The hope that Murex, the intellectual weapon of the “dead hand” left by the lost civilizations of the Universe half a billion years ago and subordinated to the terrorist Kurt Schneider, was destroyed, did not materialize. He simply disappeared into the depths of space, postponing a new battle with humanity for the future. However, the respite that the security forces of the Earth Federation receive is unexpectedly interrupted during an expedition to Venus by the special group of Major Darislav Volkov. The mysterious object found there threatens to become another Herald of the Apocalypse and is fraught with no less danger. And in a strange way, events in the solar system turn out to be connected with what is happening now, millions of light years away, near the star Alarming.