Nicola hurried to a monitor. ‘Phase two. I think that was a nuke. Thermonuclear explosion, a shaped charge – presumably meant for deep mining, on the Moon maybe. We’ve been hit by a pulse of hard radiation, heat energy.’

‘We’ll be safe enough in the Crab’s lifedome.’

‘I know,’ she said evenly. ‘Message incoming  .  .  .’

The monitors showed that in the vacuum of space the fireball from the nuclear detonation had dispersed almost immediately. And now Poole saw the smooth carcass of the Probe emerge from the glare, like some tremendous whale. Still laser light bathed the Probe; still projectiles spanged off that featureless surface. The alien seemed entirely unaffected.

‘Maybe the nuke weakened the hull plate, at least.’

‘Doubt it,’ Nicola said. ‘That thing went swimming in the Sun, remember, the biggest fusion engine in the Solar System. It probably just soaked up the energy and grew a bit.’

-Xeelee: Vengeance, Ch. 37