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

stress, nervous system was reporting no anomalies.  But there was an anomaly, even if it was a small one.  Perhaps the last few weeks of exertion had misaligned some aspect of his physiology.  Shame he didn’t have the facilities for a full medical.  His captors were probably unlikely to provide him with one.

He closed his eyes once more.  In ten minutes he would give the Detective her answer.  No point in worrying about it until then.

A sound made him sit back up.  The door opened and a man he had never seen before walked in.  He wore a spacesuit with a pilot’s badge on the side and when he entered he made sure to lock the door behind him.

“Hello murderer,” the man said, almost casually. “Do Gods say prayers?  If so you might want to think of a few right now.”

It was then that Lu Tang noticed the man was holding a gun.

Chapter 27

Biddy looked at her datapad.  It was time to check on her prisoner, but something was making her hesitate.  The Augment unsettled her, that was the problem.  In her brief time as a Detective she had apprehended seven murderers.  And this Lu Tang was not like any of them.

Murderers were either cocky or terrified.  This guy had been neither.  Sure, there was an element of the cocky about him, a sort of general Godly arrogance, but that had disappeared when she had mentioned the deaths of the people onboard the Westward Ho!.  When she had asked him about the ship he hadn’t seemed cocky.  Or afraid.  He had seemed vaguely confused, like he had missed something important.  And that wasn’t the reaction of a guilty man.

Shit.  Biddy rubbed her face.  She wasn’t starting to think he might be innocent, was she?  She put down her datapad and walked back towards the cells.  It was time for the Augment to answer her questions.  If he still refused then she would have no choice but to hand him over to Scotclan.  And maybe that would be for the best.  At least then he would be someone else’s problem.

When Biddy entered the room she knew instantly that it had all gone to shit.  The Augment was not lying on the bench.  He was standing against the wall with his hands on his head.  And there was a man in front of him pointing a gun right between his eyes.

“Hastings!  Put that gun down!”

“Walk away, Biddy.  Just turn your back and walk away.”

Biddy edged closer.  She could see the sweat running down the Captain’s temple.

“I can’t do that, Hastings.”

“He killed my brother!” Biddy felt an almost physical pain looking at the Captain.  She could see how much this was costing him.  He was a practical man not given to big gestures.  He would never have hurt anyone normally.  And yet, for him to go this far meant that he fully intended to go through with it.

As well as the horror that was rising up from the soles of her feet, Biddy couldn’t help but feel wracked with guilt.  Biddy Mackay, foolish young space Detective, had put Hastings in this situation and she would have to be the one to talk him out of it.  The alternative was unthinkable.

“I’m not sure that’s true,” Biddy said, trying to keep her tone light rather than going into hysterics. “The evidence is not as clear as we thought.”

“He’s got you believing his lies now.  Look at him!  He’s not even human anymore.  How can you trust anything he says?”

“I don’t.  He’s a liar and a thief.  But I’m not sure he is responsible for the Westward Ho!.  Please Hastings, don’t forget about the murder clause.  He’s just not worth it.”

“But…”

“Your life and your family’s lives.  That’s what it’ll cost if you kill him.  Is that really what you want?”

Hastings shook his head but he didn’t lower the gun.

Biddy took a ragged breath. “Remember when we were chasing that rogue symbot across the surface of the Moon?  The whole time I didn’t look back to see if you were following me.  Why was that, Captain?”

“Because you didn’t need to,” Hastings said, and Biddy praised whatever was left of her shattered faith that he was willing to go along with her this far.

“I didn’t need to.  Because I knew that you would always be right there behind me, where I needed you to be.  Well, I need you now Hastings.  I need you to stay with me.  If you shoot this asshole now then I’ll lose you.  And you’re going to lose a hell of a lot more.”

“We could just push him out an airlock.  No one would know.”

“Do you think the idea hasn’t occurred to me?  Sure, we get rid of this bastard and the universe is a little bit richer for it.  But what happens the next time we take a suspect?  Do we do the same?  And the next time?  I signed up to Scotclan to be a Detective, not a vigilante.  And I think you did too.”

The gun was wavering now in Hastings hand.  But it was still pointed at the Augment.  If the God only lost a limb then would the murder charge still hold?  Biddy didn’t particularly want to find out.

“Please, Captain.  You’ve trusted me before.  Do it now.  Put the gun down and walk away.”

Hastings hesitated, just for a second.  Biddy used that moment to position herself between him and the Augment.

“Sorry,” Hastings whispered.

“It’s okay,” Biddy said, taking the gun from his hand.

“I wasn’t saying it to you.  I’m saying it to my brother.  I’m sorry I didn’t have the guts to kill the bastard for him.”

Biddy took a deep breath.  And then another.

“What now ‘Tec?” said a voice from the doorway.  Biddy turned to see Phil standing with a gun in his hand.  It was