The Only One

in the way of defensive weaponry should their absentee conqueror return. But the rogue in Romjha that had never fully died, the shadow of the young man who'd hungered for vengeance, wanted an overt attack. It and more. And now here it was.
    "It'll be seen from space if they're looking," Taj said. "Blast it! We're screwed."
    Romjha hoisted his rifle. "At this point, I want only to find my men alive." Hiding his dangerous satisfaction, he struck out toward the rover that would carry them where they needed to go.

Chapter Four
    With an easy, agile grace one wouldn't expect of such a big man, Romjha vaulted into the driver's seat of a rover protected by an overhang of rock. The vehicle's roof and sides had been blasted out long before the raiders had commandeered the terrain-following flying car.
    Petro slid his bulky frame into one of the front passenger seats. Taj sat in the rear and strapped in facing backward, her long legs dangling. Always watch your tail. It was one of the earliest rules she'd learned about topside runs.
    The vehicle lurched forward off the steep slope. Romjha killed the forward velocity and began the downward plunge. Taj's stomach flew upward. Negative g-forces pulled at her eyeballs. At the last minute, Romjha yanked upward on the controls. Taj hung on. The craft skimmed over the rocky dirt. Nice.
    "That's some driving," she shouted over her shoulder.
    In the wind, Romjha's black shirt rippled like a flag. "It's like breathing," he yelled back. "If you think too hard about it, you lose the rhythm."
    "Maybe I don't want to know that!"
    Petro laughed deeply, and Romjha gave a rare smile. At the sight of it, Taj's heart soared. Danger awaited them up here, but after days and often weeks cooped up in caverns, the wind and the sky were intoxicating, even to a man as serious as Romjha.
    The commander pushed forward on the accelerator, as far as it would go. The rover took a few moments, but built up speed. Strands of hair escaped Taj's helmet and blew over her face. Thoughts of Romjha's smile lingered. Had he smiled like that when he made love to his wife? He'd never kissed his young bride in a hidden spring—of that she was sure. The secret location of her own spring, accessed from within her quarters through a long tunnel bored in solid rock, had been told to Taj upon Pasha's death, willed from one bombmaker to another. That indoor freshwater spring was just about the only benefit of her job. She'd never gotten around to bringing anyone else there, not even Aleq, always savoring it alone with her scented oils and lotions.
    She conjured an image of Romjha bathing, tossing his head back under a cascade of water, his hair throwing droplets everywhere, water and soap sluicing over a muscled back, buttocks, and thighs. . . .
    Sudden yearning heated a place low in her belly. She clenched her teeth against it and stared out at the horizon. He touches you just once and look what it does!
    Reprimanding herself, she tipped her head back. The wind cooled her frustrated desire. After a while, her perspiration dried and left behind a band of dust and salt at her hairline.
    The stench of fuel was strong. Taj hoped no one decided to smoke a cigar, something both Romjha and Petro treated themselves to from time to time: the rover had a leak. But at least the crap-trap worked. They had a fleet of three of the vehicles, several hundred years old and still going. That was a testament to the remarkable technology of Those Who Came Before.
    Those who were now gone.
    She raised her visor to scan the night sky. All around her, tiny lights danced, wavering in the rising heat.
    Beckoning, teasing, tempting. Had the stars been lovers, she would have followed them wherever they wanted.
    Who still lives on your worlds?
    But the stars didn't share their secrets. Pretty but irrelevant bits of light they were, just as they'd appeared to the primitives at the dawn of civilization.
    In truth, the people of Sienna were no better. Isolated, they were completely cut off from the rest of the galaxy. They could only guess at how many others had been killed so far in the power struggle following the collapse of the interstellar government. Billions? Trillions?
    She focused on the stars. So many worlds ... so many people surely dead. The technology that had once bound this empire together was incredible. Medical science could heal damaged nerves, regenerate skin, and cure disease. Starships traveled at faster-than-light speeds.