying to make their way in the world, right?”
Biddy rolled her eyes. “Kids just like me you mean? Very insightful, mother.”
A chuckle came out of the speakers. “Okay, I’m not going to analyze you. But listen to me for once: stay clear of the Gods. It’s too dangerous, even for you.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“Then I guess that’ll have to do. Now, I’ve got some broken engine parts to weld.”
The goggles slammed back down. Conversation over.
“Bye mum,” Biddy said and clicked off the call. She pulled out her slimline bed and dimmed the lights. Just one more thing to do.
Tea.
Biddy made tea the way her mother had, and the way her grandmother had before her. She took the aluminum flask and rehydrated the compressor-dried leaves. Just enough water to make one cup as wasting water onboard a spaceship was tantamount to criminal. A turbo-whisk on a low setting to invigorate the leaves, just as Nanny Mackay had shown her. Flick out the insta-spout and pour the dark amber nectar into her mug. And, of course, the neo-milk in last.
The aroma of freshly brewed tea filtered through the general scent of aircon and rust. It was a gift from the Gods and no mistake. Biddy climbed into the bed and warmed her hands on the mug. She leaned forward to take a sip.
The datapad beeped.
“Mackay?”
“I’m not in.”
“You’re needed,” Hastings replied.
“You can’t get out of orbit without me now, Captain? I’m clocking off for a couple of hour’s rest. Shit, Hastings, you should be getting your head down too.”
“That would be fabulous, but it ain’t going to happen. We’re being hailed by the Clan.”
Biddy spilled the tea right down her front.
Chapter 6
Lu Tang was the only member of the starfreighter to alight at the next fuel stop.
“It’s a shit-hole of a space station,” one of the other engineers explained. “It’s owned by an extreme offshoot of the Pilgrims. They call it the Temple. Seriously, you’d be better staying on board. It’s mega weird.”
“I need to go see an old friend,” Lu Tang said, not that he owed the man an explanation. Still, it was better to pretend to observe the social niceties.
He put on his spacesuit and helmet. The helmet was largely precautionary as there should be breathable air even on a small space station like this. But Lu Tang had been around for a very long time and he knew how often people would forget a crucial seal or airlock. Nobody knew for sure if augmented biology could survive the vacuum of space, and he had no intention of being the first person to find out.
The space station was big but empty. From the architecture it looked like it had been built during the last big spaceflight boom around fifty years ago. Every so often humanity became obsessed with moving to better star systems in the hopes of finding something to replace Earth. It never quite worked out and the galaxy was littered with places like this, once busy travel hubs, now largely derelict.
But the station did have some permanent residents. Big neon signs marked the way to the Temple. Their flashing lights and missing letters threatened to give him a migraine. Soon enough he approached a big metal door and pushed a button to get in.
Cold. That was the first thing that Lu Tang noticed about the Temple of the Goddess. It was so cold that even his augmented nervous system was struggling to regulate the temperature.
A servant dressed in white showed him into a large hangar. There were half a dozen other humans there, all shivering and staring at their feet.
“Why are you here?” The servant asked, his eyes dull.
Lu Tang knew how this sort of thing went. “I came seeking the Goddess.”
“Did you come to supplicate yourself?”
Lu Tang grinned. “Of course.”
“Then you must wait with the rest of the devotees. The Goddess is very busy.”
Lu Tang looked around the room. The plastic covering on the chairs where the few devotees sat was worn and ripped. There was moisture collecting on the walls around an ancient air purifier. The whole place smelt of stale air.
“I shall wait,” he said, taking a seat.
The servant paused, then scratched at his arm. Lu Tang spotted some marks that suggested the man was injecting whatever this century’s favorite drug might be. The weak and the vulnerable. They had always been drawn to the Faith.
It took nearly an hour before Lu Tang’s turn. He had watched each member of the Faithful go out through the ornate double doors at the end of the room. They returned looking comforted, and no doubt considerably financially worse off.
The door opened and he was led into a smaller room with a raised stage on one end. On the stage was a massive ornate chair occupied by a small figure cloaked in black. The person in the chair wore a mask and kept their head bent low. Eerie music played from a hidden speaker.
Lu Tang suppressed a chuckle.
The white-clad servant made a deep bow then exited the room. Lu Tang walked quickly towards the stage. There was a small cushion situated below the stage, but the Augment chose to remain standing.
“You may make your su
pplication,” the figure on stage said in a voice that was cracked with age.
“I would rather not if it’s all the same with you.”
The head of the figure snapped up. “What do you mean?”
“Take a look at me, Goddess. Take a good look.”
The figure trembled a little as it leaned forward.
“Is it… I thought you’d been left to rot?”
Lu Tang’s expression darkened. “And you didn’t think to come to my aid?”
“No. What the hell are you doing here?”
The mask she wore was silver and formed the face of a beautiful woman. What did she really look like below it? Lu Tang knew he would never find out.
“I came to worship the Goddess.”
“Don’t be clever, traitor. You would only come here if you wanted something. What is it?”
Lu Tang shrugged. He looked over at the porthole window. The stars were beginning to come out.
“I want the item that you have been looking after for me.”
The mask began to shake. Behind it’s metal shield Lu Tang knew that the so-called-Goddess’s face would be a rictus of fury.
“You dare to ask me for that! One of the last relics of our kind! You did not give it away. It was taken from you because you could not be trusted with it. Because you would use it to betray the very people that gave you life. You, the traitor of the Augments –”
Lu Tang had had enough. “Me, traitor?” He said, his body moving closer to the stage. “And what are you, Goddess? What have you done to the once noble name of Augment by creating this freak-show? What have you done to yourself? Living off the scraps of the Faithful like a vampire. You are the traitor, in being and in spirit.”
“Get out!” The Mask screamed.
“Not without my relic,” Lu Tang replied. Truth be told he pitied this figure in front of him. Once she had been as strong as any Augment that lived. Now look at her. Pathetic.
The masked woman leaned to one side and picked up a small silver bell. It tinkled merrily and the servant entered once more.
“Bring me the casket,” she said. The servant bowed low and disappeared.
“Do any of them know who you really are?” Lu Tang asked.
“They know that I am their Goddess. That is enough.”
Lu Tang looked up at the ceiling. Strange varieties of fungi were growing there in the damp air.
“Enough?” he said, although gently.
The mask said nothing. A few minutes later the servant returned, carrying a metal box that was two feet long. If the man struggled under the weight he did not utter any word of complaint.
Lu Tang took it from the man who bowed low before him.
“Do not bow to the demon!” The Goddess screamed and Lu Tang turned his back, chuckling. As he strode back to the main hangar he thought that he should file the Goddess away in his mind under a warning. What becomes of us when we start to believe our own myths.
Still, he now had an asset. And God knew that was good.
Chapter 7
Scotclan. Police force. Government. The only law in space. A band of mercenaries looking to profit from the vulnerable. Whatever you called them, they were the only organization that mattered once you left the Earthen solar system. And they owned a young probationary space ‘tec called Biddy Mackay and could shut her down in a second.
All of this meant that Biddy had flung on a clean shirt and ran for the control room in under two minutes.
“Who is it?”
Hastings shook his head as he made room for her to sit in front of the screen. “Didn’t recognize the face. Old guy, Tam O’Shanter.”
“Crap.” The Tam O’Shanter was only worn by the highest members of Scotclan. Biddy had sort of been hoping that no one would see her travel request before they were on their way. She should have known better: the clan were never slow to intervene in the actions of their employees.
“Okay. Put him on the main screen.”
The central viewscreen changed from a view of Eris to a plexiglass office with an old man sitting behind a desk. The guy must have been ancient. Thin wisps of white hair escaped from his cap. He must have been a large man once, but age had stripped the fat from him and his jowls hung lose.
“Detective Mackay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“This is Chief Innes.”
Double crap. There were only three Chiefs of the Scotclan. One was permanently stationed in orbit of what was left of Planet Earth. The other was in deep stasis. And the third… Well, this was the third. Biddy had never even seen a picture of him.
Biddy swallowed. “How can I help you, Chief Innes?”
“Is this flight plan genuine?”
The document that Biddy had uploaded to the cloud less than an hour ago previously flickered up onto the screen.
“Yes, sir,” she said. It seemed safest to answer in the shortest way possible.
“You have been asked to capture an Augment?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you agreed?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why?”
A pause while Biddy tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t piss off Scotclan. “It is clear that the Augment has acted illegally, and has charges to answer.”
“And that was your sole motivation?”
“No, sir. I was offered a considerable fee.”
“And what was that fee?”
“The… ummn, the client said that payment would be made by the return of Iona Beach.”
“You were offered Tirnanog?”
Hastings let out a whistling sigh beside her.
“Yes, sir. The client said that Iona Beach would be given as payment if the Augment was captured.”
Chief Innes inclined his head in a small nod. It was then that Biddy realized that something else was going on. The Chief should have fallen out of his chair at the possibility of regaining Iona Beach. But he had barely reacted. Which meant he already knew.
Biddy’s jaw clenched. She was being outmaneuvered, and she had no idea how.
“Scotclan has considered your flight plan and we are willing to permit it. But we must place conditions upon your travel due to the nature of the commission. Firstly, you will be required to make contact with the Clan whenever you are not travelling at Fast Light. Daily, if possible.”
“That is…” a bloody cheek, Biddy thought, and totally out with the rules of Scotclan, “…an understandable precaution, Sir.”
Biddy noted that Elvis gave her a searching look. Well, the crew could think what they liked. Without Scotclan onboard there would be no mission in the first place and none of them would be getting paid.
“We would also request an observer to be placed onboard ship. We have someone en route to meet you at the Fuller system.”
Biddy couldn’t help but gasp at this one. “Is that… truly necessary, Sir. I have been a member of Scotclan for the last ten years. I’m sure I can compose full and accurate reports –”
“No one is doubting your integrity,” the Chief said, interrupting her with a look that said we are definitely doubting your integrity. “As I said, this is a unique assignment. There is potential for tremendous embarrassment for the Clan if it goes wrong.”
“And tremendous gain if it goes right.”
“Quite.”
“And will Scotclan protect my crew in the event of this mission going awry?”
Innes raised an eyebrow. “Scotclan will do its duty, of course.”
Biddy glared at the screen. Her diplomacy levels were just about running out. “If I am to make the concessions of observation that you have requested, I would consider it only fair if you were to offer me something in return. A contract stating that no matter the outcome of the mission my crew will not be liable for any damages or otherwise.”
A brief pause while Chief Innes checked something on a datapad. “All right. All obligations owed by your crew will be considered fulfilled no matter the outcome of the mission.
You understand, however, that as the ‘tec in charge the same will not apply to you? You will be held responsible for the outcome whatever it may be.”
“Understood. And the crew that have debt bonds to the Clan?”
Another pause. “Ah yes, I see that several of your crew owe Clan debts. Yes they will be wiped clean, if that is another condition of yours?”
Was that a note of grudging respect in the Chief’s voice?
“It is,” Biddy replied, a little of the tension easing from her shoulders.
“Your own debt however…”
“Once again, I understand,” Biddy said firmly, before the man could blurt out any more details.
Innes stood up. “I will send over the contract before you reach Fast Light. Tread carefully Mackay, I suspect this mission will prove more difficult than either of us anticipates.”
The screen clicked off.
“That was… interesting,” Elvis said from the back of the room.
“Shouldn’t you be watching my engines?” Biddy said, not looking round. She heard a chuckle from behind her but ignored it.
“Francesca, have you plotted the flight plan yet?”
The navigator pressed something on her console and a map of the galaxy filled the viewscreen. “This was the route I had planned.”
They all stared at it. Biddy pointed at a small cluster of stars. “In a week we’ll be at the Fuller system to pick up our new passenger. A Scotclan observer is a pain in the ass, but it doesn’t change anything. I want to be as prepared as possible before they show up. I’m going to get the Geek working on intel on the Augment, but I need each one of you to be one hundred percent focused on your work. Don’t let the Clan have any reasons to think we’re not the best in the business, okay?”
The crew murmured assent.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit strange that he didn’t say Blessed Be?” Kenzie said softly. “I thought all the high up Scotclan types were of the Faith?”
“It’s not that simple,” Biddy replied, although she had a point. Did that mean that the Chief did not worship the Gods? Was that why he was happy enough to let her hunt the Augment?
“Permission to speak freely?” Elvis said.