They aimed and fired, but the nimble robot side-stepped the bolts. It came running at the barrier, then launched itself, hitting the timber with a sickening crash. Birch saw its hands reaching through the portholes, and it started tearing at the wood, ripping through the barrier.
Birch stepped back and reloaded, then fired through the hole at the robot's body. The bolt sank home with a gzzzt and a shower of sparks, but the robot didn't hesitate. Ben fired as well, and seconds later one of the robot's hands went limp. Birch managed to fit a new bolt, and he aimed deliberately at the robot's head. The bow leapt in his hands, and the robot froze as the bolt buried itself in its skull. Then, slowly, it slid to the ground.
There was no time to recover. The enemy was charging towards the station, at least two dozen of them, all firing at once. Shots hit the barricade, some of them blowing holes in the wood and sending deadly splinters whirling through the office. "Fall back!" shouted Birch.
As they ran for the office, Bernie stepped up to the barricade. A gun came through a porthole, trying to aim at her, and Bernie plucked away the gun and threw it to Birch. Another gun appeared, and she grabbed that too, leading to a yell of surprise from its previous owner. Someone else put a gun through a different hole, and Bernie snatched that too, before they could even think about firing.
Birch almost laughed out loud at the sight, because it looked like Bernie was playing a frantic game of whack-a-mole.
Then the enemy wised up, and they stood further back and fired through the holes, sending blaster shots lancing into the office.
Birch passed Ben a gun, even as Bernie threw him another. "Step aside, Bernie. We've got this."
Bernie obeyed, and Dave and Ben opened fire, shooting at the holes in the wall. But for every shot they fired, ten came back the other way, and the enemy shots were getting too close for comfort. At this distance it was hard to shoot through the holes, and every other shot smashed into the timbers or the metal bar holding the whole barricade together. Birch could see it wasn't going to last, and when the enemy started pushing on it, the whole thing creaked alarmingly. He lowered the gun and reached for the crossbow. "Bernie, I need you to stop them. Do whatever you can."
Bernie nodded and moved in front of the barricade. She braced the weakest point with both hands, and the creaking stopped. The attackers hammered on the barrier once or twice, then gave up. Everything was quiet, and Birch eyed the distance to the barrier, wondering whether he could run over for a look at the street before the enemy started shooting again. Unfortunately, if he was caught in the open they'd cut him down without a second thought.
There was a thud from the wooden barricade, and Birch smiled. A little knock like that wouldn't hurt it! They'd have to drive a—
BOOM!
The explosion caught him completely by surprise, and he barely had time to duck as the barricade was blown apart in a welter of fragments. Bernie staggered from the shockwave, and when the smoke cleared Birch saw a dozen of the enemy running towards the office.
One of them paused to throw a grenade, and Birch saw the small black sphere in mid-air … just before Bernie stuck out a hand and caught it. She threw it back with a flick of her wrist, and the enemy scattered just in time. There was a bright flash as the grenade went off, knocking several attackers off their feet, and they'd barely recovered when Bernie started throwing chunks of broken barricade at them. "Surrender now, in the name of the Peace Force!" she thundered, as she hurled a chunk of wood across the street.
Someone shot at her, but the blaster fire bounced of her armour and hit the wall. Bernie turned to face the shooter, and he took one look at her expression and stopped firing.
The numbers were too great, though. Gradually they got closer, and as Bernie ran out of missiles to throw at them, she had to resort to snatching at their weapons. Dimly, Birch heard a roar from the roof, but he didn't know whether it was friend or foe. It was too late, in any case. The enemy was about to overrun them. It was over.
Birch shot two of the attackers as they jumped over the fallen barricade, hitting them right in the chest, but his gun was out of charge and the shots splashed harmlessly on their clothes. One of them raised his gun, and Birch ducked as bright blaster fire slammed into the wall behind him. "Fall back," Birch shouted, and he and Ben ran for the main office.
They got their crossbows ready, and both fired as one as the enemy poured in from the street. Two went down, and Bernie collared another couple, knocking them together as she roared at the top of her voice. Birch worked frantically to reload, but it was too late. A woman with red hair was in the doorway, a gun in her hand. She gave Birch a cruel smile, then raised the weapon, aiming directly at Ben.
"No!" shouted Birch. "He's just a kid!"
The woman's smile broadened, and her finger tightened on the trigger.
Chack!
Birch had been expecting a shot from the blaster, but instead it was the sound of a crossbow. The woman spun round, clutching her arm and screaming with pain, the blaster forgotten. Bernie grabbed her and threw her bodily out of the building, knocking down three other attackers trying to get in.
Birch glanced over his shoulder and saw Alice on the stairs, calmly
