The distant future. The space liner encounters an alien ship, heavily damaged in battle. You can just leave, or you can come closer and try to help. Enter a tiger's cage without knowing if he is hungry. But perhaps it is only the capacity for compassion that makes us human. There are trillions of stars around, and they are all silent. Has anyone ever wondered why? If there are so few intelligent people, then who is killing us? Or what? What if we kill ourselves? An elegantly constructed novel in the best traditions of science fiction. A fireworks display of ideas and breathtaking adventures awaits you, a bewitching round dance of worlds, sometimes similar to ours, and sometimes strikingly different!