After years of destructive hostilities against each other the two countries drew up a treaty of disengagement. It was agreed that the fighting would be transferred to where military action could be unfettered without further damage to the infrastructure of either country. The southern continent of Sudmaieure therefore became the battlefield of choice, the war quickly evolving into a military confrontation for which there was no conceivable end.

Yumi Spoder was conscripted at the age of seventeen. After several weeks of basic training he was taken to the port where one of the many troopships was moored.

He said to me: ‘All through training it was rammed home to us that life in the Faiandland army was hard but fair. We were trained to obey orders, no matter what, without hesitation or thought. We were trained to march, to dig temporary defences, to fire rifles and missiles and rockets and cannons and mortars, to engage in hand-to-hand combat. All these I saw, reluctantly, as the work of a modern army. I was too young to have shaped my own ideas, except in the most general way. I was not a pacifist, nor was I enthusiastic about having to kill the enemy. I learned during training that the way to survive the army was to turn off all private feelings of identity or individualism. My escouade was my only group of friends, the escouade serjeant was my only god. Time would pass. We were assured that military service would last no longer than two and a half years, at the end of which we would be returned home. All this I accepted. But nothing had prepared me for the conditions aboard the troopship.’

The first sight of the ship was alarming to Spoder and the hundreds of other conscripts. It was painted matt grey, but over the years many huge streaks and blotches of rust had spread across the hull and around the rivets. One long part of the hull, extending down below the waterline, had been replaced without being painted, so you could still see the streaky brown-red of anti-rust paint. The vessel lay low in the water.

The escouade serjeant marched the young soldiers to the quayside, then read them their orders: he would not be boarding the ship with them. He added that he was instructed to tell them what they would find once they boarded the ship. He said that it was fully modernized and air conditioned inside, that there were shared cabins with four comfortable bunks apiece, space for relaxation, shower rooms, and so on. There were adequate facilities for recreation: a large gym and exercise hall, a cinema, a library, even a small swimming pool. The food was good and nutritious, better than anything they had been given during training. Each escouade could appoint a spokesperson, who would be able to pass on ideas, requests or complaints to the ship’s crew.