Julien, the son of a minister has just married Birgitt, a Swede she met during her holidays on the French Riviera. She was recovering, having come to rest with Julien's father, a friend of her family. During the wedding cocktail, Julien remembers these holidays.

Some time in the future, East and West have stopped maintaining standing armies and nuclear weapons. Instead, to settle their differences they pit different teams of crack combat specialists against each other.