 Crimea, Ukraine, ca 1942. WWII. The army of fascist Nazi Germany, in its bid to capture the oil fields to the east, has taken control of large parts of the Ukraine. The Soviet Army has risen from its defeat in June 1941, and is, savage battle by savage battle, slowly retaking the softly rolling hills and brilliant green fields of the Crimea. Second Lieutenant Andrey Besfamilnyy is a "razvedchik", an army scout. He is known as a dare-devil, immune to bullets. His last name - both a Russian surname and a Russian word meaning "without a family" - is the only thing about him that might hint at his childhood, spent abandoned and homeless, surviving alone in the streets. He is the leader of a "razved-vzvod", an elite squad of reconnaissance scouts, specially trained to penetrate deep behind he enemy lines, gather data - uncover the enemy s positions, determine their strengths and weaknesses, and discover their plans - relay that information back to their commanders by radio, and then, if they can, return alive. The squad members, all from different backgrounds, have become fast friends. A perfectly coordinated team, they have become so attuned to each other that they can finish their assigned tasks almost without speaking. And, they are trusted by their commanders with the most dangerous and complex missions. The story opens as the squad returns from a routine mission behind the German lines. All believe that their comrade Fedotov had been killed, and there is an unspoken, but intense sense of loss among them. Suddenly, Fedotov returns on his own. He says that he had been captured by the Germans, but had escaped. He then tells them about a secret military factory that he had seen, hidden on a remote coast, where the fascists were making fantastic weapons. When they take this information to their commanding officers, though, Fedotov becomes a victim of Stalin s official policy of condemning all captured soldiers as traitors. The interrogating officer refuses to believe Fedotov s story, and it seems certain he will be convicted of treason. Their friend s only hope is if they can prove that this secret military factory actually exists. So, they set out to find exactly what the fascists have hidden on that quiet, strangely serene, deserted, rocky shore.