The others returned to work, all except Duke, who collected Harriet's crossbow and headed for the roof with a big handful of bolts. There was a determined look on his face, and Harriet pitied any of Darting's people who were silly enough to open fire from the surrounding buildings.
Then she caught Birch's eye, and he gave her a nod before taking up a piece of timber and turning back to the bandsaw.
Chapter 24
It was three a.m., and Harriet was taking the final watch before dawn. She was on the roof, where it was freezing cold. Now and again she'd stir herself, crossing from one side of the roof to another as she checked the streets below. The apartment blocks looming over her were mostly in darkness, with only a handful of lights gleaming from the windows.
Alice had been on watch a few hours earlier, and when Harriet relieved her she learned that a couple of the ubiquitous black vans had given the Peace Force building a wide berth before stopping behind the apartment blocks. Alice hadn't seen much, but Harriet assumed Darting's people had been collecting their wounded.
She glanced up at the building. If the enemy had left anyone up there, they certainly weren't showing themselves. Their blasters had proven to be no match for Moira's crossbows, and before Harriet managed to grab a few hours sleep she'd seen every member of her team issued with one of the deadly weapons, along with two dozen bolts. With the firepower at their disposal, everyone was feeling confident about their position, and most of the team had spent a happy couple of hours in the basement firing range. The old Chirless station had echoed with their laughter and tall tales of past glories, each more unbelievable than the last, and Harriet had gone to sleep thinking it was a real shame the Peace Force had been reduced to two trainees and an old robot.
Harriet shivered, and she got up and walked the roof for a while to get her circulation going. It was still pitch dark, with at least three hours until dawn, and she wasn't expecting to be relieved until five. She'd barely managed two hours sleep, because the others had been constructing a much stronger barricade across the front office, using the timber and steel left over from building weapons. The sound of their labour, and the noise of the machinery, had carried right through the building, and Harriet had lain awake listening to them until they were done.
They'd got enough charge into Bernie to enable the robot to walk into the station, where she'd connected to a wall socket for a proper charge. Unfortunately the socket wasn't able to cope with her voracious appetite, so she'd had to resort to a trickle charge. That would take hours, and in the meantime Bernie had shut down completely.
Now, at three in the morning, everyone was supposed to be asleep, which is why Harriet was startled to hear footsteps approaching. She turned and saw a shadow walking stealthily across the roof towards her, and as they ducked under Alice's fighter jet, she swung her crossbow round to cover them. "Who's there?" she whispered.
"It's me. Dave. Brought you a drink."
Harriet lowered the crossbow, and as Birch got closer, she realised he was carrying a couple of coffee mugs. Steam rose from the hot brew, curling in the night air. "You're supposed to be sleeping, but thanks."
Birch passed her a mug. "I won't sleep until Darting's behind bars. Or dead, I don't mind which."
"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Harriet, sipping the hot coffee.
"Do you know why it's called the Peace Force?" It was clearly a rhetorical question, because Birch didn't wait for a reply. "As the name suggests, peace comes first, and if that doesn't work we use force. And let me tell you, we must use as much force as it takes."
"Darting must know that, so why hasn't she given up?"
"I can think of several reasons. First, she's not the one getting shot at. Second, if we defeat all her people, she'll fly off in that freighter we saw earlier. Third, she knows we're weak. If she can knock us off she'll have the whole planet, and she knows the other planets in this system — hell, the rest of the known galaxy — won't care either way. And finally, she's a stubborn, egotistical old bird. She had this town in her grip all those years ago, and she craves the power."
"Foster has more power than Darting, and she didn't need weapons to get it. She's on her own little power trip with the Residents' Association, but people still seem to want her around. Darting could learn a few tricks from her."
"Don't worry, they'll probably end up fighting each other." Birch sighed. "I just want the people of Chirless to enjoy their lives without having to look over their shoulders all the time. Is that too much to ask?"
Harriet raised a hand for silence. In the distance she could hear the growl of several vehicles, and at this time of the morning it wasn't a fleet of garbage trucks. She ran to the side of the roof and stared between the buildings, trying to spot the vehicles. She didn't want to wake everyone over a false alarm, but when she saw the black vans with their lights off, she turned to Birch. "Wake the others, quick. Send half of them up here with weapons, keep half in the office."
"On my way," said Birch, and he vanished into the darkness.
Left alone on the roof, Harriet finished her coffee and carefully set the mug on the ground, in the shelter of the wall. Then she took a firm grip on the crossbow, checked the bolt was loaded correctly, and waited for the enemy to move into range.
— ♦ —
It was just after dawn,
