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

Stoking the fire had stirred up the scents of the meal again. It was still an odd-smelling dish, but Pit could discern that there was meat and starchy root vegetables and broth. A hand swung in with a piece of the same crusty bread Ashling was eating on Pit's other side, and dropped it on the plate in front of Pit. Pit nosed the bread, lapping at it experimentally and trying to detect the taste of the loose bits.


It was gritty and flavorless. Pit licked his upper lip and dropped his paws off the table, resting his muzzle on the plate beside the bread. He parted his jaws. Rested his teeth on the crust.


And looked around when he realized it had gone quiet.


Chapter 45