"Or what?" demanded Harriet.
"Or I shall have to call someone."
"Go ahead. Call Agatha Foster. She'll get rid of us."
"Two coffees, coming right up," said the robot, and it left at the double.
"You're in a mood," remarked Birch.
Harriet jerked her thumb at the lobby. "This sort of thing really annoys me. The marble tiling in this place would keep our Peace Force office running for a year. And don't get me started on the robot waiters, and this dining room."
"Envy?"
"No, I don't begrudge anyone a bit of luxury. I just think the people of Chirless could put all this money to better use." Harriet frowned. "It's not just that. I feel like I'm sitting outside the headmaster's office, waiting to get told off."
"Aha."
"What?"
"Enjoy school, did you?"
"Not much, no."
"I got that," said Birch. "I imagine you were a bit of a rebel."
"A bit! If it wasn't for Auntie I'd have ended up like Alice. Before she joined the Force, I mean," Harriet added hurriedly.
"Oh, she still has her rough edges."
"I'm guessing she has my gun as well," muttered Harriet. She decided to change the subject. "Tell me about this Anita Darting woman."
"Not much to say. She ran the underworld around these parts. Anyone who stood up to her simply disappeared." Birch had a distant look in his eyes. "We lost a couple of good people like that."
"Where was she based?"
"I see what you're thinking, but she's too smart to take up her old haunts. She'll have found an old factory or something, and she'll be paying cash under the table to the owner, so forget about tracing her through financial records."
"You said she was on a prison planet, so she must have arrived here on a ship."
"She wouldn't have travelled under her own name. In fact, she probably hitched a ride on a freighter. No paperwork at all."
"Slippery customer."
"We'll have our work cut out."
"Thanks," said Harriet, with a smile.
"For what?"
"You said 'we' might have our work cut out. You might easily have said 'you'."
Birch grinned. "Well, I'm hoping you'll go in first and draw their fire, while I come in afterwards and get all the glory."
Harriet looked at him, eyebrows raised, and saw he was teasing her. She laughed and shook her head. "If you're looking for a hot-headed, impulsive trainee to rush your enemies, speak to Alice. In any case, she's the one with the firepower."
Chapter 6
Alice strolled up to the shop entrance, and as she passed the front windows she noticed the store sold second-hand furniture. The door opened at her approach, and she walked in past a side table laden with glass vases and porcelain jugs. The store was crammed with furniture, with chairs stacked on tables, aisles full of wardrobes, rows of sofas and more.
Alice looked around for the owner, who came darting out from behind the counter at that moment, looking highly agitated. He was elderly, stooped, but he was almost running, and as he approached Alice he put his hands out to ward her away. "No, no! You can't be here! You have to leave, right now!"
"Don't order me around," said Alice, with a frown.
The man was so panicky he was wringing his hands. "You don't understand. They're coming back any second. If they see the Peace Force here … anything could happen!"
A shadow fell across the storefront, and Alice turned to see a black van pulling up outside. There was a thunder of booming bass, and she could here someone swearing at the top of their voice … almost in time to the music.
"Oh no, they're here!" exclaimed the man. "They'll think I ratted them out. I'm done for!"
"Relax, will you?" Alice drew the gun. "I'll have them under arrest before they know what hit them."
"No guns, not here. My grandson is out back. He's just a boy … you can't start shooting, please!"
Alice lowered the gun and looked around. Nearby, there was a bookcase sitting in front of a chest of drawers. Moving quickly, she shifted the bookcase, making a gap between the two pieces of furniture, then ducked down just as the front door opened.
"Hey pops," said a male voice. "Got my cash, I hope?"
"Y-yes. Let me get it for you."
"Good stuff. I love it when people keep their promises. Saves all that mess, know what I mean?"
"I don't mind a bit of mess," said a second voice, in a lazy drawl.
Alice frowned, because the second speaker was a woman. The first store had been hit by two men, and if this was another lot then Chirless had bigger problems than Birch had suspected. Alice's grip tightened on the gun, and she listened intently. If these two took the money and left, fine, but if they tried anything she'd have no choice but to try and stop them. Her heart thudded in her chest as she crouched there, and she tried to stay as still as possible.
She heard the sound of credit tiles, and then the man spoke again. "Looks good to me pops. We'll be back next week for a top-up. Okay with you?"
"S-sure," said the old man. "Anything to keep the peace."
Alice heard the front door open, and she risked a look over the drawers … just as the woman turned towards the furniture. "You know, I could really use one of those …" The woman's voice tailed off as she saw Alice. "Who's there?" she shouted. "Stand up and show yourself!"
The man paused in the doorway, and Alice realised she was sunk. So, she got up, and as they spotted her uniform, she brought the gun up to bear on them. "You're under arrest," she said calmly. "Move, and I'll shoot you down."
There was a split second during which nobody moved a muscle, and then the man turned and ran for it. Alice shifted her aim to the woman, who started raising her hands in surrender. Then, before Alice could react, the woman hooked one of the china jugs off the
