Chasing the Sun

  “Why isn’t there a holiday celebrating when superheroes appeared?”

  “Because Villains wouldn’t take that holiday off either! I get sick enough of having to chase idiots over Christmas that I don’t need it happening on what would literally be a “Me” day.”

  Luna Fuego and Dark Ranger, bored on stakeout.

  The holidays passed quickly, and before they knew it the group were riding on the finished "shuttle bus" that the shop crew had modified with hardwood floors and captain chairs, with the news playing softly on a flat screen above Levi, who was driving’s, head. "So, if you approve, boss, I'm going to do maintenance and repairs on all the cars in the household 'fleet'. I might look for another car like the Grand Marquis since none of us like taking our personal cars into the city, bearing your Santa Fe."

  “That is fine with me. If you decide to join us later just let us know and I will get you a flight out. She smiled at him. Their Christmas had been lovely with many appreciated gifts. Solaris was sure she'd be spending months figuring out all the weird little gadgets. The surprise on everyone’s face she'd handed out their Christmas bonuses on boxing day had been even better. Along with their bonus money was a check for one thousand dollars to be made out to their charity of choice.

  "I think flying to Texas and wrestling the cousins was enough travel for me. Besides, it gives me and Kar1n a chance to change all the oil and such. Oh, hey, Mei, I'll call if I need to do anything more than just maintenance stuff to your Porsche. I'm sure your uncle made sure you were riding in a good car, but sometimes you stumble across problems waiting to happen."

  “I trust you to take care of my pony, " the Chinese woman said with a smile” Just make sure the sticker on the gas panel doesn’t get damaged. It was a gift from my youngest cousin.”

  “Will do. I can even seal it under a clear coat to protect it if you like. “

  “That would be wonderful. I’ve replaced it once already.” She gave him a friendly smile; Talia gave him a hug. I am going to miss you. I’m going to get you a suitcase of pocky!

  "See, now that's a worthwhile goal." He agreed. "I just am traveled out, after going to visit the family, and since Badger isn't going to be here, I feel like at least one organic person should be about, if just to keep an eye on things."

  She nodded. Badger had left the day before Christmas to spend the holidays with his mom in South Carolina. Leaving Chuck and Kar1n in the shop. Talia had opted to take a T-panda. Feeling it was better than leaving him unsupervised with the scary if maternal bot.

  Erica smiled. “I’ll take tons of pictures. Cause I am totally going to get Talia a Loli girl outfit. The teen looked at her cousin with a look of exaggerated betrayal.

  “Never!” She proclaimed running to hide behind Anzy, who as the provider of delicious food was her second favorite person.

  "I'm not sure why you're hiding behind me. I kind of want one of those dresses too." Anzy laughed, winking at Erica.

  They pulled into the airport, and parked next to the private plane terminal, the new jet parked nearby. It was a long plane, painted white with a pale blue 'racing stripe’, that widened to cover the entire tail. "Why the new plane?" Anzy asked

  "We still have the Canadair, for mid-range flights, but we'd have to make several stops to get to Japan, at best, and it was decided to get something longer ranged. This is a Global 7500, kind of the bigger brother of the 600 we have. It can go basically anywhere." Elenore explained. "If it looks like keeping both is excessive, we'll likely sell the Canadair, but some signs suggest we'll want both."

  Solaris nodded “I’m going to be traveling more, and so is Elenore, and who knows where you all will need to go to get cars to work on. Mercedes needs to be able to visit the different ESAS schools to find artists for her gallery, and a half dozen other scenarios, it just made sense to get a second plane.

  "That's why we have the smaller jet; well, it was also part of the deal that got so many people flight training to the fully qualified flight instructor range. We still have vouchers for training." Elenore admitted. "And all that ignores business or other interests or concerns that come up."

  “And it will come up. I like starting up businesses, it’s fun. And my concerns are going to expand from New York and England.

  "Well, to be fair, we already have interests in the Cayman Islands."

  True. She said leading people onto the plane, she looked back at Levi. “Try to keep granny out of trouble!

  "Like we'd ever find out if she did something." He laughed, waving.

  The group laughed as they got on the plane. Spreading out and taking seats. “I am looking forward to this, the pictures of Tokyo look amazing, like something from a science fiction fairy tale.

  "It is kind of known as being ultra-modern, partially due to WWII and partially due to all the earthquakes."

  "Welcome aboard, once again." The Stewardess from before greeted Solaris and the others as they came on board, wearing the same shirt for the staffing company she worked for. "It sounds like everyone's excited for the trip to Japan."

  Everyone cheered. Talia wincing but smiling, and Mei looking just amazed by the luxury around her.

  “It's lovely to see you again. Solaris said with a smile.

  “And all of you. We will be getting everything started shortly, but could I get water or soft drinks for anyone pre takeoff?”

  “Sprite and bubble gum. Erica said she wasn’t sure how Talia would do flying with her hearing, so she also had painkillers and sleeping pills for her cousin if it was needed. Grayson grinned “Can I get a Shirley temple with extra cherries.”

  "Of course. We also have sound cancelling headphones in the stateroom, if you need to use them or lay down." She said, "We were informed that a couple of you have trouble with constant noise, and you're both the only ones I've seen wince."

  “I have a set; they only deaden so much.” Talia admitted. I’m going to be getting some hearing aids after the new year, they are being custom made in Germany

  “If you want to lay down and try to rest just let me know. We have things to help with sleeping aboard. “

  Talia nodded “Thank you. Hopefully, I won’t need it.” She looked a little nervous “This is my first flight.”

  "Until we start your pilot training." Erica winked. "But to be honest with you, this is like a flying limo. You'll be shocked when you get on a freaking jumbo jet how much it sucks in comparison. That's why we want pilots’ licenses!"

  “And, why the Boss refuses to fly commercial.” Anzy said in a teasing voice.

  "Why all of us love her for not making us do it." Marcus chuckled.

  Solaris smiled, taking a cold glass of cola sipping it. “One of the best investments I’ve made.” She said in a teasing voice to Elenore. “So, when is the banquet?”

  "We'll have a couple of days to settle, we'll be staying at the Imperial Hotel for the record. You're on the Imperial Floor Royal Suite for the record, while I split us and the airport crew between three Imperial Suites. The school folks will be in lesser rooms but will also not be there for the entire stay." She said, "The Banquet will be at a venue with a view of Tokyo Bay, with a catered dinner, four course plus au d'oeuvres."

  "That will be on day four for us, day two for the schools. I Figured give everyone a day for light sightseeing and recovering."

  “Sounds perfect. I am looking forward to sightseeing. After the banquet we will go visit Kitsune and her clan. I think she plans on going to Nagasaki with me.”

  "Not a problem, especially with the bullet trains."

  “Another thing I’m looking forward to, a chance to feel like a speedster!”

  "You will, from what I hear." Elenore chuckled.

  “When are we doing interviews?”

  "Starting on day two, though, we can do some kind of initial meetings. I've got the applications and paperwork and will have the resumes to read by tomorrow. I was going to recruit a couple of people and skim them to mark early picks."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Wonderful, we need a couple more mechanics, the British project manager, and I think you mentioned a social media expert?”

  "Yes, I've already seen her resume, and her YouTube and Insta. She's a fashion tuber but wants something more steady to rely on. She's also Welsh. And a dragon."

  Solaris blinked. “A dragon… like four legs and breath fire?” She tipped her head the image in her head of a red dragon in a pink ballerina costume.

  "No, more a human dragon hybrid?" Elenore frowned, then shrugged as she started looking for one of the pictures she had on her phone, having gotten some with the girl’s application. "Let me find a picture."

  Solaris learned over and looked at Elenore’s phone. “Oh, she's spliced. She is lovely.” Margot’s picture showed her with a small smile, with mischief sparkling in her eyes and red hair done in elaborate braids that wrapped around the base of her horns. “I understand her going into fashion, she is striking.”

  "Fashion and modeling. She's also got a nice collection of draconic abilities, so... yeah, fire breathing is on the list."

  “Well, she’d be fun at a camp out.” Solaris chuckled. “From the sound of it she’s already got the job, her channels must be impressive.”

  "Solid production, with good structure. Her insta is actually a bit more successful but that makes sense with what she does. At the end of the day, her background skills include a bit of business, a bit of marketing, and a bit of art and fashion so she's basically developed the skill set she, and we, need."

  “Oh dear, what is Cassidy going to say when she sees Margot, I suspect we are going to be losing her during fashion week, especially if she’s as tall as she looks.”

  "Six foot five." El nodded. "We're losing her, I'm already sure. But I've taken that into account. It's not like any of us have a fashion line starting. You do have invites, but they are in your invite box to look over whenever."

  “Might be fun to have her with me at some shows. Fashion has changed so much.”

  "It's constantly evolving, and orbiting. You'd be shocked how often old things come back into vogue." Elenore admitted. "Hell, the classic bomber jacket hasn't gone out of style since the forties, and Jeans are jeans, they last forever."

  “Penny told me that when we first went shopping.” She looked at her companion. So is Margot going to be staying in England or joining the main household?”

  "She'll be coming to the US... And possibly staying in the household for a while. Some musical chairs may be going on soon, but I'll explain that in private."

  Solaris arched an eyebrow and nodded. “Wel I am sure between Granny and you we will work things out.

  "We will, and it's not bad news."

  She chuckled. "Also, some of it is in the paperwork I have for you to look at during the flight. Even on vacation there's work."

  "Of course there is." Solaris reached in her purse and pulled out a pretty fountain pen. Well soonest begun soonest done."

  The younger woman handed over a stack of paperwork. "These are some properties I picked up, in preparation for what we're doing. Some one- or two-bedroom living arrangements. I found a large block of one- and two-bedroom condos at one location in Islip well below market rate. I figured what we don't use for new staff, we can lease. I also picked up a small apartment building, with a studio, one and two bedrooms for a song, since it needs some work, but stuff that can be done with people moved in. Lastly, I found a lot to set up as a dealership for the cars we're producing. Granted, we are doing exotics that usually don't wait long for a buyer, but we’re getting faster as we go, so I thought it wise."

  Solaris nodded Reading over the contracts. "This all looks in order. Are you going to hire property managers for the rentals? That is probably going to be a bit much for you to do with everything else." She began signing things, her signature was neat and elegant.

  "I was thinking of adding that to my list, yes. We're running enough real estate that having someone dedicated to tracking what is going on with them makes some sense."

  "I would like you to consider hiring some non-enhanced people as well. It looks bad if all the staff in all positions are enhanced." She blew on the ink to help it dry then handed the documents to Elenore.

  "We do have several non-enhanced hires for the restaurant, and the gym. General staff and a couple of non-enhanced trainers.:" Elenore reported. "I also bought this office building. It's a former dental office, but with some straightforward conversions it'll be a good sight for the property manager, and some other new staff to operate out of."

  "It also comes with a basement for storage, useful for us, and an upstairs office area that can be set up as a floating office for you and me, if we want to visit for a day or three."

  The older hero smiled, pleased. “Excellent, you are as thorough as ever, have you and Louise been working well together?"

  "Absolutely. I admit, We've been talking, and we're likely to use Riley, with some hirelings and subcontractors, to do flips on homes and office buildings as she's going to be underutilized by summer, and that'll be income coming back in over the mid-term, kind of the building equivalent of what we are doing with cars." She explained. "And since I’m not keeping up with the continuing process of adjusting and divesting excess from your portfolio, I don't feel bad about a few bold moves at this point."

  "Coincidentally, she's rented the Canadair a couple of times, as we could do a cheaper deal than a traditional leasing agency. She's got other clients to keep happy, after all."

  "It doesn't bother me to let her use it, as long as she pays for the fuel and crew. Are you looking at expanding outside New York or are you keeping things centralized here?

  "At this point I've stuck to keeping things in New York. However, that's due to you not telling me where else we might want things. I've toyed with setting up satellite functions in Utah due to the project there, but I wanted to discuss that first. This is why the 'think about what you want to do' conversation happened. I'm good at anticipating your needs, not a clairvoyant."

  "Are we to the point of needing more studio space for youtubers yet?

  "When the year starts in earnest, yes. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to find a second property to turn into a more conventional studio or just manage the space we have and turn people away."

  "If things are profitable, I would say expand. Maybe set up studios in other places YouTubers gather. We can look internationally too if you want since we are heading to Japan.

  "We also have plans for setting up our centralized server system, assuming we hire an IT tech. If the gentleman we've already heard about looks good, I've already got plans to set him and the server farm up in the office space of our hangar in New York. Gives him the benefit of airport security, use of the offices there, and we can set up a simple studio apartment for him there, it's pretty common at FBO's, and a couple of others for pilots when we're using the jets make some sense too."

  And that sounds reasonable, as long as we can make the space comfortable for them. I want the tech person to feel like he has a home, especially since I have no idea what he does.”

  Elenore laughed. “Okay I only know what IT does in broad strokes!” Now if we expand in the states I would probably suggest Texas, and or Florida. As for the tech person, the gentleman in question suffers agoraphobia, so setting him up where he works is exactly what he'll want."

  “Poor thing. Well, we will have to make sure people visit him, maybe have Anzy take him food.”

  "Nice advantage to it being in our hangar. You haven't been there but it's freaking huge, and the office space is being built to our specifications." She said. "I've already had a nice kitchen, good entertainment spaces, and a few offices set up there. If and when we have permanent flight staff, we'll base them there. And since all of us fly, and the airport does General Aviation, we'll be in and out for our own trips or just pleasure flying, meaning excuses to visit."

  Solaris nodded. "That is good, I want to make sure we take care of our people. Texas would be nice, we can maybe get a ranch to put Pegasus, Is there anything in Utah?

  "Utah is a bit of a tossup on what we can find. Prices are also weird there. Nevada might be better for what we wanted to do, just due to prices being much lower outside of Vegas, I'm still working on it though."

  “Look around, I am not married to Utah, we can always bus the college kids that want to help with the mech building competition.”

  "To be fair, the impression I got was you wanted to bring in students from all over, so transport was already part of the consideration."

  "True, Texas makes sense, it is expansive...Maybe there is a ghost town somewhere we could renovate."

  "I’ll work on hunting that down. Abandoned resorts or things of that nature could work too."

  "I could see that; both would have lots of buildings we could renovate for student or influencer use and could be a rehab project for people who aren't picked for the Manor."

  "Or projects to send Riley's team to, or hire non-enhanced, as you mentioned, to perform."

  "That works, though first we have to find a place to build or restore. I am hoping a bit for Texas, I'm British enough to love cowboys.”

  “I will prioritize looking there. Perhaps we can even find an airstrip. It might not cover this beast but for the smaller craft the academies sometimes use. “

  "That isn't a bad idea, it would make moving students around easier. She tapped her chin. "Yes, let’s put an airstrip or the ability to put an airstrip in on the parameters."

  “Will do. “

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we will be starting the engines and moving to taxi. Now it would be a good time to buckle your seat belts. “

  The group buckled up and settled in for the long flight.

  About twenty minutes later the aircraft reached cruising height. The flight plan was to land for a couple of hours in Seattle then make the cross Pacific jump.

  “As a morning snack, we are setting out a cheese and fruit platter selection as well as some pastries. We have deli sandwiches for lunch as well as French Onion Soup or clam chowder. We also have Ceaser and garden salad to fill out anyone’s luncheon if desired. “The stewardess announced.

  There were cheers for the food. Grayson looked at Anzy. "Okay if this is what kind of flying the boss is used to, I understand her bashing of even first class.

  “Yeah. The smaller jet is damn near as nice, but just seats. Juli was on both flights I have taken. “

  “And I love the layout of this lovely bird. She even has extra catering storage in the cargo area, and someone planned for decent meals even on a rushed trip. “

  “Guilty” Anzy admitted.

  Talia was looking a bit queasy from the changing pressures on her ears, making a little mewling sound at the thought of being too sick to eat anything Anzy had cooked.

  "The pressure change should ease soon." The stewardess said. "Especially on this plane, it has a pretty 'low altitude' pressure cabin, compared to other planes. Still, here's a small bag of ginger cookies, and a few over the counter meds if you need them. Trust me on the cookies." She said with a smile.

  Talia nibbled on the cookies. Hoping the stewardess was right. Zoya was plastered to a window watching the world grow small. Wow, this is so different from the plane mom, and I we’re on to Hawaii.”

  "You were on a Jumbo Jet, though you got a real first class on yours." Penny said. "But yeah, this is about as lux as it gets. Next step up from this are Boeing BBJ's and other 'personal airliners'. Unless one of us runs for president, I think we're safe from needing those."

  Solaris shuttered. “Don’t even suggest it. I’m already dodging having to join the House of Lords.”

  "It's not like they can make you show up. You're not IN the UK." Penny chuckled.

  “Not now but I will be later in the year. Lord save me from a political position.”

  "Based on recent history, they'll be busy choosing a new prime minister, or deciding they want back in the EU, or something."