About the book: 2006 / Planet Rakhat of the Alpha Centauri system. The world of a mysterious ancient civilization. The world to which the first expedition of earthlings is sent, sponsored by... the Vatican. On board the starship - an astronomer, an engineer, a doctor, a computer specialist and four Jesuit missionaries. Thus begins one of the most original and fascinating science fiction novels of our time, which critics have compared to the works of Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells and Ray Bradbury.