The first massive eruption occurred just minutes after the missile entered the star, but it was only the beginning. The star’s collapse was already well beyond salvation, or any form of cure. The rushing tide of matter, pulled down by the growing gravity well at the heart of the star, only fuelled the reaction. The explosion was only a matter of time. Seven minutes after the missile had struck home, the star exploded, pouring a wave of destructive energy out into the system.
Nothing near the star stood a chance. The two closest Killer starships were vaporised instantly, despite their hull protection. The third was lucky; caught by the blast, it was tossed across the system instead of being vaporised. The damage was more than enough to destroy the starship’s integrity. The planets near the star were roasted by the expanding blast wave, which vaporised asteroids, comets and any other space debris in the system. The gas giants were literally blown away. The Killer settlements inside the remaining gas giants were smashed beyond repair. The entire star system had been devastated.
Lightning shuddered as it came out of the jump and stabilised, ten light years away from the supernova.
“Report,” Andrew ordered, grimly. Red icons were flashing all over the ship status board, but as they watched, one by one the icons faded away as the ship’s AI directed repairs. “What happened?”
“The star is definitely gone,” Gary reported. He worked his console for a long moment. “The gravity shockwaves are already spilling out over hundreds of light years. Anyone with a gravimetric sensor will know that the star exploded, although they may not know the cause…”
“They will, sir,” David put in. “The star wasn’t of a type to go supernova. It would probably have collapsed into a white dwarf or expanded into a red giant, not a supernova. I suspect that the secret is very definitely out, sir.”
“I’ll mention it to the Admiral,” Andrew said, dryly. “And the Killers?”
“If they came after us, they lost us,” Gary said. Andrew smiled tiredly at the confidence in his voice. “There are no Killer starships within the limits of detectable space.”
“Transmit an update to the Admiral,” Andrew said, thinking hard. If the system had been washed by a supernova, there might be all kinds of damaged Killer technology they could salvage, given time. The cities inside the gas giants were probably beyond recovery, but the starships might have been damaged, yet still mostly intact. “And then… take us back into the system.”
“Aye, sir,” David said. The noise of the drive rapidly reached a crescendo. “Jumping now.”
The system looked very different from before the supernova had detonated. Andrew realised. There was a massive expanding cloud of gas racing out of the system and smaller concentrations racing away from the gas giants. The worlds, including one that might have been Earth-like with some modifications, were charred rubble. The asteroid belts and most of the moons were completely gone. The star itself looked as if it was dying, although most of the debris would probably eventually recombine into something. The blast hadn’t been powerful enough to completely destroy the star. The chunks of stellar matter might even be usable. The gas giant that had received the first device was a blackened ruin. It was unlikely that there was anything for the humans to salvage there.
“Contact,” Gary snapped, suddenly. Andrew felt himself jerking upright as the display rapidly updated. Nothing — nothing — mortal could have survived a supernova. Had the Killers somehow ridden the tidal waves and survived? “I have… one Killer starship, heading… sir, I think it’s drifting.”
“A trap,” David said, nervously. He’d been pushed to the limit. They all had. “They knew we’d return and waited for us.”
“Show me,” Andrew ordered. The image appeared in front of him. The Killer starship wasn’t waiting for them, or even repairing itself; it was tumbling helplessly through space, turning end over end constantly. He checked its course and realised that it was drifting towards interstellar space, unless it intersected one of the gas giants first. There were no power readings at all. Even the starship they’d captured had had low-level power readings, but whatever powered the stricken starship was completely lost. “Contact the Admiral and tell him that we have a damaged starship here for recovery and an entire star system to study.”
He chuckled, suddenly, as they raced towards the derelict. “Whatever else happens,” he said, “the Killers will never forget this day.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
“My God,” Paula Handley breathed. “Just… look at it.”
The tiny transport had been gliding towards the ruined Killer starship for over an hour, yet she already felt overwhelmed by its immensity. It was the same, on the surface, as the starship she had helped capture, but it was clearly wounded and beyond repair. Great rents and gashes tore at the hull, leaving it exposed to the coldness of space. The eerie nebula-like glow of the murdered star cast strange shimmers of light over the black hull, half-convincing her that it was still alive. The advancing robotic probes, controlled directly by Technicals from a very safe distance, had already vanished against the hull. She only knew they were there from her HUD.
“Never mind that,” Captain Chris Kelsey said, through their private communications channel. He hadn’t been too pleased at having been drawn away from Star’s End and sent to the dead star system, but Paula suspected that he found the sight inspiring. It was proof that humans could kill entire Killer starships, even if the collateral damage was a little high. “What the hell did they do to the star?”
Paula shrugged. Unlike the Footsoldiers, she had a good background in stellar manipulation — at least in theory, since proper experiments were banned — and she had a fairly good idea how the supernova bombs had worked. It was something she had been warned, in no uncertain terms, never to discuss, although she was fairly sure that the information wouldn’t remain a secret forever. The more… isolated Community asteroids had their own scientists and access to humanity’s vast database of scientific knowledge. It wouldn’t take them long to deduce the operating principles of the supernova bomb and, if they accomplished that, they would be halfway to building their own. The hell of it was that Paula suspected that that wouldn’t be a bad idea. If every human settlement started building more supernova bombs, they’d be able to wipe out most of the known Killer star systems before they learned how to counter the tactic, or decided to complete humanity’s destruction.
But the politicians and the Defence Force commanders evidently didn’t agree with her. Her combat suit reported the presence of two full attack wings of Defence Force destroyers — a hundred and forty-four starships — as well as hundreds of survey probes and support ships. Only a handful of actual researchers, including herself, would be going into the Killer starship, but thousands more would be watching through the communications network. They’d soon start trying to issue orders to the people on the scene, as if they were nothing more than automated robots, but until then, Paula would be happy. It was all there for her to examine and learn how it worked.
She glanced down at the diagram from Star’s End, pasted over the view through her suit’s visor. The researchers were slowly unlocking the secrets behind Killer science, although there was still a long way to go, but they had mapped out most of the nooks and crannies in the captured starship. Assuming that the Killers had created all of their starships according to the same plans, they would be able to find their way around fairly easily, perhaps even find damaged components that the researchers would want to dismantle. The captured starship was unique — in theory, it was still in working order, if anyone could figure out the flight controls — but the broken starship could be taken apart at leisure. Paula couldn’t wait to get her hands dirty.