"Yeah, well I gave her a chance." Harriet crossed to Teresa in two strides and kicked the woman's stunner away. Then she crouched to check her pulse.
"Is she…?" began Alice.
"She'll live," muttered Harriet. She drew the gun from her jacket and checked the dial. "She's lucky. I thought I'd set it higher than that."
— ♦ —
Harriet glanced at Alice, who still looked stunned. "Are you all right?"
"Five seconds ago you were pleading for your life! If you had a gun all along, why didn't you just shoot her?"
"For the last time, Alice. We're Peace Force! I had to give her a chance to come good."
"And then you shot her."
"She was determined to go through with it. I could see it in her eyes." Harriet shrugged. "I guess we finally met the real Teresa Smith."
"Remind me never to look at you funny," muttered Alice. "Anyway, how come you brought the gun along? Getting you to carry a weapon is next to impossible."
"I didn't trust Teresa. Never did."
"Why not? She's been helpful all this time, so why were you suspicious?"
"Tell you later. We have to sort this lot out first." Harriet picked up an unopened box and tested the weight. "These things weigh a ton. We're going to need a van or something."
Alice eyed the boxes piled high on the pallet. "It's all worthless, Harriet. No better than a bunch of parking tokens. It was so stupid of my uncle to die for this."
Harriet patted her on the shoulder sympathetically, then nodded at Teresa. "Give me a hand with her?"
"Yeah. What are we going to do with her though?"
"Hand her over to security."
They dragged Teresa outside, and while Harriet propped her against the wall, Alice closed the roller door and fastened the lock.
"Good idea," said Harriet.
"I'm tempted to leave it open," said Alice. "If someone took the lot it would save us a load of bother."
Harriet shook her head. "Best if nobody disturbs the scene before the local security people arrive. They'll need statements from us, too, if they're going to book Teresa."
"Isn't that going to be a problem? You told me the commander wasn't happy with you last time."
Harriet remembered her promise to run any future missions past the Vasquez commander. "This wasn't a mission, we were just getting your stuff back."
"Yeah, bet she doesn't see it like that." Alice tilted her head. "Is that a siren?"
"I can't hear anything."
"They say your hearing goes as you get older."
"Cheeky swine. I should have let her shoot you."
"You should have told me you had a gun."
The sirens got louder.
"I wonder if there's a silent alarm or something?" Harriet looked up. "Maybe they have satellite cameras."
"That Navy cash is going to take some explaining," muttered Alice. "They'll go into the records, and my uncle will take the blame."
"They can't hurt him now," said Harriet gently.
"Yeah, but they can ruin his reputation. It's all I have left, Harriet."
Wisely, Harriet said nothing.
There was a crackle, and Harriet saw a bright blue light. Before she could stop her, Alice crouched and sliced through the DNA lock with Teresa's cutting tool. There was a loud fizz, and Alice stepped back hurriedly as the roller door began to dissolve. Seconds later, the door had disappeared into thin air, and the pallet, the stacks of tin boxes and all the cash was no more than a mist of swirling dust.
"What have you done?" demanded Harriet, shocked.
"Like I said, it was just a bunch of parking tokens."
"It was evidence!"
"Yeah. Shame about that." Alice prodded Teresa with her toe. "She's lucky. I was going to bung her in there before I zapped the place."
"You're better than she is, Alice."
"Glad you think so." Alice hesitated. "If she's going to jail, can we have her ship?"
"No!"
"Go on! It's proceeds of crime."
"If anyone should get it, it's the Vasquez security force."
"They already got Tyron's freighter. Oh, come on Harriet. Think how much more crime we could solve if we had a fighter jet!"
"We're Peace Force, not intergalactic rescue."
"But I can learn to fly it, and we won't have to get around in grubby old cargo holds any more!"
There was no time to reply, because at that moment three cruisers pulled into the yard, engines growling and roof lights flashing.
Chapter 28
The grey-haired commander of the Vasquez security detail was less than impressed to see them. "You again? What did I say about running missions on my planet without permission?"
Half a dozen officers had emerged from the cruisers, and they surrounded Harriet and Alice with guns at the ready.
"I'm sorry, Commander … er …"
"Commander Welness."
"Well, my colleague and I were chasing a wanted criminal, and there was no time to—"
"Wanted criminal? You landed in her ship!"
"She wasn't wanted then," admitted Harriet. "It's what she did afterwards that put her on the wrong side of the law."
"Oh, and what was that? Did she land on my planet and conduct an operation without my knowledge?"
"No, she was going to kill us."
One of the men was crouching next to Teresa, and as he finished his inspection he glanced up at Welness. "She's been shot."
"No kidding," muttered Alice. "They ought to make you detective."
"Before, I mean," said the man. "Her shoulder is bandaged."
"That was yesterday," said
