Professor Martens is an elder statesman who has dutifully served the czarist regime. Near the end of his career and of his life, Martens is once again summoned to St. Petersberg. Traveling by train from his home in Parn?, he recalls his life of public service only to realize the terrible personal price he has paid and that he has helped perpetuate a brutal regime in his Baltic homeland.

Professor Martens is an elder statesman who has dutifully served the czarist regime. Near the end of his career and of his life, Martens is once again summoned to St. Petersberg. Traveling by train from his home in Parn?, he recalls his life of public service only to realize the terrible personal price he has paid and that he has helped perpetuate a brutal regime in his Baltic homeland.