by Simon Haynes
A few moments later they lost altitude, banked sharply, and then set down on roof of the Dismolle Peace Force station. "Right, let's get Bernie," said Alice.
"Do you want me to wait here?" asked Ben. He sounded nervous, and Alice hid a smile. He certainly wasn't impatient to meet the big Peace Force robot.
"All right, wait up here. I'll fetch her."
Alice left the ship and took the elevator to the ground floor. "Hey Bernie. I'm back!"
There was no reply, and she took the stairs to the basement and walked along the firing range to the storage area at the far end. When she got there, she looked into the big yellow recharging cradle, but it was empty. Frowning, Alice made her way back to the ground floor. "BERNIE!"
No answer.
She checked the canteen, even though the robot never used it. The locker room and staff room were both empty too. "Where the hell is she?" muttered Alice. Then she smiled. The garage! Bernie sometimes tinkered with Steve, the patrol car, and it was the only likely place left. She pulled open the door to the garage … and stopped. Not only was Bernie missing, the patrol car was absent as well.
"Great. Just great," muttered Alice. The robot must be on a call, and the timing couldn't have been worse. Then she frowned. Were Darting's people messing them around, calling the Dismolle branch and reporting fake crimes to get Bernie out the way?
Alice reached for her commset and tried Bernie, hanging up as soon as she heard the beginning of a recorded message. Next she checked the computers for clues, but everything was normal. Then she glanced at the roof. The quickest way to find Bernie was to lift off and scan the city until she spotted the cruiser. The Peace Force car would stick out amongst the cabs and delivery vehicles, as long as it wasn't parked undercover, and Arnie should be able to pinpoint it in no time.
She took the lift to the roof and hurried across to the ship. On the way she saw Ben looking down at her from the cockpit, and she acknowledged him with a wave. He was looking towards the elevator, and she guessed he was expecting to see the infamous Peace Force robot striding out. Well, he'd meet Bernie soon enough.
They took off moments later, and Alice got Arnie to scan the city for the Peace Force cruiser.
"Your search returned no matches," said Arnie immediately.
"Are you sure?"
"Hitting refresh won't change the result," said Arnie.
Alice hit refresh anyway, and there was a buzz. "What was that?"
"Your search returned no matches," said Arnie.
"But it made a noise this time!"
"Indeed. I added a sound effect to emphasise the failure. You didn't believe me last time."
Alice called Harriet. "Hey, sis. We've got a problem."
There was a burst of gunfire, loud over the speaker. "You've got a problem," said Harriet, and Alice heard the sound of return fire.
"Yeah, Bernie's missing. And Steve, too."
"They'd better not be at the beach," growled Harriet.
Alice couldn't think of anything less likely. "We've scanned the city and there's no sign of Steve. It's like they vanished."
There was a loud blast, and Harriet swore. "Listen, you've got to find her. Got it? We're getting hammered here."
"Sure, just let me dig out my magic wand." The commset went dead, and Alice shoved it in her pocket. "Talk about needles and haystacks," she muttered.
"Are they all right?" asked Ben.
"Dunno. It sounded bad." Alice eyed the city laid out below them. "Arnie, what if we fly a bit higher? Will you be able to see further?"
"Confirmed."
Alice pulled the stick back and opened the throttles, and they shot into the sky with a thunderous roar. She levelled off thousands of metres up, and got Arnie to scan the landscape again.
"No results."
"Are you checking all the way to the horizon?"
"Yes."
"How far is that?"
"Given our altitude and the diameter of the planet, three hundred and eighty kilometres."
Alice frowned. "Bernie can't have gone that far. There's no people out there, let alone crime scenes."
"She's certainly not any closer."
"Okay, let's go higher then." They shot further into the sky, and as they headed away from the planet there was a double beep.
"Target acquired," said Arnie. "Distance eight hundred kilometres, travelling fast towards … Chirless."
"She's driving there?" exclaimed Ben.
"At that speed, she sure as hell isn't walking it," remarked Alice. "Arnie, show me guidance."
Green cross-hairs appeared on the canopy, and Alice chased them with the nose of the fighter, until they were roaring across the landscape at full speed. They caught up with the Peace Force cruiser in no time, passing close overhead, and Alice peered down to see the car racing along the highway between the trees. She set the autopilot and took out her commset. "Bernie, do you read?"
There was no reply.
Alice frowned, and then her face cleared. Of course, Bernie was probably on standby to preserve her battery. The robot could barely last half an hour at the best of times, and she'd need every ounce of power once she reached Chirless. That still left the problem of contacting the car, and getting Steve to pull over. Alice glanced towards the horizon, following the course of the arrow-straight road. "Arnie, are there any layovers ahead?"
"There's a rest stop in eighty kilometres."
"Set us down there, will you?"
The ship accelerated, and moments later they landed in a car park. It was deserted, and once she climbed down from the ship Alice heard birds and insects in the trees. Her feet scrunched on the tarmac as she walked towards the road, and when she reached the highway she looked back down the way they'd come. According to Arnie, the Peace Force cruiser was travelling at full speed, which meant it would arrive in less than sixty seconds. There would be no time to do anything but wave her arms, and she hoped Steve recognised her and stopped.
She tilted her head. Far away in the distance she could hear a whistling noise, getting louder by the second. She squinted down the road, trying to pick out the vehicle, but the late afternoon sun had warmed the tarmac, and she couldn't see anything in the shimmering haze.
The whistling grew louder still, and a hush fell over the area as the birds stopped singing. Then Alice saw it: a silvery shape, rapidly getting bigger.
The whistle grew to a roar, and without hesitation Alice stepped into the road and waved both arms over her head.
Chapter 20
"I'm nearly out," called Birch, as he fired on the enemy. "How's yours?"
"I'm done." Harriet managed one last shot, and then her weapon beeped and shut down. She grabbed a fallen table leg, which had been knocked clear in the first explosion, and prepared to fight for her life. Even if Alice arrived now, it was too late. With so many attackers outside, the chance of a stray shot damaging the fighter was too high.
Then Harriet saw Caldavir coming through the inner door, closely followed by Duke and the others. Caldavir was carrying a plastic tub, and he knelt behind the barricade and emptied it onto the floor with a clatter. Harriet could only stare. Lying on the floor was a jumble of bent metal, all mixed up with lengths of rubber tubing and squares of plastic. It was only when Caldavir separated one of the items from the tangled pile that Harriet realised what she was looking at. In Caldavir's hands was a powerful slingshot, complete with a metal wrist brace and about two feet of thick elastic tubing. There was a plastic cup in the middle, and everything was secured with neat loops of wire. "I had to make the first one, but Scrap copied the rest in about five minutes," said Caldavir.
"He was supposed to be getting into that armour!" Harriet ducked as a shot skimmed overhead.
"Yeah, well he's almost ready. This should give him a bit more time." Caldavir beckoned to Duke, who set down a small bucket. It was brimming with rusty ball bearings, each the size of a thumbnail. Caldavir took one, placed it in the cup and stood up, firing with one smoot
h movement. Harriet saw a streak of metal, and her eyebrows shot up as the ball bearing punched a hole right through the van's bodywork. At this range the thing was lethal.
Caldavir fired again, and the others grabbed weapons of their own, Harriet amongst them. It took all her effort to draw the slingshot back, and when she released she saw the ball streak towards her target. The van window exploded, and she heard a shout of surprise.
Soon there was a rapid fusillade of ball bearings, and the van outside began to resemble a colander. One of the attackers took a shot in the arm, the force knocking the gun clean out of his hand. He fell to the ground, yelling, and when someone else went to help McCluskey shot him in the backside. The man yelped in pain, and McCluskey stood up and shouted with pent-up fury.
It seemed the tide was turning in their favour, but then, with a roar, three more vans screeched to a halt outside, their lights blazing in the dusk. More men tumbled out, firing into the Peace Force office, their shots wild but concentrated enough to force the defenders into cover.
Harriet bobbed up to fire, and saw half a dozen weapons pointing at her. She ducked again, just as the shots smashed into the barricade, hurling wooden splinters into the air. There was an acrid smell, and she realised their entire barricade was in danger of catching fire.
Then Harriet heard footsteps, and she turned to see Scrap trotting into the office. The robot was wearing the BNE shell from the garage, but the effect was more comical than scary. "Walk slowly," she hissed. "Take measured footsteps, like you own the whole planet."
Scrap slowed his pace until he was walking more like Bernie. There were small gaps in his armour where it didn't quite fit, but Harriet was hoping the sight of a BNE robot would be enough to drive off the attackers, if only for a while. Once Alice turned up with Bernie, the enemy would surely give up.
Scrap didn't hesitate. He strode around the barricade and walked towards the shattered doors, crunching glass fragments under foot. Harriet heard a cry of alarm, and then Scrap was enveloped in a maelstrom of blaster fire. The shots bounced off the armour and the robot strode on, impervious. "By order of the Peace Force," blasted Scrap, in a massive, amplified voice. "Lay down your weapons and surrender!"
The enemy ignored him and kept firing, and while they were distracted by Scrap, Harriet and the others opened up with the slingshots. It was almost dark now, and all they could do was fire towards the muzzle flashes from the enemy blasters. Now and then one of the guns spun wildly in the darkness as someone was hit mid-shot, and Harriet's face was grim as she drew back for another attack. She hadn't intended for this to become a full scale war, but she wasn't going to roll over and surrender.
Suddenly one of the vans took off with a screech of tyres, leaving three men exposed without cover. One of the men went down clutching his leg, and the other two darted behind another parked van … only for that to leave as well. That left one vehicle, and the windows and lights exploded as the Peace Force veterans concentrated their fire on the van. Then it too left, with several of the enemy running after it.
"Cease fire," called Harriet. "Save your ammo!"
In the street, Scrap turned to face her, and he smiled as he gave Harriet a thumbs up. Then there was a growling roar, and Scrap barely had time to turn towards the noise when a van crashed into the robot at full speed. He went under the wheels, and the vehicle bumped crazily as it ran him over.
Then it was gone, leaving a shocked silence.
— ♦ —
"Get out of there, Alice! He's never going to stop!"
Alice ignored Ben and waved her arms furiously, her gaze fixed on the cruiser hurtling towards her. It was travelling so fast the trees and bushes either side of the road were being blasted sideways by the shockwave, and as it hurtled towards her it grew at a terrifying speed. "Come on, Steve," she muttered. "You must have seen me!"
Just when it seemed the car was going to run her over, there was a violent jerk and the nose dived towards the road. The engine cut out, and before Alice could jump aside, take one last breath or even close her eyes, the cruiser came to a halt right in front of her, bobbing gently on its anti-gravity field.
"Good evening, Alice," said the car, in an even male tone. "Do you realise you're standing in the middle of the road?"
Alice heard footsteps as Ben ran over. She ignored him and spoke to the car. "I had to stop you, Steve. It's an emergency."
"You could have been killed!" shouted Ben. He grabbed Alice by the shoulder and spun her round, his face furious. "Running into the road like that, trying to stop the car … are you completely mad?"
"Stop yammering," said Alice.
"No, you listen—"
Alice knocked Ben's hand away and strode to the side of the car. She cupped her hands to the window and peered inside. "Bernie!" she shouted, tapping on the glass. "Bernie, get out. We need you!"
"I'm sorry, she powered herself down," said Steve. "There'll be no waking her until the alarm goes off."
Alice opened the door and knelt on the rear seat. Bernie was sitting bolt upright, her eyeplate blank, a charge cable running from the inside of the car to her hip. "Bernie? Wake up!"
There was no reply.
Alice reached for the robot's shoulder, intending to shake her. Then she decided against it. First, she doubted she could move the huge robot by hand. And second, Bernie might wake with a start, decide Alice was a threat, and tear her arm off. "Steve, can you communicate with her? Tell her to wake up?"
"No chance. She's completely out of it."
Alice frowned. There was no way of getting Bernie out of the cruiser, and she couldn't transport the whole car to Chirless. "How long until her alarm goes off?"
"About fifteen hours."
"Harriet might be dead by then." Alice saw Ben nearby, looking sullen. "I'm sorry, all right? Now stop sulking and give me a hand."
Ben looked like he was going to argue, but in the end he relented. "What do you want me to do?"
"We've got to get her out of the car, move her to the ship and tie her to the ladder."
"Sure, no problem. She can't weigh more than a ton."
"Nearly three tons, actually," said Steve helpfully.
"I don't care if it's ten tons," said Alice. "We've got to try." She glanced at the ship, gauging the distance. "Steve, can you sort of drive up fast, skid sideways, and tip her out?"
"I'm not even going to reply to that," said the car.
"My sister is going to die!" shouted Alice. "Stop fussing about stupid things, and help!" She grabbed the charge cable and pulled the plug from the socket, then took hold of Bernie's shoulders and tried to haul the robot bodily from the car. She'd barely moved the robot an inch when Bernie's eyeplate lit up, and the familiar red lines appeared.
"Trainee Alice, what are you doing?"
"Oh, thank goodness," breathed Alice. She backed out of the car and stood up. "We need you in Chirless, Bernie. Like, now. We've got to fly you there."
Bernie turned her head and inspected the fighter parked in the layby. "I cannot board such a small vessel."
"Yeah, but you can hold onto the ladder."
"Who came up with that idea?"
"Harriet."
"Hmm." Bernie got out of the car, and together they crossed to the fighter.
"I'll just wait here," Steve called out to them.
Bernie ignored him. Instead, she gripped the ladder with her giant hands, and the metal groaned as she tested its strength. Then she put her foot on the lowest rung and pressed down, and Alice winced as the metal creaked. "It may be strong enough," said the robot at last. "Let us proceed to Chirless."
Alice motioned Ben aboard, then followed him into the ship.
"I'm fine," said Steve. "It's a nice layby. I can chill."
Alice waited until Bernie was holding onto the ladder, and once the robot was satisfied she took her seat. "All set?" she shouted.
"You may proceed," called Bernie, her voice echoing up the access ladder. "But you must employ a
steady hand on the controls, or the ladder will be torn out of the ship."
"Got it," shouted Alice, and she fired up the engines. The ship rose slowly into the evening sky, and then she eased the throttles forward, clenching her teeth as the speed increased. She could almost picture the ladder bending backwards, Bernie clinging to the rungs, and she just hoped they'd make it to Chirless in one piece.
Moments later they were rocketing along at full speed. There was a deafening whistle as the headwind tore across the open hatch, and only a robot could have clung to the ladder under such conditions. Alice was tempted to put the ship on autopilot and check Bernie was still there, but before she could undo her harness the robot's voice came through the console speakers, patched in by Arnie.
"The ship will pass low over the Peace Force building," said Bernie. "Don't try and land, you're just going to skim the rooftop at fifty knots."
"Why, what are you going to do?"
"I will let go, of course. And the moment I do, Arnie will pull up and fly evasive manoeuvres, thus avoiding enemy fire."
"Are you sure? It sounds a bit dangerous."
"I will time my release to enable the best possible landing. And I have already programmed the entire procedure, so you may as well release the controls."
Alice had heard about Bernie's programming before, from Harriet, and she decided to keep one hand on the stick just in case. It would be just typical if the robot's map of the city wasn't up to date, and they knocked down a comms tower or something.
"Chirless ahead," said Ben.
Alice glanced at him. "Sorry about before. I got a bit tense."
"No problem. I felt the same when they attacked Pops."
"Hey, when Bernie gets amongst them, it's going to be awesome. They'll run like rats."
"Do you really think we can kick them out of Chirless?"
"Of course!"
They saw the city ahead, and the fighter began to lose altitude. Soon they were skimming the rooftops, and as the blocky Peace Force building appeared ahead of them, the ship slowed. Alice brought up a display from the nose camera, and they kept an eye out for the enemy. She expected to come under fire any second, and she just hoped the enemy hadn't got their hands on anything more powerful than handguns.
