What can a retired commander count on when he decides to return to the search and rescue space fleet of the Earth after fourteen years of absence? Daria Severova was lucky: suddenly she gets command of the Pilgrim, the first barquentine of the St. Bernard series. But something is wrong with this wonderful starship. Why was it built in the shipyards of a planet lost in distant space in secrecy? Why is he not included in the earth unit, and no one knows to whom he is subordinate? What secrets are hidden by crew members who are wary and hardly communicate with each other outside the service? And why is the first simple task to find a patrol boat lost in space, leads the barkentine into a deadly trap, from which there is no way out?