The dome was flooded with light. The star had exploded.
"They had the bombs all right," I heard myself saying. "And they couldn't prevent themselves from using them. And they had a lot more, too. Enough to push their star past its natural limits."
Rizzo's face was etched in the harsh light.
"I've gotta get out of here," he muttered, looking all around the cramped dome. "I've gotta get back to my wife and find someplace where it's safe...."
"Someplace?" I asked, staring at the screen. "Where?"
THE END
[1] Astronomers have been able, since about 1910, to estimate the distances of Cepheid variable stars by timing their pulsations. The length of this type of star's pulsation is a true measure of its intrinsic brightness. Comparing the star's actual brightness to its apparent brightness, as seen from Earth, gives a good value for the star's distance.