Attempt at Contact

In the magical world of Maera, theorists proved the possibility of creating a portal between worlds—and through great effort, such a portal was built. A small expedition was sent through it, including both those with magical abilities and people who lacked them. People from another world end up on Earth, but from that moment on, returning them to their home world becomes impossible: the magical device became almost nonfunctional. Restoring it turned out to be a difficult, expensive, and long-term task. And the scholars from Maera will need close contact with Earthlings. But besides the official mission—to find a person from Earth who once visited Maera, but has disappeared in a strange way long ago— the people from another world have a secret goal known only to the expedition’s organizers.