"Yeah, over here."
They went to a table at the back of the room, which held a collection of weapons. The slingshots were laid out, and Moira had got someone to cut a metal rod into short pieces, creating half a bucket of ammunition. Each piece was a stubby metal cylinder, even heavier than the original ball bearings. Next to them were two crossbows, each carefully finished with polished wooden stocks, the metal parts lovingly painted in black. "I had these already," said Moira. "The ones we're making now won't look anything like this."
Harriet took up one of the crossbows. There was a stirrup at the front, and Moira showed her how to put her foot in the end and cock the weapon by pulling the wire string back with both hands. "Take it easy," she said. "Normally you'd wear gloves for this."
It was an effort, but the string snicked into place, and Harriet withdrew her foot and held the weapon level. Moira took one of the fletched bolts and showed it to her. "Don't load it here," she advised Harriet. "You don't want this thing going off indoors, believe me." Instead, she pointed out the channel on top of the crossbow. "This catch will stop the bolt falling off. Aim along here, pull the trigger here. Don't fire it without a bolt in, or you'll wreck it."
Harriet pointed the crossbow across the office and sighted along the top.
"You'll have to judge the distance," said Moira. "Always aim high to start with, and be sure to pick out an aiming point. Watch the flight of the bolt. If it's low, aim higher, and vice versa. Once you get the range, be sure to memorise the aiming point. Every time you shoot at that spot, the bolt will hit the same place." Moira glanced at the workbench, where Caldavir was cutting up rods to make bolts. "Unfortunately, the bolts are all going to be different weights, so you're going to get variations. If there's time, I'll get Worthy to weigh them and put them in matching sets. Even a gram or two will make a difference."
Harriet took a bolt and tested the point. It was needle sharp, and she almost drew blood.
"Of course, if you're trying to kill something, you'd use broadheads," said Moira. "They'd cut everything up when the bolt hits the target. These things are just target points, so they'll hurt like hell but they probably won't kill."
"Sure, and if you hit someone in the head they'll only need a bandage."
Moira glanced at her. "When I landed with Alice, those people were trying to shoot us down. They want to kill us, and if I were you, I'd make sure I put them down first."
Harriet didn't want to put anyone down. She wanted to go back to Dismolle, sit in the office with a nice cup of coffee, and deal with the minor cases that showed up once or twice a month. "I want to avoid bloodshed, if possible," she said quietly.
Moira looked thoughtful. "Look, there is something I can do. It'll take a bit longer, but we can weld a short piece of rod on the end of each bolt. It'll be blunt instead of pointed, a bit like a small mallet."
"Will they still work?"
"Oh yeah. Hit someone with one of those and they'll feel like they've been punched. And I mean really hard, not a love tap."
"Can you do that?"
"Sure. Wait a sec." Moira went over to the bench, and sparks flew as she cut short pieces off a thick metal rod. Harriet covered her ears against the screech of the angle grinder, then turned away and shielded her eyes as Moira tacked the pieces to a handful of bolts with a welder. She dipped the ends in a bucket of water, the red-hot metal hissing violently, but before she brought them over to Harriet she showed the bolts to her husband, who was busy cutting rod into lengths. He took one look and nodded. Then Moira brought the bolts over to Harriet.
Each rod had a club-like head, and Harriet could only imagine what it would feel like to be hit by one of the heavy bolts. "These could still do a hell of a lot of damage," she said.
"You don't have to shoot at people," said Moira. "Break a couple of windows. Smash a few in the walls. They'll get the message, I'm sure."
"Darting's people are more scared of her than me. I don't think we're going to drive them off with near-misses."
"Then you need to go out there and change their minds." Moira handed her a bundle of bolts and took up the second crossbow. "Come on, let's go up to the roof. We'll give those shooters something to think about."
— ♦ —
It was dark on the roof, but the apartment buildings blazed with light. Harriet and Moira left the safety of the stairwell and crossed to the parapet at the front of the building, where they crouched low behind the concrete wall. Harriet risked a glance at the nearest apartment block, counting floors until she identified the window the shooter had been using. It was just a darkened square, and there was no sign of anyone watching from inside.
She pointed the window out to Moira, who took the crossbow and fitted a bolt. She rested her elbow on the parapet, crouched until the bow was aiming at a point high on the facing building, then pulled the trigger.
Chack!
The crossbow jumped, and seconds later Harriet heard a clang as the bolt struck the building. "Where did it go?" she asked.
"Just below, I think." Moira reloaded and fired again, and there was a crash of breaking glass. "That'll wake them up. Keep your head down."
Harriet obeyed, and seconds later there was a burst of blaster fire. "Well, you certainly picked the right window," said Moira, as the shots sprayed the concrete roof behind them.
Harriet glanced over her shoulder. Any second
