The distant future...The millstones of big politics are turning in the Super-Empire. The intelligence services are fighting the rebels, weaving cunning intrigues, the bait in one of which should be a unit of “disposable” agents used blindly. And Thomas Brain, a barbarian from little-known lands, is the best candidate for the job. He is promised full legalization in the Over-Empire if he leads a group that will pass through the stormy jungle on a distant planet and deliver an important person to the place. Everything is very secretive and secret, but information about the route of the bait group is immediately “leaked” to the enemy...