Mikhail Rozenfeld

Andrei Latonin had jumped with a parachute many times before, but on the day of the holiday he got scared and stayed in the cockpit of the plane. Deeply upset by his failure, Latonin decides to leave his homeland forever and joins a steamship as a sailor. On the way, Andrei meets an expedition group heading for the crater of an active volcano and joins the scientists.

A Mongolian expedition led by Professor Jambon and a group of Soviet explorers travel through the desert to the Alamas Mountains, where large oil deposits are believed to be located. Among the members of the expedition there is a saboteur, on whose tip the expedition is attacked...