16
Petty Officer Will Stroud swept a searchlight across a field of debris of vacant spaceships and rocks.
“I'm not seeing anything,” he said. “Beau, why don't you swing around the area again and I'll take it from another angle.”
Will didn't normally do searchlight duty. He had the eyes for it, but his specialty was engineering and navigation. He was out of his element tonight, searching dark space for a group of survivors.
Petty Officer Romeo Beauregard stood next to him and squinted.
“It's too bad,” Beauregard said. “I don't know how we’ll be able to find anyone in this area. We've barely got the light of Reader IV to guide us.”
Will cursed. He handed the spotlight handle over to a soldier sitting next to him. Petty Officer Griffin Sims took the handle and started a second search.
