A small research vessel from Earth becomes the object of hunting by military fleets of several powerful extraterrestrial civilizations. The reason is simple - earthlings (by the way, the ship's crew consists mainly of dolphins) accidentally stumbled upon a huge abandoned fleet in space, presumably belonging to the legendary ancestors - the first intelligent race in the galaxies, which marked the beginning of the Exaltation. Fleeing persecution, earthlings hide on the small aquatic planet Kitrup. There they hope to repair the damage and try to escape their attackers again. But the crew faces completely unexpected problems, and the planet itself, as it turns out, keeps many important secrets, the importance of which cannot be overestimated... ©Nog