A fantastic story by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, first published in the magazine "Knowledge Power" in 1976-77. Astrophysicist Malyavin is engaged in the very important and promising topic of studying the interaction of stars with the diffuse matter of the Galaxy. The topic is very promising and in fact, on the basis of its development, a real revolutionary breakthrough can occur in several areas of related sciences at once - from theoretical astrophysics to applied instrument engineering. But here is what is surprising: as soon as Malyavin sits down at the table to try to continue his research, something inevitably begins to interfere with him: then the sudden death of the next-door neighbor, in which the scientist himself is blamed, then the visit of a seductive old acquaintance, then something else- that is clearly unexpected. And this is not a chain of coincidences at all - it turns out that the work of a related group of scientists, working in the same direction as Malyavin, is also "bumped" by such sudden surprises of fate. As if someone, or rather something, does not want the work of scientists to be completed...

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