One day in the summer of 1952, a crew of eight was sent to a small regional center Likharevka for military trials. Among them - Major General Sivere, clever and scholar; Major Skvortsov, an officer appointed responsible for the flight, goldfinch, merry fellow and favorite of women; designer Romnich, the only woman, petite, serious and smart (the astute General Sivere was the first to notice, “what big gray her eyes are, what sad eyes”); and also senior researcher Totkin, friendly and reckless.
Constructor Lida Romnich, unlike officers and generals, is accommodated in an inexpensive barrack-type hotel with two women; one of them, loving Laura Sundukova, is not indifferent to Totkin. Skvortsov is very likable to Lida, she seems to him to be a “self-sufficient woman”, and he begins to look after her. Although both Lida has a husband and a son, and Skvortsov has a wife and a son, they have mutual sympathy. Lida, on the other hand, seeks to “marry” Laura and Totkin. The local artist, Major Thousand, invites everyone to his name day. Skvortsov takes care of Lida Romnich, carefully pondering every word and looking at her smile and eyes, “sad like a jerboa”; strongly drunk Tёtkin, under pressure from Lida, makes an offer to Laura and promises to adopt her two children, and General Sivere behaves inadvertently: he speaks fluently about the prison, about the fact that one professor was imprisoned. Then both Lida and Skvortsov will have a strange feeling that Sivers hides deep anxiety and self-doubt behind this ernic manner, that something is wrong with him, but they still don’t have time and words to talk to him, ask "A simple human question," What is the matter with you? "
Later it turns out that Major Tysyachny is a scammer: having played a drunk in front of the guests, after they leave he instantly sobers up, takes out a folder from his desk and writes down: “General S. has shown objectivity four times this evening ...”
Lida Romnich amazes those around her with seriousness, intelligence (it was she who designed the steel cylinder - the target for subversive tests) and a heightened sense of justice. For example, she is indignant at this case: in the middle of the square for several days now a dead dog has been lying and exhaling a bad smell. Lida goes to complain to General Gindin, an old, lonely, sick man. He is insanely glad of her arrival, he immediately fulfills her request, talks with her for a long time. Lida feels that the general is unwell, and indeed he soon ends up in the hospital with a third heart attack, where he will die, having passed away before his father ...
Meanwhile, life goes on, and the time comes for trials. Shooting goes through the fuselage of the aircraft, but due to the strong wind characteristic of these places, it’s not possible to hit the target. Finally, Skvortsov gets into the tanks, but the fuse does not work. To “save a valuable target,” Skvortsov decides to retrieve and defuse the shell. With him goes the frivolous Totkin. But their attempt fails: an explosion occurs, and as a result, Totkin is injured. Laura and Lida look after him. Totkin’s wound brings him even closer to Laura, and they finally decide to get married.
The first of August is the last day of the trip. Major Skvortsov packs up and is about to shave. At this moment, Lida Romnich suddenly comes to him to say goodbye. From surprise, Skvortsov cuts his cheek with a razor. It turns out that Lida does not go, but remains longer. They part sadly and quickly. Skvortsov flies home and thinks everything, thinks - most of all, of course, about Lida Romnich, as well as about the strange General Sievers and the fact that if Totkin died during the tests, it would be “guilty, wow, what a fault! ". In general, Skvortsov suddenly begins to regret something that could not be said or done. Previously, he “somehow was convinced that life is infinite and every mistake is correctable. But today he understood, and didn’t even understand, but with his skin he felt that life is finite, very even finite, and there is every bite in it.
Soon, the Skvortsov officer will return home, where his kind, forever loving and forever waiting wife awaits. This is already my native apartment ... My wife came out into the hallway - “small, chubby, with her hair smoothly combed back. Bulging eyes shone with childish joy. Looking in amazement at his cheek, she wiped her hands with an apron and said subtly, in one breath: "Shaved, hurried, cut himself."
