The Galaxy has to face new threats, and the intelligence services of the galactic superpowers have to throw their best specialists into battle. Midshipman Legin Tauk, an officer in the Security Directorate of the Confederation of Humans, is one of them. And yes, the word “humanity” in the era of Galactic Expansion also has a plural form. A new assignment brings Tauk to a distant world that has forgotten its galactic roots, where black masters oppress white slaves, and eerie necro-entities emerge from ancient forests, agitated by human enmity... From the author: The book was written in 1992, the final version was completed in 1998. Special thanks — to my literary agent in 2001–2002. Nikolai Basov, without whose help the story would never have seen the light of day in the EKSMO publishing house (as the second part of the novel “Special Specialist”, 2001).