alike as
eggs from the same deadly clutch. Pointed like the bow of a spacer,
each one swept smoothly back for its two metres of length, to a
sharply chopped-off end. They were obviously incomplete, the war
heads of rockets. One had its base turned towards him, and he saw
six projecting studs that could be used to attach it to the missing
rocket. A circular inspection port was open in the flat base of the
bomb.

This was enough. With this description, the Nyjorders would know he
couldn't be lying about finding the bombs. Once they realized this,
they couldn't destroy Dis without first trying to neutralize them.

Brion carefully counted fifty paces before he stopped. He was far
enough from the cavern so he couldn't be heard, and an angle of the
cave cut off all light from behind him. With carefully controlled
movements he turned on the power, switched the set to transmit,
and checked the broadcast frequency. All correct. Then slowly and
clearly, he described what he had seen in the cavern behind him. He
kept his voice emotionless, recounting facts, leaving out anything
that might be considered an opinion.

It was six minutes before midnight when he finished. He thumbed
the switch to receive and waited.

There was only silence.

Slowly, the empty quality of the silence penetrated his numbed mind.
There were no crackling atmospherics nor hiss of static, even when
he turned the power full on. The mass of rock and earth of the
mountain above was acting as a perfect grounding screen, absorbing
his signal even at maximum output.

They hadn't heard him. The Nyjord fleet didn't know that the cobalt
bombs had been discovered before their launching. The attack would
go ahead as planned. Even now, the bomb-bay doors were opening;
armed H-bombs hung above the planet, held in place only by their
shackles. In a few minutes the signal would be given and the
shackles would spring open, the bombs drop clear....

"Killers!" Brion shouted into the microphone. "You wouldn't listen
to reason, you wouldn't listen to Hys, or me, or to any voice that
suggested an alternative to complete destruction. You are going to
destroy Dis, and _it's not necessary!_ There were a lot of ways you
could have stopped it. You didn't do any of them, and now it's too
late. You'll destroy Dis, and in turn this will destroy Nyjord.
Ihjel said that, and now I believe him. You're just another damned
failure in a galaxy full of failures!"

He raised the rad