	This story takes place in a society that has been ravaged by nuclear war.  Goverments around the world have been devastated and destroyed.  America is not what it once was.  However, there is a “President” who lives on a destroyer out in the Pacific.  From here, he broadcasts messages to any survivors who can hear.  In some ways, it’s a vain attempt because there are so few radios left, but he’s willing to try.  He’s a good man, someone who was in Congress in America when the bombings happened.  He took over once they all fled to the ocean.  This was because the majority of the leaders of the country were killed in the D.C. blast.  The main characters, the group of survivors traveling to Hamther, are able to listen to his messages on the boat that they accommodate.  However, everything is not peaceful in this new government.  There are road bandits on the main continents (such as America, Asia, and Europe) and there are also international pirates who sail around, harassing, attacking, looting, and murdering those they come across on the open seas.  So, because of this, the president is trying to bring things under control and get people to work together.  
	This world is a world that does not run on paper cash or metal coins.  Instead, it’s a world ruled by tradable goods.  Whatever you have to trade and barter with is what you use to try to get supplies from the merchants that you encounter.  And so, because of this, many female survivors have been forced to prostitute themselves in exchange for food and drink to survive on.  Because of the radiation, most water sources on land are poisoned.  Men barter with metal, bone, pelt, and feather.  Basically, whatever they can find in their journeys they trade to acquire food and water.  Women can barter with these items as well, but many women are taken advantage of in this system.  Money has lost its worth and is rare in this world because much of it was lost in the explosions and in all honesty, the paper isn’t worth much in the new bartering system.  This system was established by traders on the road and adopted by everyone else.  As unfortunate as these circumstances are, especially for the women, no one else has come up with a better idea for a new economy, and so everyone just goes along with it.  The main characters have acquired much in terms of things to trade with and the women are  safe because they know how the system works and are able to use it as well.  
