Legacy's Ghost

Episode 42: Gamma's Plea

Like Trinity Magnus, I've never seen Trinity Gamma, representative for the PPNs, or the People of Peace and Nature, in person.

Just as others warned, she saunters into the Receiving Room with a larger-than-life grin that engulfs her dark face. Black hair falls to her waist in thick twisted braids. Dark brown eyes dance above high cheek bones, as she throws her arms out wide and glides to us.

She's wearing a pristine white off-the shoulder dress that cinches at a narrow waist, and skims the floor, hiding her feet and making the dark pigment of her skin appear even darker, more dramatic.

Her sleeves are almost as large as her skirt, tight along her upper arms to her elbows then billowing out in waves, with the top stopping at the tips of her fingers, and the sides and underside of her sleeve cascading down until they skim the floor like her skirt. The edges of her billowy sleeves are trimmed in some sort of white downy feathers, that looks so soft, I could probably spend all day petting them.

As she approaches, Edmond and I stand. He steps forward, pressing his cheek to hers. "Gamma, so nice to see you again."

"Likewise," she says in a voice deeper than I expected, and smooth like velvet, almost entrancing.

When she pulls away, she turns to me, inclining her head and holding out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Atan. I've heard wonderful things about you and how you can help the colony."

"Thank you." I shake her hand, wishing I didn't have my gloves on so I could feel those feathers against my skin. When I let go, I gesture to the tufted velvet chair behind her. "Please have a seat."

Then, remembering my error with Magnus, I sit, allowing her and Edmond to do the same.

She crosses one leg over the other and folds her dark hands, with short-trimmed fingernails over her lap. "Young man, I think you are truly a gift from heaven. How you saved all those colonists in the caves is a miracle!"

Tears spring into her eyes, and she wipes at them with a silky white handkerchief she pulls from a pocket in her voluminous dress. "I've talked to my advisors, and they've never heard of anything like what you did happening before. You are an answer to prayer."

I squirm a little inside my cloak, thankful she can't see my expression. Answer to prayer? Gift from God? Others would call me a freak. A curse.

"I'm nothing special," I say to her. "I don't even know how it happened."

"That's okay," she says. "You don't need to understand God's ways. You just need to accept them and have faith."

I say nothing. What am I supposed to say to something like that? I don't even know if I believe in God, let alone have blind faith.

She leans back in her seat, gripping the ends of her arm rests. "I think you are exactly what this colony needs. We've been losing faith. Losing hope. Living in fear." She leans closer. "You changed all that. The colonists talk of nothing but you. We will put you in our finest treeouse. You can wear our most expensive clothes. And you wouldn't have to wear that nasty ol' robe and cover yourself. You'd be revered and adored for whatever you look like because you're a god! People would love you and want to be near you."

Gamma throws her hands out, making her massive sleeves ripple. "You would be like Ghandi of Earth! History books would be written about how you saved the colony from imminent destruction, and how you were born specifically for the purpose of saving our people."

She sighs and smiles. "Wouldn't it be amazing? From this point forward, you'd live the life of luxury and fame. You'd never want for anything or anyone. All you have to do is say yes, Atan."

Gamma's brows rise, and her eyes widen, a tentative smile on her face. "What do you think? Do you want to join me in unifying our Colony and bringing peace and God back to the people?"

I blink at her, mouth gaping, unable to say anything. She thinks I can do that? What would it be like to be rich? To be famous? To have all the friends I want? Everything I want?

Edmond clears his throat. "Per the guidelines, Atan is not allowed to give an answer today. He can only receive your information, then provide an answer within twenty-four hours."

Gamma blinks several times before tearing her gaze from me and smiling demurely at Edmond. "Of course. I didn't mean to put any undo pressure on the boy." She tosses another quick grin my direction then says to him, "I merely wanted him to know that there were options for him besides certain death in the trenches of war."

Edmond offers her a bland look then inclines his head. "Thank you for illuminating him with the possibilities. Is there anything else you would like to say before we close this meeting?"

She straightens, then smooths the front of her white dress with her hands. "No. I think my offer is straight forward."

As she stands, she digs into her pockets one more time, then she holds out her hand to me again and murmurs, "I hope you thoroughly consider my offer, Atan. It would be in your best interest to consider us. Consider this a gift from the PPNs and all of the colonists hoping you will join us in this new era."

When I shake her hand, she puts something hard in it. Then she offers me another dazzling smile, inclines her head at Edmond in farewell, then saunters out the doors.

I let out my breath the second the guards close them, sinking down into my seat. Being in the same room with Gamma was dazzling. She radiated energy and confidence, and she seemed to siphon all that energy from me.

I glance down at my hand and it's a thick glass ball attached to a necklace, but inside the ball something that looks like blue electricity moves inside it. The energy inside attaches to the inside of the glass wherever my skin is touching the ball. I rotate the sphere in my hand, and the energy moves to wherever my skin is.

I stare at the object, rotating it in my hand, watching in fascination.

After a few beats of silence, Edmond claps his hands together, drawing my attention back to him. Then he says, "Let's go for a walk, shall we?"