 WWII. A detachment of underground partisans under the leadership of commander Shmakov (Nikolai Merzlikin) is hiding out in a forest near the front lines. They are joined by a reconnaissance group led by Major Semin (Viktor Proskurin) from State Security. The day to day life of the partisans is extremely tense, as they risk their lives fighting the enemy and encounter conflicts within their own group.Hoping to enhance his career, Semin contacts Shimmel, a highly place German spy, in an attempt to recruit him for the Soviet side. During the encounter, Semin is given false information about chemical bombs supposedly developed by the Germans. Semin immediately informs central command, sure that he will be rewarded for his important discovery. However, central command decides that the tip needs to be confirmed and sends reconnaissance officer Lida Eisenschmidt to get close to Shimmel and get to the bottom of the chemical weapons story. Kurt Shimmel (Sergei Yushkevich) and Lida Eisenschmidt (Agnes Zeltinya) are well matched adversaries. They are both professionals and brave opportunists, able to control themselves in the most extreme conditions. Both are lonely, surrounded by colleagues who cannot appreciate their skill or understand their dance with death. Kurt and Lida are predators - born of war - who have lost all traces of their humanity. But perhaps that is the essence of human nature.