once the door had closed, and another door opened into a wide chamber that smelled of plastic and more metal.
Dad was right. There were many other puppies there, some a month older than me, but some a month younger. All of their tails were wagging quickly under their bellies while the grown-up Kaxian instructors looked them over.
There were Rottweilers, Irish Setters, Great Danes, and many others that the humans call "large breed dogs." There were no "small breed dogs" present. Those are the Niques, our arch rivals. We would never let them into our headquarters. But who cares about the Niques, anyway?
One of the instructors looked me over. All by itself, my tail went under my belly again and started wagging quickly. The instructor nosed me toward a group of puppies, so I wedged myself in between a black Labrador and an English Bulldog. As soon as the instructor went away, we started talking in hushed tones.
"Hi, I'm Clem."
The bulldog pulled his big belly off the floor and turned to me. "I'm Lido."
The black Labrador shook herself and smiled at us. "I'm Skil!"
All three of our tails came out from under us and wagged more slowly as we stood there grinning at each other. We talked for a minute about how old we were and which Kaxian stories we liked the best, and then Lido lay down on his big belly again.
Following Lido's eyes, I turned around and saw the instructor coming back. My tail went back under my belly and did the telltale quick wag once more. So did Skil's.
I whispered to Lido, "Now I see why you lie down on your belly!"
He grinned at me.
Skil warned us, "Shh! He's coming!"
Our instructor was a Mastiff. For sure, he heard us whispering. We Kaxians can hear deer running a mile away. We can hear everything you say no matter how many rooms are between us in the house. So yeah, he heard us. He didn't say anything about it, though. He spoke not only to the three of us, but to the larger group we were in, about twenty puppies in all.
"I'm Koog, your Kaxian duty instructor. All of you, say, 'Hello, Koog.'"
"Hello, Koog."
"Now, I know you're very curious what your duty will be."
All of our mouths opened, and our tongues came out so that we panted. I was too excited to be embarrassed, though.
This is it! Come on, say we’re defenders!
"I will be teaching you how to mine jex, starting tomorrow."
I guess my tail gave me away again.
Lido said, "Aw, cheer up, Clem. We don't have to stay miners forever. You can earn a promotion."
"Yeah, I know. I was hoping to be a defender, though,” I said.
Skil said, “I met you guys, and that makes me happy."
We both grinned at her, and then at each other.
Koog spent the rest of the day explaining where we would mine tomorrow, how we would know the way there, and how to mine for jex. Just before we left for the day, we met the defenders.
"Hi, I'm Heg."
Together, all of us miners said, "Hi, Heg."
"These are the puppies I'll be training as scouts for our team."
I looked the new scouts over, sure that I would find some physical aspect they all shared which would qualify them as scout defenders. I couldn’t see even one. Some of them were bigger than all the miners, sure, but some were smaller. Some were long-legged runners like me, but others were barrel chested fighters like Lido.
As usual, an introduction meant familiarizing ourselves with each other so we could put a name with a scent. This took a while because with the defenders, there were 40 puppies in our new pack, and Heg had also brought two adult miners and four adult defenders. Finally, it was time to go home for the night.
After the new scouts were excused first, Heg addressed the miners.
“I’m sure you all wonder why you weren’t chosen to be defenders.”
There our tails went again, giving away our anxiety with their frantic wagging underneath our bellies. To make it worse, all our mouths opened, too, and we all panted loudly.
“It’s simple. The first 20 to arrive became defenders.”
Our tails stopped wagging. Some of our ears went down. No one was stupid enough to say it out loud, but Heg could tell he’d made us mad.
“I can see you think that’s not fair.”
Kax! There our tails went again, back under our bellies and wagging quickly! Skil rolled over onto her back to show Heg she knew he was boss. Slowly, one by one, we all copied her.
Heg raised his nose in the air, telling us to get up. We did. He went on.
“Obedience is the most important quality in a defender. The first 20 obeyed the order to get here on time. See you all tomorrow! On time!”
Lido, Skil and I worked out our route home so we could run together the farthest before any of us had to turn away toward our own den.
Those two Niques behind their pristine white picket fence started with the lies.
“Humans!”
“A pack of unruly Kaxians is here!”
“They’re invading your den!”
I opened my mouth to tell them to quit, but Lido nosed me in the shoulder and started running. He ran as best he could with his big belly, anyway.
Realizing he was right because Dad had told me to just run if the Niques bothered me, I ran right past the Niques, too. So did Skil.
When we were well past them, we all stopped and grinned at each other, wagging our tails slowly behind us.
My den was the first we came to. Mom and Dad were waiting by my hole under the fence, to hear all about my day. I was surprised to realize I was a little sad that Lido and Skil had to go on home to their own dens. I focused on the good part.
"See you tomorrow!" I told both my new friends.
“On time!” we all said together.
Why had I been so nervous? I told Mom and Dad that all in all, my first day of Kaxian duty was pretty sweet.
Dog Aliens 1, Chapter 1
"Come on, Mom, Dad! The humans won't be home for hours. Come mine with us! It's fun!"
"Your mother's mining days are over, Son, and so are your dad's. We know it's fun hanging out with your buddies, but other things come first for us now. You'll understand some day."
I nodded at them, but I doubted I would ever understand. My puppy self doubted anything could come first over having fun. The memories told me my Kaxian duty to mine must come first. I ran past all my holes that the humans had filled in, dug a new one, scrambled under the backyard fence, and skedaddled off to join my pack.
I checked the usual places for scent messages telling me where the day's dig was. I left my own scent message to let the rest of the pack know I would be there, too. So far, I could tell there were 12 of us already today.
Before too long, I made my way to the edge of civilization. We live in a suburb way east of Los Angeles, where civilization ends abruptly at the edge of a cactus and tumbleweed desert that stretches through mountains all the way to Las Vegas.Our pack's mining tunnel was about four Kaxians wide and ten Kaxians long. It went into the side of a hill, so it didn't slant down too much. The pack was gathered at the mouth of the tunnel, which faced away from civilization, toward the open desert.
"Clem! Over here!"
Clem is my Kaxian name, so I answered.
"Hi guys!"
Eight of the twelve of us present today were puppies, under a year old, like me. I ran over and joined two of my fellow puppies: Lido and Skil.
Lido is mostly an English bulldog this life, a little older than me, seven months to my six. Don't tell him I said this, but Lido's humans feed him a little too much. Well, a lot too much. My best friend Lido is portly, OK? I mean, I know bulldogs are heavyset to begin with. It's not that. We're talking his belly almost touches the ground. He's a good friend, though.
Skil is a female black Labrador retriever this life, and a little younger than me at five months. She's easygoing, one of those dogs who always rolls onto her back when she meets a new human, in hopes that the human will
rub her belly. We Kaxians call her type a 'pet-me.' She pretty much goes along with whatever Lido and I want to do, so long as she gets her turn.
The pack was getting ready for the mining strategy meeting. Lately, I had noticed a pattern at these meetings. To test my theory, I sat down a little away from Skil, the whole time making eye contact with Lido. Sure enough, Lido turned to face Skil and sat next to her. Us guys used to always stick together, so I didn't know what was up with that, but it'd been going on for a week or so.
Koog, one of the pack's mining leaders, coughed to get our attention.
Lido was staring all gooey eyed at Skil, so I kicked some dirt at him. He looked up at me, mad.
"Hey! What the..."
Everyone else was looking at him, and the rest of the puppies laughed.
Koog raised his eyebrow at Lido.
Lido looked down at the ground and kicked some dirt to the side.
"Sorry."
Koog cleared his throat, scowled playfully at Lido, and went over the day's mining assignments. First, he addressed the two adult miners who were present today.
"Crash and Trixie will be our main diggers."
They both raised their chins at Koog, to show they had heard his orders.
"Clem, Lido, and Skil, you three pull the dirt out of the front of the tunnel, after Crash and Trixie dig it up, so that the tunnel stays clear all the way through and the diggers don't bury themselves. After a while, we will switch so that you three get your turns on the jex, too."
We tried to raise our chins to Koog in acknowledgment, as Crash and Trixie had, but Koog slanted his head to the side, so we were forced to speak.
"Yes, Sir."
Crash and Trixie flexed their muscles while still laying back, looking cool.
Koog
Dog Aliens: Kaxian Duty - A Short Story Page 2