Buddy the golden retriever/lab mix, and Igor, his thinking-brain Pug. Two Uplifted dogs, trekking together across the universe.
Their winnings from the Great Nufurria Lawsuit had paid for the custom space suits that allowed them to sniff out the universe. Which was very important, because Buddy tended to lead with his nose.
“Play time? Play time?” Buddy panted.
“Almost, my friend,” Igor said, sounding for all the worlds like Peter Lorre. “You see the ship? We’re going inside that ship to look for all of these smells.” He opened the sealed box that contained all of the can’t-lose materials.
Buddy sniffed eagerly at each one. His tail, already generating its own air currents, went into overdrive. “I seek,” said Buddy. “I find.”
“Good boy,” cheered Igor the Pug. He was more ‘human’ and his companion more 'dog’, but they had formed a bond in the Pound that neither wanted to break. Igor sometimes worried that he may be exploiting Buddy, who was simple-minded, even for a Labrador. Their counsellor/care-worker insisted they made a good pack.
And it was always surreal, having to parent someone who was chronologically older than oneself.
It was, as counsellor T'rex explained, perfect symbiosis. Igor had much to give to Buddy, and Buddy had much to give back.
And this was the acid test.
“We are also looking for anything new and different,” added Igor. “I’ll be smelling everything you smell. So we know what is good and what we can leave.”
“Good dog!” Buddy barked. “Play time! Play time!”
Igor never knew what reached Buddy, but he could tell that his friend was eager to get going.
They docked with the old relic, which was their only claim in the massive sargasso of abandoned wrecks known as Doldrum Nine. It never paid to bet that this occupation was the only one to support their independent, or co-dependant, lives.
There were many other things they could try, yet. This was just the one that happened to suit Igor the best. He didn’t like acting all… servile… whenever a human paid him positive attention.
Or, as he found out, anyone who fit sufficiently into the human silhouette.
Igor helped Buddy suit up, a problem doubled by Buddy’s forever-wagging tail. It could not be allowed to stick out of the suit, though, since any vent in a space suit was a very bad thing. He checked and double-checked the seals, the operational functions, the air supply and Buddy’s understanding of the simplified interface.
“Yellow good,” Buddy barked. “Red bad. Red house, go home!”[1]
“Good dog,” cooed Igor, handing Buddy a treat. The suit Buddy wore had also been rigged to dispense treats when Igor pressed the right button on his own chest-plate.
Helmets sealed, Igor helped Buddy through the airlock. Reduced atmosphere. Someone had already siphoned off most of the air in here.
Buddy already sniffed like a maniac, crouching and trying to go on all fours that his body did not possess.
Readouts spilled across Igor’s HUD, showing the relative worth of everything Buddy smelled/scanned with his snout-reader. Everything was working.
Then Buddy sprang away, barking, “Fetch! Fetch!” as he went.
The game was afoot.
*
Buddy wriggled in his suit-recharger. “More play? More play?”
“Play done, Buddy. Good job.” Another treat. Igor would have to get the lo-cal, high-taste ones, next jaunt. Otherwise, Buddy would need a stretchier space suit. “I filled our hold and now we fetch it back to the station.”
“Good dog,” Buddy kissed Igor’s face as Igor released him from the suit. Getting out was far easier than getting in. “Igor good dog!”
Igor was far more comfortable hugging his friend. “We’re both good dogs,” he said. “Time to go back. Time for calm.”
[1] Because dogs can’t see the colour green.
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