Relda smacked the last wrinkle from her garment when the knock resounded through the bathing unit. The youngest girls crowded the doorway. As Relda advanced toward the chamber outside, the girls separated, three lined on one side. Two on the other.
"What is it you need?" Relda questioned.
"Daly is waiting outside," Bria said.
Relda quickened her face. A stride became a jog, then a sprint. She stopped inside the cockpit and lurched her upper body forward as foot brakes. She leaned over the touch screen station. For a few seconds, they were a blur until her eyes and brain allowed her to focus.
Daly. They had not been gone long - only a few hours. She hadn't been certain they would come back, or if the Dialorians had overtaken the battle station. She studied the touch devices long enough to control the access.
The transport covering split open with a slight hiss. Daly wore a black Curian cloak draped across her shoulders. Relda squinted, tilted her head, and pointed with exaggerated circular motions.
"A scout brought us the cloaks," Daly explained in a rush under gasps and gulps for air. "Come to the battle station. Dialorians are getting too close."
Relda shifted her gaze to the ship. Seven clones leapt the ship, blasters drawn.
"We're coming," Ozla said.
By the time they were under the cover of the forest, Daly had regained normal breathing.
"We've caught some sound waves from the Dialorian ship," she said slightly louder than a whisper. "It's terrible. I've never heard anything like it."
Moments later, the woods lay behind them, and the outline belonging to the battle station took shape. They sprinted to the rear door, and Daly typed the pass code that gained them access. They followed her to the battle chamber.
"Darrion, play the sound clips," Daly instructed.
They crowded around a touch screen device that emitted sounds. Screams. Wails. Sobbing. From timid, frail voices.
"Caaven vexlar!" One pleaded. "Gootoo! Gootoo!"
"Please stop," Relda choked out the translation. "It hurts! It hurts!"
"Don't hurt my sisters," a pipsqueak time cried out. "Kaya! Skyla! Can you hear me?"
"Anya," one of the sisters called back. "We'll be okay. Just keep yourself safe. We'll be alright."
The sound clip faded, and Relda's body and mind went numb. She gazed through the battle chamber window until her vocal cords permitted her to speak again.
"They're children," she uttered.