Galileo, the last Earth-equipped exploration ship, crashes in the asteroid belt. From now on, all human space programs have been curtailed. The energy crisis confronts earthlings with a choice: to enter into an enslaving agreement with the Triumvirate of the Elder Races, depriving the next generations of hope for a normal life, or to plunge into a “cave” existence now and throw the remnants of their strength and resources into Space in the hope of its riches. Maybe there is a third way, but so far only one person knows about it, or rather, guesses it - Captain Makritsky, the Galileo pilot who miraculously survived the disaster. But first he needs to remember everything that happened to him there, on a nameless planet, two steps away from death...