Month 1, Day 3, 20:00:26; Arvium, Northern Mountains

He smiled. "Are you feeling better?"

Aella swallowed, blinking as she nodded. "Yes, Marrilan healed me."

He lowered his eyes from hers for a moment, then lifted his head. "I'm sure you have many questions. About who we are, and why you have been brought here. I promise--" he paused.

She frowned as she held up a hand. "Did anyone keep my shift in the fields last night after you kidnapped me?"

He smiled and nodded. "I had my second in command keep it for you. Now, I promise I will tell you everything you want to know." He held out his arm to her. "But first, will you allow me to escort you to the festivities?"

Aella stared at him, her eyes narrowed. He's serious? He kidnaps me and now he wants to take me to a wedding?

He shrugged and held up his hands. "I'm sorry. But I had to make sure you weren't going to blow my cover." He rolled his eyes and held out a hand to her. "I'm supposed to be bringing you to the festivities. May I have the honor of escorting you?"

Aella sighed. He is an idiot with no sense of decorum. He could have just asked me to come with him. She glanced at the doorway and swallowed. I have no idea how to get out of here. I am just going to have to keep my eyes open and watch myself. She nodded, and stepped forward, placing her hand on his arm. "You may; but I protest everything you have done up to this point."

He led her down the hallway, stopping just before the open doorway.

Aella looked at it, her body trembling. Her stomach felt as if it was going to fly away and her legs seemed frozen to the spot.

"You look beautiful."

She looked up at him, and blushed. "Thank you."

He sighed, and laid his free hand on hers. "I would be scared if I were in your position. But you haven't run away screaming from us yet, so I have some hope we might be able to break some of the stereotypes surrounding Trinity."

Aella hung her head, feeling her muscles start to relax. "I was often called a hybrid. Perhaps it created some sympathy toward your people."

He laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not Europan, but I am Trinity. There has always been a small contingent on Earth--the descendants of the people who chose not to leave during the wars. The world does not know the true reason why Europans came back home, but all we want to do is finish our mission and go back home. Apparently, this planet is too dry."

Aella smiled. "I have read that Europans live in a water environment, made habitable by the native organisms in a symbiotic relationship. Is that true?"

Garron patted her hand. "I'll leave more expert individuals to explain it to you. I am merely your guide through the festivities tonight. Although I will apologize for how I brought you here, and for the accident."

Aella stepped away, facing him. She felt warmth spread through her body and she pointed a finger at him. "You kidnapped me."

He nodded.

"You almost got me killed."

He nodded again.

"You called me Princess."

He nodded again, smiling.

"You're supposed to be dead."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're mad about that? I swear most of the stories about me are false and I'm actually a pretty likable guy. I have a dragon."

She growled and he held up a hand.

"I apologize for those as well. In my defense, I was only acting on orders--you weren't supposed to see me the first time. Or the second time. And you definitely weren't supposed to see our secret hideout."

She leaned back, suddenly feeling the hair on the back of her neck stand up. "Were you going to torture me?"

He looked straight ahead, not meeting her gaze. "Not unless you count taking you to a wedding as torture."

She bit her tongue to keep from laughing. He's funny. She tapped her toes on the ground several times. Stop that. He still kidnapped you.

"But yes," he said, looking down at her. "You still aren't off the hook. You saw things you weren't supposed to, and we don't know if we can trust you. Even if you have the Trinity tattoo."

She glanced down at her forearm, and winced. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, what was all that about?"

He shook his head and patted her hand. "Come. We've waited long enough and I would personally like to eat. I'll answer your questions later when I take you before Jothan and our elders. That necklace of yours isn't everyday wear."

She followed after him through the doorway, her free hand touching the crystal hanging around her neck. As they stepped into the light, her eyes widened and she smiled.

"Welcome to Trinity Village," Garron said, waving his hand to the outside.

They had emerged on the edge of a large outer space with columns ringing the edges. Palm trees and green plants filled the spaces between the columns and dozens of people milled around rows of tables piled with food. She gasped as two children, not more than seven years old raced past her, laughing.

The people milling about were laughing and talking, each dressed in a rainbow of colors. A small crowd seemed to be following a man and a woman, both dressed in extravagantly colorful clothing somewhere off to the left, and music started to play.

She glanced up at the sky, seeing the rainbow colors of the sunset already fading, being replaced by twinkling stars. Gentle strings of lights hung between the columns, twinkling light fireflies and the air smelled like honeysuckle and roses. With the soft, warm breeze brought smells of sweet and savory aromas of cooked food.

"This way," Garron said, leading her off to the side.

She saw a large square of tiled flooring on top of the grass, and couples were dancing in time to music. It was beautiful, but of a lively, otherwordly sound, like nothing she had on Earth.

"Will you do me the honor of a dance?" Garron asked, cocking one of his eyebrows.

Her eyes widened as she looked at the dance, then at him. "I don't know how."

He laughed, pulling her after him and into a line of women who were linking arms. "You'll have fun."

"Garron," she said, laughing as a women on both sides of her linked arms. She moved with them as a circle began to form around the couple she had seen earlier. Behind the circle of women, a circle of men had formed.

Aella laughed as the dance began and she tried to follow the steps, managing to keep up without tripping over her own feet. The music changed as the couple in the center kissed, changing to a slower, softer tune. The circles dissipated, and she followed several of the women to the edge of the tile, watching as the couple began a slow dance.

She moved closer to a column, leaning against it and watching as the two danced, swirling and moving in fluid motions to the music. They moved as one unit, separating at times but coming back to each other. As they slowed to a stop and a new song began, other couples began to come together and dance.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder and she turned, seeing Garron standing next to her.

"The dancing will go all night," he said. "And probably into tomorrow morning. Weddings are several day affairs around here--and happen in bursts. I suggest we take advantage of the lack of people at the food tables and get something to eat. Then I'll take you somewhere quiet and answer your questions."

She glanced back at the dancers, seeing the couples swirling in and out, almost like magic. "Alright," she said.

***

Garron held her plate and drink as she sat down on the bench, then handed them to her as he sat down.

She looked down the hill at the festivities, seeing the low-lying buildings of the villages and brightly painted homes spread out across the valley. The entire valley was lit up with twinkling lights from the celebration. The last colors of the sunset painted the sky, and the planets were slowly turning in their own orbits. The moon was waning, and in it's absence, she could almost see an asteroid belt weaving between the green and red planets.

She felt someone staring at her, and she turned to Garron. He was watching her, his posture relaxed. "What is it?"

He lowered his head, his fingers rolling a small piece of bread around on his plate. "You seem to be so--" he glanced up at her and chuckled. "So calm about all of this."

Shesigned, looking down at her own plate of food. It smelled delicious, but she wasn't hungry. She stared out at the sides of the mountains that enclosed the little valley, dark and purple in the night light. "Not when I'm alone." Her throat constricted as she tried to talk. "I still have nightmares, and sometimes it feels like I'm going to break into thousands of little pieces." She sniffed as she felt a tear run down her cheek.

"I lost several members of my team," he said softly. "I still see them in my dreams. I relive their deaths every time I close my eyes and it doesn't get any easier."

She turned to him, her eyes wide. "How do you cope?"

He laughed and nodded his head. "I faked my own death and started a new guild with just Ender and I. We became ghosts so we could protect the last members of Omega from the revenge of Mortia and its allies."

I don't want to do that. She gasped as she small lights rising from the grass, rising several feet into the air. In the village, a song started to fill the air, made of nothing but stringed instruments and a lone, solitary flute. The lights glowed with a warm golden light, and more started appearing on the mountain slopes. Several appeared near them, drifting above the surface of the grass.

"What are they?" she whispered.

"The creator of the Game was Trinity," he said. "The lights came out every time we sing, and surround our members as a promise that we aren't alone."

Aella turned to look at him, her eyebrows drawn together. I'm not Trinity though.

"That tattoo," he said, pointing at her arm. "Is our symbol. With it, you will be able to enter any of our facilities unhindered."

Aella shook her head. "Why me? I'm not Trinity."

Bod shrugged. "Jothan will know more than me on that matter. But the lights are representative of the organisms that live within Europans--they are telepathic and retain the memories of the hosts they used to live in. If they chose you, they must have had a reason."

"Organisms?" she said, shaking her head. "Why does the Game have so much to do with Trinity and Europans?"

He sighed, his head turning toward the village. "Originally, the Game was meant to serve as a virtual prison. To satisfy the laws regarding imprisonment, all Trinity prisoners were placed into pods deep within an underground facility. They live in this virtual world with little worries. The technology is useful, and the Founder commandeered it for educative and practical uses within the U.E.C.

Aella nodded. "I've used the technology for weapons training. There is no pain involved, despite how badly you might be injured."

Garron shifted in his seat, folding his arms over his chest. "The Game was created, as you know, as a way to select the new generation of leaders for the U.E.C.. But what you may not know is that the Game is also being used to select the members of a team who will fly an experimental spaceship into space in one year to destroy or divert the incoming asteroid storm. The ship will be flown by androids linked to the members controlling them by pod system."

Aella blinked, shaking her head. "Asteroid storm?"

Garron nodded, and looked up at the sky. "Europans spotted it twenty two years ago, heading into our solar system. They did not have the resources to defend against it, else they would have destroyed it and never come to Earth. But they sent a military contingent to build a weapon that could defend Earth and Europa, using Earth materials. One of the satellites crashed, releasing a poisonous gas into the atmosphere."

Aella nodded, feeling her stomach tighten and her palms begin to sweat. "The biowarfare attack that started the war."

"Yes," he said, nodding. "Trinity revealed themselves with the cure, but the Founder used the opportunity to shore up support among dissenting Quadrants by declaring war on Trinity. After the treaty, our scientists were forced to share our technology so that the U.E.C. could begin building weapons to fight the asteroid storm. They are nearing completion, but they need pilots who can interface with the organisms that power our technology. The pod system identifies those who are compatible with the system so they can use the androids."

Aella shook her head, her body feeling tight as she thought about it. It makes sense. She frowned, turning to him. "You are a Legend of the Alpha Game. Why are you not training for the mission?"

Garron chuckled. " I was one of the Founder's apprentices, the one most of the Councilors said would become Founder one day." He placed the plate of food on the bench next to him and leaned forward. "But one day in the Alpha Game, I found this village, and I was told what I have told you just now. I also found that I am Trinity. I didn't believe them, so I used my position to find the prison. I couldn't stand for my people's treatment, and I rebelled. In return, the Founder sent a team to kill me, making it look like an accident."

Aella searched his face in the dim light, trying to make out his expression. She sighed and looked over the terrain, seeing the twinkling lights floating over the surface of the grass. Her fingers rubbed the tattoo on her arm, and she paused. "The Founder would have killed you for disobeying him?"

She looked up as she felt his hand on her shoulder, meeting his eyes.

"I think you know the answer to that."

She shook her head, hanging her head. Hot tears filled her eyes and she blinked, trying to clear them before they fell.

"One of our operatives in your Quadrant met with someone holding information about U.E.C. troop movements, and the Founder sent troops to deal with them both. He was the one that saved you."

She looked up at him, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. "I want you to teach me more about Trinity."

He smiled and nodded. "I think I can arrange that."