In a future with countries aggressively patrolling their borders against an overwhelming tide of immigrants, a steamship carrying refugees from Hong Kong steams from port to port in search of a home. Ship's mechanic Chen Wuchiang was six years old when his father smuggled him away from his island home as it was returned to the Chinese. Now 25, Chen holds out desperate hope that someday he will be able to start a family in a new land, with the help of his prized possession, the passport that proves he is a citizen of the Commonwealth.