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

feel a hot itch at the back of his neck and his hands kept clenching into fists.  His testosterone and adrenaline readings were in the danger zone and he didn’t seem capable of lowering them.  Was this how humans felt all the time?  How did they ever get anything done?

The door slammed open and Lu Tang looked up wearily.  What did the Detective want now?

“Stand up you old bastard!”

It wasn’t the Detective.  It was the voice from the other side of the wall.  An old woman about half his size who was brandishing what looked like a section of metal door.  She was covered in some sort of dust.  Had she tunneled her way out?

“You must be Macleod.”

“You lied to me.” Her eyes were wide and staring like she had overdosed on some sort of rage hormone. “You said you would fight the stupid Detective.  Why didn’t you?”

“I weighed up the possibilities and took the most sensible decision.”

“Bloody Augment.”

“Indeed.”

Macleod stepped towards him.  Lu Tang wondered what had happened to the people in charge of the cells.  Shouldn’t they be rushing in to save him?  Another example of lax command from the young Detective.  He would have to admonish her about it later.

“I want you to tell me your name,” Macleod said, advancing in his direction.

“You know it.  Lu Tang.”

“That was what my bosses told me.  But I got to thinking about it when you betrayed me earlier.  What cowardly Augment would treat a person like that?  I’ve known several of your kind over the years.  I can smell out a corrupt Augment at a thousand paces.  And that’s why I want you to tell me your name.  Your real one.”

He could have lied, of course, but he wanted to find out why the woman was so irate. “My name is Kepler.”

There was a crash as she slammed the metal strip into the wall beside his head.  Despite himself, Lu Tang flinched.

“Kepler!  I knew it was you.  The bastard that killed my men on Petrichor.”

Petrichor.  It rang a distant bell.  Something to do with Saturn, around the time he got his radiation burns.  He couldn’t remember much about that time other than fire and pain.  Lots of pain.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” he said.

“Oh yes you do.  I never saw your face then, but they told me you had been reconstructed.  You helped the Knights attack the station.  You claimed to be helping our people at first and we trusted you.  Of course we did, you were a God!  But then you used all that information against us, worked with the Knights to break down the station’s defenses.  It was down to me to stop you.  If I had let the Knights win then the Clans would have lost everything.  So instead I had to make a sacrifice.  And I would do it again in a heartbeat.  The men understood what they were dying for, but if it hadn’t been for you it wouldn’t have been necessary.”

Lu Tang wished she would just shut up and attack him.  Her words were jumbled in his aching head.  Had he worked with the Knights?  He vaguely knew about the organization.  Rich humans in silly robes, but had they attacked a space station?  It was just so hard to remember.

“The Detective will be furious if you kill me,” Lu Tang said, stalling for time.  He looked around for a means of escape, but Macleod was blocking the door.

“That little twerp?  I’ve crushed girls like her without stopping to wipe my boots.  No, I’m not worried about Mackay one little bit.”

“What about Scotclan?” There really were no weapons to hand in the cell.  A serious design flaw.

“I’ll have done them a favor.  The murderer of the Westward Ho! will be dead and they won’t even have to pay for a trial.  Case closed.”

“You said you knew I didn’t bring down that ship.”

“Won’t matter when you’re dead.”

She lunged at him but he had seen it coming a mile away.  He used his right arm to block the metal bar and only felt a small flicker of pain.  Good.  Not all his Augmented abilities were malfunctioning.

A low animal noise issued from the human’s mouth.  She kicked out with her right leg and caught him a glancing blow on the shin as he moved backwards.

“Humans, always so irrational,” he said calmly as he parried another thrust from the makeshift weapon.

“Stop that!” The old woman shrieked.  He moved backward, but now his back was against the wall and there was nowhere to go.  Damnit, he was going to be forced to kill the stupid creature.

Lu Tang shoved the woman to one side in an attempt to get past her to the door.  If he could get hold of Mackay then perhaps she –

A thump pushed the air out of his chest as Macleod’s boot caught his ribs.

“More spritely than I look, aren’t I?” she laughed as he staggered back, only just avoiding falling. “I’m going to kill you with my bare hands!”

“Enough,” Lu Tang said, once he had caught his breath.  He drew himself up and punched once, connecting with the woman’s temple.

She went down like a sack of space junk.

Just at that moment there was the sound of voices and running footsteps.

“Late as ever,” Lu Tang said mildly as Mackay entered the room.

“What the hell?” Mackay shouted when she saw the mess in her cell.  Macleod was slumped against the wall.  The Detective walked over and checked her pulse.

“Unconscious,” she said.

“Yes.  I ensured I did not use fatal force.  A simple equation really when one considers tendon strength and muscle tension.  I did have to allow for a particularly thick skull in this case.”

“Why were you fighting her?”

“She was fighting me.”

“Why?”

Lu Tang