Snippet....CyberTrucker.

Chapter 31: Riding around town..

Cord and bubba ride around town.

And.  Are.  Stared.  At.

Naturally.

They look just a touch unusual.  Not Cord so much...he looks like a Biker now.  A Full Bore Biker. Beard, belly, leathers, cigar.  The bike?  It's a nice bike.  Exotic.  Obviously a one-off from someplace like Orange Country Choppers, Big Bear Choppers or one of the places that built exotic bikes.  A touch odd that it has a long sissy bar sticking up the rear.

With a cat lounging back against the sissy bar. The cat was about the size of a Rottweiler dog.

………..that was different.

The cat.... was Bubba, and he was obviously having a fine time.

Too much fun.  Naturally the police had to spoil things.

"Do you have a license for that cat" ask the cop after they were pulled over.

<always the fricking license..>" muttered Cord under his breath...<first i need a license for a cane and now for a cat? What next…a license to breathe?   >

"Do I NEED a license for a cat? " Asked Cord…trying desperately to be polite?  One must  ALWAYS be polite to cops….always.  If you’re not polite to a Cop they might just  kill you, AND your cat.

"Where's a  park anyway, you know...with grass and stuff." asked Cord.  "me and Bubba feel the need to play some frisbee.".

The officer must have noticed that Bubba wasn't restrained, or that  Bubba had  a TOOTHY grin. He backed up a step and put his hand on his gun.

"Fiwiiiishbeeee"  Bubba said in his snarly raspy voice and Grinned at the officer. The cop was taken aback some then Bubba looked at him and winked.

<Did that cat really talk?> he thought to himself.

“Did that cat really talk?" he said out loud.

"My buddy wants to play Frisbee officer.  We're completely harmless. He's not a real cat...he's an animatronic feline, a robot dummie. I’m a ventriloquist of sorts.  Sometimes I use him to get free beer in bars.”

"Whu Yu Calling a Dummie, Fat Boy?"  asked Bubba...deadpan.  He Moved jerkily and made threatening motions at Cord to the sound of   exaggerated electro-mechanical noises

The officer kind of laughed....not so tense now.

Cord leaned a little closer to the officer and spoke to him in a lower, more confidential voice.  “I’m actually a  scout for a major movie studio.  If I told you the name I’d have to kill you.  I’m scouting out a new location for an up and coming world wide mega-blockbuster movie. I can’t tell you the name of it either.  What ever city I pick will get an economic infusion of millions of dollars. I’d appreciate it if you’d pass the word about me being a scout and all? It could save lives”.  Cord lied thru his teeth, trying to diffuse the situation.”

“Got it?” he asked the cop, still in that secretive voice.

“Got it.” replied the cop quietly...completely taken in.

Cord straightened up , and stepped away from the cop.

"Thank you officer" said Cord..." now as you can see we're perfectly harmless law abiding citizens"

"Say...you do that pretty good" the cop said, thinking he understood and  now playing along.  "It sounds just like the Cat is talking"..

"Cat's can't talk” said Bubba  " that would be absurd."

“Now where is that park?" asked Cord.

…….just as Bubba went on a rant.

"Can we go now?" asked Bubba

"Can we go now!

Are we being detained?"  asked bubba...lots louder.

The cop looked at cord, alarmed at first..then he grinned.   

He  and made a big show..for those who were watching.

" You’re damn good with that cat.  I thought it was real at first.  The Park’s down that a way. You're heading the right way “said the cop  "...just a few miles further then turn right.  It's not too far from there to the University Park.  Lots of kids play Frisbee there. Don’t get too sunburned. Have a nice day.”  ...He turned and walked back to his patrol car.

"whew" said Cord...." thank gawd"

"meow" said bubba. "Rawbawt mah asst"

"That was smart thinking" said DT in Cords head.

Cord jumped a foot...startled  "What?  Is that you DT?"

"Of course it is" said DT  " I'm not about to lose track of my investment am I? “

Cord thought about THAT as they rode to the Park.  Then he shook it off.  Mental telepathy, especially at a distance, could come in real handy.

He  pulled the motorcycle up alongside the park and watched the pretty girls play for a little bit....actually he watched  the pretty girls  that were watching the pretty boys that were playing with their dogs.

Frisbee.  Dogs. No Cats.

Small(ish) dogs usually.  Border collies and Blue Heelers.  They LOVED to play Frisbee.  Also some labs, and a cocker spaniel or two.  Bubba was larger than the cocker spaniel.

Cord parked the bike...set the kick stand and got off... and turned around to see Bubba standing on the ground…. holding a big, black rubber Frisbee.

Cord looked at Bubba and Bubba looked at Cord.  Cord muttered, sub-vocally, as he took the Frisbee from Bubba.

<DT...are you there?> and the reply came through Cord's temporal implant... <I'm here>

Bubba and Cord are still looking at each other...Cord mutters...< All right guys...let’s put on a show...let’s impress the Hell out of the locals. DT...are you ready?>

Cord hefts the Frisbee a little… as if getting it's balance...

<I'm ready> says DT..

"Well ALRIGHTY THEN!!!" Cord Shouts as he swings his arm in a great arc and releases the Frisbee, under hand,  at about knee level.  The Frisbee streaks away at about about two hundred miles per hour (it seemed...it wasn’t really going anywhere near that fast) at about a  two foot altitude,  while flashing odd lights and making a strange warbling sound.

Bubba was hot in its wake...howling like a banshee.  The Frisbee turns skyward and goes straight up...Bubba follows making a fantastic leap snapping and clawing at the Frisbee...at  ten or FIFTEEN  feet of altitude...he....misses.

The Frisbee loops...and comes at Bubba obliquely...while Bubba is still in the air... Bubba  twists...the Frisbee sails between his legs but Bubba snaps his jaws and captures the Frisbee in midair.  Doing an effortless back flip Bubba lands on the ground then trots. (ever see a CAT trot?) With his tail flagpole erect... to Cord and lays the Frisbee at his feet.

The gathering crowd gapes.  They are so amazed that their jaws, literally, hang open.  They drool.

Cord picks up the Frisbee and does it again....and again...and again. Each throw being a  variation on the same theme.

For an hour or so Cord throws the Frisbee.  Bubba is insatiable.  Bubba is doing ten times, a hundred times the work of Cord and wearing Cord slap OUT.  Not to mention drawing a crowd of gleeful, happy, enthusiastic watchers. Bubba shows off and mugs for the crowd...so does Cord.

The crowd eats it up. With a SPOON.  They cheer wildly.

Finally Cord can do no more...he calls it quits.

"That's it Bubba.(pant, Pant) ...let's go back (pant) to the truck"...

Bubba picks up the Frisbee and trots over to Cord...tail held high...and hands him the Frisbee, then jumps onto the back of the bike...almost overturning it.

"Whoa there Partner" says Cord...steadying the bike, and stowing the Frisbee.  Cord Kick Starts the bike (what?  you think they'd have a sissy electric starter?) , slides into the saddle and away they go...to applause, hoots and whistles from the  swollen crowd.

***

On the way back Cord takes a meandering route.  He goes hither and yon according to a heads-up guideline that DT is projecting over his vision.  Every so often...not noticed by anyone other than Bubba...a small golf ball sized drone is ejected from the launch tube, which is part of the sissy bar on the rear of the bike.  The drone goes off who-knows-where and Cord continues on.

They do this for several days...they hit all the parks and are pretty much blanketing most of Youngstown and surrounding areas. A man on a powerful motorcycle can cover an amazing amount of territory in a short period of time.