Megan laughed from sheer relief, her hand pounding the door of the pod. Perhaps, she thought, there never had been a mine. It would be just like Tarrant to try and bluff her.

Then she thought of Gabrielle again, and the laughter caught in her throat.

What about the Wanderer? she asked. Will it be able to jump out of this system before the nova occurs?

Unlikely, since it does not have the means to ramp up the energy levels necessary for even a short-range jump. It might be able to build new components capable of powering the drive, but not before the star detonates.

You did it, Gabrielle, she said softly, feeling her eyes well up with tears. She quickly stepped inside the pod before letting emotion overwhelm her completely, and began gently coaxing Bash out of it. They had a long journey home ahead of them.

All the same, they could not afford to leave without witnessing the Wanderers destruction; only then could they be sure.

This was not the first time Megan had watched a star die, for she had personally witnessed the destruction of three during that other, previous, life.

Twelve hours after the Wanderer had ripped the nova drive out from the Ingersoll, the Ship of the Covenant detected a second neutrino burst from the star. In the intervening time, they had departed the moon to shelter in the cone of shadow behind the night side of the moons parent planet. There the Magi ship could, for a short time, carry out remote observations even while the nova raged.

Bash was now lodged in his own cabin, which had appeared, newly formed, shortly after they exited the airlock bay. She had wordlessly guided him inside, finding there articles of clothing she remembered him wearing years before, and long before he lost his mind to the Wanderer.

The Librarian had recreated it all from her own memories, of course, though she did not like to be reminded of how easily it could reach inside her head.

Before long, the rim of the planet behind which they were sheltering began to burn with incandescent light as the wavefront of the nova detonation struck it. Megan saw valleys filling up with liquid fire, and the sharp-edged silhouettes of mountain peaks melting.

Is there any way of seeing the Wanderer? she asked. Can we be sure it hasnt found a way to jump out of range?

We tapped into a visual feed from the Ingersolls sensor arrays just before it was destroyed, replied the Librarian. You may find it interesting viewing.

Screens appeared before Megan, showing a multiplicity of views from the Ingersolls perspective. The cameras had survived just long enough to show the star expanding in size, growing to fill the entire sky with terrifying speed.