The distant future...The mission of the Foundation for the Development of Alien Cultures, led by the legendary consul Ivar Trevelyan, discovers on the planet Liana Secunda a mysterious artifact of the civilization of the Lords of the Void, who left the Galaxy millions of years ago. Captivated by the excavations, people and representatives of the Haptor race do not suspect that a serious threat hangs over them. All hope lies with the Mobile Fleet of the Space Defense Corps, which is waging an unequal battle against a monstrous energy surge capable of destroying all inhabited worlds...