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Welcome to Percotran -Part XXI By: Richard Davidson on 1/26/2003; 1:16 PM Ted was beginning to wonder how long he could tread water. His hands and feet were already just a bit numb, and he didnt dare just lie on his back and float. He would need to keep up his circulation. He had just begun to give in to despair when he noticed a silhouette of something against the horizon. He decided to swim for it, whatever it might be. As he got closer he could see it was an ancient buoy, from the times when ships came through here with great frequency. It had to be a thousand years old, but its tiny beacon light was still working, although too faint to see until he got within a hundred yards or so. It bobbled in the water as he climbed atop, and he carefully centered himself, and sat with his arms around his knees, shivering in the night air. At least it was calm. He dozed for awhile, and awoke to a soft rain. It was nearly dawn, and the faint glow on the horizon implied the promise of sunrise, even if hidden behind a veil of clouds. He was shaking, and the chattering of his teeth echoed in his ears. He thought he could hear another sound. A faint sound. A sound that had been in his dreams, only moments before, or hours before; Ted wasnt sure. It was a mechanical sound; perhaps the engine of a small boat. Ted had never been on a boat, in fact hed never seen the ocean before, either. He heard the sound off and on throughout a beautiful day, as the soft rain gave way to warm sunlight, drying him. He was quite a long ways out. He could see the shores of Percotran Internationals Records Department 232SW to what he was assuming was his East, and to what would be the Northeast, he could see a faint outline of what was most likely the Main Operations Center of the Southwestern Division. Suddenly he realized two objects were coming towards him, and he heard the sound more clearly than he had before. It was definitely boat engines, and as they drew closer, he saw that they had the markings of Percotran International Navy. Thats odd, he thought, Percotrans navy was disbanded hundreds of years ago. The boats closed, slowed, and came to rest next to the buoy. They were completely enclosed, since they traveled at such tremendous speed, and the top of one of them opened, and a uniformed soldier stood facing Ted. I thought I saw somebody out here, he said, a look of amazement on his face. Wheres the boat? What boat? asked Ted. Surely you didnt swim out here, the soldier barked. One of our boats was stolen last night, and now here you are clinging to an ancient buoy. Well, if I stole your boat, where is it? asked Ted, a tone of sarcasm evident. Im asking the questions here, said the soldier. What have you done with the boat you stole? I dont know where your boat is, you idiot, Ted answered testily. Dont you have some kind of proximity detector, or tracking device that would tell you where your boat is? The lid to the other boat opened, and another, older soldier emerged. Why havent you arrested this man yet? he bellowed at the first soldier. Im questioning him, snapped the younger man. Do you know what he just asked me? The second soldier asked him what? with his eyebrows. He wants to know why we dont have some kind of tracking device to find our boat with. Both soldiers laughed until they were nearly sick. OK, OK, chortled the older soldier. Ya got me there. That was really a good one. Now lets get back to base. Well, said the first soldier to Ted, wed love to stand here and listen to your jokes all day, but things are just a bit busy right now. And with that, he fired his 499b-11 Restraint Pistol, and Teds hands were bound behind his back with a small, circular band of energy that was far too tight. Hey, these are too tight, he complained. Im pretty sure they make em that way on purpose, laughed the soldier, pushing Teds head down just a bit as he loaded him aboard his boat. I didnt know Percotran had a Navy, Ted said, making the soldier wonder if he was going to have to fire a speech restraint. It doesnt. Now shut up. Officially, the Percotran Navy had been disbanded, because there was no need for one anymore. The planets oceans had pretty much been abandoned, due to electronic transport, and the fact that no one ever wanted to travel from one Company to another. Only Pirates were out there, and strange animals that science had long since stopped trying to keep track of. The only base that wasnt on the continent any more was the L-4 Complex at Haiihu Kuwana, which, as far as anybody knew was the only island left that didnt move all the time, and thus the only one on the map. But there were thousands of islands, of course. Several were actually in direct communication with Percotran International, but hadnt been heard from since the L-4 Complex at Haiihu Kuwana went down. It was suspected they had fallen to Pirates. Might as well do a quick brain scan, said the soldier, almost absent-mindedly, clicking a toggle switch above his head. Ted was bathed in yellow light, and went into mild convulsions, due to the pain caused by the Cerebellum 2450 Brain Scanner, which was not made with comfort in mind. A three dimensional image of Teds personnel file was displayed in the boats cramped cockpit. Worker 2567A; Level XXVII Security Clearance; Capricorn; Third Baseman for Recsec 99Q Baseball Team; Unmarried... the robot voice did its best to make Teds entire life sound uninteresting, as it droned out his date of birth; height; weight; and other supposedly vital statistics. When he was seven, hed had Stomach Cancer; at twelve, Flesh-Eating Virus 7176H; -just the normal childhood diseases. Otherwise, Ted had always been pretty healthy. The soldier was confused. Youre a model employee, or at least you were up until you let an intruder escape. Why would you want to steal a Navy Vessel, and commit High Treason? I didnt steal a boat, and I thought you just said there IS no Navy, Ted responded, glad the convulsions had stopped. Well, I have to say there is no Navy, but since youre going to be executed, I guess there isnt much point anyway. Well, if Im about to be executed anyway, why wouldnt I just admit to stealing your boat? So you did steal it? No! Ted was growing frustrated. This human robot wasnt going to listen to anything he said. I believe you, said the soldier. You do? Ted was amazed. Perhaps he had misjudged this man. Yeah, I do. Youre here in custody, and thats our boat right there... And with that, the small boat lurched violently as several explosions rocked it. They were being fired upon. Oh thats just great, complained the soldier. Thats just what I need. Ted thought that maybe it was just what the soldier needed, judging from his attitude thus far, and got just a bit cocky. I hope they kill us, he laughed. Jerk, said the soldier, as a panel exploded, burning the left side of his face pretty badly, and launching one of his teeth with such force, that it embedded in Teds shoulder. Ouch! shouted Ted, and the soldier was about to explain that if Ted thought THAT was painful, he should try being the guy to whom the tooth belonged, but then water began rushing in, and it was obvious that they were sinking, and that Ted would more than likely get his wish. Well I hope youre happy, the soldier lamented, unable to even get a shot off, as pretty much all functions of the small boat were now inoperable. Ted was happy that his captor wasnt going to make it, but he wasnt so sure he was happy about his own death. Isnt there any way out of this thing? he asked, wondering how good he could swim with his hands bound. Well, no, but, ah, well, yes, the soldier said, as the indicator on the dash told him the engine had gone critical and was about to blow. The explosion sent Ted, the soldier, and little pieces of the boat flying in all directions, and now Ted was frantically trying to float, but he was face down, and he could see a large piece of the hull spiraling towards the murky bottom. The boat that had fired upon them was next to him, and a ladder had been tossed into the water. Ted grunted as he pulled his bound arms under his ass, past his legs, and got them out in front of him. His hands were swelling from the force of his restraint. Summoning every bit of effort left in him, Ted clawed his way up the ladder, and flopped into the boat, breathing heavily. Boy am I glad to see you... I wouldnt be too sure of that, said Thawala. "Now lets go find your friend."
RE: Welcome to Percotran -Part XXI By: Rachelle King on 1/28/2003; 7:40 PM Oh, it is good to be back at Percotran. I just finished your latest, Richard, and am glad to report that your creative genius is still intact up to this point of the story!! The spider description was my favorite and the revelation that the captain was an Android was most enthralling.
RE: Welcome to Percotran -Part XXI By: Richard Davidson on 1/29/2003; 6:35 PM Rachelle, thanks for hanging with me on this. From what I can tell, it seems it will take at least part L to get me close to a finish. Unlike many of my other works, there is actually an ending swimming around out there somewhere, and I promise I won't stop until I get to it, unless I get killed or something, in which case you're all screwed, but you could make up your own! I put parts I-XX into a regular double spaced manuscript, and gave it to two people I work with. I got two critiques that said the exact opposite thing! That's always GREAT news. I'm going to keep doing that, and I do try to get people over here, too. So far, if they are coming, they're not posting, but you know how that is. I wrote part XXII after the first critique, and that chapter does the exact thing the second person DIDN'T like. Chapter XXII is the last chapter that will be influenced by another person, in it's first-draft form. I'm going to slog it out until the end, and then use criticism only in hammering out the final story. And even then, it's got to be criticism that makes sense, and isn't just a matter of personal taste. I love this story, as stories go, but I'm not sure I love my style in it, or if I stay consistent throughout. I've got these two opposing forces that hover over my shoulder, one saying, "flesh out the characters more," and one saying, "keep it moving." I like to do those little flashbacks to give you some history of the character, and I believe you can see Alexander growing in this story, but what I most enjoy is the action. You don't know how tempting it is to just keep stuff happening all the time, instead of getting all psychological. I was going to say a bunch of other stuff, but I think I'm spilling my guts too much. Forget I said any of this, other than "Thanks for hanging with me on this."
RE: Welcome to Percotran -Part XXI By: Rachelle King on 1/29/2003; 8:14 PM right-o, my brutha...
RE: Welcome to Percotran -Part XXI By: Chie Theresa Fujioka on 2/2/2003; 11:16 AM Richard... chie has been silently reading all of this. chie enjoys this. it reminds chie of old chie chie told her friend about richard her friend like richards story her friend keep reading iz goot ya? i think you balance characterization with oddness just right, although some of this at sea business is making me sea sick. or rather... i need some more land juxtapositioned between the sea. Yes, I know, the islands are always moving...
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