God's Bounty Hunter (Biddy Mackay Space Detective Book 1) by T Olivant (reading in the dark .txt) 📕

in any planetary atmosphere.  Either way, it had been ludicrously easy to track it’s landing path.

By the time it reached the ground, Biddy and her bodyguard were already running across the surface to meet it.  She should have probably waited for more backup, but the small landing craft didn’t have room and it would take hours to land the Black Maria.  Better to get there before anything else could go wrong.

Phil had shot through the control mechanism for the pod as soon it landed.  He trained his gun on the doors while Biddy prized them open.

“You’re under arrest!” she called out on autopilot while pointing her stun gun at the solitary figure inside.

“I can see that,” a grumpy voice said.  It was then that she noticed that the Augment was still harnessed from his rocky descent.  Trapped by the craft’s own safety measures.  It was all she could do not to laugh aloud.  A clammy, pale figure, already bound up for his arrest.  It was hardly the menacing God she had been imagining for the past few weeks.

“Don’t move!” Phil shouted as he climbed into the life-raft, his gun still trained on the Augment.

“Rather unnecessary, don’t you think,” the Augment snapped in reply.

“I’m going to undo the restraints and then I want you to put both hands on your head.” Biddy said, her voice steady.  This was what she had been trained for. “Climb out when I tell you.”

The Augment did exactly as he was told.  Biddy kept her stunner raised just in case, but even a God had to know when he was beaten.  Exhilaration mixed with relief in her mind.  After the events onboard the starglider, she was just glad that nobody had had to fire a weapon.

When he climbed out of the life-raft she finally got a good look at him.  He had had some surgery done on his face to mitigate the scarring that the Augmentation process caused, but his true nature was easy enough to see if you knew what you were looking for.  A jagged line of scar tissue down the right side of his neck indicated where they would have augmented the connections to his central nervous system.  The outline of metal plates could just be discerned under his razor short hair to the right of his temple.  The pinpoint holes along his brow that indicated where hundreds of injections had inserted tiny processors to control his hormones.

All the little things that told her she was not looking at a human being.  She was staring at a God.

Biddy swallowed. “I am here to take you into custody on behalf of Scotclan.”

“Scotclan?”

“The interstellar law enforcement agency.”

“Ah, one of those.  Well, you’ll just have to wait your turn.”

Biddy narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t come here to wait.  Come over here and put on the restraints.”

The Augment simply shook his head. “Humans!  When will you ever learn to stay out of the business of those that are infinitely older and wiser than you?”

“I think that when you commit a crime then you make it our business.”

Out of the corner of her eye Biddy caught sight of movement.  It was Phil and he was raising his weapon once more.  It wasn’t the non-lethal stunner either.  Crap.  If he hit the Augment with a shot from that he’d be dead before the week was out.  Why did no one ever remember about the murder clause?

Biddy tried to catch Phil’s eye but it was impossible without giving away his position to the Augment who was still rambling on about something.

“Escaping from your tormentors is a crime now, is it?” The Augment said.  This made Biddy’s blood boil.

“No, but murder is.”

“Murder?” The Augment looked confused.  Biddy was horrified.  Was he so out of touch with reality that he had forgotten the deaths he had caused mere weeks ago?

“The Westward Ho!.  You sabotaged it.  Hundreds of innocent people died.”

“You think I downed the Westward Ho!?  Idiot human.” He dismissed her with a look and started to wander back to the life-raft.  Biddy was tempted to just let Phil shoot him.  Maybe they could hide the body somewhere?

“I am here to arrest you for the murder of every person onboard the Westward Ho!.  I do so on the authority of Scotclan.  It is recommended that you come willingly or I will use force.”

The Augment barely glanced at her. “I think you have bigger problems.  Why don’t you take a look at the screens?”

Biddy kept the stungun trained on the Augment while she let her eyes drift to the viewscreen onboard the life-craft.  It showed a scan of the area of space above them.  An area that was becoming much more crowded.

“Who the hell are they?” Biddy yelled.

“No idea.” The Augment sounded almost gleeful. “Shall we find out?”

Chapter 22

It was rather pleasing to see the young Detective’s mouth fall open when she saw the three starships converging on their location from the clouds.  It was less pleasing to realize that he was going to be picked over like everyone’s favorite carcass.

“Damn it, why didn’t Hastings warn us?”

“Our radios were off for the arrest.”

“Shit!” The woman touched a button on her spacesuit.  Lu Tang saw her flinch as presumably a voice shouted down the line at her.

“Okay, I’m reading you now, Hastings.  You say two out of the three ships have made contact?” There was a pause, then she continued. “Yes, we’ve got the Augment.  And you can tell them that I have no plans to hand him over until I have questioned him.  Make it clear that this is non-negotiable.”

There seemed to be more frantic chatter on the radio.  All the while the hired muscle kept his gun pointed at Lu Tang.  Idiot.  He’d have been better pointing it at the sky.  That was where the real