Eight seconds.
Nine.
There was a blinding flash of light as jagged white flames reached into a blood-red sky, tearing apart like a paper box the last ship commanded by Cobber.
From a hilltop in the distance Kama saw the flash and heard the rumble. When it died down the evening silence fell again he knew what Cobber had done.
Other years would bring other ships from Earth. If in them were men like Cobber, the barrier between different peoples might yet be crossed.