Writer Pavel Snegirev comes to the village where during the war there was an orphanage where he spent his childhood, and meets his old friend Klim Avilov. The collective farm foreman does not understand and does not accept the writer, who did not keep his promised word and did not return after the army, thereby betraying both their friendship and the love of Anichka, who had been waiting for Pavel all this time. Their meeting is the last in their lives.

In a remote village in Karelia, Sergeant Vaskov commands an anti-aircraft unit that protects a rail depot. While his men are transferred to the front line, he is reprimanded for their unruly behavior. He retorts that he wants replacements that aren't drunks or womanizers. In response, he is assigned a unit made up entirely of young women, fresh from training.

About Russian space program and missile industry, and it's founder Sergei P. Korolev, from the 1920s to the first man in space in 1961.

After receiving a slap in the face, Officer Silvio challenges the offending Count to a duel. However, urgent circumstances force the officer to leave, leaving the right to shoot. After many years, on the eve of the Count’s wedding, Silvio returns to demand retaliation.