They became conquerors of new worlds, without wanting it themselves. They flew in automatic sublight ships heading for a distant star cluster in an unexplored region of the Galaxy, and the end point of their journey was determined randomly by a soulless computer. The earth sentenced them - bandits, rapists, murderers - to eternal exile. Centuries have passed. And when humanity began to seriously inhabit the Universe, it turned out that in a distant star cluster at the very edge of the Galaxy there existed hitherto unknown wild and warlike civilizations. Attempts to establish contact with them ended tragically. This area was made no-fly and called the Colony...