“Will Cal be back in time if we have to speed up this much? He’s going to want to see this.” Bug asked, looking toward Ethel.


    “Hrm, I don’t know. I’ll talk to Andrew later and see if we can get him to hurry things along, but he is off doing something important, so if he can’t, he can’t,” Ethel answered. Bug was right, she would rather Cal be around in case something did go wrong, but those ogre collars were an important thing. She was glad he had decided to focus on that.


    Stolen story; please report.


    “So, is there any chance my acceptance of your employment offer comes with a full breakdown of the history of this place and whatever has happened to your lives?” Phil asked.


    “I’m sure we can arrange something like that. I believe Andrew has been keeping a log of most of our activities. However, some of the more off-world stuff may be harder to explain. From what I’ve heard of Bug’s journey to the Under Library, things played out very unusually,” Ethel explained.


    “It’s how I become a paladin. It was really scary sometimes, but it’s important for dogs to have the strength to protect you humans. You would be lost without us,” Bug said, wagging her tail furiously.