There were about thirty people on the quayside waving at the departing ship

I waved back and so did Ina but we soon grew bored with our occupation and retired to our cabin

We both undressed and held each other and were soon lulled into an afternoon sleep by the gentle rolling of the ship

When we awoke it was dark and after freshening ourselves up we walked on to the deck

We passed a French girl who was weeping in the shadow of a lifeboat

She was whispering Maman Maman quietly into the night air

I knew her name as she was the daughter of the consul in Saigon with whom I had done business with on occasions

Ina was not aware of this as my dealings in Saigon had been clandestine and quite illegal

My dishonesty had caused the French girl to weep as she wanted Ina to know everything about me

I explained to my companion that the girl had experienced an unhappy love affair and had been sent back to France

Ina said that she would speak to the French girl as she too had experienced unhappy love affairs

A number of high ranking officials in Saigon were aware that our influence was waning

And it would only be a matter of time before the country was lost

 So we were bleeding it dry with a number of suspect deals and investments

I had sold my mothers rice fields which were next to useless due to flooding problems

The soil was also contaminated as hazardous minerals had polluted the rising waters

I had sold the fools the land which we had originally stolen from them

Stupidity and greed were my greatest friends

The next day I found Ina deep in conversation with the French girl on the sun terrace

And I knew that they had not been speaking about unhappy love affairs

Ina shot me a look of contempt as sisters often do and ignored me for the next hour

I strolled around the decks smoking and when I returned to the sundeck Ina and Ina were not there

It was then that I decided to purchase my first spaceship as I had always wanted to explore the universe

In a purple and yellow spaceship illuminated by six bright white lights that had not yet been invented