I took my first step ten years into my training as a healer, one of a rare breed with the natural talent to cure others of pain and disease. We don’t meddle with judgment, politics and religion––or so I was taught. But that wasn’t the whole truth. I had discovered by accident the secret power that healers possess––that the Healing Order keeps hidden from galactic culture … and apprentices. The power of retribution.
I took my second step with the terraformers. That brutal, remorseless breed of fringe dwellers immerse themselves in the most unforgiving regions of the galaxy, taming hostile planetary environments to support life. "A simple, routine mission," they said. "You will have little or nothing to do."
But nothing is ever as it seems. Something was wrong with this mission, and I had discovered the problem. That knowledge would lead to my death. Unless ....
My master warned me. “Never use your hidden power. It will break you.” But what if I had no choice?
How many steps to heaven or to hell? And which way was I headed? Let me tell you.
