Only Superhuman by Christopher L. Bennett

Author:Christopher L. Bennett [Bennett, Christopher L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, cookie429, Kat, Extratorrents
ISBN: 9781429960823
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 2012-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

October 2107

Psyche herself escorted Emry on the mission, while Eliot Thorne took over managing the final days of the conference. The women left on a small, private ship, following the normal travel routes between Bolasats to remain inconspicuous—meaning they were in for a good ten days of travel, according to Psyche. Emry regretfully declined Psyche’s offer to pass the time with sex, wishing to keep her head clear until she was sure she could trust the woman.

Psyche would tell Emry little of what she was going to see, except for the ominous hint that it had something to do with Rafael Mkunu’s recent decision to step down from his dictatorship of the Zenj habitat—an act apparently motivated by grief at the loss of his only son.

But their destination turned out to be a small, dormant Outer Belt comet currently some twenty million kilometers from Zenj. It had a small mining outpost on it, nothing more than an inflatable dome attached to its side. They went incognito, with Emry donning a dark brown wig and blue contacts while Psyche dyed her hair and eyebrows jet black, donned brown contacts, and hid her butterfly tattoos with makeup. They wore loose outfits to conceal their attention-grabbing figures, plus Emry’s equipment belt, which Psyche had insisted she bring along. They completed their disguises by donning wide-brimmed hats with gauzy veils, a fashion that helped defend against the dust in places like this. Psyche wore her hair in a surprisingly compact bun beneath her hat.

It was a small outpost, so they spotted their quarry fairly quickly. “Aaron Donner? Blitz?” Emry asked when Psyche pointed him out, a lanky, spiky-haired blond man coasting recklessly along in the microgravity of the main concourse, typically unconcerned for the people who had to scramble out of his way. “Psyche, the guy isn’t even a Troubleshooter! Not a real one. The Corps wouldn’t even let that punker in the door.”

Psyche studied her, reacting to the contempt in her voice. “Your dislike sounds personal.”

“He used to be in a gang, butted heads with the Freakshow a couple times. Even then he was a creep. Now he goes around pretending to be a crimefighter, but it’s just a game for him. Something he does for the thrill, the power—the money. And he doesn’t care who gets hurt along the way.” Donner had adopted a persona fitting his thunderous surname, getting bionic and electric-eel mods that made him a walking joy buzzer, able to shock people on contact with anything up to instantly lethal intensity. He supplemented it with shockdart throwers and UV-laser lightning guns. Such weapons were nominally nonlethal, but not always, and Donner used them frequently and casually. “Plus he isn’t above taking graft or skimming off part of a bad guy’s stash when he ‘rescues’ it. He’s a sadistic merc pretending to be a hero.”

“Oh, I know all about him,” Psyche said. “I got acquainted with him a few weeks ago, in a different disguise than this. You’re right, he’s a creep.

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