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

“I have had a hundred names over twice as many years.  I go by Lu Tang now, but I can tell you that I was once called Kepler. I’m not sure if anyone remembers that name.”

“Were you ever on Saturn?” Biddy said, remembering her research.

The Augment raised his eyebrows. “I’m impressed.  Perhaps you are not as useless as you seem.  I nearly died there, a long time ago.  But Augments are more resilient than the humans imagine.  We are not easy to kill.”

Biddy stared at him, trying to remember her research on the Augments. “If you were on Saturn then the radiation burns would still show.”

Lu Tang touched his left cheek. “Years of surgery.  The best of Augment technology.  If you had seen my face before… well, it would give you nightmares.”

Biddy rubbed her chin.  Elvis would be getting nervous outside.  She needed the Augment to get to the point, and fast.

“Go on with the plan,” she told him.

“It’s simple.  I have the location of the prisoners.  They are in suspended animation.  I go in there and wake them up.  Then I take them home.”

“Which is?”

“Mars.  That planet is still the home of the Augment Council, in name if not in practice.  They will have to take them in.”

“Mmn.” Biddy didn’t share the Augment’s optimism.  Mars had changed hands more times than she could count.  She knew there was still a temple for the Faithful there, but as for any actual Augments… well, they might be less welcome.  Not everyone liked their Gods to turn up at their Church begging for a place to stay.

“Why do you need my help?”

“I would have thought it was obvious.  I’m stuck here.  I need you to let me go and help my friends.  After that you can turn me over to your Scotclan or anyone else for that matter.  I just want to complete my mission.”

“Can’t your Voice help you out?”

“Not in this.  Look, I think you’re a pathetic, underaged human who would be better playing at home with her toys.  But you’re the only person here who seems willing to talk to me.”

“I can’t imagine why.  You have such outstanding social skills.”

The Augment blinked once, then carried on. “When the Augments have awoken they will be able to make their own way to Mars.  I do not intend to follow them.  My work will be done.”

“And what will you do then?” Biddy asked, ignoring the fact that he would most likely be sent to a Scotclan prison cell.

“I will rest.”

Lu Tang’s head hung low.  He almost looked like he had fallen asleep.  Biddy stared at him, watching his shoulders raise and fall with each breath.  What the hell was he?  A God?  A murderer?  Or a victim, trying to help others?

“I don’t think I can make this decision,” Biddy said, shaking her head. “I need to speak to Scotclan.  Your friends are not my responsibility.”

“You have the Faith?” The Augment said, lifting his head to meet her eyes.

“I was brought up in it.  But since then I have found other interests, I guess you could say.”

“Your Gods were there for you, weren’t they?”

“Umn, well, it’s not really my place to say.  I know the Faithful think that they were,” Biddy said hesitantly.  It was very difficult to be a cynical atheist when speaking directly to one of your Gods.

“We looked after you!” Lu Tang’s voice was raised now.  The twitch under his eye was like an insect crawling under the skin. “We gave you life on that miserable little mining planet.  Without us looking out for the congregation you would have perished a hundred times.  And what did we get in return?  A few decades of worship and then you forget all about us.”

“That’s not true.”

“Really?  My friends have been missing for decades.  Did no one ever wonder what happened to the rest of the Augments?  I mean, they were your Gods!”

Biddy shrank backwards over the force of his fury.  She was beginning to wonder if he had lost his mind.  Had there ever been talk of missing Gods?  She tried to remember the stories of her childhood, but she had never really believed in them.  Now she wished she had listened a little more carefully.

While Biddy tried to recover long-lost memories, Lu Tang had stood up and was practically vibrating with rage.

“I mean, I know that humans are stupid, but I would have thought that you could at least count!”

“Hey,” Biddy said, “that’s enough.  Any more insults and I’ll call up Scotclan right now, okay?”

The Augment took a couple of ragged breaths. “I… lost control.  But you can understand why, can’t you?  I mean, if it was your family involved…”

“I understand.  Now tell me the rest of the story.  I need to understand why the Augments were imprisoned.  Otherwise how will I decide whether or not they should be released?”

“It’s hard to compress three centuries of history into a single line of narrative.  For me, this whole situation began with the advent of Fast Light.”

Elvis would be breaking down the door in a minute. “Perhaps we could skip a little bit ahead.  Say, a century or so.”

“All right.” The Augment closed his eyes in concentration.  Biddy was seriously concerned about his mental state.  He seemed to veer from manic energy to lethargy within an instant.  It made it very hard to trust anything he said.

“When the Augments invented the Fast Light engine they got greedy.  They sold the plans to the humans and soon every planet was manufacturing their own interstellar craft.  It made the Augments rich, but there was a problem.”

“What?”

“Money doesn’t last for ever.  You can be rich for ten years.  Fifty even.  But the money runs out in the end.  So