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 had more properly outraged things to say, but just then he spotted Fionn, leaning out of the doorway of a dimly-lit bar across the street. Behind the spacer teemed unclothed life forms, and Fionn's forearm bulged as his full, limp weight swung precariously on the hand holding the doorjamb. His grin was smeared across his face.


"Oh, for the gods' sake," Pit snarled, and sprinted to Fionn's side, Twitch whimpering something incoherent behind him.


"Mm, one of you lovelies want to accompany me back to my hotel room? I've got-"


"Oy!" Pit barked, darting forward to close his teeth around Fionn's pant leg.


Fionn jumped and looked down. His bleary gaze met Pit's. "Ah. That is. I've got two dogs. Two dogs who'd be quite cross with me if I brought someone back to the room."


Chapter 33