Sierra Bravo

system works because they respect the rank, if not the individual. But in a situation like this, where they're volunteering, it could get tricky."
"What do you suggest?"
"Be prepared for fireworks. And if anyone acts up, starts ordering the others around, take 'em aside and tell them they've got two choices: fall into line, or leave."
"But they're—"
"I mean it, Harriet. You've got to be their commanding officer, not their friend." Birch laughed. "If everything else fails, send them off to patrol in Alice's jet. If that doesn't pull them into line, nothing will."
"Okay, point taken."
Birch handed her a plate. "Now eat this. Sir."
"Thanks," said Harriet, with a grin. The grin slipped as she heard a roar from the roof. The building shook, and then the roar faded quickly. "What the hell was that?"
"Alice," said Birch. "That was her ship."
Harriet took out her commset. "Alice, what are you doing?"
"Yes, Arnie's okay. Thanks for asking."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to patrol for a bit. See if I can spot their base from the air."
Harriet was going to object, then realised it wasn't a bad idea. "Don't do anything rash."
"Who, me?"
She left, and Harriet put the commset away. "Never mind your old crew," she said to Birch. "I can't even keep Alice in line."
"Ah, but that's Bernie's job," said Birch. "Now eat up. I want to recruit a couple of people to our cause, and that's best done in person."
"Only a couple?"
"We have the Captain already, and the two you met last night. With you, me and Alice, plus a couple more that should be enough."
Harriet nodded slowly, but she wasn't convinced. If only Bernie were there! The big robot was immune to gunfire, and was imposing enough to stop anyone in their tracks. Unfortunately, there was no chance of squeezing Bernie into Alice's ship, and Harriet realised they would just have to cope on their own.
— ♦ —
As Alice ran up the stairs to the roof, she was praying whoever had vandalised the front of the building hadn't also damaged her ship. The Peace Force building was hemmed in by apartment blocks, and someone with a good arm could have thrown any number of bricks at Arnie during the night.
She pushed the door at the top of the steps wide open, blinking in the sudden light. Then she ran to the ship, circling it twice before her fears were finally dispelled. She couldn't see the upper half, but there were no holes in the wings at least.
She opened the hatch and climbed into the airlock, before heading to the cockpit. "Arnie, did anything happen overnight?"
"Can you be more specific?"
"I thought someone might have attacked you."
"I detected no such attempts. What gave you cause for alarm?"
Alice took the pilot's chair and toyed with a switch. "We were targeted by a gang. They painted the front of the station, and I was worried they'd target you as well."
"In the event of an attack, I would take off and fly to a safe distance."
"That's not much good if the first attack punched holes in your wings." Alice gestured at the surrounding buildings. "I'm worried they might throw bricks or something."
"My armour would not be harmed by such an attack."
"Really?"
"Indeed. Navigating the depths of space would be impossible if I was incapable of withstanding small impacts."
Alice felt relieved. Still, sitting around waiting for the enemy to attack was crazy. She wanted to take the initiative. "Fire up the jets," she said suddenly. "We're going to patrol the city."
"Complying."
Moments later they were airborne, skimming across the rooftops while Alice kept her eyes peeled. She couldn't see much below, not directly, but Arnie helped by projecting a live feed onto the canopy.
"Can you mark any black vans?" asked Alice.
"Certainly."
"Good. I'm especially interested in any with damage at the rear."
"It will be hard to see the back if we're directly above."
"Scan them anyway." Alice looked at the flight console and frowned. "If only you had weapons! If we did find their van we could blow it to pieces."
"I'm a flyer, not a fighter."
"I can dream." Alice answered her commset and told Harriet she was patrolling, then put the device away and concentrated on the controls. She flew a spiral over the city, starting with a loop around the station and gradually expanding the radius until they were soaring over the outskirts. So far Arnie hadn't seen any black vans, let alone the one Alice had shot up the day before. She wondered if they were holed up somewhere, only daring to emerge outside daylight hours. Then she remembered the discussion she'd had with Harriet and Birch. "Arnie, tag the warehouse districts for me."
"Complying."
Blue rectangles appeared on the heads-up display, and Alice angled the ship towards the nearest. "I'm going to fly low. Scan as much as you can."
They'd barely gone a kilometre when Arnie spoke up. "Van spotted. Multiple. Car park below."
Alice reacted quickly, hauling back on the stick and bringing the ship to a halt. They hovered in mid-air, and she studied the display. There was a car park below, with a row of black vans along with several cars. "Mark the place," said told Arnie.
"Target painted."
"Can you zoom in?"
Arnie complied, and a steady image appeared on the screen. Close up, Alice could see the vans had white lettering along the sides: Dave Gornov Pies. "Okay, that's not it. Resume the patrol."
They continued flying for another thirty minutes, criss-crossing the city while Arnie's sensors scanned every vehicle. Several times they stopped to take a closer look at a van, but most were regular delivery vehicles, and none were damaged.
"Where the hell are they?" muttered Alice. She was conscious of the fuel they were burning, but if she could find the damaged van it would be worth every drop.
"I have two matching vehicles at three o'clock," said Arnie.
"Let's take a look."
The jet turned right, and once they were heading in the right direction Alice dropped the nose. She could see the vans ahead, parked side-on next to a row of