Reading about the life of St. Francis of Assisi had sent a thundershock to Julia's psyche.

Indeed, internal criticism of the USSR from a Marxist perspective has been a continuing fact of Soviet life for decades. While [Joseph] Stalin held sway, this criticism was limited to clandestine and fugitive expressions, circulated orally or in samizdat.

The roadmap, he asserted, was a guide, a starting point. It was not cast in concrete and not likely to be the ultimate solution.

To convince the Frenchman it was a good idea, he sketched a potential month's activity on a page of a grid-lined workbook showing Gentzbourger getting 50 percent of the profits, minus operating expenses, while Feeney got the other 50 percent.