"The mother ship."
The red stars in vertical alignment made that obvious enough. Orbs emerged from the side docking bays. Cold perspiration lubricated Relda's palms. She let the steering control support her body weight as she focused straight ahead.
"We're going back," she told the girls.
The rear view cam revealed six girls squirming in their seats.
"Mama!" Tayla protested. "We'll be a huge target."
"We'll be a huge target either way," Ozla retorted.
"What about the baby Curian?" came the gentle voice.
Another cam glance showed Shilah tilting her head and thrusting her hands outward.
"We'll come back," Relda promised.
The orbs flew in a line from their docking bays. They descended, and Relda and her crew hung on to seconds of time. Bria clung to Noah.
"Hurry, Mama!" She pleaded.
Relda tapped the touch screen, and the cannons awoke. Four laser beams formed their simultaneous fire, but only tore through two orbs.
"I've got the shield!" Ozla announced, and she tapped her screen.
Translucent lasers of numerous colors shot from the orbs. Relda squinted and put her thumb and index fingers above her eyebrows. It solved nothing, and the lights flooded her shielded front window. A rogue beam penetrated an asteroid, and it exploded into tiny fragments. The annihilated asteroid directed Relda's attention to a vast expanse of them. Separate pathways snaked through the asteroid field and crossed each other at various points. The beams cleared for a few seconds, long enough to create a gap Relda's transport could fit through.
They had hardly passed the first asteroid in the field when the orbs separated and took two line formations. They scattered. Relda lingered a few seconds before powering into the asteroid maze.