"Je t'aime, Chérie." These three words and a Bulgarian volleyball jersey is all Martina, a young working woman from Berlin, is left with after a night at the beach spent with a mysterious lover. But then she learns that she is pregnant, and once the baby is born, she starts for Bulgaria to search for her son’s father. The orderly yet diffident Thomas, an employee of the embassy of the GDR, joins her in order to provide diplomatic support. The quest, however, turns out to be rather difficult.
In September 1944, an unusual train travels to the Turkish border. Abroad the train are German fascists and Bulgarian King's officers who carry important papers and archives. A group of partisan chases the fugitives with a track. Soon airplanes with red stars on their wings could be seen in the sky. The planes are reinforcements from the Soviet aviation squadron. With its help the partisans capture the fugitives.
A young engineer arrives in a small provincial town and falls in with a traffic police inspector, a driving instructor, and a cannery-engineering manager. From sheer boredom, the inspector tickets a driver who has not broken the regulations. The driving instructor takes advantage of his position to seduce one of his students. To kill time, the engineering manager spends his time intriguing. These passions seem to be all that the three of them live for.
1197. King Kaloyan ascends the throne in hard times for Bulgaria. The country is still recovering from a century of Byzantine subjugation. He is forced to carry out a very flexible foreign policy in order to strength his positions. Pope Innocent III recognizes him as Emperor (Tsar), but a little later the fourth Crusade crosses the country under Emperor Baldwin. A new conflict is coming. Tsar Kaloyan wages the decisive battle at Adrianople and wins.
Todor Primov is an officer of the royal army who changes sides and goes over to the partisans. After the war, he graduates in engineering and is appointed manager of several construction projects. His car crashes on the eve of March 13. After his recovery, Primov resumes his work. Yet, secret information starts leaking from the projects and some serious accidents occur. Andrey, who befriended Todor Primov back in the partisan unit, goes to investigate the causes. He knows that Todor was colored-blind while this engineer distinguished colors. Andrey manages to get at the truth: Parvan Primov, Todor's twin brother, has made the car crash. On that night he killed his brother and took his place...
