A small landing ship "Raven", ready to take off, stood on the take-off site. To the side, a group of soldiers, picking up their backpacks from the white sand, moved to load. The two soldiers were a little late.

  “ It's time to load the ship.”

  “We took everything we needed. But only two drones.”

  “Not much”

  “Dave, have you heard about the new mission?”

  “ I heard that we are not the first to take on this work. Okay, Sam, let's go, otherwise they will fly away without us!”

  It was Dave and Sam, the last to Board the ship. They were met by Kir Lac. At the time, he was 57 years old, a hereditary warrior, a member of the warrior caste. Cyrus is a follower of family traditions. At the age of 18, he participated in the war of the Nodian Empire  against the Ilites. A brave, honest and strong-willed person. His qualities helped to rise in the caste and become one of the members of the caste. Kir was always on the front line, he did not like to sit in the office, thereby earning the respect of ordinary members of the caste. In addition, he was known for being able to resolve conflicts peacefully when people took up arms. In his team, which he carefully selected, losses were very rare. Subordinates rarely called him by his first name, more often called him the Boss.

  “How is Boss feeling?”

  “Thanks, Dave. Excellent! I'm expecting everyone in ten minutes for a briefing.”

  “Dara! Take off!”

  “Yes, boss!”  came from the communicator.”

  Dave and Sam went to the Armory. There was no one else in the room; the others had already gone upstairs.

  “I didn't think the Boss would go back to work!”

  “What else can he do, six months of rehabilitation after an injury, I would also run away from the hospital!”

  "Everyone buckle up, we're taking off!"  Dara said.

  The briefing began after the ship left the planet. The briefing room was on the upper deck. There were seven people in the room, all that was left of Kir Luck's large team.

  “We have a new order, on which the future of the team depends. Cap has met with a client, and he will fill you in.”  Kir pointed to Сap, who was sitting next to him.

  “There is a customer, for many years no one can fulfill his order. Given the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we will have to accept this order.”

  “Cap, get to the point!”

 A map projection with additional mission materials appeared above the table.

  “Our target is at the edge of the galaxy, the K-2t9 system. One of the planets. Once the planet was inhabited now there is no one there except wild animals. Our target is below the surface of the planet. The task is simple, take in the obelisk biological samples and artifacts that we find.”

 The Gak interrupted Cap. “This system is not on the maps.  Besides, no one has ever returned from there!”

  “That's right, Gak! The system is not present on any map except for Nodian old maps that were made before the dark age.  The customer sent several scientific missions to the planet, some returned.”

 Gak was nervous. – “We are military, why do we need this?”

  “We have no choice, Gak! We sat idle for six months, no one wants to work with us! This customer agreed to our terms of work. Even in the event of our death, our relatives will receive insurance, which is enough for a comfortable life!”

 Gak attempted to argue but Kir stopped him abruptly.

   “Cap, if it's that simple, why don't robots do it?” Phil asked.

  “The customer has already used robots. It didn't work. It's cheaper to pay people than to waste expensive equipment. Now we have advantages, enough materials have been collected to successfully complete the mission, we have more advanced weapons.”

  “Why do we need more advanced weapons! Is there something that cannot be destroyed with conventional weapons?” Phil interrupted.

  “I have prepared a detailed mission description for each of them. Read it carefully. If you have any questions, ask them. No questions, everyone is free.”

  This was the shortest briefing in the history of the Kir Luck team. In turn, Cap was not going to explain something for a long time. As a result of the last unsuccessful mission, the team had many questions for him. But that's not the point. He didn't fit into the team from the start. Cap was about 38 years old. Dainian. Professional hunter. He did not have a military rank. He was distinguished by high organizational skills. In the team, was appointed senior assistant. Perhaps this appointment influenced the relationship in the team. None of the team understood why Kir appointed Cap's assistant, he was not even a military man.

  After the briefing, everyone gathered on the middle deck in the dining room. The humans were to be hibernated for two weeks. High-calorie bars and a thick drink similar to alcohol, these foods were essential to prepare the body for hibernation. The drink began to act immediately, everyone was drawn to talk. Cap again spoke of his hunting adventures. Bolt nodded affirmatively. Not everyone was interested in this conversation, Gak and Dave were sitting at the far table and discussing Cap.

  “I don't trust Cap. He's hiding something. Nobody pays that kind of money for a simple mission. Have you read what he wrote about predators? Weavers and big lizards - and this was written by a professional hunter! These are not predators, this food is for the large gigtheus.”

  “Cap is too self-confident. He could find a less dangerous order. Gаk, you can't calm down because you didn't become an assistant to the Boss! No offense, okay. ”

  Dave got drunk, but he was right. Gak Obi, he was 47, a Mencalian. Member of the warrior caste. Participant in hostilities. Intelligence specialist. Senior team member after the Boss. In the team since 28 years. He rarely complained, but he was not averse to discussing Cap.

  Dave, Guck's interlocutor, was always ready to support the topic. Dave Utley, like Phill, was an Arctian. Member of the warrior caste. Technician specialist. In the team from 20 years old. Over the past 14 years, Dave has not shown himself in any way in the team, his task was to monitor the state of combat drones and provide communication.

  The boss decided to talk to Gak, but Phil stopped him: "Boss, you're only after the hospital, I'll go instead of you.".

  “Phil, are you sure about this?”

  “Yes, sir!”

 Hearing this conversation, Dave and Guck concluded:

  “Yoy heard it! The boss will stay on the ship!”

  “So Cap will be in charge. This is bad!”

 Dara came into the dining room. "So, I'm not going to work as a cleaner for two weeks. All in capsules and go to sleep."

  Dara, a seemingly fragile but strong-willed girl, blocked the exit to the corridor and made sure everyone went down to the lower deck in the room with the capsules. Dara knew that if not to drive everyone into capsules, someone from the team would definitely hide and while everyone was sleeping, empty the supplies in the dining room.

  Dara Luck, she was 27 years old, daughter of Kir Luck. She, like her father, is a member of the warrior caste. Unlike her father, Dara did not strive to take any position in the caste. Dara loved freedom, she graduated with honors from the flight academy and became a pilot. After the death of her mother from a DNA abnormality, she joined her father's team and became the pilot of this ship. With her own fee, she bought the ship from the caste. Kir protected his daughter, which prevented her from establishing her personal life. Dara had an affair with one of the team members, but on one of the assignments her boy friend was seriously injured and was fired for health reasons. They parted as friends. Dara drew attention to Cap, but getting to know him better, decided not to maintain a relationship. Kir also did not like this relationship.

  The team was in capsules and Dara monitored the hibernation process. Only she and her father remained awake on the ship. Kir could not use hibernation for health reasons and physiological characteristics. In the last mission, he was seriously injured, injured his spine, pelvic bones and both legs, the insurance could only pay for robotic prostheses, a pelvis and part of the spine. You could say he was a cyborg.