Book 1, Part 5 Summary

The misadventures with the passport set William's travel schedule back so that the best boats sailing to Ishmaelia have already left leaving William to board the Francmacon, a dilapidated ship filled with other stragglers and odd characters. William explains his mission as a journalist to some of the other passengers but none seem to really understand what the war in Ishmaelia is about other than some "niggers" fighting about something.

One of the passengers who knows just as little about the war as William is another English reporter named Corker. Corker works for the Universal News service which provides stories to many newspapers including The Beast, a fact which takes William off guard. Although Corker and William are competitors for the same stories, the two men begin a friendship and are glad to have someone from home along on this trip...