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

by T E Olivant

  “I’m sorry,” Biddy said, and she meant it. Whatever Lu Tang had done, he didn’t deserve to hear what she had to say. But what other option was there?

  “Sorry? Why? Because I survived all of them? Don’t pity me for that. You should pity my attackers! When I catch up with them they will finally pay.”

  “No, I’m sorry because you’re wrong. You are not Kepler. You are not Augment B. You can’t be, because he died fifty years ago.”

  Lu Tang’s mouth curled into a cruel smirk. “You’re playing games with me even now, little girl Detective? You insult both of us.”

  It was amazing. Now that she knew the truth about Lu Tang, Biddy didn’t even feel annoyed by his arrogance. All she felt was pity. “It’s not a game. I had my suspicions, even before I spoke to Tolly. My assistant, Kenzie, contacted him an hour ago just to make sure of the facts.”

  “Oh I see, the traitor told you all this. Well, don’t believe a word that came out of his filthy mouth.” Lu Tang fidgeted on the sofa. Biddy made sure her stungun was still on the desk where she could grab it if he decided to attack.

  She forced herself to meet Lu Tang’s eyes. “Tolly told me about the sort of procedures that Augment’s do on each other’s memories. They are meant to be illegal now, of course, but if you have a lot of money and no morals, then you can do as you please in certain parts of the galaxy. Anyway, one of these procedures is memory erasure.”

  Lu Tang frowned. “I’m not missing any memories. I can remember centuries of being Kepler. I’m sorry, Mackay, but whatever game you are playing is simply tiresome. Leave me alone.”

  “Not just yet. The thing is, memories can’t just be erased. They can also be implanted. Just before the Augment known as Kepler died, a group of Augments performed some sort of memory drain on him. Then they stored it gods’ know where, waiting for a time when it was useful.”

  “Please just be quiet,” Lu Tang said softly.

  “I wish I could, but you need to hear this. Ten years ago they came across a young man. I don’t know why but he must have owed this group of Augments big time. They decided to use him for their own purposes. Either he agreed or they forced him into it. I don’t know the details. However it actually came about, the end result is the same. This man was given Kepler’s memories, then locked up in Widdershins 3 while the memories took hold.”

  “The man was a human?”

  Biddy swallowed. “At first. But they had to put him through part of the Augmentation process so that they could implant the memories. They… they performed surgery on him, on his skull and inside his brain so that he was indistinguishable from an Augment, at least on the outside.”

  “And on the inside?”

  “A bit of both, I suppose. But they didn’t give him quite enough Augmented abilities to deal with the surgeries. Something went wrong and his brain began to rebel. He began to have side effects and the people who had done this to him realized they needed to move before it was too late.”

  “Too late?”

  Biddy took a deep breath and met Lu Tang’s eyes. “Before his body broke down. They knew he didn’t have long left to live.”

  The room was so quiet that Biddy could hear the gentle throb of the Black Maria’s engines through the metal walls.

  “I don’t believe you. I am… I must be Kepler.”

  “You can check my research if you like.”

  Lu Tang shook his head. “What if this is all a lie? You could have come up with all this just to turn me against the Augments. How do you expect me to trust a word you say?”

  Biddy leaned forward and took Lu Tang’s hand. The man flinched, but didn’t pull away. “Do you really feel like one of them. Really?”

  “I’m… not sure.”

  The detective took a deep breath. “I would love to give you time to process this, believe me, I would, but those Augments you woke up have the portal drive. Do you know what they intend to do with it?”

  “Kill every living creature in this solar system I should imagine.”

  Biddy bit back a wave of anger. “And you just plan on letting them do that, do you?”

  Lu Tang shrugged. “They are in the maintenance compound. You have the ship. There is nowhere for them to go.”

  “And they can’t use the portal drive without a ship?”

  “Well… not as an engine, but I suppose they could detonate the drive. But they would be sacrificing themselves in the process.”

  The gnawing anxiety that had been churning in Biddy’s stomach turned to genuine fear. “And would they do that?”

  Lu Tang looked down at his feet. “Honestly, I have no idea what they would do anymore.”

  Chapter 46

  Lu Tang hadn’t wanted to listen to the detective. He’d wanted to rage at her, to tell her that it was all a pack of lies. And yet… Hadn’t there always been a part of him that had known he wasn’t really a God? He was too prone to awkward questions, too willing to compromise. And it would explain his physiological problems which were becoming more pronounced by the minute. What had the girl said about not having long to live? The way he felt right now it wasn’t surprising.

  “Do you know who it is?” Lu Tang asked, his voice seething with anger.

  Mackay was rubbing her eyes. He thought she looked terrible, but he didn’t have much sympathy to spare. He was keeping it all for himself right now.

  “What?”

  “I want you to tell me who it is.”

  “Who are you talking about?” The detective asked again with her usual baffled expression.

  “The Voice?” Lu Tang said, his ears ringing with rage or pain, he wasn’t sure which. “Who is the one that has been feeding me these lies?”

  Mackay bit her lip. “You know we sent you a signal claiming to be from the Voice?”

  Lu Tang nodded. It still smarted that he was tricked so easily.

  “Well, we did it by tracing the messages backwards. We knew that you had received something when you were on the ship, so we just took a look at the communication logs. It was hidden, but the Geek found it. He made it look like we were sending our signal from the same source.”

  “And what was that source?”

  “I’m not sure what it means, but we’re pretty sure the signal came from the Scotclan ship.”

  Mackay’s cheeks had two red spots of color, but Lu Tang was already shaking his head.

  “That’s not possible. You saw the black ship before, the Voice was definitely on it.”

  “The Geek checked that ship out too. A drone, nothing more. Looked intimidating, but entirely remote controlled. By Scotclan.”

  Lu Tang’s back spasmed, but he ignored the arch of pain. “You mean to say that the messages were coming from your bosses? All this time, pretending to be an Augment, pretending to help me…”

  Lu Tang’s head was throbbing and he was starting to see stars. He tried to get up and lunge at the girl, but he didn’t have the strength.

  The detective held up a hand to stop him. “Please, I don’t understand it either. I promise you I will investigate it later, but right now we have no time! We need to get the portal drive back and keep it safe.”

  Lu Tang thought of Augustus’s smug face. Perhaps he could live just long enough to see the Gods taken down off their pedestal. That might just make it all worthwhile. “All right. I’ll help. What do you need me to do?”

  The detective’s face muscles relaxed a little. “I need you to be your old self, one last time. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Yes,” said Kepler.

  Chapter 47

  Biddy left Lu Tang – or Kepler or whatever the hell he was now called – in her office. Whether it was because she knew about his limited lifespan, or simply because he looked utterly wretched, she didn’t like leaving him alone. But the Augments in the maintenance compound still had the portal drive and sooner or later they were going to realize that Biddy had taken back control of the Black Maria. Time was limited and Lu Tang’s troubles
would have to wait for another day.

  “Did he agree to help us?” Phil asked as she sat down.

  “I think so.”

  “We still can’t trust him. No matter who he really is. He’s already betrayed us once,” Hastings said, his fingers gripping the arms of his chair.

  “I know that.” Biddy didn’t add that the Augment wasn’t the only one who had betrayed her. Hasting’s attempted murder of a God was another thing that would have to wait its turn for her attention. “But I’m hoping he can give us the edge over the Augments.”

  “I think we’ve got a problem, ‘tec,” Francesca called out from the navigator’s station. “I’ll put it on the big screen.”

  Biddy’s watched as the map of the surrounding area filled the screen.

  “Shit,” Hastings said quietly.

  “What am I looking at?” Biddy asked him, although she had a horrible feeling she already knew.

  “It’s the Council of Eritree.” Hastings said, his eyes wide as he stared at the map. “Every single bloody one of them, by the looks of it. Seven ships… no, eight. All different classes, but the smallest one is twice the size of the Black Maria.”

  Biddy resisted the urge to put her head in her hands. “What are they doing?”

  “They seem to be creating a barrier around a mile away from us. We’re surrounded, but they’re not coming any closer.”

  “All right. Let’s see what –”

  Francesca interrupted with a yell. “We’ve got a call coming through from the Scotclan ship.”

  “For the Gods’ sakes, ignore it! We have enough problems right now.”

  The Navigator shook her head. “I don’t think we should, ‘tec. It’s not coming from the command room, but from the Engineering section. And it’s sending on a secure line so the rest of the ship won’t know anything about it.”

  Biddy’s eyebrows rose so high they threatened to leave her face. “All right. If it’s who we think it is, let’s hear what he’s got to say.”

  The Black Maria’s command room was absolutely silent when a face appeared on the viewscreen.

  “Biddy?”

  “Hello Elvis.”

  Biddy was determined to give nothing away so she made sure that her face was a blank. Elvis looked handsome as ever, and nowhere near as ashamed as he should.

  “I need to be quick before someone works out I’m sending this.”

  Biddy raised an eyebrow.

  “Look, you didn’t think I was really going over to Scotclan, did you?” Elvis said. He was keeping his voice low and he seemed to be in some sort of dark cupboard. “I thought you might appreciate having an inside man. I’ve always been on your side, Biddy.”

  “Just the sort of thing a treacherous snake would say,” Hastings muttered.

  “Really?” Elvis snarled. “Threaten to kill anyone since I’ve been gone?”

  “Time is ticking,” Biddy interrupted, glaring at both men.

  “Right. Sorry. Anyway, you’ve got them scratching their heads over here. They don’t understand why you’re not getting the hell out of the system. I don’t understand it either. You realize you’re a sitting duck?”

  “I had noticed,” Biddy replied. There were comets lurching through the dead cold of space that sounded more inviting than her current tone.

  “Okay, okay, I deserve the attitude. I never got a chance to talk it through with you, did I? I just thought you might like a little insider knowledge on what Chief Campbell is planning.”

  Biddy felt her eye begin to twitch. “You know, someone on the Black Maria gave Lu Tang a datapad. Any idea how that happened.”

  Elvis grimaced. “I had to get their trust somehow. Look, I’m risking my whole career here. I could have just forgotten all about you, taken any position I wanted in Scotclan, but I’m trying to help.”

  Her finger hovered over the end call button, but something made Biddy pause. Was it wrong that she wanted to trust Elvis? She had enough plates spinning that it would be good for something to be simple, for once.

  “I’m listening,” she said.

  “Campbell knew about the Augments. I’m certain of that. He had a couple of hundred cells ready and waiting onboard his ship.”

  “Bastard,” Biddy said, although there was more resignation in her voice than anger. “What is he going to do now that they’ve gone rogue?”

  “He wants to negotiate with them, I think. He’s been calling them since they went down to the maintenance plant but they’re not picking up.”

  “Does he know about the portal drive?”

  “Yeah, he’s after that as well. But it’s the Augments he really wants. He keeps… well, he keeps calling them the Gods. He says it’s our duty to bring our Gods home.”

  “Ugh.” Biddy ground her teeth. Religious and political. This was not her idea of a fun job. If only she had never accepted the mission in the first place. She could be sunning herself on a UV bed somewhere on a rest-Sat right about now. Biddy shook her head to release the tempting image. Elvis was still talking.

  “He wants the Augments on his side. I guess he thinks Scotclan will be pretty powerful with a couple of hundred Gods working for them. Wipe out the Knights, reclaim the stars, all that sort of thing. The knowledge alone that the Augments can provide, not to mention the technology that can wipe out a solar system… Well, you can see what he’s thinking.”

  A noise behind Elvis made him start. “I’d better go. But I’ll give you the direct number for my datapad if you need me. I want to help Biddy, I swear.”

  “Just one thing,” Biddy said quickly. “Did Campbell say anything about Lu Tang? Or Kepler?”

  “I don’t think so… but he did keep saying something about a cuckoo in the nest? Could that be Lu Tang? Honestly Biddy, I think the Chief might have lost his mind.”

  “No, that makes perfect sense.” Biddy replied, her stomach churning in anger and disgust.

  “Got to go,” Elvis said, glancing behind him and then the screen went black.

  There was silence in the command room.

  “Can we believe what Elvis was saying about Chief Campbell?” Kenzie asked. “He could be trying to trick us.”

  Biddy bit her lip. “I think we have to. It makes sense. Scotclan have been playing us from the start, that much is obvious. And they clearly knew about the Augments. They just needed a dumbass detective to lead them to them.”

  Not surprisingly, every else in the room suddenly became very busy doing general ‘space stuff’. Biddy was so angry with herself she could taste bile. What the hell had she led her crew into? She should have questioned the motives of Scotclan from the start. So stupid! And Lu Tang, he had been used just as badly. More so, in fact. All so that people way above their pay grade could play their power games.

  Well, enough was enough.

  “Francesca, what’s the status of Macleod?”

  “I’ve got her in the medical room. She’s still unconscious.”

  “Then give her whatever the hell it takes to wake her up!”

  Francesca’s eyes narrowed. She had a lump above one eye where the Augment had thumped her, but she seemed as bright as ever. “I’m not going to be responsible for killing someone just because you happen to be pissed off with them, Mackay.”

  “All right, but there must be something you can try that won’t kill her?”

  The Navigator eyed the ceiling for a moment. Then she nodded slowly. “I can try a shot of something. An adrenaline derivative. It might wake her up, it might do nothing. But at least it won’t kill her.”

  “Thanks,” Biddy said, but Francesca still looked pissed as she walked out of the command room.

  “What about Lu Tang?” Hastings asked.

  “I’ve made my decision,” Biddy said, even though she didn’t feel at all certain. “In five minutes he won’t be our problem anymore.”

  Chapter 48

  Kepler was out of the airlock as soon as he had zipped up the spacesuit. No point in hanging aro
und when there were people to kill.

  At first he had thought that the girl detective had imprisoned him with her story. But now he realized that she had set him free. He could be Kepler, if he wanted to. More of a God than anyone had ever been. And he would bring his fury down upon the others.

  He’d turned off his augmented senses. They had never really worked properly anyway. He could see that now, could understand the pain that he’d been in since he left Widdershins 3. Without the mechanical aids in his brain, he knew that Mackay had been right when she said he didn’t have long to live. Well, time to make the most of those last few hours.

  He stared at the maintenance compound. He had never thought it would be possible to be so angry. The detective had neglected to give him a lethal weapon. Instead he had a stungun strapped across his back. Pointless, of course. As soon as he got inside he would make sure he was armed with something more dangerous.

  It was only a ten minute walk to the compound, even with the heavy spacesuit. On one level, Kepler could feel the muscles in his thighs trembling, his back spasming and everything else that was wrong with his failing body. But on the other he knew that he was carried by the winged angel of rage.

  He reached the compound and stood for a moment, his hand on the entry buzzer. Rage had brought him this far, but if he were to achieve his goal, he had to channel that rage with some rational thought, difficult as that may be. The Augments had not survived the eons without some modicum of intelligence. If he went in without a plan they would cut him down as soon as look at him.

  The portal drive. That was what Mackay was after. She had told him in her sternest voice that that was what mattered. But it wasn’t what mattered most to Kepler. What did he care if the entire solar system went up in flames? His days were numbered anyway.

  He keyed in the numbers he had memorized into the pad. Or tried to. The shakes were so bad now in his right hand that he got a red error message. Damn. He shut his eyes for a moment, then raised his left hand. Four unsteady movements later and the pad went green. He was in.