In his motherland's race to claim the first human spaceflight, cosmonaut candidate Lev Leps is assigned to a secret project which involves an outrageous experiment.

As the voices opposing Irina's existence become louder and louder, Lev comes up with a special plan to help overcome her fear of heights.

While Irina undergoes her solitude training, a visitor from Sangrad with special interest in N44 has come to watch the candidates train.

An incident during training sheds some light on Roza's fierce attitude. And after a long time apart, Irina has something important to tell Lev.