Nearby, Birch was forced back from the parapet, his weapon useless against such overwhelming fire.
"Still want to throw bricks at them?" asked Ben.
"Yeah. Follow me." Alice crawled away from the parapet on all fours, and once they were far enough from the edge she stood up. She crouched to pick up a stone, then lobbed it over the parapet in the direction of the gunfire, estimating the distance. Ben followed suit, and soon they had a barrage of their own going. The enemy were helpless, and couldn't target the source of the bricks because Alice was too far from the edge of the building, and the parapet was in the way.
Birch saw what they were up to and joined them, and as the three of them rained stones on the enemy the gunfire tailed off, then stopped completely.
In the silence they heard the smash of breaking glass as a piece of brick found its target, and Alice grinned fiercely. She threw several more, and then they heard the revving of engines and a squeal of tyres as the enemy retreated up the road.
Alice ran to the parapet and risked a glance, shrugging her shoulder to ease the muscles she'd worked throwing chunks of brick. The enemy had moved much further up the road, and she grinned as she saw the broken glass littering the street.
"Well done," puffed Birch, as he took up position beside her. "Really good work, that."
"Do you think they'll give up?" asked Ben.
"No," said Alice, with a shake of her head. "But I'm not done yet."
"What do you have in mind?" asked Birch.
Alice nodded towards her ship. "Help me load up. Biggest stuff you can find."
"Ben can give you a hand. I have to cover the front of the building." Birch eyed the fighter jet. "Are you sure they can't shoot you down?"
"With those little popguns?" Alice made a rude noise. "Fat chance."
With Ben in tow she set off for the biggest pile of rubble, and they worked like crazy transferring the largest pieces they could find into the fighter's airlock. When she judged they had enough, she waved to Birch and climbed aboard. Ben followed, and once they were seated Alice fired up the engines. "Buckle up," she said. "This might get a bit hairy."
— ♦ —
"What happened up there?" demanded Harriet, as Birch returned to the reception area. "What's Alice doing flying again?"
"She's driving them off." Birch shook his head. "She's a warrior, that girl."
"She's going to get herself killed."
"No, she's way too smart. She got us throwing rocks from the middle of the roof, smashing up their vans. Then, when they retreated, she took off with Arnie to go and bomb them again." Birch grinned. "I hope Darting's vehicles are all rentals. She'll be up for thousands in repairs by now. Maybe a hundred grand or more, if you count all the cars Alice torched yesterday."
Harriet glanced at the street outside, which was empty. "They'll get people onto those apartment blocks. They have to. And then they'll be able to fire down on the roof."
"It's too far for pistol shots."
"They could get lucky. Or maybe they'll throw some of those grenades down."
"Well, we'd better make sure they don't get to the buildings, then."
"How? We have exactly two weapons between the lot of us, and we can't keep them off forever by lobbing bricks at them."
Birch jerked his thumb at the roof. "Well, with Alice up there, they won't risk driving back. They'll have to walk."
"Or use cabs. She can't attack those, there's no knowing who might be on board."
"Then I guess it's a stalemate." Birch rubbed his hands together. "Who fancies a bit of lunch?"
— ♦ —
The engines blasted into life, and Arnie took off vertically. Alice steered away from the enemy, keeping the Peace Force building between herself and the parked vans. Then she directed the ship high into the air, until the buildings were laid out like a map below them. "They can't hit us up here," she called to Ben.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, done this before." Alice flew a circle over the city, coming up on the enemy from behind. As they approached she got Arnie to paint the target, and once they were hovering directly above the parked vans she undid her harness and headed for the airlock. "Come on," she said to Ben. "Time to send them packing."
They ran down the stairs to the airlock, where Alice hauled the hatch open. Far below she could see the vehicles parked together haphazardly, sunlight glinting off their windscreens. She took a large chunk of masonry and eased it to the edge of the hatch, then pushed it over. It vanished instantly, and a moment later there was a puff of dust from the road. She reached for another, but before she could release it she saw the vehicles scattering. From her height it looked like a bunch of cockroaches scurrying for safety, and her lips thinned as she watched them run. She felt elated, but also disappointed.
"That was pretty easy," said Ben.
"Yeah, too easy," muttered Alice. She watched the vehicles weaving down side-streets, moving fast, and realised it would be impossible to track all of them. So, she closed the hatch and returned to the flight deck, where she took the controls and headed back to the Peace Force building.
— ♦ —
Harriet kept watch near the front entrance, gun at the ready. Birch seemed remarkably casual about the whole deal, and she couldn't help thinking he was enjoying himself just a little too much. If Darting's people got inside, Harriet had
