2069. During a research mission to Proxima Centauri, the expedition crew encounters an unusual phenomenon. Team members suddenly start dying. The symptoms that occur before death are unlike any other earthly disease. The team urgently returns to Earth to the quarantine zone. There, the expedition pilot Alexey accidentally finds out that the phenomenon can be controlled. Moreover: it gives unusual abilities. Scientists of the Earth are doing their best to help the crew. Scientific experiments, riddles, love, friendship and dislikes are woven together. What did the members of the expedition bring with them and where will it lead them?

From the author: The novel is the winner in the science fiction section of Sergei Lukyanenko’s Literary Workshop.