A Conssitahb

Klowa had been working the docks as a loss investigator for three centuries, seven hundred and something Earth years. He had gradually built a reputation for results, and for discretion. It is that reputation for discretion that gets him his first case working for one of the captains of the cabal of companies that move almost all cargo in the basin. Someone is putting his ships under unqualified captains, and the losses are piling up.

This case calls for the utmost in discretion, for the owner of the company meets him personally and the suspects are some of the highest officers in the company. Initial evidence leads to one of the officers and Klowa is just about to wrap up the case when he realizes that the man is being framed. But as soon as he looks into that, he wonders if it could be a double frame?

The creak and rumble of Zhlindu's docks, as well as its print shops, music halls and the mansions of the wealthy atop the towers are the backdrop for this mystery that could only happen in Zhlindu. Ancient Troll customs and the complex history of the southern part of the basin figure deeply in the events chronicled within.

Much has been said lately (2018ad) regarding unwanted sexual advances made by men toward women. That is the case in our society today where a good portion of the male population thinks that any unescorted woman is fair game. On Kassidor, things are evened out because of the Instinct, no one can use force on another. There can be no rape and no force used to secure a partner. That does not end all sexual advances of course, but it does allow for situations where the tables are turned, as they are on Klowa as he works his first case among the wealthy and powerful. Luray warns him that he will have more women pursuing him now, and in only a couple days he begins to think he's going to need a biological enhancement to finish this.

The case itself is not the only thing happening in his life at the time. His three century relationship with Luray is in danger, making it even more problematic that he meets women asking for favors at every turn. To make it even more difficult, he meets several that he likes and who help him tremendously with the investigation, making it blatantly rude to turn them down.