[These events span several months' worth of time, leading up to the "present" at Dec 14 1998 our time in the log chronology.] At the Missing Shekel, Kensington is accosted by some Kavi thugs, but defeats them with his martial prowess. He impresses a Cervani who was watching the exchange, who reveals himself as "Master Caine", an agent of the Chronotopian government, who seeks to employ Kensington for a mission to follow a warband of Titanians. The Titanians are believed to be making a long trek toward Himar, in search of their version of paradise … and possibly a way for their war machines to be more lethal. Kensington is to observe and report upon the Titanians' progress.

Much later, Kensington is riding a sand trireme through the Himaat Desert, in pursuit of the Titanians. They enter a Forbidden Zone, which by all rights should lead them to certain doom. Kensington flies after them to watch, as the Titanians are not obliterated by the storms … and finds himself caught in the midst of the maelstrom, just avoiding getting run down by the Titanians he's following! He eventually enters into an "eye" within the Zone, spotting a ruined tower. He figures he has enough time to quickly investigate, and dives into the tower … only to find a very strange room inside. Having not enough time to investigate further, he heads out to catch up with the Titanians, finding that they've made it through the Zone. That done, he rejoins with the crew of the trireme he's travelling on, and continues his pursuit.