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

“Blessed be,” the man said and put a hand to his chest. “I am Chief Campbell and I am here to serve.”

Kepler had watched this with some interest.  To his surprise Bela had sidled towards him and she now turned her head and spoke softly.

“What happens now?”

Kepler smiled. “Now we wait for the excrement to hit the propulsion drive, as it were.”

Chapter 51

Biddy pulled on her spacesuit for the second – or was it the third? – time that day.  Enough times for her to be sick of the smell of rubber and plastic before she even clicked on the helmet.

“You all right, ‘tec?” Francesca called over the radio.

“Just peachy,” she replied, before she could stop herself. “Sorry.  Shitty day.  Yes, all systems are go.  I’ll be at the maintenance building in five minutes.”

“All right.  The Geek is tapped into the cloud.  Looks like we’re still getting the warning signal that some of the hibernation pods are failing.  I don’t understand why they’re not doing anything about it.”

“Kepler.  Or Lu Tang, or whoever he is at the moment.  It’s got to be him.  I just hope he knows what he’s doing,” Biddy said.  And I hope he doesn’t decide to murder a bunch of people, she thought.  Especially as I sent him on his way.

“Any news on the Scotclan ship?” Biddy asked.  She was almost at the rear entrance to the maintenance compound already.  She looked around, but there didn’t seem to be anyone guarding the place.  The Augments probably had bigger things to worry about.

“Not since Campbell and the others left on the shuttle.  They should have got to the Augments by now.”

“Better get inside and see what’s going on then,” Biddy said, making her way to the metal hatch. “You got the entrance code for me?”

“Geek here,” a younger voice said, “Try 528523.  It’s the emergency override number.”

“Sure.” Biddy didn’t bother to ask how the Geek had found it out.  She punched the numbers into the pad and smiled as the door began to open.

“All right guys, I’m going in.  Don’t contact me unless it’s urgent.  The Gods know what the hell is going on in here so I need to be totally focused.”

“Be careful ‘tec,” the Geek said just before she switched her radio to mute.

Biddy kept her helmet on as she sidled into the compound.  She pulled her stungun out of its holster and double checked the settings.  She hated using the thing, but there wasn’t much choice in a building full of enemy Augments.  At least she wouldn’t kill them, although the thought of a hundred or so angry Gods waking up after she had shot them was not a cheery one.

She tapped her datapad and brought up a map of the compound.  Once again, she mentally thanked the Geek.  Now she just had to find a way to get to the chamber where all the alarms were going off – and where she knew she would find Lu Tang right in the middle of it all – without being spotted.  She looked to her right where a small hatch led to a maintenance duct.  She guessed she could just about squeeze in, then wriggle her way along over the course of half an hour…

Biddy shook her head.  Screw that.  She double checked the plan.  If she took the corridor that led around the perimeter she would get to the room in five minutes.  She would just have to be prepared to hide if anyone came past.

Five minutes later she was hiding in a store cupboard right next to the main chamber.  It had all been a little too easy.  The Augments had disappeared.  Biddy didn’t realize she was biting her lip until she tasted the salt of fresh blood.  What the hell was going on?  Well, the chamber had only one entrance, so it looked like she was going to have to knock on the front door.  She put her hand on the cupboard door handle.  What was the worst that could happen?

Well, instant death at the hands of a hundred vengeful Gods.  Clearly.  But Biddy Mackay was a Detective, first and foremost and she knew that sometimes you’ve got to just burst your way in somewhere and deal with the consequences later.

She pulled open the cupboard door and moved towards the chamber.  To her surprise, the main door was open.  But if Biddy was surprised by this she was a hell of a lot more surprised to see Chief Campbell and the Scotclan standing just inside, their weapons trained on the Augments.

Chapter 52

“What a disappointment you are, Kepler,” Chief Campbell said, his gun pointed directly at his enemy’s face.

Kepler shrugged.  He should have thought up some sort of witty retort, but he was struggling to form the words.  He just hoped no one had realized yet that he was totally incapable of getting up from his chair.  It had been ten minutes since he’d lost all sensation in his legs, and he had a horrible feeling it was permanent.  How irritating.

Another one of the pods started beeping.  Augustus ran his hand repeatedly over his bald head.  Kepler found it comforting to know that even genuine Gods could develop nervous tics.

“Why are the alarms going off?” One of the tartan-clad men asked.  He had a face like an old-earth rodent.

“Kepler here has decided to kill our sleeping friends, Faithful one,” Augustus said. “I assume you have arrived to stop him.”

“Ummn, yes,” said the newly-Christened Faithful one, adding hurriedly, “Blessed be to the Gods.”

Kepler snorted a laugh.  It seemed that Mackay was not the only member of Scotclan who had little time for the Faith.

“I can only apologize for this situation, my Lord,” Campbell said, addressing Augustus in his most obsequious voice. “I am afraid