In the predawn hours of January 5, 1989, Edziu Polonka stands on the deck of the Kantar, a fishing trawler from Communist Poland, anchored in Boston Harbor. The trawler awaits the arrival of a refueling barge. Edziu, one of its crewmen, awaits the moment when he can jump over the ship's rail and onto the American barge below to seek political asylum; he awaits his leap to freedom. Edziu's journey to that moment on the Kantar's deck takes him through a chaotic childhood as the son of a Communist Party official, a dangerous life at sea, and the chaos of his own adult life. It is a journey complicated by a Communist political system where the mere suggestion of disloyalty can lead to terrible consequences, especially if that suggestion comes from your politically connected wife.