It just so happens that an ordinary official task, seemingly simple, even routine, will turn into a long chain of misadventures, and events occurring in the vastness of the Universe, seemingly unrelated to each other, take on meaning. The Confederation of Free Planets faces the threat of an invasion by the Vagabonds who were once defeated by it, who have joined forces with creatures from distant galaxies. And is an ordinary guide to other planets so simple when he, involuntarily or on someone’s whim, is drawn into the Great Game, where the winnings are the entire inhabited part of the Universe?