Welcome to Percotran -Part V

By Richard Davidson

Alexander had never been to such an exotic feast. Captain Pearson certainly knew how to set out a spread. There was beautiful Filet Mignon and Prime Rib; fresh Mahi Mahi, Oysters Rockefeller and Squid; and a Leg of Lamb sautéed with a berry that could only be found in the Midlaysian Ocean, on a small island no Company had ever Declared; not to mention the various fruits from places most employees had never before imagined.

Alexander also had never seen such an assortment of characters. The delight he felt was ridiculous, considering the dreadful severity of his current situation, and yet he had no choice but to revel in it. What did it matter? He was probably some thousands of years into man’s future, and would have died long ago anyway, and besides, he’d never been so damn hungry, and he didn’t hesitate to socialize, and dig in.

An enormous chef hovered over a side of beef roughly the size of a small town, and hacked Alexander off a perfect 84 ounce Prime Rib with a broadsword, and nearly knocked him over as he slammed it on the plate. He covered it with about 1/2 a pint of thin gravy, and Alexander balanced it delicately as he sat down next to a bald man with some kind of metal lens in place of his left eye, who was eagerly slurping down Raw Squid in Balsamic Vinaigrette and Steamed Turnips.

The table was rough hewn Oak, with a thin layer of Camolia Oil; an all purpose sealant that actually monitors the level of moisture in the wood, and compensates by manipulating the wood’s pores, invented by Jeanne Pisuki, a Francolaysian Tea merchant who’d gone berserk in the First Century after the merger, and started one of the very first Pirate Companies, Skulltrex Blood Merchants. To this day, a Skulltrex finish was a finish you never had to worry about again.

To Alexander’s left sat a beautiful woman, that he found both captivating, and frightening. She was dressed head to toe in black and red leather, with a silk vest covering only her shoulders and waist, accentuating her ample bosom; long dark hair that cascaded over her shoulders and back; and a very suggestive way of sucking Oysters from their shells.

She had several knives, swords and guns in the various holsters that dangled here and there, and there appeared to be no doubt she was quite capable with any of them. A true warrior woman, at least in Alexander’s eyes, and here he was sitting at the table with her.

Captain Pearson banged his huge tankard on the table, and shouted for attention.

“This is truly a great day for the IPC,” Captain Pearson bellowed with a grin. Everyone in the room cheered enthusiastically, then grew quiet.

“In a coordinated effort, warriors from thirteen different companies have simultaneously disabled the weapons transfer arrays for Cellulex, Bogotron, and for the first time ever, Percotran International.”

The room went wild, for quite some time, as people slammed huge tankards together, sloshing beer, ale and wine all over the floorboards of the massive dining hall, which appeared to be an entire deck of this gigantic vessel.

“So many of you have given your allegiance without question for so long. Many have given their lives, and yet, no one has asked the question, ‘what will we do once these weapons arrays are disabled?’”

A murmur went through the hall, as men and women turned to each other with a question in their eyes.

“Ships are already dispatched to regain every Island in the South Pacific sector,” the Captain said triumphantly, “and when they are secured, we will get a call on this phone.”

He indicated a phone booth against the far wall. Alexander was stuck by the oddity of that.

“At which point we will make our forced entry into Percotran’s Southwestern Division, which will no longer be protected by the L-4 Complex at Haiihu Kuwana.”

There was an even louder cheer for that one, and Alexander found himself joining in.

“There will still be plenty of troops with hand weapons, and we should expect to take many casualties, but it will be worth it, because we believe we can take a .00001% Stockholder that has been ruling that sector. With him in our possession, our leverage will be increased.”

Alexander was confused. How could anyone with such a small percentage of Percotran stock be worth losing lives over? Surely the captain had a more sensible plan than that available to him.

“The Red Guard will storm the main hallway, and the Blood Battalion will simultaneously mount an assault on the exterior facade that will take them by surprise. Mind you, most of you won’t come back from this, so eat and drink all you want tonight!”

The dangerous woman turned to Alexander.

“The Captain is brilliant,” she oozed, and Alexander wanted so badly to agree with her.

“The Captain is a loony,” Alexander offered, which was not what she wanted to hear.

Before she could answer, Captain Pearson continued on.

“As you all know, once we have a Stockholder, they cannot deny us entrance into the Board Meeting.”

Another general cheer went up around the room.

“The Board Meeting?” thought Alexander.

“My God, you’ll be killed!” he suddenly screamed, and everyone in the entire room stared at him.

“Do not interrupt, Percotran scum, or we will be killing you early,” hissed a large man with a snake head, who leaned in from Alexander’s right shoulder.

“No, no, let him talk,” said Captain Pearson in a loud, friendly voice.

“But keep in mind, we of the IPC laugh at death.”

“Well don’t you see?” Alexander asked, exasperated.

“You’ll be falling right into their trap. They’ll let you into the Board Meeting, and they’ll have to grant you a proposal. Then they will form a Proxy, ask you into Secret Session, find a reason to hold you in Contempt, and have you all Executed.”

The Captain looked at Alexander long and hard.

“And what do you know of such things?”

“I worked for Percolex.”

A loud murmur went through the room, and took several minutes to die down.

“He’s lying,’ hissed the Snakeman, brandishing a very sharp dagger.

“He’s just trying to ssssssave his ssssssssskin.”

The Captain grabbed Alexander, and held him high in the air with a handful of shirt.

“How could you have worked for a Company that existed in Ancient Times?”

“Look, I went through some kind of Time/Space thing in one of our Research Laboratories, and I ended up in the hallway of that Monster Company back there. While I was there, they scanned my brain, and when they did, I got an overview of their Company Manifest somehow.”

The Captain set him down.

“And from that you know what their strategy will be?” he asked incredulously.

“When I worked for Percolex, I was ‘in’ on alot of the secret goings on of some of its Executives, one Vice President in particular,” Alexander explained.

“I know how these guys think.”

“Your guesswork can hardly be used as a basis to change a plan we have coordinated for three and a half years,” the Captain boomed.

“Well, it’s your funeral,” Alexander said with a dour face.

“Yours comes first, my friend. Eat up, and enjoy the entertainment. It’ll be your last.”

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