The main character is expelled from the institute and drafted into the army. At the recruiting station he meets a school friend. In the eighth grade, they got identical tattoos, a friend on the left, a hero on the right hand. The friend is drafted into the tank forces, and the hero is sent to serve in the military district morgue. One day they bring a burnt tanker to the morgue, who has the same tattoo on his right hand. He amputates his hand, embalms it and takes it away. Arriving on vacation, he meets a living friend at the entrance of his house, begins searching for the family of the night tanker and accidentally learns about the magical effect of the Hand of Glory...