Two hundred and fifty years ago the planet Earth was in trouble. Everything that could be dug up had either been burned as fuel, turned into novelty key-rings or eaten ... at least once. All this could mean only one thing; it was time to move on. What was needed was a ship. But this was to be no ordinary Ship; this was to be the saviour of mankind. As such it had to have the backing and cooperation of everyone on the planet. It was therefore doomed from day-one. It's the job of The Chairman to steer a course through the figurative minefields to the point where the Ship is launched, but also more importantly to seal his immortal place in history. As a scheming, vindictive, delusional megalomaniac with more mood-swings than a schizophrenic pendulum and a mind that would have given Machiavelli a good shot at the Nobel Prize for Transparency, he's perfect for the job. But dark forces are at work and the Chairman suddenly finds that he's nothing more than a pawn in a game that has different rules ... and he's really not happy. Meanwhile, in the bucolic land of Ag, a young man decides that the life of a village Trader is not for him. So, following in the footsteps of his sister he sets out to find her. But there's just one problem ... the Barriers. The Barriers are huge sheer black slabs which rise out of the ground to a height of over two miles. Clearly artificial, with an impossible height and an unknown purpose they're exactly what they say on the tin; Barriers. Bruno is determined to cross them, but as a naive traveller in a strange new world he's going to need some serious help."