Sierra Bravo

was that?" demanded Birch.
"I guess it was Darting's message," said Harriet grimly.
"They have bombs?"
"Oh no!" shouted Alice. "Arnie!"
She ran for the stairwell, and Harriet ran after her. "Be careful," she shouted as followed Alice up the stairs. "You don't know what they dropped!"
They pushed open the door to the roof, and stopped. Arnie was nowhere to be seen, and just to the side of the big yellow landing circle there was a blackened, twisted wreck. For a split second Harriet thought their jet had been destroyed by some kind of bomb, but then she realised it was far too small. "It's a wrecked van," she said, puzzled. "Why are they dropping burnt-out vehicles on us?"
There was a roar nearby, quickly growing louder, and Harriet grabbed Alice and hauled her towards the stairwell. "Let go of me!" shouted Alice.
"Take cover, you idiot," snapped Harriet, struggling to drag her sister to safety.
"Why? That's Arnie!"
Sure enough, the fighter jet rose over the building's parapet, thrusters pulsing with blue flame. It crossed the roof, passing over the wrecked van, then sat down gently in the middle of the circle.
Alice ran over, a big grin on her face. "You spotted them, didn't you?" she shouted.
"Confirmed," said Arnie. "They approached my position with their cargo hold open, and I thought it wise to get clear. I tried to warn you, but your commset is offline."
"Harriet!" Birch emerged from the stairwell, panting hard. "Is everything all right?"
Harriet gestured at the wrecked van. "They were trying to hit the ship, but he got out of the way."
"They dropped another one in the road."
"What for?"
"Cover, most like. If they attack, it'll give them a spot to shoot from."
"Dammit!" muttered Harriet. "Where the hell did they get these wrecks from, anyway?"
Alice looked embarrassed. "Er, that's probably my fault. When they shot Arnie up yesterday, I kind of retaliated."
"What did you do? And why am I only hearing about this now?"
"I knew you wouldn't like it." Alice shrugged. "I wasn't going to say anything, but—"
"Alice!"
"Okay, okay. After they shot at me, I came back with Arnie and loaded up with bricks. I bombed all their vehicles into scrap metal."
Birch whistled.
"I could have destroyed their building," continued Alice, "but I didn't want to kill anyone. I was just sending a message."
Harriet gestured at the wreckage. "Guess what, they sent it right back again."
"But they don't have any vehicles left! If they want to attack, they'll have to book cabs or something."
Harriet remembered the van she'd seen the night before. "You might have destroyed some, but they have more. For all we know they've got several locations, and dozens of vehicles."
"And I have plenty more bricks," remarked Alice, gesturing at the rubble littering the roof.
"Darting can't have that many people," said Birch. "If there were, the whole city would be a war zone."
"We've got two choices, Dave. Either we fortify this place and wait for them to come to us, or we run around out there, battling an unknown quantity." Harriet crossed her arms. "I'm convinced that fortifying the station is the only way. They will attack us, I'm certain of it, and this building is a fortress. We're giving up our major advantage if we venture out."
Birch nodded in agreement, and they headed towards the stairwell. On the way, Harriet pulled out her commset and called the Residents' Association. "Hi, can I speak to someone about illegal dumping?"
"Putting you through."
Harriet saw Birch staring at her, and she covered the commset's mic. "Trust me, they'll pull out all the stops for a bit of illegal dumping. If I tell them it was attempted murder, they'll just fob me off. You know, not my department, that kind of thing."
Birch grinned. "Smart thinking."
"Hello?"
"Yes, I want to report illegal dumping. A ship just flew over the city, and they dropped off a couple of wrecked cars. I couldn't get a description, but it looked like a freighter."
"Don't worry, we'll trace them through the spaceport."
"Oh, thank you! I hate to see the city spoiled like this." Harriet paused. "Will you ground their ship, do you think?"
"That's up to spaceport security, but it's likely they'll be grounded until we've investigated your complaint."
"I'm glad to hear it. You've been a great help."
"Not a problem, ma'am. Now, if I could just get your name for the records?"
Harriet disconnected, and she followed the others downstairs to outline their plan to fortify the station. She was still explaining to the group when there was a hammering on the front door. Everyone froze, and as Harriet reached for her gun she saw Birch doing the same. "Cover that doorway," she told him, nodding towards the opening leading to the front office. "I'll go and see who that is."
Everyone took cover behind desks and filing cabinets. As Harriet walked towards the front office she sensed Birch's gun behind her, and she prayed he didn't get trigger-happy.
— ♦ —
When Harriet peered around the doorway, looking across the reception area, she saw a slender figure peering back at her through the big glass doors at the front of the building. Harriet frowned as she recognised Ben James, the lad Alice had met the day before. What the hell was he doing here? Quickly, she crossed to the doors and let him in, sealing them behind him. "What is it?" she demanded.
He was taken aback at her expression. "I, er, came to help out."
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"No, it's Saturday." Ben hesitated, and a blush crept over his face. "Is Alice here?"
Harriet closed her eyes. They might be attacked any minute, and the last thing she needed was a lovesick teen getting in the way. "Yeah, but she's busy."
"I can wait."
"Not good timing, Ben. This place could turn into a warzone any minute."
He glanced over his shoulder at the wreck lying in the street. "Are you fighting those guys who hit Pop's place?" He looked angry. "They need to be stopped and I can help you, I swear."
"There could be dozens of them," said Harriet. "They might