Ravela stood in line for the driving test Group One had been moved to the back of the line, and she had watched almost all the recruits in front of her fail one of the two driving tests. Soon it would be her turn, and she couldn’t wait to get a shot at this driving test—the highspeed course with emergency lights and everything from moving cardboard cars to pedestrian cutouts placed and moving.
She would lie to herself if she said she wasn’t excited about her turn. But she had to wait because she dipped right after the morning roll call to get at least a few sips of water from the drinking fountain, which led to her group getting placed in the back of the queue, with Ravela at the end.
Through the waiting, Ravela had time to concentrate on the state of her body. She had unknowingly absorbed enough energy from the crystal that it affected her body beyond the optical. Sure, before, she might have had trouble sleeping soundly, had weird dreams, and may have felt nervous when energized. But the amount she had absorbed made her feel like she was standing in the blistering summer sun.
The line moved, and she felt Kahli and Donna getting excited with every other step. They had not taken being left behind by their group on the fitness course well. Both clearly wanted to ace this test and stick it to the boys, but if Ravela were to ask, they’d deny having anything in common with the other. She was curious about the nature of their catty behavior toward each other, but she didn’t plan to pry it out of them.
As Ravela pondered her group’s dynamics, Alan got into the cruiser to take the normal driving test, and Kahli got into the high-speed cruiser.
Ravela worried for a moment that Kahli was about to wreck the car. Jocul turned around to him and whispered.
“This will be funny. Her father used to drive rallies, and after she got her driver’s license, she sat in the driver’s seat on last year's National Sports Car Ralley.”
Ravela absorbed the information like a sponge. Jocul already knew Kahli Madri far too well, so these three knew each other long before the academy. “So, how did they do when she was driving?”
“Oh, they got third place.” Jocul was all smiles.
“Third place, huh.” She was somewhat disappointed. Ravela thought she would see a champion perform for her.
“Well, considering her father only ever drove and finished the rallies, it was a monumental change. I still remember how they came home, their voices fluttered, and their grins stuck on their faces.”
The bait was just too good not to bite the hook. Ravela was about to pry.
Kahli chose this moment to turn on the emergency lights and take off like the wind. It was an impressive start compared to the others. Ravela looked at Jocul and thought about how she could best ask what the twin’s history with Kahli was, but the moment Ravela opened her mouth, Donna turned to her brother.
“Stop gossiping and get ready. We are going next, brother, and there is no way I’ll do evening classes for driving.”
Jocul gave Ravela a sly grin and a wink before he turned back to face the front of the queue. “Yes, Mom, I am all over it. Getting ready now.”
“Shuddup, Jocul, you’re ruining my focus.” Donna snapped back.
Jocul simply responded by pointing out the obvious nervous behavior Donna was displaying. “Oh, is this new hopping from one foot to another meditation technique I heard so much about, sister?”
Donna, through gritted teeth, hissed in a pressed and lowered voice. “I said shuddup.”
Ravela chuckled at their bickering. They were adorable together. Something in her envied the twins. Ravela thought again of the dreams and the revelation that this body of hers had a twin sister too. She suddenly felt lonely.
Then her attention jumped back to Kahli, who was acing the course with screeching tires. Looking at her face, she looked entirely immersed in the driving of the cruiser. The look on her face spoke of total concentration and precise work in every movement, or so it looked from her vantage point.
Ravela looked at Alan driving and wondered if Kahli might fall asleep at the wheel on the normal driving course. Kahli kept flying through the course without any problems. However, Ravela wondered how the instructors would rate her on safety.
Under the cool sun of the early spring, she kept waiting for her turn. Kahli was among the few to pass the highspeed and normal driving tests. So far, all others had flunked the highspeed test. When Jocul and Donna got in the car, Kahli looked pleased with herself. Instructor Harmond took her aside and made some remarks on her general performance. Ravela glanced at the instructor writing down the times of the highspeed course. Kahli was the only one on the highspeed side of the paper with a time to her name.
Ravela was impressed with her skill behind the wheel, and she planned on at least joining her on the list. Without realizing it, she had started rhythmically bobbing up and down on her heels.
Forgetting her afternoon troubles, she fully focused on her upcoming driving test. She had watched all morning as the other recruits had run the courses and were about ready to get a shot at it herself.
She watched as Jocul failed the highspeed portion on the last turn, hitting one of the cardboard cars at the last intersection of the course. Donna passed her highspeed course and was over the moon, having dodged evening classes.
Jocul looked miffed, and right after, he got out of the car. Then it was finally Ravela's turn to do the course. She looked back and realized that all the recruits had hung around and watched the entire practice.
Now she was the last remaining recruit to take the driving test.
“Since you’re the last to take the test, recruit Roice. I’ll let you pick which course you drive first.”
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Ravela turned to Instructor Harmond and thought briefly before saying, “I think I’ll go with the normal driving test first.”
Instructor Harmond waved the instructor in the cruiser to step out. “Great, let’s go then. Let’s see if you can drive as your license claims.”
They got in the car. Ravela smiled and took her time adjusting the mirrors and seat. She was in no rush to fail on the minor details. Putting her seatbelt over her lap, she considered, not for the first time, making a more efficient seatbelt system available for the market.
She found it easy to drive through the course. The rules of the road were easy enough. There was no challenge to watching and abiding by the laws and occurrences. Ravela was still impressed with the size of the training field the police had at their disposal.
Ravela stopped at a stop sign when Instructor Harmond looked up from his notepad for the first time, not looking at the road but at her directly.
“I’ve been looking asking around about that incident in Gradjia. I was surprised to find out that you managed to be involved in two separate incidents in such a short time.”
She kept her composure and continued driving without correcting the Instructor. It is three separate cases now, after all. “Sometimes in life, the chips just fall that way. I am glad I was in the right spot at the right time.”
“Most people would be traumatized by a huge explosion. Many wouldn’t see themselves as lucky to have been there. I should know I was in the thick of war not so long ago. How are you doing? I mean doing in truth, not what you tell others.”
Ravela shrugged at the question. “I am fine now. The first few weeks after the explosion, I had an incident where an engine behind me backfired, and I felt my heart pump in my throat, but since then, I had no issue moving on.”
Her instructor studied her intently, nodding. “I am glad that you admit to being affected by what happened. Many in your shoes would have lied. Once training is over, I think you’ll make a good police officer. If you pass all the exams, that is.”
She parked the police cruiser at the starting spot. There was silence between them as they walked over to the other course. Ravela felt he wanted to ride with her to have these talks. More specifically, he was trying to interrogate her. Whether he was searching for damage or just trying to get to know what kind of person she was, Ravela didn’t know for sure.
As they sat in the cruiser on the other, she once again set the mirrors and seats.
“I could help you pass that test, you know?” Instructor Harmond offered her unprompted.
Ravela’s head snapped to the instructor; her eyes narrowed. “Sir, I will report this to the academy. I am not corrupt. I am not corruptible. I succeed or fail with my strength.”
Instructor Harmond held her gaze. “It has been some time since a recruit I offered to help had such a straightforward reaction. You didn’t even hesitate. I like that; I do. Many go into this job thinking they get to bend the rules or take it easy on themselves, but that’s not how I see things. Good men need rectitude down to their bones. Those of character and quality are oh so rare in this world.”
He broke eye contact with her for a moment, looking almost sad as his eyes seemed to look to a place far away. “You look outside this cruiser, and I tell you right now, at most, one hundred recruits wouldn’t have taken the offer. Seventy would have hesitated and rejected it because they suspected it to be a test. Twenty-two of the hundred might not have taken the offer but would have kept silent about it. Shamefully. I think only eight recruits in that entire group would be like you. Maybe two of them would react as fast and decisively as you did.“
Ravela looked out at her fellow recruits for a moment.
“Now, let’s see if you got the skills to go with your principles,” Harmond said suddenly. “Go!”
The heat was on. She activated the emergency lights and took off like a rocket.
She pushed the car to the limit of her ability and even used her telekinesis to make some corners just right. Pulling it at the trunk to take some turns at full speed.
For a time, there was just the road and her reacting to everything happening on the road. Ravela felt her blood rush through her veins. Her heart pumped. She was racing through the course, dodging all the pedestrians, cars, and other obstacles appearing on the road, spinning the steering wheel through her fingers as the turns became tighter.
She stopped at the end of the course, feeling her pulse hammering in her throat. This small training course shouldn’t have been this exciting, yet her entire body tingled.
Instructor Harmond looked shaken, still holding on to the car door.
Ravela was a bit surprised at the excitement in her voice as she asked him. “So, do I pass?”
That question got her an irritated look from Instructor Harmond. He unclenched the hand holding on to the door. “You passed, but if I catch you driving this risky outside the training course, you will still get a beating. That was some impressive maneuvering, though.”
Ravela nodded along with his statement. “Wouldn’t dream of shaving things this close if there was anything other than cardboard cutouts on the road.”
The sigh of relief and the curt nod from Instructor Harmond told her he had found her response acceptable. “Let me find out how you compare to the two other passing drivers. Fall in with the other recruits.”
“Instructor Go. How’s the score?” Harmond addressed Instructor Go.
Ravela could hear the start of their exchange, but as she joined her fellow recruits, the voices of the recruiter were drowned out by the questions her comrades pelted her with.
Behind her, the instructor bellowed, “Alright, everybody, fall in line. We’ve got the results of today’s test.” He held up the clipboard. “Only three people passed. The rest of you get to spend the entire rest of the day practicing, and since I’m in such a good mood as promised, all except the three passing recruits will have evening classes from now on. Any complaints?” Instructor Harmond smiled from ear to ear, waiting for someone to protest. Of course, not a single one was dumb enough to do that. “Splendid, now for the three who passed. A reward is in order since we got two new records in one afternoon. So these three get to call it a day while you get to practice some more. To announce the new track record, Ramiel Roice, with four minutes twenty-eight seconds, beat Kahli Mahdri’s four and fifty-nine seconds. Impressive, very nice.”
He followed that up with a throwaway gesture. ”Alright, back in line the rest of you go. We need some more passing recruits.”
Ravela walked away from the driving course, a bit dazed. She could finally get her long-coveted cold soft drink. Someone called out to her as she approached the academy’s main building. Turning around, she saw Kahli hurrying after her. The expression was even more sour than usual.
“Kahli, what’s up?” She greeted her group members.
“What’s up? What do you mean by ‘What’s up?’? Who taught you how to drive like that? That is total bullcrap. I am a pro, and there is no way in hell some random guy beats me so casually.”
“Hey, now, hold your horses. I drove that course with everybody looking. Are you going to be such a bad loser because of one driving course?” Ravela stood her ground.
“So you just gonna leave now?” Kahli looked like she was about to grab her by the shirt collar and drag her back to the queue when Donna called out from behind her.
“Leave him be, Kahli. Feel free to get back in the queue and try to beat his time, but don’t blow the hot air his way because you feel embarrassed. Not like he declared himself your rival and dusted you on the road. He just dusted you.”
Kahli’s head flipped back and forth between Donna and Ravela before honing back in on Ravela. “So you just going to leave now?”
Ravela raised a brow. “Tell you what, if you beat my record in front of the instructors and other recruits, their testimony will be good enough for me. Then I’ll give it my all again. Until then, I think I’m starting my free afternoon with a big soda and some fries. Good luck beating my record, though. You are the pro, after all, or so Jocul said.” She gave Kahli her best mean grin.
She could see the color of Kahli’s face change. “Just you wait,” Kahli muttered through gritted teeth before she stormed back to the queue.
Donna closed in, watching as Kahli started to ask herself through the queue. “You pushed her buttons there, you know?”
Ravela acted innocently. “By driving a car? Please, she had to know other recruits might get to do that.”
The woman laughed. “Yeah, she will probably take the evening classes trying to beat that record you set till her fingers start bleeding. She was so excited to have one over on you, finally. Her face when you drove that course faster then her was priceless.”
Ravela started walking again. She had a date with a big soda with lots of ice in it, and afterward, she had to listen to a bad idea from a certain teenager. “You seem to have a bone to pick with Kahli yourself, the way you relish me beating her record.”
Donna kept up with her. “Yes, well, that is kinda private.”
“Not private enough for you to not openly gloat, though.”
The woman pursed her lips but was fighting a smile. “I suppose not that private, no.”
“One of you has to fill me in eventually. I assume Jocul will spill the beans soon enough. He seems to be the twin that likes to gossip.” Ravela teased Donna.
“Jocul will keep his mouth shut if he knows what’s good for him. I have far more yarn to spin on him than he has on me.” She said sternly.
Ravela had a sly grin on her face before she said. “Oh, so there is something to talk about there, huh? Interesting.”
Donna’s expression became a bit embarrassed. That little hiccup didn’t stop her from following Ravela to the next fast food joint.
She could already taste the sparkly cold goodness on her tongue.