Smith shook his head. "Do it proper. And I want a copy."
"Okay." Harriet thought fast. "Let me get the right forms," she said, getting up. "I don't have them up here."
Smith shrugged, and leaned on the edge of her desk. "No rush."
Harriet walked towards the elevator, suppressing the urge to run. She pressed the button, and waited impatiently while the old lift rose from the basement. Finally it arrived, and she stepped inside and tapped her foot as the lift carried her down.
"Come on, come on, come on!" she muttered.
The doors opened and she ran out, turned left and hurried past the firing range. Bernie's charger was nearby, a big yellow cage with a thick power cable. The robot was inside, hooked up, but Harriet didn't need to speak face to face. Instead, she lifted a handset from the wall. "Bernie?"
"Yes, Trainee Harriet?"
It seemed nuts using the comms system when the robot was barely ten metres away, but she couldn't use the ones upstairs in case she was overheard, and it would waste precious seconds if Bernie had to detach herself from the charge station. "Call Alice. Tell her to go to the nearest shopping mall immediately."
"Can you not tell her yourself?"
"Bernie, this is an emergency. Do you understand? No arguments, just … do it."
"Need I remind you that I'm your superior officer?"
"I have facts you're not aware of, Bernie. Please trust me. Tell her to be around other people."
"Very well. Transmitting now."
Harriet felt a rush of relief. As long as Alice had a commset on her, everything would be okay. Then she remembered Smith. "Bernie, do we have a missing persons form?"
"You cannot report Alice missing yet, Trainee Harriet. I saw her myself barely an hour ago."
"It's not for Alice. Well, it is, but it's—" Harriet blew out her cheeks in frustration. "This is a trust me moment, Bernie. Just tell me where the forms are, okay?"
"There are no forms, Trainee. Everything must be entered on the terminal."
"Wow. Aren't we all modern?"
"Sarcasm does not befit an officer in the Peace Force."
"No, but it feels good when I'm under pressure. Okay, I have to deal with something. Harriet out."
"But you have yet to—"
With a silent apology, Harriet hung up. Then she ran for the lift, moving quickly in case Bernie decided to get out of the cradle and follow her. She did not need the robot seeing that photo, or talking to Smith for that matter.
The doors opened, and Harriet strode towards her desk. "Sorry, I can't find the forms," she said, then stopped. Smith had vanished. She glanced around, frowning. Was he searching the place? If so, good luck. There were three floors and a bunch of rooms, and Alice wasn't in any of them.
Then she noticed the call log. The top sheet, the one she'd skimmed with the pencil, was missing. And beside the desk, on the floor, she could see her bag lying on its side. She knew it had been upright when she headed for the basement, so what had Smith been up to?
She checked the bag, but she couldn't see anything missing. Feeling uncertain, she glanced around the office. She was relieved Smith had left, but she couldn't help feeling it was the start of something unpleasant, not the end.
Thud!
Harriet spun round, half-expecting to see Smith again. The earlier noise must have been the automated doors at the front of the office opening and closing, and … was he back again?
Thud! Thud!
Harriet relaxed. That was Bernie, on her way up. Sure enough, the elevator arrived moments later, and the robot stepped out. "I thought you were charging?" asked Harriet.
"Trainee Alice absent without permission, requests for missing persons forms, your urgent orders for Trainee Alice to shelter amongst other people … how could I charge in peace when so much is happening?" demanded the robot.
"It's all under control, Bernie."
"Traditionally, that indicates everything is far from under control." Bernie approached Harriet's desk. "Please explain why you wanted a missing persons form."
"I—I thought it might be good for Alice to practice filling out paperwork."
"That girl can barely fill out her own name," said Bernie.
Not her real one at least, thought Harriet. "Look, she'll be hungry and she never has any money. Let me go meet her at the mall, and I'll explain everything in the morning."
Bernie hesitated, then nodded.
"Good. I'll take the cruiser."
"The Peace Force cruiser is not to be used for—"
"Bye, Bernie. See you in the morning!" Harriet called over her shoulder. She headed to the garage, where the cruiser was waiting. As soon as she got in, Steve fired up the engines.
"Where to, Harriet?"
"Shopping mall."
"Which one?"
"Bernie knows. Whichever one she sent Alice to."
"Very well, I have the address." Steve paused. "Is this a case at last?"
Harriet looked grim. "You know what, it just might be."
And with that, they roared out of the garage.
Chapter 3
Alice and Harriet were sitting in a coffee shop at the mall, huddled over a couple of hot drinks. Alice had a pile of iced cakes in front of her, and she offered the plate to Harriet.
"Not now," said Harriet, with a frown. She had no idea where Alice had found the money for fancy cakes, but that could wait, along with the inevitable fallout from Alice's unauthorised mission. No, Harriet had far more important matters to deal with. "Tell me about Tyron Smith."
Alice turned pale. "Where did you hear that name?"
"He just waltzed into the office and showed me a photo of you as a child."
"He's here? On Dismolle?" Alice's voice was barely a whisper.
"Yeah. He says he's your uncle."
"He's evil," said Alice quietly. "A monster."
"I kind of got that vibe."
"You have no idea." Alice looked down at the table. "He shot my uncle," she said, her voice low. "He killed him right in front of me."
Harriet winced.
"He got away with it, too. Claimed it was self-defence, and nobody believed me because I was only eight." Alice looked
