CHAPTER 1
Dur was a very large planet. At one time millions of people lived on Dur, but that was before they fell under the boot of the emperor and the Empire. Dur had been enslaved by an officer of the emperor for ten years. He was a psychopath—a murderer and a serial rapist. He engaged in these crimes often, and he enjoyed it. His name was Evan Kluth. Now there were only fifteen thousand people left on Dur, and they had been herded into the town of Port Hope.
Ten-year-old Nikkola Weston had just watched her parents die. Twelve Empire troops in black uniforms had just come to take her sister Tabitha as a slave. Tabitha was seventeen years old. She was a tall, thin girl with very pale skin and long, red hair. Their father, William Weston, taught the local school children in Port Hope. Tabitha taught there too, and William Weston thought that his position would give him some leverage with the Empire. He was wrong, and he would pay for this misunderstanding with his life.
When Evan Kluth arrived at their home one morning with the intention of taking Tabitha as a slave, William had pointed out his position in the only large town left on Dur. He had pointed out the need for Tabitha to teach. Evan Kluth didn't care. He handcuffed a terrified Tabitha Weston, and he started for the door. William Weston had grabbed Evan Kluth, but Kluth turned and cut William Weston's throat with his sword. Then he slit a pleading Catherine Weston's throat for good measure. "There girl," snarled Evan Kluth, "now there won't be anybody here to miss you or for you to miss."
Evan Kluth's intelligence report was wrong. It did not even mention Nikkola. If he had even looked around the home, he would have known about Nikkola. There were several places he could have looked, and he would have found Nikkola's name or people who knew her, but he never did. Arrogant people are often that way. Somebody who knows everything can't be told anything.
Tabitha Weston looked toward the secret place as she was led out the door. "Please," she begged. "I just want one last look." Kluth's answer was a slap across the face. But Nikkola had seen her sister look toward her.
Nikki had been in the back of the house when Kluth and his men burst in through the front door. The entrance to the secret place was from a back room. Nikki slid the secret panel shut, and she watched through the cleverly hidden peephole. She knew better than to make a sound, even when Kluth killed her parents, but she was terrified. She huddled on the floor for an hour after the house became quiet.
Nikkola finally crept out of her hiding place. Her parent's bodies were in the living room; blood was all over the floor. Nikkola cradled her Mother's head in her arms, and she wept. That was how she was when Ellen Bannon found her.
Ellen Bannon was Nikkola's next-door neighbor. Ellen cradled the sobbing Nikki in her arms. She had seen the Empire troops come, and she had seen them leave with Tabitha. Ellen had feared the worst. She picked up Nikkola and said, "Come, child, we have to leave this place."
Ellen carried Nikki out of the back door of the Weston residence to the back door of her house. Breathing hard, she lay Nikki on the couch. Then she closed all of the shades and lit a small candle.
Nikkola watched from the couch in the gathering darkness as Ellen went around closing the shades. Nikki had sat on that couch hundreds of times. Ellen Bannon had been her babysitter when she was younger. Nikkola felt comfortable there. Nikkola felt safe there.
In the dark of the night Nikki woke up. There were two men talking with Ellen Bannon. "Ellen, even if you raise Nikkola, the slavers will come for her," said the big man.
"What do you want me to do?" screamed Ellen. She was starting to cry.
"I don't know," said John Montaigne. The slavers had taken his daughter Mysti the year before.
"She isn't safe here," said Daniel Tucker. "You know the fate that awaits her if she stays here." Daniel's daughter, Elizabeth, had been taken at the same time as Mysti Montaigne.
"So she has to go into the wilderness?" asked Ellen.
"Do you see any other chance for her?" asked John Montaigne.
"But she is only a child," protested Ellen Bannon.
"This may be her only chance," said Daniel Tucker.
"I'm not afraid," said ten-year-old Nikkola Weston. She had gotten up when she heard the voices.
"But you are just a child," said Ellen Bannon. Ellen put her arms around Nikkola protectively.
"They killed my mom and my dad. They took my sister, and I will never see her again. I would say that my childhood is over." Nikkola's voice was dead. "Besides," Nikkola went on, "I don't want you to have to put my picture on a wall with Elise and Denise, and I surely don't want you to die like my parents did."
John Montaigne looked at the child. "Nikkola, Mr. Tucker and I buried your parents. I thought that you might like to know that they have been buried properly. I'm so sorry."
Nikkola hugged the big man, "Thank you, Papa Montaigne." Everyone knew John Montaigne as Papa Montaigne, owner of Papa Montaigne's restaurant.
"What do you want to do, Nikki?" asked John Montaigne.
"I want to live," said Nikkola. "I never want to be a slave. I never want to see someone I love die because of me."
"We'll plan for a couple of days," said John Montaigne. "We'll get you what you need, and I will go into the wilderness with you to help you get started. Okay?" Nikki nodded her head.
John Montaigne turned to Ellen Bannon. "Remember, Ellen. Nikki cannot go outside. Don't tell anyone that she is here. I don't think Kluth knew about Nikki. Normally if he kills one person in the house, he kills them all." They all knew of other ten-year-old children who had been killed.
"I'll be back tomorrow after dark," said John Montaigne.
Ellen Bannon held Nikkola for a while, and then Nikki went back to bed. That night Nikki dreamed of the Bannon twins, Elise and Denise. Nikkola had never met them. They had been taken before she was born. She had never dreamed of them before, but, then again, her parents had never been killed before.
In her dream, Elise and Denise were sitting next to each other in a row of chairs in a room full of rows of chairs. People were coming and going all around them. The faces of the people were indistinct. One of the twins looked right at her, got out of her chair, and walked toward her. "You will be okay, Nikki," said the twin. As Nikkola awoke with a start, she could swear that she'd felt the girl touch her face.
The next morning Nikkola helped Ellen make breakfast. Nikki cooked the bacon.
"Nikki, how much did your parents teach you about cooking?" asked Ellen.
"Oh, a few things," Nikki said. "I'm going to have to learn really quickly."
Ellen gave Nikkola a thin book. It was the ABCs of Cooking.
"Thank you," said Nikki as she hugged Ellen. "Mrs. Bannon, what were the twins like?" asked Nikkola.
Ellen Bannon looked at the ceiling for a moment. Then she bit her bottom lip with her upper teeth. Then she looked Nikkola in the eyes and smiled. "My girls were kind," she said. "They were smart, and they were beautiful. Everyone loved the twins—most of all, their father. I miss them. I hope they are well. The Empire killed their father that day. The only reason that I am alive is that I was not at home when it happened. I never even...
