Patriots Chapter 5

Date – One week later.

*“At least this sort of recon duty is easy.”*

The big spotted Dlamisan thought to herself as she walked through the park in the human Capitol City of Louisville.

*“The sun is shining, the birds are singing, it’s kind of nice really.* *I don’t mind playing what the humans call a ‘tourist’.”*

The thoughts drifted through her mind as she looked around, apparently enjoying the scenery. All the while a tiny implant in one of her eyes was scanning the scenery in both visible and IR spectrums and taking subtle ranging data on all the buildings surrounding the park. The data being recorded would later help to build a solid 3D map of the surrounding area.

Her counterpart on the team was doing the same, but to help speed things up they’d split up and he was walking the opposite direction around the large greenspace. The thought of which made her tail wag just a bit.

*“My partner is a good operative, but he does get tiring after a while.”* She let out a soft chuffing laugh at the fact she finally didn’t have to deal with his...intensity. Her eyes continued to scan the area, focusing on the buildings but also taking in the sights of the humans enjoying the grounds as well. A few were playing with their ‘dogs’ and she suppressed a shudder. *“I’ll never get used to those things.* *They’re just so WEIRD!”*

She continued to walk minding her own business until motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention and then all thought vanished. There was just the chase, a leap, a moment of joy as her jaws closed down on something hard and plastic, and then the landing and her paws snagging on a bush she’d never even realized was there.

A grunt of surprise escaped her just as the botched landing sent her tumbling head over tail for several yards only to come to a rest near a tree with a dumbstruck look on her face as she sat there. The plastic disc dangling from her jaws as she sat up and gathered her thoughts. The sound of someone running towards her and shouting only starting to register as she pulled it out of her mouth and peered at it. It was just a plain white plastic disc…with the word “Frisbee” written across it.

“Oh my god! Are you okay?” Her attention finally resolved on a somewhat older and slightly overweight human jogging towards her. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t even paying attention if I’d seen you I wouldn’t have thrown!”

“I-it’s okay.” She said, standing up and dusting herself off as she held the “frisbee” in her hands. Oddly…she felt good having caught it. As much as she tried to still it, her tail just refused to stop wagging.

“I presume this is yours?” And after a moment’s hesitation she handed it to the human, although she was surprised at just how much reluctance she felt when she did that.

“Yeah, that’s mine. Are you sure you’re, okay?” The human seemed to gulp a bit as he came up to her, the proximity letting him get a good look at just how BIG the spotted Dlamisan was.

“It’s quite alright, I’m fine.” She said with another chuffing laugh as she looked down at the human. Her tail wagging harder as she got a good look at some brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. “I’m tougher than I look!”

The human sighed and let out a soft chuckle. “Well considering you’re quite impressive I’m relieved to hear that. I’m glad you’re okay.”

“So, what’re you doing out here today?” She asked, looking around as she realized there were no other humans with this male nor one of those, she suppressed a shudder, dogs. “I’m no expert, but don’t you need a second to use one of those?” She said, pointing to the frisbee in the human’s hand.

“Oh, noticed that did you? Yeah, normally you need two or more to use one of these.”

“Then why just yourself?”

“Oh um…well it’s kind of embarrassing.” The human said, blushing a bit.

“Well if it’s personal I won’t press…”

“No, it’s okay…it’s embarrassing but not well THAT embarrassing if you know what I mean. Miss…um…I’m sorry I didn’t catch your name.”

The big Dlamisan gave a doggish smile. “No problem, my name is…” And then her voice drifted into some strange trilling notes that made the human shake his head.

“Okay yeah, I’m sorry but I’ll never be able to pronounce that. Do you have an English name, or a name in some other human tongue?”

“N-no I haven’t been on planet long and well…my work doesn’t really get me out to meet humans much.” The nearly 9-foot-tall female said, her many ears flicking back as surprisingly she felt a sense of awkwardness at that admission.

“Would you mind if I gave you one then? I mean I can’t just call you ‘hey you’ after all.”

The suggestion made her heart skip a beat, but even so she couldn’t help herself but nod. “I suppose not that would get a little awkward. So sure, go ahead you’d know better than I would.”

The human chuckled and after looking her over for a bit. “Well how about Perdita or Perdy for short? It suits your fur.”

“My fur, really?” She looked down at the white fur and black spots on one of her exposed arms and cocked her head to the side. “You have names for Dlamisans that have my fur pattern? I find that kind of hard to believe.”

“Well not Dlamisans specifically, but well let’s just say the reference fits.” The human said with a grin. “I’m Richard by the way.” The human then held out his hand. Confused, Perdy leaned down to take a sniff which only started the human laughing. “No no no…like this.” He reached out and grabbed her hand and gave it a little shake. “It’s a handshake, it’s a friendly greeting ritual for humans.”

“Oh, a handshake, yeah…of course.” Perdy said, trying to cover a strange sense of both excitement and nervousness as she returned the greeting. “So, um…why again are you out here with that thing all by yourself?” She asked her eyes drifting towards the frisbee once more.

“Ah didn’t forget about that huh. Well, um…” The human blushed and chuckled. “Would you believe I’m here for practice?”

“Practice?”

The human sighed. “Yeah, look at me Perdy. I’m middle-aged and somewhat out of shape and my job is in Information Technology not construction or ditch-digging. I’m not exactly the most active sort around and well…” He chuckled and grinned. “Some of the younger crowd at my job have decided that they want to start an Ultimate Frisbee group to play on lunch breaks. I know I’ll get dragged into it and since I haven’t touched one of these things in well…decades. I figured I’d better make sure I knew how to get it to go where I wanted it to.”

“Really now? I’m not sure what Ultimate Frisbee is, but I can understand the urge not to embarrass oneself in front of one’s peers.” Her eyes kept drifting back down to the Frisbee as she spoke. “How’s your aim doing?”

“Eh…I could still use some practice to say the least.” The human chuckled a bit as Perdy’s constant glances finally registered. “You want the frisbee don’t you?”

“I uh…no…why would I want…er…” The question caught her completely flat as Richard began to laugh even harder. “Okay okay…I have no idea WHY but yes, yes, I do! I want it badly.”

“Hey no worries…” Richard said as he wiped some tears of laughter from the corner of his eyes. “If you’re not busy, I suppose I could use the help in my practice. Would you like to play catch with me for a while?”

Perdy gave another doggish grin, and her tail began to wag even harder. “I’d love to!”

Perdy found that playing catch was quite enjoyable, the arc of the frisbee and the clicking sound her jaws made on the plastic all seemed to just add to the thrill of the chase. Again and again Richard threw the frisbee and each time she ran for it like it was the first time. There was no future, no past, only the here and now and the chase!

Which is why she got caught up short when another shout distracted her and made her faceplant in the middle of a run.

<”What are you DOING!?”>

Embarrassment flooded her as she stood up to see her partner running over. The hackles raised on his neck as she was caught with a human and not doing her job.

<”You had one job to do. And that was gather topographic data, and here you are playing with a Human!”>

Perdy’s ears went down and she let out a soft whine as her partner kept yelling at her. <”Sorry…it just kind of happened.”>

<”Just kind of happened. Do you know how IDIOTIC you sound right now?”>

Before the dressing down could continue the male was interrupted by Richard. “Hey sorry clearly, you’re angry and I should apologize. I was the one who distracted Perdita and caused her to lose track of time. I know you’re upset but you should be mad at me, not her.”

The interruption seemed to distract the male as he turned his attention to the human. “Perdita?” He asked glancing back up at the big female whose ears went back once again. “She has a name now?” The male sighed and shook his head. “I suppose it can’t be helped, but I don’t appreciate the distraction.”

“And that’s fair, but again I apologize. Mr…” He paused looking expectantly at the small, brown-furred male.

“I don’t have a name and I wasn’t planning to get one.”

“Well, I understand, unfortunately I can’t really pronounce native Dlamisan at all. So, if you don’t mind…Oliver…yes you strike me as an Oliver.”

The newly named Oliver’s hackles went up and he was about to unload on the human when Perdy gave his shoulder a squeeze. Looking back at his partner she flicked her ears in a sign of negation and he let out a sigh.

“Well whatever…we need to be going. Good day.”

Oliver grabbed Perdy’s arm and started to lead her away. Richard blinked. “Alright, it was a pleasure meeting you too Oliver. And hey Perdy, with luck we’ll run into each other again! Have a great day!” Richard called out and waved as the pair walked off.

Oliver visibly upset at what had just transpired continued to dress down his partner as they walked off. <”What were you thinking? You’re supposed to be maintaining a low profile. You could blow the whole operation! What on earth made you spend time with that useless human?!”>

Perdita growled softly at that. <”First off, Richard was a perfectly nice person and you shouldn’t talk about him that way.”> A vague sense of wonder bubbled up inside her as she found herself jumping to his defense so quickly. <”Secondly, Even if we carry out our mission it’s only meant to slow the process of forming an Alliance; not halt it.”>

She jerked her arm free of her partner’s grip, resisting the urge to do something more physical than that. <”And third, look around…every one of our people you see in public is spending time with humans and their tails are wagging while doing it. Yes it wasn’t expected that I’d interact with a human and get a name, but you know what would have jeopardized the mission more? Being aloof and treating the human poorly. At least being friendly is the expectation.”>

This seemed to shut Oliver up for the moment as they walked back to the hotel that was their base. The silence making Perdy grin. <”Besides, Oliver is a perfectly nice name.”>

<”That’s not my name, my name is only spoken in the Dlamisan language. But I suppose I’ll have to tolerate it for now.”> Oliver grumped again and then let out a sigh. <”And I suppose you want to spend time with the human again don’t you?”>

<”Well yes. One he’s friendly, two I doubt we’ll ever be allowed back in to human space after our mission, and three if I suddenly give him the cold shoulder it’ll raise more questions than if I don’t.”>

<”Fine…just don’t let it get in the way of the mission.”>