Chapter 1

The vast cosmos, our solar system. An asteroid belt, millions of kilometers from Earth, composed of thousands of deep-frozen rocks of various sizes and shapes, hanging motionless in the vacuum, creating a false illusion of eternal calm. In the shadow of one such asteroid, a ship was lurking; the shape of its hull resembled a multifaceted triangle. The ship's hull bore marks that indicated it had passed through Earth's atmospheric layer many times, at very high speeds. The ship's bridge was not large, oval in shape, and contained no instruments, control panels, steering wheels, or any other ship controls. A single screen occupied the entire wall in front of the two pilot seats, displaying the endless emptiness of the surrounding space. The ship's systems and the ship itself were in sleep mode, which provided maximum camouflage, and coupled with a new-generation stealth field generator, it allowed it to remain unnoticed by any chance visitor.

The creature occupying one of the pilot seats was not human. Ninety-nine percent of its body was artificial. A fully synthetic body that provided its owner with immense strength. The body itself was completely covered in composite armor scales that shimmered with a green hue in the light. Only the eyes, alive and yet cold, betrayed it as a sentient being. This creature was Gena, he was from the race of Reptimens. Several hundred years ago, he had received his synthetic body. Reptimens by nature live very long lives, two or three hundred years, but can live longer under certain circumstances. Such circumstances were status and position within the Reptimens hierarchy. All high-born Reptimens were offered the opportunity to extend their lives by completely replacing their biological bodies with synthetic ones. Not all high-born Reptimens could afford this, only the very wealthy or those close to the emperor. Gena was lucky in this regard; he, like his fifteen brothers, was born into a very high-born clan. Gena's real name was Bugushalz Genaralsiz Veykos, given to him at birth on the planet Sergaz. The Bugushalz Veykos clan was two steps below the emperor's clan, and his clan was considered one of the most influential on the planet.

About thirty years ago, the emperor entrusted Gena with a very important diplomatic mission to the planet Earth. His main tasks were to build relations with the humanoids inhabiting this planet and to prevent the inhabitants of Earth from becoming the suzerains of the ancient race of Archons. Several missions conducted on Earth were successful; he managed to negotiate cooperation and protection from the Reptimens with the rulers of the most influential countries. But the Archons entered the political game, seeking complete control over the planet of humans. As a result of this confrontation, ten years ago, during another visit to a secret meeting on the planet with Earth's representatives, an assassination attempt was made on him, in which his biological body was seventy-five percent damaged. He was helped to survive by a man who dragged the remnants of his body after a powerful explosion to the ship and managed to shove him into a medical capsule. This allowed Gena to survive and receive his synthetic body. Later, this man became his only friend on this planet, but not for long.

Gena interrupted his memories, got up from the chair, and moved towards the cabin with the medical capsule, where a man named Pyotr lay. He needed to restore not only his body, damaged by the explosion, but also his memory. Over the past few weeks, a lot had happened in the lives of Gena and his new friend Pyotr. Another assassination attempt on Gena at the SVR special storage base forced Gena to accelerate the development of events, which could now lead to an unpredictable chain of events. Until this moment, Gena had at least some strategy and plan of action; now he was relying on his intuition, which was absolutely uncharacteristic of his race. The first thing he did was take from the planet the human offspring of his old human friend named Pyotr. Pyotr was about twenty-five years old. He lived in the city of Moscow and worked as an engineer repairing electronic systems, which were very ancient by Gena's technological standards.

Now Gena was working with the virtual panel of the med-capsule where Pyotr lay. The most difficult part was implanting into his body the implant of the Ancients, which he had stolen. In Earth's science fiction books, it is described in different ways, but the name "neural network" suits it best. A sufficiently advanced technology of the Ancients, allowing interaction with various electronic devices on the ship and on many planets; without this implant, a being can do absolutely nothing. The second most difficult task was to implant memories into Pyotr's memory. The memories were about the meeting and friendship between Gena and his father, who Gena is, and much more. The main thing was that Pyotr wouldn't die of fright at their first meeting here. Well, the human brain is not ready for such events without proper preparation. Sometimes information can even kill. He remembered this from his first meeting with a human, forty years ago. At first, the man was frightened, and a few seconds later, he grabbed his chest and died. Gena could not afford such mistakes in Pyotr's case, so after working for more than forty Earth hours, he decided to take a break. Sitting down in a large, soft chair standing nearby, he took out a cigar and lit it. Gena really liked various human things, their way of life, and much more. For example, he really liked alcohol, although it dissolved very quickly and didn't have the same effect on him as on humans due to his race's metabolism. He liked the process itself. Smoking gave him not only pleasure but also calmed him. His friend, Pyotr's father, had taught him this. They often talked for a long time on various topics and smoked. And now Gena was thinking about what was really happening on Earth. Why did the followers of the Cult of Darkness from the Archon race attack him and try to kill Pyotr? How did they manage to infiltrate the closed Russian organization SVR? The main thing that worried Gena was what he and Pyotr should do next. Where should they go? For now, they are hanging in their system, and the power plants are charging from the large star; they can't move anywhere. But when everything is ready for the flight, where should they go?

***

Darkness… How long have I been here? I didn't know how much time had passed, hours or days of my imprisonment in the darkness, but suddenly a bright light hit my eyes. I swore to myself. It took me a great effort to open my eyes. Naturally, I couldn't see anything because there was a complete veil over my eyes. As soon as I could see more or less, I:

– "Holy shit!" – I exclaimed – "You're Gena!" – I hissed, poking at the glass lid, and the lid slid open.

– "What are you yelling about?" – the Reptiloid asked, leaning towards me.

– "Gena! What the hell happened?" – I croaked.

– "Quiet, lie down, don't get up. How do you feel?" – asked Gena.

– "Really crappy, Gennadiy, really, my whole-body hurts. What happened?"

– "Petya, it's quite a story, just don't get nervous and lie down, and I'll tell you everything. So. What do you remember from the recent events?"

– "The last thing I remember is someone shooting at me with some kind of unearthly weapon. Then you show up and an explosion. What the hell is going on?" – I exclaimed.

– "I see. Calm down and listen."

– "Where am I?" – I asked.

– "Will you shut up already, Petya, and listen to me." – he roared in his bass voice.

I waved my hand at Gena dismissively and closed my eyes, in a helpless attempt to put everything in place in my head. Gena, yeah, like he'd let me think peacefully, sure, wait, that's not like this crocodile.

– "Petya. For your information, I'm a telepath and I read your thoughts. Call me a crocodile one more time, and I'll eat you" – he looked at me in such a way that I somehow believed him – "Now for the main thing. It's very unpleasant for me to tell you this. But you, Petya, are a clone, and we are on the Moon."

– "What? How the?" – I shouted, but my dry throat only produced a rasp.

– "I see, Petya, your sense of humor is still poor. As it was, so it remained. That was a joke. You are not a clone, and no, we are not on the Moon. You are on my ship, and we are in space."

– "I'm a clone? Gena, how is that possible?"

– "It's possible, but you are not a clone, I was joking, Petya, calm down, can't I even joke anymore?" – Gena smiled, showing all his teeth, and a chill ran down my spine at the sight. – "Gena, let's take it from the beginning, in order, I remember that—" – Gena, as usual, didn't let me finish, stopping me with a gesture of his paw.

– "Stop. In order, then listen, but first drink this magnificent, invigorating herbal drink, it will perk you up a bit." – Gena handed me a plastic cup with a transparent liquid. And I emptied it in one gulp.

– "Gena, damn you, that's pure alcohol!" – I croaked.

– "I told you it would invigorate you," – Gena replied, smiling. – "Get up and get dressed, you need to eat and put yourself in order. We are going to have a very long and thorough conversation."

Chapter 2

After pulling on my clothes, the same ones I was wearing back on Earth, I followed Gena out. We moved to the mess hall, if that word was even suitable for describing this room. In the center stood a huge oval metal table, surrounded by such enormous chairs that five people could fit in one without bothering each other. It took me a few tries, but I finally managed to climb onto one of them—Gena helped—but once I was on this throne, I felt like a five-year-old child put in an adult's chair. It was clear that both the table and the furniture on this ship were designed for beings much larger than me. Honestly, from the outside, these chairs didn't seem comfortable or ergonomic, but once I sat down, I realized how convenient and comfortable they were. Gena placed a box of candies in front of me; on a metal plate, there was bread, sausage, cheese, and next to it stood a two-liter bottle of water.

– "Gen, can I ask where such 'deficit' items come from on this ship? I've already understood that we're in space and far from my planet. But where did all this come from? And another question, what else is there?" – I asked with a smile.

– "There is, lots of things to eat, troglodyte. You eat, and then you can conduct an inventory yourself of everything I brought from your planet. Before you start your meal, answer one question first. How did your father die?"

Gena surprised me with his appearance and his behavior; if not for his looks, I would have said he was just a very tall human. But I definitely wasn't expecting that question. I stared at him wide-eyed, but Gena leaned back in his chair, crossed his legs, and calmly looked at me. I decided there was no point in lying, and why should I? I decided to tell him everything as it was. I told him how we lived all together. How I studied, how my father and I played our game, 'guess the code on the diplomat's case'. How I found my father already dead, who had just stepped out for five minutes before work to take out the trash to the garbage chute on our floor. How I lived and what I did until our meeting. Gena silently listened to my story, then took out a cigar, lit it, and said:

– "Okay, things are becoming more or less clear to me." – Gena replied, releasing a huge cloud of smoke.

– "What's clear? Personally, I don't understand anything, Gena. What happened to me, what's with these questions? Gen, tell me, I want to know everything." – I said and looked intently at Gena. Gena nodded and began: