Lev Abalkin

Lev Abalkin (2138 - 2178) is a fictional character in Boris and Arkady Strugatsky's series of science fiction novels set in the Noon Universe.

Lev Abalkin was born on 6. October 2138 on Earth. Officially, his parents were Vyacheslav Tsyurupa and Stella Abalkina, who both participated in the "Yormala Project" (submersion into the black hole EN-200056) in 2135, which means that Lev was a post mortem child, a child who, at the prior request of his parents, was grown "in vitro" from his mother's fertilized ovum. Such practice was common on Earth in the 22nd century among the scientist couples who weren't sure of their chances of survival in certain experiments.

The truth is, however, that Abalkin's official parents never requested a post mortem child and that Lev Abalkin was, in fact, one of the "Stepchildren". This knowledge was kept away from the public and only a few people on Earth knew of his true origin. In 2139 he was the first "Stepchild" to obtain the s.c. "Wanderer's mark".

According to the Sikorski's Requirements, Abalkin was trained as a progressor and since 2160 worked on Saraksh. He was especially interested in the contact with Golovans, so until 2162 he led the diplomatic negotiations between them and Earth. In 2162-63 he was in charge of the Saraksh sub-project "Golovans in Space".

In 2163 Abalkin was the first (and only) human to work in pair with a Headie, Schyokn-Itrch, during the unsuccessful rescue operation "Dead World" on Hope. Between 2164 and 2166 he worked on Giganda, but after an accidental encounter with another "Stepchild", Korney Yashmaa, who already knew of his true origin (but not of Abalkin's one), COMCON-2 moved Abalkin back to Saraksh in 2170.

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