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

unless she was very good at double-bluff and Lu Tang didn’t think she had the brains.

Someone on the crew, then.  Bad news for Mackay.  The young Detective probably thought she was in charge.  Idiot human.

The datapad had told him only one thing then, that there was an agent of the Voice onboard the ship.  Did that mean he could count on them for help?  Possibly.  But it could just as easily mean that there was someone checking up on him.  Making sure that he didn’t back out of his agreement.  And there would be consequences of that, he was sure.

And if Mackay decided not to help him?  Well, he was still a God.  He had plenty of ways of getting humans to do exactly what he wanted.

Chapter 33

“What did the Augment say?” Elvis asked as soon as Biddy closed the cell door.

“He wants my help.” Biddy watched the tube lighting strobe across the engineer’s stubble. “He thinks that a group of Augments were imprisoned years ago by the gangs of Eritree.  Put in stasis or something.  He wants to get them out.”

Elvis frowned. “You’re not planning on helping him, are you?”

“No.  At least, not unless he comes up with a decent plan and a more convincing story.  But I’m not ready to hand him over to Scotclan yet either.  Can you put a call through to Campbell and stall for time?”

“Sure.  I guess he’ll be happy to talk to the ship’s Captain.”

Biddy rolled her eyes. “Acting Captain.”

“Sorry!” He held his hands up in surrender. “I would hate to upset you.”

“Never stopped you before.”

“Well, you have a God, a member of Scotclan and the Captain of your own ship in the cells,” Elvis said with a wry grin.

“And do you have a point?”

“No, no.  I mean, don’t get mad and lock me up too.”

“Not very funny,” Biddy hissed at him, rubbing her temples.  She was so tired it was getting hard to think.  The Augment’s story had just confused things even more.  She had gone into this mission thinking it was all about the demise of the Westward Ho!.  But if she were to believe the God then it was actually about something else entirely.  The wrongful imprisonment of innocent people.

“Can I be honest for a second?”

Biddy sighed.  She had a feeling she wouldn’t like what was coming next. “Sure.”

“Are you treating this guy differently because he’s a God?”

Biddy’s spine stiffened. “Of course not!”

Elvis turned his handsome face towards her. “It’s just that the evidence stacks up against him.  Plenty of reputable sources think he was to blame for what happened on the Westward Ho!.  Scotclan themselves even think he did it.  Don’t you think if this was any other suspect, you’d have sent him for judgement already?”

“That’s unfair,” she said.

“Is it?  You’re risking a hell of a lot for this guy.  Your career’s already on thin ice after you came up against Campbell down on the planet.  If you help the Augment you’ll lose your badge.”

“I know.  I’m not planning on helping him.  I just want to get to the bottom of all this.  Between what happened with Macleod and the Augment’s stories about the lost Gods, I just can’t let it go yet.”

“I don’t want to see you hurt.” Elvis had moved so that he was close to her.  A little too close.  She could smell his aftershave and feel the heat from his chest.

Biddy took a step backwards. “I’m the ‘tec here.  You don’t have to worry about me.  You just have to follow orders.”

His charming smile turned down at the corners. “All right, I get the picture.  I’ll just head back to the command room and await instruction.” He turned around and strode down the corridor.

Biddy let out a breath.  Damnit.  Elvis hadn’t deserved that.  She needed someone to keep a check on her.  And the truth was, she was risking everything by even considering trusting the Augment.  And yet there was just something about this case that itched at the back of her neck.

Even from the first moment she agreed to take the plastic man’s money, she had had reservations.  It just all felt a little too staged, a little too unreal.  An Augment escapes a facility where he has been imprisoned, and no one will tell her what for or why.  Next he commits a terrible crime so that he can be arrested and thrown into prison once more.  All for what?  Scotclan didn’t have an answer for the Augment’s motive.  And Lu Tang’s own reasoning was just as farfetched.  Were there any Gods hidden down on the planet, waiting for someone to come and save them?  It didn’t seem possible.

Her datapad buzzed. “Yes, Geek?”

“Francesca’s been fielding calls from Scotclan and Eritree.  How did the interview with the suspect go?”

“It was rather… interesting.”

“You’re not handing him over then?”

“Not just yet.  Listen, I need you to do another research job for me.  Did you start checking out the Council of Eritree?”

“Of course, as soon as they accosted you on the surface.  It’s much as you would expect.  When the mining gangs became more powerful they installed themselves as proto-governments.  It’s happened all over the galaxy.  The Eritree Council are no different from the others, except they have a reputation for ruthlessness.  Not many people complain about them but that seems to be because anyone who comes up against them disappears down a mine shaft.”

“Noted.  I want you to keep looking at them, and any other factions on Eritree, but keep your eyes out for any connections to the Augments.”

“What exactly does that mean?”

“Lu Tang or whatever his name is… wait, he said he used to be called Kepler.  Stick that name in the search.  Actually, I’ll get Kenzie to do that one.  Lu Tang said that there are