My name is Neil. And I won't be the first. I will not become a hero who took a huge step for all humanity. No sons will be named after me. Because our ship fell behind. Hopelessly behind. Nine generations have passed at Ermak. Nine captains led him to the distant planet Orum for a quarter of a millennium. But we left the Earth too late and, having delayed for forty years, lost our rivals forever. "Armstrong" flies ahead. Every day we are closing the gap by millions of kilometers, but it is still not enough. If the crew of the Armstrong makes no mistake, we will arrive at Orum second. And we will dissolve into oblivion. After all, history does not remember the latter. But what if space itself suddenly helps us?