[2] Gibson scholar Tatiani Rapatzikou commented that the motif of the space station was used by the authors as a "symbol of the tension and uneasiness the characters or readers experience every time they deal with the artificiality of their technological world".

[2] The story takes place on the Soviet space station Kosmograd ("Cosmic City"), which consists of a number of Salyuts linked together.

As the story opens, the military role is no longer required now that the United States has lost superpower status and the threat of ICBMs is gone.

The remaining administrators decide to put the station in a decaying orbit, and blame the Kosmograd's demise on Korolev, the strike's leader.

The military crew is killed when their portion of the station is ripped open, and Korolev is locked in the civilian side when the doors automatically close.