God's Bounty Hunter (Biddy Mackay Space Detective Book 1)

by T E Olivant

  The silence in the tiny ship was deafening. Eventually, Biddy found her tongue. “Sorry, did you say two hundred Augments?”

  Tolly’s alien face came closer to the viewscreen. “Yes. Lu Tang only took you to the first room of the prison. My scans have shown over two hundred sleeping Augments in that building.”

  “That’s not a group of Gods waiting to be saved,” Francesca said, her eyes wide and bright. “That’s an army.”

  “Quite.” Tolly’s face showed an emotion Biddy had never expected to see on a God: shame. “And I believe they will be looking for revenge. That is what you must try to prevent.”

  “Me?” Biddy nearly screamed in frustration. “What can I do, stuck in this tin can?”

  Tolly leaned backward. “Tell me what you thought of the Augment you knew as Lu Tang.”

  Biddy felt her cheeks begin to heat up. “I… I actually liked him. I know it’s stupid after everything he did, but up until he took over the ship I kind of felt sorry for him. I guess I was played, right?”

  “No,” Tolly said, his strange non-human features creased into a frown. “I think it was Lu Tang who was played. That’s if I’m right about a few hunches. And if I am right then I think there might be the smallest of chances that we can still save him from himself.”

  Biddy heard someone clear their throat beside her.

  “Could I speak to Tolly, Detective,” Hastings asked.

  Biddy gave him a searching look, then shrugged. She wasn’t running a dictatorship and the Captain was entitled to his say.

  Hastings moved in front of the viewscreen. “I just wanted to ask if it might be wishful thinking on your behalf. I mean, this Augment is practically family to you, right? Maybe you just don’t want to believe that he’s a bad guy.”

  Tolly didn’t look offended at the interruption, as Biddy imagined he might. “That’s part of it, I’m sure. But the thing is, I’m better placed than any of you to imagine what’s going through Lu Tang’s head. I’ve been there. I’ve passed through the centuries just as he has. Yes, not all Augments have turned out to be forces for good. But I happen to believe that there’s still a chance at redemption for Lu Tang.”

  “And when will you know that that chance has gone?” Elvis asked.

  “Good question. Can I ask, did Lu Tang take anything onboard your ship.”

  “The portal drive? Yes.” As she spoke the words, Biddy’s heart sank.

  A tremor passed across Tolly’s face. “Then that chance is getting smaller by the second. Listen to me, Detective. You must regain control of your ship and stop the Augments from using the portal drive. If not they could wipe out this entire system in minutes, along with every lifeform within it. Only you can save them, Biddy Mackay.”

  Chapter 42

  Lu Tang was trying his best not to become annoyed. Annoyance was not an emotion befitting of a God. But that was the very emotion that he had felt when Augustus had positioned himself in the Captain’s chair of the Black Maria.

  “Do you know how to pilot the ship?” Lu Tang asked.

  “It can’t be that difficult. Spaceships don’t seem to have changed much in the last century.” Augustus ran his hands over the control panel and managed to turn the engines on at his first try.

  Annoyed. Lu Tang was definitely annoyed.

  “We should wait until we hear from our contact,” Lu Tang reminded them.

  “Ah yes, this mysterious voice of yours. And you have no idea who it might be?”

  “I do not need to know.” Lu Tang felt possessive of the Voice. It was he who had performed his tasks so admirably. He had no wish to share it with the others. “Without the Voice you would all be still frozen solid.”

  “I look forward to an opportunity to thank them. Right now, I think we should release our brothers and sisters, don’t you?”

  Lu Tang had to admit he could not see a problem with this idea.

  Augustus pressed some buttons on the control panel. “We’ll bring this ship down right in the middle of the waste compound. There should be plenty of room.”

  A cough. The young female Augment whose name had turned out to be Bela raised her hand. “Won’t this draw the attention of the miners?”

  “Not to mention Scotclan,” Lu Tang added, “the law enforcement people I told you about. We should aim for a more subtle approach…”

  “Subtle!” Augustus gripped the arms of the chair, his long fingernails threatening to pierce the fabric. “We are avenging Gods! The time for subtlety has long passed. Where is the portal drive?”

  “The what?” Lu Tang asked, a black pit opening where his stomach should be.

  “You know what. The portal drive. The item that was responsible for the rebellion. The most valuable machine in the galaxy. Or are you so inept that you have let the humans get their hands on it?”

  “Of course not. It is aboard this very ship.”

  Augustus grinned. It was not a pleasant sight. “Then we will have our revenge sooner rather than later.”

  A hush fell on the group of Augments.

  “You want to use the portal drive as a weapon?” Bela asked.

  “How else will we teach the people that we are not to be messed with? We owned this entire system, and they took it from us. From what Kepler has told us, no one fears the Gods anymore. Why would they when we can be removed without a second thought? Have you forgotten how they piled up our bodies like butcher’s carcasses? We must show them that we are back and that we are still in charge.”

  “There are other ways,” Lu Tang said softly, but his voice was drowned out by the murmurs of agreement.

  “They stole a century from us.” The older, shorter Augment who Lu Tang still could not name shook his fist in the air. “They owe us their lives in return. No one will ever try to fight the Gods again.”

  Lu Tang closed his eyes for a moment, then he turned his back and left the command room. He entered the small office that must once have belonged to the young detective. He fought the urge to lay his head upon the desk and sleep. He was so dreadfully tired. He should probably have mentioned his current hormonal malfunctions to the other Augments, but the last thing he wanted was their pity.

  His datapad buzzed.

  You must give them the portal drive.

  Lu Tang stared at the text. The Voice was on the side of Augustus and the other Augments. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but he still felt a stab of betrayal. Still, what else could he do? His every step so far had been guided by this unknown voice. Without it he would still be stuck on Widdershins 3. It was time to make a choice.

  He opened the door to the command room.

  “Here is the portal drive,” he said, handing the box to Augustus. “You may use it however you wish. I am Kepler, and I am one of you.”

  Chapter 43

  A plan was coming together. A pretty terrible plan, but a plan nonetheless.

  “I have one issue with the plan,” Biddy said as she shifted in her plastic seat. The atmosphere in the tiny waste disposal vehicle was hot and pungent. At least if I get killed trying to regain the Black Maria I won’t have to spend another minute in this sweathole, she thought.

  “Let me guess,” Hastings said, his face red from the heat. “The part where we go to Scotclan with our tail between our legs and ask them to help?”

  “Actually no. Don’t get me wrong, that part is going to suck. It’s more the part where Phil and Ali spacewalk over to the hull of the Black Maria while it’s in orbit. That’s the bit I don’t like.”

  “Sounds cool,” Ali shrugged.

  “Sounds foolhardy and dangerous,” the Detective added. “And I’m sorry but I’m not going to let you guys do that. Maybe we could…”

  Kenzie cleared her throat. Biddy turned to the girl, surprised. She had barely spoken since they had been evicted from the spaceship.

  “I have completed the research you asked me to do on the Augment called Kepler.” The girl held up the datapad she had been tapping away
on for the last few minutes.

  Biddy fought to keep her temper. “Well, that’s good I guess, but do I really need to see it now?”

  The pale girl bit her lip. “Yes, you do.”

  Biddy paused for a second, then considered the trembling youngster. When had she ever interrupted anyone, or shown this much self-assertion? “All right. I can give you a couple of minutes.”

  Kenzie looked around the crowded craft, dropping her eyes when she realized that every other person was waiting for her to speak.

  “I’m not really sure where to start.”

  “Just take your time.”

  Kenzie took a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. I’m getting all mixed up. It’s just with everything that’s happened… I haven’t slept in days.”

  “Me neither,” Biddy said with an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry. Just tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Kenzie nodded. “Okay, so you know you told me to look into any of the Augment stuff that seemed a little… I don’t know, unusual?”

  How long ago had she asked the girl to do some research? Was it really just a day or two? How things had changed since then.

  “It’s all right Kenzie, I know you’ve been busy. You don’t need an excuse for not doing the research.”

  The girl’s shoulder’s twitched. “Actually, I have done it. I stayed up all night last night looking into the Knights’ files and cross-referencing them with any news sources I could find.”

  And slowly, hesitatingly, the girl told the crew what she had found. Afterwards there was a shocked silence.

  “Can it be true?” Francesca asked once Kenzie had stopped talking.

  “You’re sure about this?” Biddy asked her. The girl’s chin trembled but she nodded firmly.

  “All right,” the Detective said. She felt like a cool breeze had come through the aircon and woken her up. “This changes everything. New plan, get me to Lu Tang. Or Kepler. Or whatever we’re going to call him. Nothing else matters now.”

  “We might just be able to do that,” Hastings said, his eyes on the viewscreen. Biddy stared. A familiar ship was trying to land not a hundred meters away.

  “Are they really just going to land the Black Maria right in the middle of the compound? The Council of Eritree will pick them up in minutes. If Scotclan doesn’t get there first.”

  “And they better not scratch her hull while they do it,” Hastings grumbled.

  Biddy had bigger worries. “Francesca, get me into that spacesuit. I need to get to Lu Tang before the miners do!”

  Chapter 44

  Kepler sipped his tea. It wasn’t half bad. The girl detective had decent taste, in this regard at least. He looked around the dingy little office. Messy and disorganized, which was no surprise. It embarrassed him to think that he had been so subservient to the wench when he had been Lu Tang. Well, those days were over now.

  He felt the engines roar as Augustus fought to land the ship in the small maintenance compound. The man was doing it manually by the sound of things. He was an Augment, but Kepler was quickly realizing that Augustus was also a category A idiot. Truly, even the Gods were not infallible. He took another sip of tea. Finally there was a jarring thump as the Black Maria touched the ground. Well, at least it didn’t sound like anything important had broken.

  Two hundred Augments, just waiting to be reborn. Kepler ran a hand over his forehead. He just had to hope they weren’t all like Augustus.

  Thankfully, his unelected leader had already positioned himself next to the airlock, waiting to hurry outside and begin saving lives. Kepler had been happy to let Augustus lead the rescue team into the compound. He had spent long enough in the freezer that contained his family.

  Once he was sure that Augustus had departed the Black Maria, Kepler grasped his tea and strode into the command room.

  “Have the Council of Eritree made a move yet?” He asked the handsome Augment with anthracite skin and braids that went down to his waist who was currently at the helm.

  “No,” the man said, with an insolent shrug. “They know that we are a force to be reckoned with.”

  Kepler snorted. “Or they know we are a sitting duck. Do me a favor and keep an eye on the radar. Has the Scotclan ship moved at all?”

  “No. If they do we will show them no mercy.”

  “Let us hope they do not apply the same principles to us,” Kepler said, his irritation once again threatening to overwhelm his augmented controls.

  “Have you become so fearful of the inferior ones in the last century,” the short, white Augment said, appearing from nowhere like some sort of mythical imp.

  “What was your name again?” Kepler asked, his tone, dangerously soft.

  “Petre. I was once the lord of Alpha Centauri.”

  Kepler had advanced on the man and was now close enough to count the scars on his augmented skull. “Well, Petre, let me tell you a little something about this century…”

  Kepler’s datapad buzzed.

  Head to the maintenance deck in area C. Do not tell the others.

  Kepler’s heart soared. The Voice still had a use for him. Had they realized just how much of a moron Augustus was? Most likely they wanted him to take back control somehow.

  He glanced at Petre, who was still glaring at him, waiting for Kepler to make his move.

  “In this century, you learn to expect the unexpected.”

  Kepler turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. He hurried along the corridors of the Black Maria, pausing only to fling the empty teacup to the ground. He should never have doubted the Voice. No doubt even now it was making plans to stop Augustus and his cronies making a mess of the rescue.

  It only took a few minutes for Kepler to reach the maintenance section. It stank of oil and old sweat, but such things no longer mattered to the God. His datapad buzzed once more.

  Open the airlock. I am waiting outside.

  Kepler had already noticed the large airlock at one end of the hangar. He hurried over to it. There was a rack of spacesuits hanging just outside the airlock. He pulled one on as quickly as he could. Kepler’s hand was trembling as he keyed himself into the airlock. The Voice was there, just on the other side! He would finally get to meet them.

  His ears popped as the pressure equalized, then the doors opened. On the other side was a figure in a spacesuit. They raised one hand in a kind of salute.

  Kepler stepped out of the airlock.

  The figure in front of him paused. Then they raised their other hand.

  Kepler screamed as the stunner fired, the sound echoing in his helmet as he hit the ground and then all was black.

  Chapter 45

  Biddy watched as Lu Tang’s eyes flickered open. There was an instant of pure rage, then a calm acceptance.

  “You tricked me.”

  “Yes.” They were in Biddy’s office back on the Black Maria. Once they had access to the airlock, courtesy of Lu Tang, it hadn’t been a problem to retake the ship. The Augments had been unarmed and completely unprepared when Phil and Hastings had stormed into the command room.

  “The other Augments on board?”

  “Crammed into the cells. A bit of a squeeze, but they’ll survive. Now I need your help to round up the others.”

  “The others?”

  Biddy sucked in her cheeks. “You know who I mean. The ones that are helping awaken the army.”

  “Army?” Lu Tang sat up with a groan. He looked like he had aged ten years in the time Biddy had known him. Biddy glared at him, trying to ignore the stab of pity making itself felt in her chest.

  “You have been misinformed,” Lu Tang said, with something of his previous supercilious tone. “My friends are not an army. They were victims of a terrible crime…”

  “I know that. But they have taken the portal drive. Do you think I don’t know what that means?”

  Lu Tang groaned once more. “There is nothing I can do about that.”

  “Is that right.” Biddy chewed the inside of
her cheek. She wasn’t someone who was usually afraid to say what she thought, but something was making her hesitate. If she got this wrong, if she misjudged her words in the next ten minutes, then the results could be catastrophic. “Can I tell you a little story?”

  The man groaned. “Humans and their need for constant chatter. Go on, I suppose I have no choice other than to listen.”

  Biddy sighed. “All right then. When I was first investigating you I had a member of my team look into the records of all the known Augments.”

  Lu Tang snorted. “I shouldn’t imagine that was an easy task.”

  “No, it wasn’t. Most of the records were partial at best. And many of the Augments had disappeared over the years because… well, you know why. But we did find a few. Tolly, for a start.”

  “Traitor!” Lu Tang’s jaw twitched with tension. Biddy just hoped he could keep it together for long enough to hear her out.

  “Yes, well, that’s up to you to decide. We also found a few others. Some guy we called Augment C, a people smuggler, we thought that was you at first.”

  “Nope.”

  His face was grey and sweating. Biddy wondered just how sick the creature actually was.

  “Yeah, well, I worked that out eventually. But then I got told all about someone we called Augment B. It all started to slide into place. No one knew his name. No one had seen him for fifty years. He had been badly burned by radiation on Saturn. Everyone thought he was dead.”

  Lu Tang let out a small sigh.

  “Augment B’s name was Kepler,” he said in a soft, solemn voice. “He did not die after Saturn. His face was rebuilt so that no one recognized him. They sent him to prison because the pain of the radiation had driven him mad. They were hoping he’d do everyone a favor and die. But he lived. I am your Augment B. I am Kepler.”