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

felt a drop of wetness above his lip.  He reached up to touch it.  Blood.  The damn woman had drawn blood. “She didn’t like me.  Blamed me for something that happened on a space station orbiting Saturn.”

“And were you to blame?”

“Not sure.”

The Detective’s lip curled upward in dissatisfaction. “How can you not be sure?”

“I am having some trouble with my cerebral functions.” This was an understatement.  His whole spine pulsed with pain and he was seeing double.  His battle with Macleod hadn’t helped his already overwrought systems.  He leaned against the wall so that Mackay wouldn’t see how close he was to collapsing.

The young Detective stood up, leaving Macleod sprawled on the floor.  She tapped her datapad. “Francesca, I need a medical assessment in the Augment’s cell.  No, not him.  Take your time, it’s Macleod and she’s not going anywhere.”

The woman turned back to Lu Tang. “How do I know that you didn’t attack her?  Maybe to try and gain my sympathy or something.”

The Augment clicked his tongue.  The Detective was irritating him with her pointless questions. “You think I lured her in here to attack her?  Surely you’re not that stupid.”

“You really know how to get a girl on your side.”

Why did humans always resort to sarcasm?

“Have you decided to help save the Gods imprisoned on Eritree?” Lu Tang asked, tiring of the Macleod distraction.

“I just don’t see how I can trust you.”  The Detective was telling him that she wasn’t going to help.  But there was something in her manner, some watchfulness in her eyes that told him he still had a chance.  He just had to convince her.  Lu Tang’s mouth was dry.  It had been decades since he had spent this much time in the company of a human, and he had forgotten how to talk to them.  With so much riding on the Detective’s assistance, her couldn’t afford to get it wrong.  Just how would he get her on his side?

“You are only a human,” Lu Tang said. “You should listen to a person of infinitely greater intellect than yourself.  Anything else is illogical.”

That ought to do it, he thought.

The human detective stared at him for a long time.

“Bite me,” she said.  She grabbed the unresponsive body of Macleod and dragged it out of the door, slamming it shut behind her.

Chapter 35

“Arrogant bastard!” Biddy yelled as she strode down the corridor.  Phil and Francesca came around the corner, spotted her and stood with their mouths open.

“What the hell happened!” Her bodyguard pointed at Macleod’s body which Biddy had dumped against a wall.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t me.”

Francesca hurried past and knelt to examine the Observer.  Biddy knew she ought to hope that the woman wasn’t badly hurt, but somehow she didn’t really care.

“The Augment did this?” Phil asked.

“Yep.  He claimed that Macleod broke into his room.  Actually, judging by the state of her cell door, that’s probably true.  Just how the hell did she manage to break out anyway?”

“She’s Scotclan, isn’t she?”

“You’re right.  She probably designed the bloody things.” Better cell doors, Biddy thought, another item for her list of things she needed to get on top of.

“You shouldn’t have gone into his cell alone,” Phil said, his lip pouted. “You could have ended up the same way as Macleod.”

Biddy shrugged.  She wasn’t going to argue with her bodyguard.  He was probably right, but she hadn’t had time to think.  She’d just seen the open door and gone to help the Augment.

Her datapad beeped. “Yes?”

“Campbell wants to speak to you,” Elvis said over the voice call.

“I’m not taking Scotclan’s calls at the moment.”

“It’s not a call.”

Biddy looked up at her bodyguard.  Phil’s expression of horror was a mirror of Biddy’s own. “What do you mean, Elvis?”

“When we landed on Eritree to offload Tibo, Chief Campbell took the opportunity to come onboard.  Without waiting for an invitation.”

Something about the strain in Elvis’s voice filtered through to Biddy’s brain. “He’s right there in the command room with you, isn’t he?”

“Affirmative.”

Biddy fought the urge to scream. “I’ll be there in less than a minute.”

“He’d also like to speak to Macleod.”

Biddy stared at end of the corridor where Francesca was currently laying the woman onto a stretcher.

“He’ll have to wait.  She is a prisoner, after all.  Tell him I’ll be right up.”

Biddy clicked to end the call. “Francesca, how bad is it?”

“She’s unconscious and she’s taken a bit of a beating but she’ll live.”

“Do me a favor and keep her sedated for a while.  Last thing I need is her turning up when Campbell is on board.”

“Right-o,” Francesca said cheerily, as if they weren’t all in a steaming heap of trouble.  And it was only going to get worse.

Fifty-seven seconds later and Biddy was back in the command room.

“Welcome aboard, Chief,” she said, panting, not managing to conceal the edge to her voice.

Campbell straightened the lapel of his suit.  He looked like he might be about to attend a dinner party, or a dance across the ice fields of New Saturn.  Biddy tried not to think about how long it had been since she had showered.

She positioned herself right behind the Captain’s chair, making sure that Campbell was off to one side.  Phil gave her a warning look.  She paid his wages, but he was Scotclan through and through.  If it came down to it would he choose her over Campbell?  Not a chance.

“Detective Mackay,” Campbell said, holding out his hand.  She shook it, making sure to keep eye contact.  If the Chief wanted a pissing contest, she was determined not to be beaten. “Could we speak in your office?”

“I think, in the circumstances, I would prefer to have the conversation in the command room.  I owe it to my crew to