....and so it goes.

[Dane]

'Dane Mercer was born to Bjorn and Ingrid Mercer, in Munich. While his family was not of Rhineland descent, his family had made passage to Sirius on the sleeper ship Rhineland. Being of Dutch descent, his family made their wealth through the shipping industry. His father, decided to ply his trade in Sirius, and did well... reviving the family shipping lines. Dane was sent to the finest educational institutions. Over a five year period of intense study, Dane earned both a masters degree in economics and a law degree. It was clear that he was to follow the family tradition.

At age 23, Dane acquired his first ship, an old, civilian tanker named Inge, from Dauman Heavy Construction. After eight months of refitting and recruitment, Mercer renamed her Maersk~Ingrid, after his mother. Operating under Rhineland's flag, in service to Republican Shipping, Ingrid and her crew proved to exceed all expectations in both profit and employee satisfaction. In less than a year, a second vessel was acquired, the Nana.Maru, a Kusari Container ship. While the ship was built and served Kishiro Technologies, prior to Dane's involvement, she is still flying the Kusari flag, renamed Maersk~Kobe, handles much of Samura's freight. The irony was not lost on anyone at the time. Less than a year later, with trade opportunities opening up rapidly between Siruis and Gallia, Maersk added yet another vessel to her fleet, an IDF Train named "Claire". The condition and name of the ship so pleased Mercer that he simply added the Maersk flag to the vessel and carried on with current operations.

Dane's most recent venture, a GMG Kujira, was built for his use within the auspices of the Independent Neuralnet Division. While his work within the IND is of a sensitive nature and not openly discussed, Mercer is able to keep his hands on both Maersk operations and meet his obligations to the IND...'

*********************************************

"Okay this is utter crap!" Dane said calmly, crumpling up the page and tossing it into the waste basket.

"Too many words... no substance... and if you can't talk about it... don't mention it at all... understood?"

"Yes, Mr. Mercer!"

"Okay, thank you. We're done here." he finished and nodded toward the door.

The scribe took his leave, closing the double doors behind him, leaving the man alone with his thoughts. He would have a fresh draft of the release finished before the end of day, but Mercer would already be on a shuttle to New Tokyo by then. He finished his drink, a nice bourbon, sent over by Jay along with his dividend cheque. He was pleased by the numbers, and smiled as he slipped it into his desk drawer. It was going to be a busy day... a very busy day. Unlike some who dread the pressure of schedules and deadlines, Mercer actually enjoyed the challenge. He enjoyed his opponents as well.

"And so it goes...", he uttered beneath his breath, spying the shuttle, that would conduct him to New Tokyo.

---

No enterprise is more likely to succeed than one concealed from the enemy until it is ripe for execution.

-Niccolo Machiavelli