A retired soldier agrees to a government contract with the Earth Aviation Space Association. A major in retirement flies alone to the Automated Orbital Station of Mercury to conduct reconnaissance of the system for hidden errors. An easy seven-day mission drags on and turns into a real survival test. The station is controlled by an overly developed experimental artificial intelligence—the root of the problem. When the station sends out a distress signal, a mercenary ship responds. The arrival of mercenaries doesn’t solve the problem—it only makes it worse. Now an artificial intelligence takes control, and it has already begun…