The Dreaming Manta, nicknamed "Iron Butterfly", having lost control of the crew, swallows a certain mysterious object. After which he falls into a Winter Coma - the worst of all diseases that can affect a living starship in Space. Manta's owner, Captain Gloco, and his assistant, the intelligent Ant Chirgrag, are doing their best to bring the mega-animal out of the Winter Coma. The only passenger on the flight, the venerable Tshu-rik, successfully helps them in this. There is one chance of salvation: to find the Artifact-Key with the Rebus on the object swallowed by Manta. Only by solving the Rebus, as the ancient belief of star tramps says, can you get a Hint on how to get rid of the misfortune. But a series of strange and sometimes ominous events happening on Manta does not allow the crew of the Iron Butterfly to focus on Rebus’s solution... Will Gloko, Chirgrag and Tshu-rik, representatives of three races completely different in mentality, manage to unite in the face of a common disaster? Will they be able to unravel the secrets of the Alien facility and escape from certain death?