Author:
In another lifetime, August was a punk kid running a writing-themed e-zine in 2002 and participating in online survivor writing contests; these days, she’s a punk pseudo-adult with an office job and a studio of her own.

Meet Pitney Scolan. Pit, for short. He’s a decorated general and a venerated leader of the sprawling human race. He’s protected his species' colonies from vicious native animal populations and hostile alien life. He’s fiercely introverted, and he’s really looking forward to retiring on his personal planet in the very near future.

Except…now he has to be a dog.

A daugment, to be specific: a cybernetically enhanced canine, previously the doting pet of Pit’s biggest rival, General Tristan. It’s the only way to escape certain assassination.

So Pit grudgingly allies himself with a pair of well-meaning scoundrels and sets sail for seedier space in hopes of escaping Tristan’s clutches. What he finds instead is a galactic conspiracy to force him to make friends.

Daugment

Pit found himself strangely drawn to Minna, though again, like with Ravenna, it didn't seem sexual. This was old, old blood hearing the snarl of just-younger blood, respecting that snarl and the angry beast that came with it.


This was a dog called to the side of a human.


Pit made up his mind and moved nearer. "Get those radios on us, Minna." He was back in military mode, unflappable, in command.


He told himself he was better off giving orders and doing this his way. He ignored the insistent voice that said, You don't have a say in what way this is happening.


Minna pinched the tiny devices onto the loose skin just above their shoulder blades and led them out of the hotel without another word. Pit trotted at her heels, marveling at the confidence in the young woman's walk. She strutted as if she knew where she was going and exactly what she would find when she arrived.


Chapter 32