The blasters clicked, and a sonic explosion burst from the triplets' stolen blasters. Anya's victim fell to the floor in a twisting, spiraling motion.
Rhea's victim did the same. Between them, the Dialorian Skyla shot body slammed forward.
"Ours did a corkscrew," Rhea joked.
They shared a few giggles.
"What did we do?" Anya murmured.
Their laughter thinned as it reached the ceiling. They stared at the lifeless bodies that lay between them, Hunley, Brade, Sariah, and the adults.
"We killed them," Skyla said with a sniffle.
"They were the bad guys," Rhea pointed out.
"What if they didn't want to be?" Anya said, brushing a year from her cheek. "What if the Dialorians forced them?"
Darrion sidestepped between the bodies.
"You did the right thing," she assured the triplets, "but it might make you sad for a while."
"Why?" Anya questioned.
Her eyes widened, and she fixated on Darrion's face.
Darrion squatted, and Rhea and Skyla moved to clear a space for her.
"You had to take lives," Darrion said. "That will be hard."
"What's your name?" Rhea asked.
"Darrion Tenner," she said.
Anya eyed Relda, Raylay, Ty, the twins, the younger quintuplets, and the rest of Relda's adopted daughters.
"Are you clones too?" Skyla whispered.
"We are," Darrion said. "Are you?"
"Yup," Skyla said. "Our mom was killed. The Dialorians killed her. They said they wanted everyone on the home worlds to surrender, so they killed the rulers."
"And they took us," Rhea said. "All the rulers' kids."
Hunley hugged Darrion's leg. Brade clung to Anthem. Sariah sucked her fingers and rested her head on Anniston's arm.
"Do you have a caretaker?" Darrion asked.
"We can't go back to the ruling house," Rhea said. "We won't be safe there."
"How old are you girls?" Relda chimed in.
"Ten," Skyla chirped. "We have another sister somewhere. She wasn't a clone. She was our mom's daughter."
"She was born ten months before us," Rhea concluded. "Her name is Saige."
"What's she look like?" Darrion questioned. "So if I find her."
"Pale skin," Rhea recalled. "Black hair. She's skinny. And she has a birthmark on her face that looks like a heart."
Darrion ascended and steadied herself on her feet.
"Can we stay with you?" Anya pleaded.
Her eyes searched Darrion's face. A crash happened in the distance. For a second, all four stood on alert. Darrion extended her hands. Skyla and Rhea grasped them.
Darrion checked beyond them. Another crash. This time, closer.
"Give me a blaster," she said, fixated.
The cold metal pressed into her hand. She winced. She had forgotten how heavy they were. As the sounds neared, she forgot the weight of her blaster. There were fourteen of her crew members at stake. And now, there were six children. Three of them were hers.