Loonmaster

Dorrick would do anything in his power but kill to bring the creator of loon to justice. Making the most addictive substance known to man was evil in its own right, but to have done so and gone unpunished was unthinkable. With great difficulty he eventually found the name of its creator and the rumor that his lab had been in the East Wash of Trenst. While danger from other people was minimal, the East Wash had many other dangers, some mild like getting bombed when passing under an apartment tree without plumbing, to serious like falling victim to predatory fish. The wash is the home of some of the most devious people in the city, but also some of the most helpful. It just wasn't obvious which was which. It didn't matter, he would not be denied, even if it meant leaving TongSu behind at Kahlekmeel with Ression and going off on his own.

Honshu was disturbed by Dorrick leaving, and so was TongSu though she wasn't so vocal about it. She couldn't afford to be, her balloon had gone to seed and she was captive of Kahlekmeel House until the new bag was grown and detached from her root. She was trying hard to fit in at the farm and trying hard to be everything Ression could want, until she found out the truth regarding the 'reality freaks' and the 'loonies.'

Dorrick eventually finds that his quarry has gone to work for the most powerful and sinister wizard on the planet. In spite of that he presses on. Deep in his heart, he could never believe the Centorin military, the most powerful the human race had ever known, could ever be wary of the power of any person or organization on Kassidor. He was quite sure the note to that effect that TongSu found when looking up the wizard Brancettrabble was written by a Kassidorian and had to be hyperbole. There were no weapons of any power here, nothing beyond a crossbow. Thinking they could stand against the weapons and warships of Centorin was ludicrous.

He was still sure of it at the end. The wizard's palace was not as impressive as the ring of Trenst or the campus of the Kassikan. They had been treated well, almost royally. The only clue to what had really happened was the calendars of the remaining planet seemed to have lost a week.