compartment. Soon, Devega realized that the Hetaerians' technique, without undergoing failures, maneuvered quite well between any space obstacles.

Fatigue piled up at the beginning of the flight, and Lupo settled down on the floor of the ship to rest. Warm, shimmering lines passed under the back, warming and inducing a sweet drowsiness. Without fully regaining his strength, Lupo got up after a few hours, warming up and diligently shaking off the remnants of sleep. After a flat, hard floor, the body ached a little. Soft, orange light flowed from the window into the spaceship, and the temperature in the car itself rose by several degrees. The stuffy, damp air of the planet Gentry was a little dizzy. Dropping his T-shirt on the floor, Lupo went outside.

Several hundred identical capsule ships stood under the roof of a huge domed room, forming even, long rows. Lupo couldn't meet anyone between the spaceships. After a long search, Devega found a small hole in the wall. Many figures were drawn around a perfectly chiseled circle. As it seemed to Lupo, mostly triangles, the tip of each of them had a direction towards the center of the exit. Once outside, Lupo whistled. All the way to the horizon, the surface of Gentry was occupied by semicircular buildings similar to the one Devega had just climbed out of.

Hey! — happily shouted Lupo, Ugh, weirdos, where are you?

What are you doing here? "What is it?" the Gentrian asked sternly, soon arriving at the noise.

I'm talking to you, — said Lupo cheerfully, looking at the humanoid and you?

The skin of the Gentrian differed from those that came to earth in a more saturated grayish-yellow hue. Without going into further questions, the humanoid grabbed Lupo by the arm and tried to drag him along. Twisting his wrist, Lupo easily escaped while dropping the long humanoid body. Falling, the creature screamed, making shrill, guttural sounds. Devega rushed back to his spaceship.

"Okay, I guess that's enough traveling for today," Lupo said out of breath, jumping inside the ship. His legs were covered with small beads of sweat, and his head was a little dizzy. Having typed the necessary combination, Devega rushed away from the planet Gentry.

Why does a person know where we are? — the second yellow Gentrin asked the first.

"I didn't expect him to have the brains to get to us. I'll order him to be destroyed right now!

The second Gentrian crossed his limbs on his body, forming a kind of living, light yellow pillar.

But why? — asked the first, who read the conditional gesture, which meant prohibition in the language of the Gentry — we are able to repeat the task without undue risk.

If we activate the charge now, our planet may also suffer — interrupted the second Gentrian — wait! As soon as a person returns to his lousy earth on our spaceship, the destruction mechanism must be launched! The charge of energy explosives inside is enough to explode a dozen stars. And this time without delay. I hope you remember the predictions of the great Gentrin oracles. We must remain the only race in the space of the universe. Otherwise, death!

All the way to earth, Lupo went over the vivid events of the past day in his memory. He decided not to get into trouble for at least a month. Moreover, hoping to get a good sum for a miracle car, Devega became much more cheerful. A cap of snow-white clouds slammed over his head, and the spaceship with Lupo smoothly descended to the ground, again crushing a good portion of the parent grapes.

"The Earthman is in place," the first Gentrian reported, quickly reading the data from the monitor. Launch the explosion program! — commanded the second.

The door of the spaceship opened. Outside, large drops of rain lashed the treetops, drumming on the roofs of sleepy houses. A wave of cool air swept over Lupo's skin, and a small shiver ran through him. Turning around, Devega went inside the ship to find a T-shirt.

No wonder I got the spaceships mixed up, thought Lupo with a grin, not finding his thing — they're all the same there. Withering energy capable of melting the sun enveloped Gentry for a moment.