and expel the profiteers. A group of Zools arrive to arrest the Shingouz. He tells Laureline not to worry – there will always be a place for people with the right information, like him. The Ambassador emerges from the council looking upset. They would not allow him to make his speech and the council has suspended Earth's membership for 100 years: their segment is to be blown up. Laureline takes charge and orders the war-fleet to assist in Earth's withdrawal. Heading for Earth, Valérian wants to activate the main motors but Laureline is putting them to another use – regenerating the Grumpy. Main characters Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent from Galaxity, future capital of Earth, in the 28th century Laureline, originally from France in the 11th century, now a spatio-temporal agent of Galaxity in the 28th century Colonel Diol, assistant protocol officer assigned to the Earth segment on Point Central. Nicknamed "Colonel Protocol" by Laureline. The Earth Ambassador to Point Central The Shingouz, three aliens who sell information about anything to anyone – at the right price The Grumpy Converter, a small animal from Bluxte, a planet in the Empire of a Thousand Planets. When charged up, it's able to transmute multiple copies of anything it ingests, making it useful in places where many different currencies are used. The Zools, mute homeless beings who work to maintain Point Central The Kamuniks, war-like, centaur-like allies of Earth The Suffuss, a race of shape-shifters The Bagoulin, a race of mercenaries The Groubos, a race of aquatic beings The Gniarfs-Dreamers The Shadows, the mysterious beings who founded Point Central Settings Point Central, a vast space station that lies at a crossroads in space. The many alien races that have come here have each added a segment to the station built to simulate their home environment. Each segment meets at a single point – the huge Hall of Screens where the representatives of each race meet to discuss their differences. In most cases, each alien race never leaves its own segment and communicates with the others only via the screens. The passageways that connect the segments are populated by the Zools, mute beings whose planet exploded long ago and who have been taking care of maintenance on Point Central for thousands of years. Also running through the passageways in places is the Green Canal which provides access to the segments occupied by the aquatic races.