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***

The watch was over. From the loudspeaker above the bunk came the rasping voice of the duty officer, reporting for the hundred and twentieth time that there were no objects to be studied by the scientific part of the crew at the moment.

In short, boredom!

Assistant Explorer Jumoke (Jum for his friends and family) lay in his quarters with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, blissfully recalling the very beginning of the flight.

Admiral Obahh, dressed in a blue jumpsuit, was giving a pompous speech about the “great mission” before a steady line of crew. He was an old warrior who had lost an eye and the ability to question decisions made in the endless battles with rebels on the fringes of the Empire. The veterans (both crew and scientists) were thinking about something of their own, nodding in time with the chopped phrases that came out of the Admiral’s throat. The young people listened with their mouths open, catching his every word!

After the farewell speech was over, young chicks in pink clothes and with burning eyes came running up, extremely proud that they had been entrusted with such an important task as seeing off another Expedition into deep space. They hung garlands of flowers around the necks of all those departing, resembling the eyes of the great Kueff, the mythical ancestor of the Zwigg civilization. “May you achieve all your goals in your faraway wanderings!”

The Zwiggs were the progenitors of a huge Empire spread across the outer part of the First Great Arm. With all its attributes: His Majesty – the emperor (by the way, the current one is quite adequate in all respects zwigg), the planet – the metropolis, huge fleet and army, allies, to whom it is better not to turn your back… Nevertheless, while the zwiggs were in force – the Empire was growing. And any growing empire continuously absorbs resources and “warm” places to live. A Research fleet was created for this purpose.

A lot of time has passed since then. The Empire lived more by inertia, looking like a gray-haired old man, whose great deeds remained far away in his reckless energetic youth. Those, the first ships, have long ago found their final resting place somewhere in the backyards of abandoned space centers of distant planets. Now the profession of space searchers was mastered by old (if not to say ancient) cruisers, worn out by life.

“Zwigg’s Nest 299” was no exception. The only thing that was modern in it was the engines and navigation equipment. The appearance on board of new equipment for remote search and carrying out “on-planet” expeditions was the result of incredible luck.

To be honest, the science officials would have been happy to save money on it, as before. But here, at the solemn meeting dedicated to the completion of the reconstruction of the ship, the scientific director of the expedition very timely appeared before the bright eyes of the viceroy of the Emperor who happened to appear at the event and made a patriotic speech about “the importance of growing the great Empire with new planets and the impossibility of all this without the use of the latest discoveries and inventions”.