About the book: 1998 / The cosmic paths are inscrutable, but everything that happens on them is not accidental. Threads of insidious intrigues and secret conspiracies are woven into a bizarre tangle of star roads leading to unlimited power over the world. These threads tied together the deposed empress of the Middle Empire, the former navigator of the space fleet, and now an escaped convict, and the Guide, endowed with the ability to move in parallel worlds. All three are outcasts, pursued by the space police, and the fate of the Universe depends on their luck..