Dead Star Dockyards

Donovan was perfectly content to leave the dog, Mercedes, at his side. There wasn't a dog bed for her to lay down on and there was ample space, maybe even too much. One hand on her head, Don continued to read the instruction manual.

'With the advent of travel through our local extraterrestrial neighborhood, as well as habitation of the gravitationally absent space between, it was only a matter of time until our smaller friends, be they furry, feathered, or scaled, came to join us. Unfortunately, while some of them may be exceedingly intelligent, they lack the proper mental faculties to properly understand concepts such as gravity in detail. Similarly, their physical faculties may be hindered by the lack of a constant and significant universally attractive force in the downward direction.

Many may be aware of the cases of injury in basic training that occur for humans. Our sense of balance and orientation are rendered useless in an environment where balance is irrelevant and orientation can be thrown off by closing your eyes for an extended period of time. Some of the more well read also know of the threats of pregnancy in zero-gravity, gravity having the very important property of keeping a baby from spinning too much inside the womb and getting wrapped up in the umbilical cord.

Just as we have issues, our pets have similar problems.

Almost universal is the struggle without gravity. Unlike humans, animals largely lack the ability to move in the absence of gravity due to a lack of appendages capable of holding onto outcroppings. There are a few exceptions to this of course, birds, snakes, and monkeys being the most prominent, however the vast majority of animals that are taken into such an environment completely lack this ability.

As such, even with the introduction of artificial gravity generators, it is imperative that pets be acclimated to zero gravity to avoid health risks associated with panicking. This process will henceforth be called Spatial Domestication among breeders and trainers.'

- An excerpt from the Treatise on the Domestication of Companions in a Zero-G Environment, a required passage in every official training handbook by the Department for the Acclimation of Fauna in Space (DAFS).

Normally, Don would go into some sort of internal tirade on how he hated bureaucracy putting useless words and work in places where it had no place being. However he found this passage to be very fitting. The motivation was probably to create a base of knowledge, however small, in order to create logical connections to why certain actions are required in the training of animals.

He was actually unaware of the complications borne of pregnancy in space. He had spent the vast majority of life terrestrially, on Earth, so this topic had never come up.

He continued reading.

Most training manuals would continue to use the words of this Treatise in order to expound the legal rights and ramifications that animals in space have. However, as the dog you will be tasked with training and/or taking care of, the rules for treatment and training are covered under military law. They are to be treated as certain ranks under the conditions below.

In cases of receiving orders, the dog is to be considered the rank immediately below the highest ranking officer in the vicinity.

In cases of carrying out orders, the dog is to be considered the same rank as the officer or soldier the orders came from. In the same capacity, any orders this canine carries out are considered the joint responsibility of both the officer who made the order, as well as the canine itself. To all extents and purposes, this means that dogs will share in the awards that similarly ranked officers received and not be able to be interrupted by sailors of lower rank.

Service dogs are to receive the same treatment as the highest ranking officer aboard the given ship, salutations excepted.

Any abuse or injury incurred upon a service dog is to be treated as an offense of similar nature to an officer of a rank higher than the highest ranked individual aboard the given ship. In the case that the General Superintendent, the highest rank the military possesses, is present in such a situation, the offending party will be executed as soon as evidence is presented and properly sampled. The only way such charges can be dropped is if the offending individual consumes the fecal matter of the offended canine.

The only exceptions to these aforementioned rules are those individuals with ranks not associated with the standard rank hierarchy.

Don could have sworn that portion at the end of the passage was added with him in mind. DS was not a rank associated with the rank hierarchy, ARC had made that abundantly clear. In a few of the conversations he had with the admiral, he had come to the understanding he was at complete liberty to disregard her orders, yet he had no power over her.

His current situation is something akin to an adjacent strike force. Willing, capable, and most importantly expected to help out with operations, yet not under the control of the leading officer of the force he was attached to. He gathered that he was still under the direct control of whatever office his rank was categorized under, some testing bureau in all likelihood, however he was given a nigh infinite level of independence as he had no direct superior in contact with him.

He had confirmed with Admiral Adirondack that as far as his orders were concerned, she was nothing but a liaison.

This still did nothing to change the fact that he was still clueless as to what his rank was, completely in the dark as to his actual authority. In the attack on the harbor, he felt he would have been walking on eggshells ordering the deployable craft and capital ships to their targets had it not been for the express permissions he had received as well as the rapport he had built earlier with all mentioned groups.

Don felt his authority might actually be higher than an admiral's due to the way that Admiral Adirondack had asked for his input on the movement of the fleet in the wake of the attack. Of course it could also be the case that she had little knowledge about how fleet operations should be conducted independently and separated from a central supply and command structure.

Don returned his attention to the book after giving the still wagging Mercedes a rub or two behind the ears. This very book had stressed the importance of physical contact with the dog after all.

A more complete explanation of punishments should be available in the ship database.

Obviously. Punishment matrices were far too large and complex to fit in a booklet.

With this out of the way, it is of vital import that several things be prepared for in regards to your dog's health.

The very first is space to run. Humans may be able to go without exercise for and extended period of time, however dogs generally require extensive amounts of exercise in order to remain both happy and healthy. This is usually done in the form of running, but this requires space.

As I'm sure any sailor who has set foot onto a military ship may be aware, space is in extremely short supply despite how much of it there is. In the case of capital ships, jogging can be done to some degree in the relatively large halls, but this is simply impossible in smaller ships. With this being the case, a few methods have been devised in order to assist in the exercise of military canines.

The first method is to attach a weighted harness to the dog. The principle behind this is to tire the dog out faster. Unfortunately, this does little to alleviate the need for the dog to run. If you have no hallway in your ship, then this will accomplish next to nothing.

The other method is to use external tools to encourage your dog to become mobile. The most popular is the ball. Almost all ships have a room inside of them suitable for using a ball to facilitate play in. If you do not have a room that can be cleared of obstruction with enough frequency it can be used to throw a ball round in, your ship will not be cleared to host a dog.

This method of the thrown ball, in tandem with the weighted harness, serves to exercise the dog not through use of an extended run path but by making it use more energy to change the direction in which it runs. By sitting somewhere in the room, most preferably in front of the door or on top of a bed, you can throw the ball at one of the walls at an angle so that the path is somewhat irregular.

The dog will, in this case, be incentivized to chase the ball in a straight line following its instincts. The pathing of the ball, being irregular, will mean the dog will have to frequently and erratically change directions. In this way, the dog may not have to run a long distance, but the constant acceleration and deceleration will still work to tire it and burn of any excess energy.

So the weighted harness is what made the bag seem heavy.

The next thing that you need to be able to provide is food and water. While this is not really much of a concern, you should take this into account when stocking and calculating reserves. The food for dogs, specifically that of German Shepherds, can be created by the standard onboard materials fabricator. The data slip in the back slot of this booklet should be inserted and downloaded into your ship's computer, the formula for the food as well as synthesis instructions for various other objects and dog-specific medicines that may be of need are included.

If you are training a puppy, as you should be if you are reading this booklet, you should avoid exercising your charge for up to an hour after they have eaten. Reasons for this will be covered in more depth later, but the consequences can be summed up as 'regurgitation'. Similarly, you should keep an eye on your dog's water intake. If they drink more than they usually do, there is a similarly increased chance of puking.

"Something to keep in mind. You aren't going to vomit all over the floor are you Mercedes?"

The brown and black dog cocked her head slightly, one of her ears revealing itself to be loppy at the tip.

"Looking at the data, it would appear that the chance of accidental regurgitation will be slim on this ship." ARC gave its conjecture over the probability of an 'accidental discharge' of Mercedes' gastric acid onto the clean floors of the Noah.

"Why's that?"

"The induced risk of vomit is derivative of sudden shifts in the force generated by onboard gravity generators. Puppies already have an increased chance of vomit after eating as they tend to eat to fast, but a 'jolt' in gravity due to power being directed to something like the engines will make it easier if they are excited. In regards to liquids, some of it may float out of their stomach into their throats which in turn can trigger a gag reflex."

"So its okay if she runs about after her meals?"

"Not necessarily. A few of the veterinarian records that were included in the earlier data dump recommended anywhere up to two hours of waiting even in the consistent gravity of Earth. I was only making the point that due to the abundance of energy that our reactor provides, it is capable of supplying an extremely stable gravitational field."

It was true, even the largest ships that produce the most power, Dreadnoughts, have to make compromises with their gravity generation. This problem is the worst when they are in the middle of running their combat systems at full tilt, specifically when charging the railguns.

It gets so bad that most elect to completely turn off their generated gravity so as to reduce the risk of a gravity related injury or mistake.

On the contrary, this comparably tiny ship makes enough power with its single reactor to power all but one of the onboard systems at optimal levels.

That single system was the Doctor's 'gift' to Don. He hadn't had the chance to use it in combat yet, primarily because he hadn't been thrust into such a situation. Don was told not to use it until his ship was under threat of either destruction or capture.

"I suggest you finish reading the booklet as soon as possible. We do not know when Mercedes was last fed, so it would be a good idea to start a schedule. Feeding when you finish the book should put you on a track that matches somewhat neatly with your current sleep schedule."

"Fair enough."

Don once more returned his attention to the guidebook, continuing to leave a hand free to rub the dog. The next chapter was a rundown of how to treat potential illnesses that might arise. Seeing as the author could not expect every sailor to be a trained veterinarian, it was really more of an in depth run-down than a detailed explanation of every case scenario.

It summed up what the dog might be doing if it has some form of injury or disease. If it wasn't easy to resolve for the standard serviceman, that being more experience required than tricking the dog into eating a pill or restraining it in a way to heal a physical wound, it recommended that the dog be taken to a medical scanner.

If this required a transfer between ships, it was to be done.

"ARC, is there any form of medical scanner onboard?"

"The capabilities of the onboard medical scanners surpass those of the ones installed on the Calibration and Bunker. It covers the entire interior of the cabin and is intended to give me information on your vital signs in the middle of combat to better control the inertial dampener. Naturally, it is also capable of monitoring the condition of Mercedes."

"You never cease to surprise."

"I recall informing you of this earlier, but I will accept the compliment. In anticipation of your acceptance of Mercedes as a crew member, I have prepared to register her as an official operator. In accordance with the 'Official Handbook for Rank Relation of Military Canines', her Operator Code will be 0-2. Will this be acceptable?"

"Yes, though I have a question. My Operator Code is 0-0, and Mercedes' will be 0-2, who is 0-1?"

"While I am momentarily restricted from divulging the information of operators of the 0 level authority, even to those of a higher sub tier, nothing restricts me from informing you of their role. I feel their role is best summed up with the statement 'Someone had to fly the Noah to the Calibration.'"

"Fair enough."

He immersed himself in the next chapter, which promised to be interesting.

'Spatial Domestication: Acclimating Canines to a Zero Gravity Environment'

Donovan always felt messing with gravity to be fun.

In order to prepare for the eventuality that is the cutting of artificial gravity, it is essential to acclimate your dog to it in a controlled environment. This process is known as "Spatial Domestication" and should be considered a duty with a level of importance on par with training your dog to stay out of the way in a combat situation.

The process is fairly simple, slowly doing away with generated gravity until there is none, and then both keeping the dog calm and safe. The most difficult part of this process is generally agreed to be the length of time it takes. A full three hours where work may be hindered in a certain part of the ship may limit operations to an extreme degree and place a large work burden on the crew of smaller ships, however this process is essential in preserving the dog's health and safety.

Some conditions need to be met in order to keep stress to a minimum.

The first is that the dog should not have eaten in the last three hours. This is primarily to prevent the dog from throwing up in a panic.

The second is that the dog should have recently relieved itself. The reasons should be self evident.

The third is that whoever is acclimating the dog be prepared to give it their full attention for an extended period of time.

Don felt he was perfectly capable of doing all of these. He might be alone, but there really wasn't much that ARC didn't take care of already.

With these in mind, the actual process of getting your dog to tolerate weightlessness will take some time. Start off by distracting it, throwing a tennis ball will usually do the trick. While it is distracted, the gravity should be reduced to zero at a linear rate over ten minutes.

While this is happening, it is imperative that you make sure that the dog is not exhibiting anomalous behavior. Confusion is fine, it is expected, but if it shows signs of extreme panic then you need to act.

Because the intent of this exercise is to acclimate dogs to a condition they will inevitably find themselves in, it simply will not do to halt and return to normal at this point. Instead, stay at the level that the dog began to perceive danger at for a while. If it fails to calm down for an extended period of time at this level, slowly raise the gravity to a point where it does become calm.

You will have to repeat this process until you reach total absence of gravity.

Once there, you may begin training. It is a good idea to spend the first session simply holding onto the dog for an hour or two, you will need to learn how to physically control it while floating just as much as the dog will have to learn to be held while floating.

During this period of time, you should do everything in your power not to rile the dog up. The first sessions will be both extremely stressful and frightening for it, so it is very likely that it will injure itself in some way trying to move like it would while constrained to the ground.

Once the dog is at the very least comfortable with floating, there are really only two things you need to teach it.

"Curl" is where the dog bends down and holds onto its tail gently with its mouth. This serves two purposes, protecting the dog and keeping it out of the way. Curled up like this, there is little risk to its safety unless something hits it relatively hard. At the same time, its tail will not be wagging nor will its legs be waving in a way that might impede the crew.

"Sprawl" is where the dog spreads itself out as much as possible. This is for when the gravity is being turned back on, and will get the dog in a position to land.

You should prioritize "curl" as the dog can land safely even without "sprawl" so long as gravity is properly controlled.

From that point forward, there were really only diagrams. Content with his reading, Don got up to feed the dog before turning in.