Ten minutes later, the red star exploded.
It cracked into three separate pieces. They held that position, each section racing from red to violet. That changed blindingly to magnesium white. The glare smashed at the eyeballs. The three pieces in turn shattered each other as they puffed up. Then the whole spurted into a violence that lighted all the black sky with recurring, silently throbbing sheets of shattering luminescence.
The stars were blotted out in that primeval surf of untamed energy.
The planet Worta was caught, flamed in glory for the small part of a second.
The big space-ship trembled in every beam and partition as the wave-front of exploding light reached it.
Distress signal!