I am attentive. I am obedient. I am willing. I am eager. I am for-Pack. I am going to make a difference on this damp world of methane, ozone and salt. I am of-Pack. I was no-dog, but I could be some-dog here. I might get notched, at last. I know I am an acceptable warrior. I have always been fast. I am not as strong as other warriors, but Pack needs all kinds of skills. I have done my best for Pack. I have taken the dose. Before we even came here. I am swelling. I have integrated with Set-dogs in my Service-pack and in my den-complex. I need to prove myself. Then I will be notched.

I am part of a small scouting-pack, sent to investigate the wider compound. We are to investigate anything that might give us an advantage in combat or help us to understand the barrier. The compound seems to be on a tiny continent. It is small enough that you can smell big-saltwater from everywhere we have been. This land was, presumably, once used by the monkeys that call this place World. There are unnatural structures. Monkeys seem unable to dig. They place their structures on the earth. Our scouting-pack has been sent to a congregation of these to see if there are clues to monkey technology here.

These obscene blights on the land were abandoned more than a season ago but not more than a cycle. The monkey-scents are old. But their stench lingers on. My scent-skills are not great, but it is not only monkeys. Everywhere we go, the monkeys are accompanied by smells of other animals. Prey animals and some kind of cat and… there is a smell. I know the others have smelled it. No-dog has mentioned it. This settlement has wild growing in it. We don’t know yet if that is because the monkeys need plants to survive, if they are too lazy or stupid to clear them or if it is related to their abandonment. We clear provisioning-spots and other areas for dog use within perimeter ridges, even if it has been a long time since we needed to hide from hyenas.

Vicious Set and Tall Rise (my den- and whelp-mate) are with me, investigating. Tall may be notched soon. He has been impressive in these explorations and there is a shortage of first-notches. He has always been better than me as a warrior. We served together on World. That is where we first whelped. I have not had as many litters as I might. There was less pressure on World. Tall has swelled with a few other dogs in our den-pack over the cycles. I have only whelped with him. It was not a priority for either of us. Many our age have a littersworth^ of litters. We had three together. They might not have been many in each litter, but they were all strong, Rise pups. They have finished their training (most warriors, though one provider) and are now making their Packs better on distant worlds. These pups will be among the first born on this world. Thinking of what disgusting mess we will put in their comfort-units, makes me wish there was no swelling.

Vicious Set is an imposing dog. He is scarred but not notched which tells me he has seen plenty of fighting but not in battle. He is sniffing an entrance to a structure that is full of grasses and flowers. We have been told to not enter any structures on this mission but to establish if anything here might be a threat to Pack. A larger pack will sweep the area if we notice anything unusual. I can smell the familiar-yet-alien scent that has been nearly everywhere the monkeys were. I put my paws against the structure to get a better purchase to inhale the smell. Tall is next to me. He is focused on the gap where Vicious Set had been. I follow his attention and see that Vicious Set isn’t there. Nor is he visible.

“He went inside,” Tall growls in the back of his throat. I can feel his tension. It makes my mane raise. We drop onto our bellies and approach the structure with caution. Serving with Tall, I feel more co-ordinated, more Pack. We have been told to watch out for treachery. Not every-dog has accepted Unified Pack and some dogs are behaving strangely in each settlement on this soggy world. We listen and smell for him and what he is up to. He has not scent-masked. He is not experiencing fear. He is mostly excited. We can hear him moving, without stealth or caution. He is drifting from echoing chamber to chamber. Tall trills a warning and Vicious Set saunters out dragging some kind of stick.

“Couldn’t resist having a little smell inside,” he says, after he drops his prize like a provider bringing down a bird.

“Our orders were to survey the open spaces in this settlement. We were told not to go inside.” Tall’s growl and scent tell us both how angry he is. “I will be reporting to Notch Quiet Set when we return to Pack. She will know what to do.”

“You do what you must. A dog may go where they choose.” Vicious Set prowls off to another structure, leaving his trophy. Tall returns to the structure he was investigating. When they are both deep in concentration, I look again at this long stick. It is clearly monkey-made, we have seen no trees here that grow such consistent branches. It is thin and round and consistent for the whole length. It is like a very narrow single roller. It has been fabricated somehow. It has a small, dry shrub at the end of it. I sniff it and smell a small cat yelling his scent-marking and… I cannot deny it, even to myself, a canine smell. Not of a Soil-dog but a base note humming through the scent is definitely canine.

I smell a change in the air. The ever-present salt has increased. The native fauna has tensed. I can’t smell individual animals but there is a collective tautness. The wind is moving quickly now. The air feels excited and ready to start a fight with its tail. This stinking Damp-World has storms and rain unlike anything I experienced on World. I send up a yip but the other two already have their noses to the air. We can’t get back to our scouting den-spot before this hits. We better find somewhere to den up until this passes. Tall heads across a patch of tall grass with saplings springing up throughout, behind the structure where Vicious Set found the roller-shrub-stick. I follow. Vicious Set does not. Tall finds a cover. We pause – this is almost inside. It feels more familiar than anything I have smelled today. The entrance is not so big as the others. It feels safe.

The storm is about to break over us. We are already wet. In this horrid place, you are not often warmed enough by their stealth-Sun to dry yourself. Feeling bold, I head inside. It smells of dens and safety. Some … canine had a happy time here. Tall follows me in. We groom each other as dry as we can. Eventually Vicious Set joins us, tail between his legs. He sits to one side and grooms himself. We all lie down to rest a little while the storm passes.

Vicious Set deep-sleeps straight away. Tall and I glance at each other. I take first sniff^. This planted structure is so strange. How and why do they make everything with such flat edges? The walls are not a comforting shape. Do they feel safe in this? This is the closest to safety I have smelled in this monkey-settlement. Why does it smell of canines? Did the monkeys cultivate canines as provision? I suddenly feel uncomfortable. As I shift, the litter inside me wriggle over each other. The canines were not frightened, not predominantly. They were happy and safe. Do the cultivated herds on World feel this happiness? Do they have the ability to feel happiness? I can’t hear anything through the storm. The short day on this world is coming to a close. The seemingly unending night is coming. The degrees^ here stretch and compress. I have many stretched degrees before I need to wake Tall. The pups inside me won’t be still. I shift and try to get comfortable, but everything is too strange, too wrong. What if we should have stayed in the rain rather than enter this structure? Will Notch Quiet Set be angry with us?

As my anxiety swells, the pups fidget, adding to the sense of panic. Even the lightning and thunder seem alien and damp. I understand these storms are basically like those in Wet on World, but this is cold and frightening. The lightning is right overhead. The air smells of electricity and ozone. In the lit heartbeats before the thunder hits my body, I can see the grassy patch that is trying to become a forest. And the weird creepy structures. I am not sure I can be inside this unnatural chamber anymore. But I can’t go out there, not alone. I go to sleeping Tall and sit my sniff touching him. Pack, I am safe.