About the book: year / Jack Lintell, a pilot without registration or assignment, vegetates from idleness in the bars of the colonial town of El Agheila. Not long ago, he survived a starship crash and decided to take a break from flying, but according to his own feelings, the break was too long, and he himself risked starting to “rust.” It is at this moment that the Balmoral cargo ship lands at the colony’s spaceport, the crew of which requires a person to serve as the first pilot. Deciding that the Universe and Eternity are unlikely to give him another chance, Jack sets off to meet the captain and, perhaps, new adventures on interstellar routes.