"How's the charge on your gun?" asked Harriet.
"Low. I plugged it in while I was moving boxes, but I don't like being without it. Yours?"
Harriet displayed the butt of her weapon, and Birch winced as he saw the charge indicator.
"We've got to keep them away from the entrance," said Harriet. "We can't take the fight to them, but if we can wear them down each time they attack, eventually they might just give up."
"Is that our plan? Wait until they get tired?" Birch shook his head. "You don't know Darting. She'll never let this go."
Harriet watched as Flint's robot entered, carrying an armful of files. The robot stacked them on the growing pile, and as he turned to fetch more, she called out to him. "Scrap?"
"Yes, officer?"
Harriet paused. She knew what she wanted to ask, but she wanted to couch it in the right terms. "You understand that we're in a lot of danger here?"
"Indeed."
"Have you ever been in a fight like this?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Don't you know?"
"There is no record in my current memories, but they may not be my own, since many of my parts have been replaced over the years. Therefore, it's possible this body has been in a fight like this, but I am not aware of it."
Harriet pursed her lips. This was going to be trickier than she thought. "Do you understand what will happen if the enemy gets through these doors?"
"Of course. They will kill you all."
Harriet found the robot's matter-of-fact tone more disconcerting than panic or hysterics. "Would you help me stop them?"
"I cannot harm humans."
"Not even if they're breaking the law?"
"My programming does not allow for that distinction."
"What if someone tries to harm your owner?"
"I would stop them."
"Don't you think it would be best to stop them before they got near?"
The robot studied her with its warm yellow eyes. "I understand where you're going with this argument, but it will not change anything. I can only react to events as they occur."
"What about passive defence?" Harriet nodded towards the doors. "If you stood outside—"
"The enemy has grenades," said Scrap. "I would only be standing for a short period of time before they destroyed me."
Harriet could see the robot had a point. She'd been hoping he'd offer to stand outside, and would defend himself vigorously if the enemy attacked. Unfortunately, it seemed he was smart enough not to put himself in danger in the first place, and she couldn't really blame him. "So you can't … scare them away?"
Scrap looked down at himself. "I do not believe myself to be sufficiently imposing."
He was right. Compared to Bernie, Flint's robot was almost a walking, talking skeleton. Not for the first time, Harriet wished the huge, solid, bulletproof Peace Force robot was there to fight alongside them. One look at her imposing form, and the enemy would give up. Then she remembered something she'd seen earlier, and her eyes narrowed as she considered the possibilities. "Birch, keep a lookout."
"Why? Where are you going?"
"The garage. Come on, Scrap. I've thought of something." On the way, she collected Caldavir and Flint. "Leave the boxes," she said. "I've got a crazy idea."
"Oh good, it's been at least half an hour since the last one," said Caldavir.
Harriet pulled the garage open and turned on the light, revealing the Peace Force cruiser and the shell of the abandoned BNE robot. Quickly, she explained her plan to the others, and was met with incredulous looks.
Finally, Caldavir broke the silence. "You said it was crazy, not flat-out insane."
"It might work," said Harriet.
"Will it even fit?" demanded Caldavir.
"Only one way to find out."
Flint shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sending Scrap out to get shot at."
Scrap crouched next to the big, empty shell, and rapped the surface with his knuckles. "This armour is proof against all hand weapons."
"I know," said Harriet. "I've seen Bernie walk through a gunfight before now."
"It doesn't matter," said Flint. "They'll know it's fancy dress the minute they see it."
"Not if we wait until dusk."
The others were silent. "Okay," said Flint at last. "I don't like it, but I'll do it on one condition. Scrap has to agree."
"I am willing to try," said the robot gravely. "I do not see that I can come to any harm."
Flint clapped him on the shoulder. "Then let's get on with it."
"We're going to need some gear," said Caldavir. He inspected a row of plastic parts buckets on the shelves, then reached into one and scooped up a handful of rusty ball bearings. "What were they doing, repairing bikes on the side?"
Harriet shrugged. "Maybe someone rented this place after the Peace Force moved out."
Caldavir checked more shelves, collecting a roll of rubber tubing and several lengths of steel rod. "This stuff's giving me an idea," he said, as he delved further into the garage. "And I don't mean a nutty idea like dressing robots in body armour."
"Good. We can use all the ideas you can come up with." Harriet tilted her head as she heard a familiar roar. "That's Alice. I'll leave you guys to it, I need to speak with her."
She hurried towards the stairwell, now empty of boxes, and ran up the stairs to the roof. Alice and Ben were emerging from the fighter, and she waited under cover as they ran across the roof towards her. So far, the enemy hadn't attacked from the heights of the surrounding buildings, but they were all aware just how exposed the roof was.
"Explain," said Harriet, as the others entered the stairwell. "What happened with the comms network?"
"I'm not entirely sure," said Alice evasively. "But I remembered a commset shop in the high street, and I had them check mine over. They found a rogue app or something, and got rid of it."
"How did it get on there in the first place?"
"Who knows?" said Alice, still refusing to meet Harriet's eye. "But they checked it out, and they reckon they fixed it."
"All
