Fortress of Hope

41

The world welcomes you! said a beautiful, deep female voice.

It was the first thing I heard when I woke up, while I was in space, at least that's how I imagined it: the surrounding blackness, which seemed voluminous and endless, distant winking stars, a scattering of luminous gas clouds - this is a bewitching sight but it didn't last long at all. The world around me began to spin, and I ended up in a room. Small, with an area of ​​three meters by two, but bright. Large window, white ceiling and apparently whitewashed, log walls and wooden floor, surprisingly smooth. The furniture included good quality chairs and a table. On one of these chairs sat a man, he was offhand about thirty years old, well-built brunette, direct look, proud profile, you look like from the cover of a magazine.

“Good afternoon, Mark Viktorovich,” he began, “you probably don’t feel at ease, let me explain everything. My name is Nikifor Ivanovich Gromov. I am a representative of the Mir company. How are you feeli