About the book: 1994 / Published in If magazine, No. 11–12, 1994. Magnan met Retief at the spaceport and invited him to an urgent meeting with the ambassador Grosslapsus.On the way, he asked the native driver to turn around and drive past the theater, which was to be officially opened tomorrow. But instead of a theater, in its place there was a shapeless structure, covered on top with a colossal tent, or rather, a monstrous pit gaped, at the bottom of which, in dimly shimmering puddles, scraps of electrical and water communications could be seen. Did the Earthlings' competitors, the Groachs, steal the entire theater building, the Earthlings' Cultural Assistance to the local authorities, in order to win with their stadium project?! It smelled like an intergalactic scandal. Retief arrived just in time…