God's Bounty Hunter (Biddy Mackay Space Detective Book 1) T Olivant (free ebook reader for pc .txt) 📖

that,” Biddy said, choking down a giggle. “Let me guess, you’ve got someone waiting next door?”

“I don’t know where you got that filthy mind from, youngster.  And there might be a handsome Venusian pilot waiting in there so please make it quick.”

Biddy tried not to be depressed that her mother’s love life was so much more interesting than her own.

“I just need to run a name by you, mum.  We’ve got a woman on the ship, an observer sent by Scotclan.”

“They’ve put you under observation?” Biddy’s mother bristled with indignation.

“I know.  But it’s not a problem, only I need to know what I’m up against.  Her name is Cher Macleod.”

“Macleod?  Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“Damnit Biddy, you are really in the brown stuff now.  I thought that old hag was long dead.  She trained Grand Chief Forbes himself, back in the day.  We used to be scared of her back in the off-world satellites twenty years ago.  She was an enforcer for the miners on Iona Beach.”

Iona Beach.  The words kept haunting this mission.

“What did Macleod have to do with Iona Beach?”

Biddy’s mother rubbed some cream into her hands but she didn’t break eye contact. “When the Knights evicted the Celts from the planet they kept some of the Clans to do the mining, you know that, right?”

“Right,” Biddy rubbed her chin, trying to remember. “But Scotclan wasn’t happy about the ones that stayed.  They said they couldn’t be part of the Celtic alliance if they collaborated with the Knights.”

“Uh huh.  That’s what it was like at first.  Us and them.  And the ones that stayed on the planet were the first to become part of the Faith.”

Biddy massaged her temples.  She couldn’t help but feel that this was all vitally important, but all she wanted was a hot shower and a sleep.

“Okay, but somehow the whole Celtic alliance ended up worshipping the Gods.”

“Eventually, yes.  But the rift never really healed.  The people who stayed on Tirnanog didn’t want to be part of the Clans by that point.  They were kind of pissed off that Scotclan hadn’t backed them up.  I don’t know the details, this was all before I was even born.”

“So how does Macleod fit into it?”

“The people on Tirnanog were being courted by the Knights.  They have always opposed the Gods and you know how it ended.”

“There was an uprising,” Biddy said, more sure about this part of the story. “The people on Tirnanog took it from the Augments and declared allegiance to the Knights.”

Mary nodded. “And the Clans lost Iona Beach, Tirnanog and the whole shebang.  Anyway, the part you might not know is that they didn’t want to stop there.  They wanted all the planets controlled by the Clans.  There were skirmishes for decades.  One of the nastiest was on one of the moons of Saturn.  Twenty years ago there was a massive off-world satellite orbiting Saturn.  It used the gravity pull of one of the moons.  Its name was Petrichor.”

A tug of memory pulled at Biddy, but she was tired and it was hard to keep up. “There was… wasn’t there a battle or something?”

“That’s right.  The Knights were making a stand.  They wanted to take the satellite from the Clans.  Of course, it was a gesture more than anything else.  There were only twenty people on the satellite, it was just an old research station.  But they fought back.”

“That was Macleod?”

“Oh yes.  Twenty people onboard the satellite and by the time the battle was over there was only one left.  Macleod.”

“But I thought the Clan won?  The Knights retreated to Tirnanog.”

“They won all right.  But the word is that Macleod sacrificed every single person onboard to make it happen.  When Scotclan came aboard they found Macleod sealed in the control room.  It was the only area of the ship that still had oxygen.  All the other airlocks had been opened.  She had sacrificed the lot of them.”

“Why?”

“To stop the Knights getting the satellite.  They couldn’t come aboard if the place was already a vacuum.  That was how we won the war.  A nice wee bedtime story for you.”

“That’s great.” Biddy felt bile rising in her throat. “And now I’m stuck with Macleod on my ship.”

Her mother nodded. “Watch your back, that’s all I’m saying.  Since Saturn she’s been employed as a fixer by Scotclan and she’s still as ruthless as ever.  Now can I get back to my friend?”

“Sure.  Bye mum.”

Chapter 14

Hadn’t some famous Earthen thinker said that the point of weapons was to make them look so scary that you never had to use them?  That was what was on Lu Tang’s mind as he looked at the rocket that Tibo caressed with one wrinkled hand.  It was as big as ten men, shined so that it reflected the stars and covered in warning symbols.

“You’re sure it will do the job?” He asked Tibo.

“You fire this towards the entrance to one of the mines it’ll collapse the whole thing.  It’s called an oscillator because it creates pulses of force.  That takes care of fifty miles worth of tunnels.”

“Excellent.” Lu Tang stifled a yawn.  He was definitely having some difficulty with his augmented senses.  He should have been racing along on manufactured adrenaline, but he felt like going for a nap.  Perhaps it was all the mental effort of the last few days.  After so long planning everything from his prison cell on Widdershins 3, it was a completely different challenge to actually arrange things in person.  He found talking to humans like Tibo increasingly taxing.  And the rocket felt too much like a lump hammer being used to thread a needle.

“I’ve considered which of the mines might meet your requirements,” Tibo said, handing Lu Tang a datapad.

“Have you checked for active miners?”

Tibo peered at