Business Trip

The sky fell away below, a thin blanket clinging lightly to the expanse below bathed in the stark amber glow of the sun shining blindly through the window, glinting through the thermal glass, glaring a brilliant caustic through the glass onto the wall of the cabin. Warm maroon cushions enveloped her head as she leaned back into the seat, her face turned slightly to stare out at the orb rotating languidly below, the continents drifting slowly away beyond the prismatic horizon.

“Should we practice the pitch again,” a voice leaked into her sanctum.

Her eyes closed reflexively, face contorting against the intrusion.

“I think we’re prepared,” she let out after a period.

“Okay,” the voice again.

The craft rotated to point her window out towards the infinite void beyond, the moon barely peaking in, a small dot in the corner of the circular window. She breathed deeply, recycled air circulating in her lungs, exhaled.

A man sat across the cabin, strapped tightly in, his pressed suit wrinkled under the scrunched restraints. The other four seats were empty.

“Penny, you doing alright?” the voice echoed again, a faint tinge of concern betraying his stolid exterior.

Her eyes cracked open - his lips were pulled tight, eyes staring over at her from behind his wireframe glasses.

“I don’t know, Herbert. It’s just so much going on, and then Dr. Yu sends us back to Singapore last minute,” she sighed.

“I get that.”

The craft completed another rotation, bringing the deep blue ocean back into view, the terminator stretching across its crystalline surface as they passed into the night side.

“I don’t want to bother you,” she exclaimed.

“It’s fine, Pen; I’m here if you want to talk.”

She opened her eyes fully, looking down at the blue orb below.

“It just feels like everything is getting worse in small intangible ways. I thought I was doing better, I thought I had recovered.”

“Well, being better isn’t a switch; It’s okay to have bad days.”

“I think I’ve been having a bad couple months, Herb. Everything just kept piling up and it’s all little things, but maybe I wasn’t fully back and, well, now I’m not doing well.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could help.”

“Talking always helps - I just bottle stuff up. Anyway, why don’t we practice the pitch again,” she stated coolly.

“Oh. Okay yeah, so Ms. Mengyu is the main client. There will be other people in the meeting, but Mengyu is the signature that matters.”

“Retaining wall, Mengyu, seal the deal.”

“Basically yeah. More nuance but she should have gotten our advanced briefs to know what the pitch is.”

“You saw the reports though, right? At this point is there anything we can really do to help?”

“Probably not,” Herbert began, “but we still have to sell it.”

Penny looked back at the window, the blackness dotted with infinite stars, worlds beyond grasp incomprehensibly far away.

“With construction times, it wouldn’t be done ‘til 38 anyway,” Penny sighed looking back to Herbert.

“There are pumps and they can rebuild. Most high rises have been fit to withstand being partially submerged.”

“Yeah.”

Her gaze shifted to the porthole behind his head, the stretches of twinkling lights from distant cities, swaths of heavy swirling clouds lingering ominously above, catching scant ruby rays of sunlight slipping around the shadow of earth.

Adjusting the dark in-sewn straps of her navy jumpsuit, she straightened the creases as best she could, and flipped over her tablet.

Checking her email before reentry blocked any communication, she scrolled down through a busy inbox of unopened unacknowledged messages.

She sighed and closed her eyes again as the craft pivoted jerkily to align the ablative plate towards the direction of travel.

As the craft dipped softly below the atmosphere again, a wash of glowing plasma spewed up from the plate smashing into the air at unimaginable speeds, tearing molecules apart under its immense pressure, rending the fabric of air into a stream of brilliant ions and light.

Rocking slightly in her seat, the tight straps pinching as they struggled to keep her stuck to the cushion,

inflating softly to limit the free movement.

Plasma flares in through the windows filling the sun cabin with brilliant display of dancing oranges as the vehicle violently thundered down through the sky, a shooting star.

Penny stares out at the landmasses bathed in blackness rapidly approaching. The tendrils of irregular coastline growing, dots of cities grew and stretched out towards the widening horizon as the window approached the ground. Tufts of propellant aligned the vehicle as it slowed to a almost imperceptible stop on a floating barge bobbing softly, the harbor awash with shifting reflections of the illuminated city stretching off towards the sky, the twinkling stars overshadowed by the overly bright skyline.

The roof above glowed a slightly too dim white light down onto the dark wood floors and off-white cushions of the two couches resting in a corner of two massive walls of windows stretching from floor to ceiling. A stream of smaller boats darted around in the flooded streets below, massive ultra-cargo ships sat idly at port, the rows of thousands of crates waiting patiently as cranes sailed back and forth on the titanic piers slipping off over the water into the fog rolling in off the choppy waves.

Papers strewn neatly around an opened briefcase, Hebert shuffled through his portion of the presentation; his lips mumbling rehearsed phrases as his finger glided over words and charts.

Penny sat reclined into a couch staring at a strange plant situated alone against the wood panel walls on the other side of the room, a set of double doors to its right. It’s sickly fronds spiraled off from a prickly trunk, meagerly extending their fingers to the cool air hanging unmoving above. A single dead leaf rested brown and shriveled in the pot.

“They’re ready for you,” a booming voice proclaimed as a large man wearing a one size too small dress shirt, tie cinching his neck, stepped quickly down the corridor from the recesses beyond view. He held the door open and gestured for them to walk in.

A large table stretched out into the long room. Suited business people staring with tired ears at them as they walked past into the cold dry air of the conference room baked in indifferent white light from rows of soft LEDs running the length of the ceiling set between modest wooden detailing. The grey carpet muffled the quiet thump of her boots as Penny awkwardly stepped to the side of a projector.

“Good evening Ms. Mengyu, members of the board,” Herbert nodded as he popped his brief case open and took out the film slides for the presentation.

Prismatic flickers danced off the choppy waves oscillating down below the raised platform jutting from the second floor of the partially submerged sky scraper. The brilliant neon cacophony of the city streets - canals now - blurred and refracted through the post-storm fog as Penny walked softly besides Herbert along the bobbing walkway, droplets of condensation sweating off the black metal railing.

“Yu’s secretary said there’s only enough travel budget for one suborbital so we have to wait for the next flight back to LA unfortunately,” Herbert said as he looked up from his phone, eyes adjusting from the harsh artificial light of the screen to the deep blue darkness enveloping the damp air.

“Makes sense,” Penny responded, “but I guess we have no choice but to enjoy the stay,” she added with a smirk.

“Sounds wonderful. I suppose we should eat. I think they’re a good stir fry shop a couple blocks?”

“I could eat.”

Stepping quickly to a jetty floating slightly from the sidewalk, the Herbert held out his hand to signal a taxi. Penny followed and stood relatively still, slightly bobbing as the waves propagated under the pier.

A spot light swung into her eyes as a yellow motorboat puttered to a stop beside the dock. Herbert hopped down onto the wooden deck and sat down on the slightly wet seat, as Penny stepped over the railing and stood braces against the tail of the boat. He scanned the QR code on the back of the pilot’s seat and input the location.

“It’s like Venice, huh?” Herbert offered a faint smile.

“Something like that,” Penny responded without turning, eyes gazing down into the dismal depths below.

As the boat pittered along through the streets, they past beneath a particularly bright floodlight. Below the black water she could make out the murky form of an algae covered car, a fish swimming around a street lamp.

She looked up from her plate to see Herbert scrolling through his phone, his brows pinched as he shook his head slightly.

“What’s up?” she asked.

He didn’t respond and continued to stare down at the screen, caustic white glaring up, accentuating his firm feature, the shadow of his glasses framing his eyes.

“Oh!” he turned it off and placed it down on the marbled plastic table, “just checking flights. Next one’s in three hours so we should head to the airport after we finish… lunch?”

She exhaled as a laugh then took another bite. For a chain restaurant, the noodles did taste better than they did in LA - or maybe she was just hungry and tired and needed anything to eat.

“So,” she sighed.

Herbert nodded as he looked around.

“Yeah,” he responded.

He lifted his chop stick in one hand and held some noodles near his mouth as his other hand brought his phone up. Fiddling with it again, he sat, mouth agape, food inches from being eaten.

“You good, Herb?”

“Yeah, just… stuff, y’know.”

“Yeah.”

She took another bite.

Fog clung low to the streets, filling the claustrophobic canals between massive towers stretching into the ambivalent sky above. Neon lights filtered through the refractive hazy to produce obscure chromatic glows just out of gaze. They walked along in silence, the hum of boats floating by, an occasional blast of a supertanker laying anchor in the port.

A taxi slipped beneath a metal bridge stretching above the water to the other side of the sidewalk, as the they turned and walked across, metal ringing as their steps jostled the floating bridge.

“Should we get another taxi?” Penny asked.

“I need to walk for a bit, if that’s alright; just antsy.”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

She looked over to see his face cast in partial shadow against the faint haze flowing down the street.

“You good, Herb? I’m here if you wanna talk.”

“Thanks, Pen. I had plans with Lauren tonight but Yu sent me last minute. Things aren’t really go well as is, but, I don’t know, this is a final straw maybe.”

“I’m sorry,” she responded softly.

“It is what it is. I try not to prioritize work so much but then work just prioritizes itself. I really do want to be there for her more, but…” he trailed off into a sigh.

“I get it. They do ask too much of us,” she said gesturing vaguely at the city.

“So now, even when we get back, I have that to deal with. Well not deal with - that’s not the right words - more like…” he sighed again.

“Yeah,” Penny offered with a concerned face.

“Well at least i’ll have more time work soon,” he chuckled sardonically.

“Jeez I’m sorry, Herb.”

“ehh. I’ve resigned myself to it. You only get so many last chances, y’know.”

“Yeah.”

“A shame we couldn’t’ve enjoyed the city more, but I guess it’s still technically working hours.”

“We’re salaried and Dr. Yu is our boss so when isn’t working hours?” Penny laughed.

“That’s very correct.”

“I for one am gonna drink as many complementary drinks as I can on the flight back. Gotta get paid for overtime somehow.”

“I’ll be there with you.” He chuckled, “Let’s - uhh - get a cab.”

“Okay,” Penny responded.

A streak of blinding light swept along the waterway as they walked to a jetty. It slowed to moor at the dock as they got on.