A Sphlegal in the Shorts (The Mirage Series #8)

In the hidden hinterlands, another set of personal searches for understanding, truth, and vital data leads to a separation and a discrete contact at planetary HQ. Ham’ron discovers that he is a hunted man and that the rough-shod tactics of the Earth Labs newest “investigator” has alienated most of the EL employees. The actual size of the raid on Mirage is still hidden, the damage total is beyond immense, and the billing is not complete. Plots within plots emerge, and a slow process begins to build toward a plan to improve local conditions.
At the more personal level, hero and heroine arrive at a plan for vendetta, hoping to be more of an irritant than the animated itching powder of a Sphlegal. Off-hand Ma’ati invents a thread of communication that can create a desired change as a part of healthy human stubborn resistance to political and physical mistreatment.