In the remote forests of Russia’s North, archaeology students have disappeared without a trace. They were searching for the sacred stone Alatyr— a magical relic of Hyperborean culture, on which, according to legend, the Creator’s own commandments were inscribed. A Moscow investigator, Kostobokov, realizing that the case is a hopeless “cold trail,” nevertheless follows the call of conscience and begins investigating. Very soon the fearless rationalist from Petrovka will go himself along the trail of the “suicide expeditions,” to the legendary and deadly places where hermit monks have guarded ancient knowledge and prophecies for centuries. He sets out toward his fate—and doesn’t know that he himself has become an object of close attention by the representatives of special services…