Why teach a dog to speak if no one will listen to him? XK9 Rex was bio-engineered and cyber-enhanced to be the most capable police dog money could buy. He even has a collar-mounted vocalizer. But then a catastrophic explosion on a space dock sidelines his human partner. Now his new masters on Rana Station assume Rex has nothing to say. But Rex’s keen nose picked up a vital clue about the explosion. He must get the investigators to listen, even though the handling protocols say that without his human, this forensic tool must go on the shelf. Giving them “puppy-eyes” doesn’t work. Rex must dare to disobey orders and make them listen. But neither he nor the Police Chief know that the handling protocol hides an ugly truth. When Rex takes an independent hike to HQ, the truth is laid bare. Rex has revealed an international conspiracy that could...

Officer Pamela Gómez has big dreams. And a tiny apartment. She hopes to win a rare promotion as one of an elite corps of XK9 “super dog” handlers on the Orangeboro Police Department's forensic team, but the odds are stacked against her. Pam’s never had a dog, never left her home space station, and never thought of herself as an “elite” anything. Plus the dogs are huge! Her apartment’s really small. Her boyfriend secretly hopes she’ll wash out, and her mother advises she abandon all hope. But she took the courses. She passed the tests, and she made the cut. Now she’s a partner-candidate bound for Planet Chayko. Pam knows she’ll feel awkward. She’s braced to be the oddball. She never expected to fall in love. All her inner voices scream “loser!” and “fail!” Can big dreams and a giant dog take her to the other side of fear?

Too valuable to kill? Oh, but that was then. XK9 Rex was bio-engineered and cyber-enhanced to be the most perfect law enforcement canine ever created. Transmondian spymaster Col. Wisniewski thought he could turn him into the most perfect espionage weapon. But Rex had other plans. Wisneiwski couldn’t bend him to his will. The Colonel would have killed any other dog, but Rex was too valuable. Instead, Rana Station paid a literal fortune to add him and his XK9 Pack to the Orangeboro Police Department. Now Rex and his Pack are working detectives on the trail of a criminal gang that blows up spaceships – and Rana Station has recognized XK9s as uplifted sapient beings. That means it’s illegal to buy them, so they’ve stopped paying that literal fortune. And this gives Col. Wisniewski a new license to kill. How far must Rex go, to dodge his old enemy’s deadly intent...

Too valuable to kill? Oh, but that was then. XK9 Rex was bio-engineered and cyber-enhanced to be the most perfect law enforcement canine ever created. Transmondian spymaster Col. Wisniewski thought he could turn him into the most perfect espionage weapon. But Rex had other plans. Wisneiwski couldn’t bend him to his will. The Colonel would have killed any other dog, but Rex was too valuable. Instead, Rana Station paid a literal fortune to add him and his XK9 Pack to the Orangeboro Police Department. Now Rex and his Pack are working detectives on the trail of a criminal gang that blows up spaceships – and Rana Station has recognized XK9s as uplifted sapient beings. That means it’s illegal to buy them, so they’ve stopped paying that literal fortune. And this gives Col. Wisniewski a new license to kill. How far must Rex go, to dodge his old enemy’s deadly intent...