The Red Detachment fell victim to betrayal, but the rumors that spread throughout the Empire about the death of Adrian Marlowe turned out to be false - he was returning from captivity in Cielsin. Adrian manages to meet with Emperor Wilhelm and warn of the impending danger: the Cielsins know the route of the imperial tour and can attack at any moment. But William refuses to stop traveling because he does not want to appear as a coward in front of his subjects. And Adrian receives from the ruler another impossible task: to capture the secret base of extrasolarians, mad scientists who have entered into an alliance with the Cielsins...