Read A Night Without Stars for Free Online Page A

they could deploy the bomb close enough, a nuclear explosion in a vacuum was unlikely to be effective. There would be no blast wave. Yes, the spaceship would suffer the radiation spike, and the electromagnetic pulse, but she couldn’t be sure that would kill it.
    An atmospheric strike, however, was different. The ships were vulnerable during their descent phase, and it was the blast wave that would cause the real damage. Supersonic winds smashing into the spaceships in tandem with the radiation deluge and the electromagnetic pulse knocking out unprotected electronics and power systems…
    With only three bombs it was their best chance.
    “Bomb two activated,” the weapons master said.
    She set the timer for a minute. The short interval was used to confirm the location of the invaders’ ships. Looking down from four hundred kilometers above Bienvenido, they saw proof that the first bomb had exploded successfully, which brought a swift cheer around the crypt. The detonation flare was spent; now there was just a seething ball of star-hot plasma, cloaked in a shroud of ruined air. Tothland was fully illuminated by the devilish purple-white glare. Her u-shadow could just distinguish four spaceships still descending within the chaotic atmosphere.
    The terminus switched position again. Bomb two was shoved through, six kilometers above the ground.
    Bomb number three was deployed at a mere two and a half kilometers of altitude.
    Please work,
she prayed as the five determined technicians let go of the trolley handle. It seemed to be the mantra she lived her life with these days. Everything she’d done since she landed had been nick-of-time kludges in the face of adversity. Every time she thought she was making progress, something would come along to challenge her satisfaction.
    In a bizarre way she almost welcomed this invasion. If they destroyed the Prime, it would buy Bienvenido time. The planet’s society might just start to change as newer technologies began to make life easier. She might live to see the Commonwealth once more.
    Unlikely.
    Not that there was anyone left for her in the Commonwealth, anyway. The majority of her friends and family had all been on the colony fleet.
But it has to be better than this.
    The terminus opened again at five hundred kilometers above the radiation-saturated zone. Everyone watched anxiously as the three malevolent swirls of energy staining the air slowly subsided. Massive firestorms had broken out across Tothland as vegetation vaporized and entire forests ignited. Broiling hurricanes raced outward, bringing ruin with them. There was no sign of any spaceship rocket exhausts.
    “Did we do it?” Slvasta asked in trepidation.
    “I think so,” she said. Her enhanced retinas scanned the area where the ships had been, unable to detect anything but the billowing ion haze.
    “Thank you.”
    She nodded acknowledgment. He’d actually meant it.
    “Do we open the gateway back to Fanrith and bring
them
back?”
    “No. Kysandra said they would find their own way home.”
    “I see.”
    “So how do we know if they’ve been successful?” Yannrith asked.
    Always the suspicious one,
Laura thought. “You need to send the forward scouts into the landing zone to confirm the ships were destroyed. But Kysandra will have done the job. Trust me.”
I haven’t told you half of the things biononics are capable of.
    “All right.” Slvasta turned to one of the regimental colonels. “Send the scouts in.”
    “Sir.” The colonel picked up a telephone and started talking into it.
    “Time to finish this,” Laura said. “Let’s get the floaters in here.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” the weapons master acknowledged.
    Slvasta and Javier exchanged a glance.
    “Are you sure about this?” the political adviser asked.
    “I’ve never been more sure of anything,” Laura told him solemnly. “If we don’t eliminate Ursell, the Prime will just keep on coming. Once they confirm how vulnerable Bienvenido is, it