Ranger Bayne (The Deep Black Book 3) by James David Victor

Author:James David Victor [Victor, James David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fairfield Publishing
Published: 2018-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Sigurd was standing outside the shuttle bay when Bayne arrived. He was pale and trembling, sweat on his brow, staring at his feet. Seeing the man so shaken was enough to shake Bayne. Of all the members of his crew, Sigurd was the most steadfast. He was young and eager, but never questioned, always gave everything he had, never wavered in a fight.

Bayne stood in front of him, rested his hands on Sig’s shoulders. “You saved our lives in there. Not just me and Hep, but the entire ship. The entire crew. You did more than any man could do in that situation.”

Sig looked up, his expression morphing from shock to something else—a mix of anger and confusion. “He’s alive.”

Bayne cocked his head.

Sig’s expression solidified in disbelief. “Wilco. He’s not dead.”

Bayne understood Sig’s response. He thought Bayne didn’t care about the boy. He thought Bayne assumed Wilco was dead and was ready to move on. And he was right. Bayne wanted to slap Sig for faulting him the response any captain had when losing a sailor in the heat of battle, but he didn’t have the time.

“Then you saved everyone,” Bayne said, his voice lacking a tone of congratulations. “Well done.” He nodded toward the shuttle bay door behind Sig. “Now, with me.”

Sig’s expression didn’t change, but he followed Bayne without question. Without outward question, at least. Bayne was not so blind as to not see it in Sig’s eyes of late. He saw it in everyone’s eyes.

The medics had both Hep and Wilco on stretchers when Bayne and Sig entered the bay. The boys were breathing deep from oxygen masks, color yet to return to their faces. Bayne cast a glance at them as he passed, knowing that more would invest time that he didn’t have. Their eyes were unfocused. They looked to have only just recovered from their unconscious states.

Bayne didn’t allow himself to focus on how young they both looked. Young and scared.

He and Sig both put on spacewalk suits and armed themselves. Sig took his trusty blaster rifle, Bayne, his swords and a pair of blaster pistols. They entered the shuttle and, once the bay had been cleared, exited the ship.

“You mind letting me in on the plan, sir?” Sig’s voice was tight.

Bayne missed the jovial tone, the excitement. He thought Sigurd would have appreciated the freedom from the oversight of Central, the freedom to move and do as they liked, engage the enemy without restriction. But, as he had quickly learned, Bayne didn’t know his crew as well as he thought.

He didn’t have the time to run the new plan by the crew. The old plan was to outmaneuver the Burning Sun, disable it, and board. Their ship was more powerful than the Blue, but its crew was not more formidable. A large portion was administrative staff. Those that could fight were corporate security—highly paid, highly trained, but inexperienced. Most had probably never seen a fight.

But with the damage to the ship, they lost the ability to outmaneuver the Burning Sun.

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