Revelation

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

                The runway loomed before Niki as she brought the plane lower. Even though she had done it many times in her life, she found this particular landing to be much more exciting than it should have been. After a year of not flying, she finally had an opportunity to fly. The cargo service she worked for was well aware that she was a very qualified pilot, but because they had no need for any pilots nor could they afford to hire an extra one, Niki had to settle for fixing the aircraft. But when one pilot came down with a nasty infection, Niki had been given the chance to take his place and she had jumped at it.

                Her first piloting job complete, Niki was coming back into Denver, landing the plane like an expert. It had been a simple job, but Niki loved the fact that she was in the air again. It had always been one of her favorite aspects of her Anitreh training. Once the plane was landed, she filled out her report and left it on her boss’ desk. With that finished, she had nothing else scheduled for the rest of the day but the prospect of going home didn’t sound that appealing.

                It wasn’t that there was nothing to do at home; she’d been fine with the boredom for months. But with Sergei there, she couldn’t get a moment of peace. Initially, she had been able to make him go work on perfecting his abilities, but he had since determined that he was good enough and didn’t need the extra practice. While that was far from the truth, Niki couldn’t make him do otherwise, which meant she was stuck with her little brother pestering her constantly. Unlike her, Sergei was not so good at dealing with boredom.

                As she was turning on to her street, she felt her phone buzzing and she quickly glanced at it to see that her mother was calling. For a moment, she considered not answering it, since she was sure she only wanted to chat, but since leaving the Anitreh, she had tried to keep more in touch with her biological family.

                “Hi mom,” she said, as she picked up the phone.

                “Hey Niki. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

                “No. Just driving home. What’s up?”

                “Not much. Just calling to see how you’re doing.”

                As Niki suspected, it wasn’t an important call, but she did her best to pretend she was interested in the conversation. She pulled into her driveway and then sat in the car, waiting for the call to wrap up.

                “I don’t know if I should be asking,” her mother said. “But how’s Sergei?”

                “He’s fine,” Niki said, wishing that she hadn’t asked. When Sergei first arrived, Niki let her parents know where he was but also told them they shouldn’t talk about it. She didn’t want the Sumicalts finding out where Sergei was.

                “Good. I worry about him. How’s he doing in school?”

                “School?” Niki hadn’t expected that one. “Uh… fine. I think. He, um, doesn’t talk about school very much. But he’s doing well.”

                “Okay. Good. I know his grades had been slipping before he left. Guess a change of scenery was good for him. I’ll let you go, honey. Take care.”

                “Bye mom.” Niki hung up the phone and then sat in her car for several moments. The entire time Sergei had been living with her, he hadn’t been going to school at all. In fact, Niki hadn’t even considered the fact that he should still be in school. Having had all of her schooling with the Anitreh, she had finished her education at 16 years old. Putting her phone away, she stormed into the house and found Sergei sitting on her couch, playing a game.