About the book: 2024 / A rescue cruiser under the control of professional cosmonaut Victor and artificial intelligence Astor patrols its sector on the border of the Milky Way. Their task is to come to the aid of those who, at their own peril and risk, go to the Outlands - intergalactic space, where there is nothing but dark matter and the eternal emptiness of space. There people can feel true loneliness, because for many thousands of light years there is not a single living soul and even light is lost, scattered by lonely photons. But every such trip is a risk. Few brave souls talk about how people change by looking into the depths of intergalactic darkness. With voices shaking with fear, they whisper their stories, as if afraid to attract her attention..