Miah

A message pops up on the bottom of my screen.

My office, 1 PM — Davenport.

I ball my fists and whisper a hell yeah under my breath. I can’t help it. We’re not supposed to show any emotion at work here at Onyx, for emotion distracts. It takes time. And time equals money.

The red light on the top of my screen starts blinking right away. The cameras have noticed I’ve taken my hands off my keyboard, and every second I don’t work is one they won’t pay me for.

I don’t care. I’m getting a promotion! I’ll be swimming in credits soon. My own corner-office, with windows! Actual, genuine windows! I’ll be able to drink in the never-ending skyline of Neo-Atlanta, instead of having to stare at the big screens they’ve got hanging on the bleak walls.

They show us images of pristine, sandy beaches and lush, warm forests, like those still exist on Earth. Everyone knows that the megacities have swallowed up every last inch of the planet.

If you want nature, you have to go to one of the colonies — a luxury few can afford. And soon, I’ll be a part of those lucky few.

Miah Dorsey, Vice-President. I like the sound of that.

All those years as a corporate grunt will have been worth it. I’ll finally be able to send Abby to college, so she can follow her passion. Her drawings are out of this world, and I just know she’s meant for greatness… but right now, she’s slaving away in a factory, assembling gadgets neither of us can afford.

“What’s gotten you so excited?” my neighbor Jim Miller whispers.

I motion for him to join me in the break room. It’s the only place in the entire building that doesn’t have microphones recording our every word (or so we’ve been told).

“Davenport asked to see me,” I answer, barely containing my grin, as the food-replicator spits out a black drab that’ll have to pass for coffee.

I grab the cup and take a victorious sip of my last repli-coffee. Only the finest, colony-grown, freshly ground coffee beans for me from now on!

“Is that so?” Jim asks, eyebrows raised.

He’s doing his best to hide his jealousy, and failing miserably. He’s my frenemy, my office rival, my nemesis.

Basil Onyx, our CEO, believes in competition. Ruthless competition. Under his stewardship, Onyx became the biggest energy company in the universe, supplying most of Earth’s power, as well as powering all space stations and human colonies.

One of his favorite tricks is hiring two people for the same job, and letting them compete. Jim is exactly that; my opponent, my competition. And after a grueling year, I’ve finally bested him.

It took nearly more than I could give. I’ve worked eighty hour weeks for so long I forgot what the sun looks like. I haven’t even had a chance to talk to my sister in weeks, even though she’s the reason I’m doing all of this. I want her to draw, to paint, to create. Every day she doesn’t is one lost.

If I just had the credits, I could send her to art school. She could have the education I never had.

I can already picture Abby’s face in my mind. She’ll be blown away, and try to refuse my gift. I’m not having that, though. Not for a second.

“You have my condolences,” Jim says, bringing me back to reality.

“Why is that?”

“Because they’re going to give you the sack, of course.”

I stifle a laugh. “I doubt it. If that were the case, security would simply march me out of here. No, Davenport is going to promote me to Vice-President.”

“We’ll see about that,” Jim smirks as he sips his repli-coffee.

It’s getting close to one PM. I leave Jim alone in the break room and head towards Davenport’s office, putting his negative remark behind me.

Jim is just trying to get to me, to make me nervous. Still, I don’t like that smug smile of his, as if he knows something I don’t. It’s just mind games, I’m sure.

But still…

I take a deep breath and knock on my boss’s door.

“Enter.”

Inside a bunch of bigwigs have gathered around the round conference table. This is unusual, and it makes me nervous down to my very core. Davenport, a middle-aged man who has yet to ever crack to smile, nods at the single empty seat.

I take my place, trying to ignore how sweaty my palms are or how hard my heart is racing. My boss presses a button, and the lights dim, a blue image filling up the center of the room.

A hologram — of Siya Onyx, daughter of our CEO!

What an honor!

“Miah Dorsey,” she says sternly, her voice slightly distorted by the hologram.

“Yes m’am.”

“On behalf of my father, I’d like you to know that we at the Onyx family are all very satisfied with the work you’ve put in this year. Your work ethic is commendable.”

My chest swells with pride. Praise from our billionaire owner himself. Suck on that, Jim! Every last doubt I may have had is erased from my mind.

“Thank you.”

All the men around the table nod and smile, and even Davenport’s lips look dangerously close to curling up into something resembling a friendly expression.

“I’ll put in even more effort as a Vice-President,” I blurt out in a rare moment of overconfidence.

Davenport’s smile turns into a grimace.

“About that…” Siya says.

My triumph melts away, like snow in the midday sun. I grip the sides of my chair tightly, bracing for impact. This can’t be.

“We’ve decided that someone of your considerable talents and work ethic could best be used on location.”

What?

On location?

My blood runs cold when I realize what she means…

“That is why we’ve decided to promote you to Chief Operating Officer on Iyvis VI. Congratulations.”

I feel sick to my stomach. Iyvis VI is an inhospitable ice-planet, a desolate wasteland, with nothing but a few drilling rigs that mine the planet for its resources dotted across its icy, barren landscape.

Oh, yeah, and there are several hundred underpaid and overworked men stationed there as well.

And they want me to run that place? It’s a mining rig — it practically runs itself.

Davenport runs off several details about my new position, but I barely listen. I’m still dazed.

The job is for three years, and the pay is slightly better — but not enough to send Abby to art school. Basically, I’m being offed.

This is a corporate hit job.

My face turns white, and my knuckles grip my arm rests so tightly my arms start trembling. I want to scream, to pound my fists on the table, to throw this damn chair at Davenport’s smug face.

But, I can’t.

Not if I ever want to work again.

Onyx is not only a highly competitive firm, but a highly vindictive one as well. If there’s any bad blood when we part ways, I’ll never move up the corporate ladder anywhere ever again.

I’ll have to grin and bear it.

For Abby.

“Thank you,” I say after a moment, mustering my best fake-smile. “Thank you for this great opportunity. I won’t let you down.”

“You will do well,” Siya Onyx says. “Under your fine leadership, Iyvis VI will become Onyx’s most profitable drilling site. I’m counting on it.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. Iyvis VI… it’s the last place in the galaxy I want to go to. FML.

“Thank you for your trust,” I grit through my teeth.

“Your shuttle is already booked, and leaves this afternoon; the Allure will take you to your destination. Good luck.”

The holographic image flickers out a moment later, and Davenport excuses me. I nearly run out of the room, my stomach doing somersaults. I feel sick to my very core, but Jim Miller blocks the way to the bathroom.

“How’d it go?” he asks with that shit-eating grin of his.

I push my way past him and throw up. I’ve never been more humiliated. Every bone in my body wants to quit, but I have to push on. For Abby.

After I regained some of my composure, I stride out of the bathroom, trying to keep my head held high.

I pass Davenport’s office, and can’t help but overhear Jim talking to our boss.

“Golf again on Sunday, Bob?”

“You betcha, Jimbo.”

I stop dead in my tracks.

That jackass. That cheater has been cavorting with the boss, buttering him up on the side! I bet this ‘promotion’ was his idea.

“Oh, hi Miah,” he calls out. “Frozen in place, I see? Practicing for Iyvis VI?”

Davenport and his cronies snicker. I storm off, hot tears streaming down my face. As bad as the humiliation hurts, it’s Abby I feel the most for.

Sorry, baby. You’ll have to keep slaving away in that factory for a few more years…

I pack up my things, swing by my small apartment and stuff some of my clothes in my suitcase. I don’t even have any clothes fit for Canada, let alone a freaking ice-planet!

Worse, I don’t even get to say goodbye to Abby. Onyx has already booked me a flight, and it leaves in only a couple of hours. I suppose making time for your loved ones is not efficient enough for them.

I’ll call her when I’m on-board the Allure. I could swing by her job, but I’ll only get her in trouble, and she’ll try to stop me, and…

It just won’t end well for either of us.