Free The DeCadia Code (The DeCadia Series Book 1) by Apryl Baker, Jonathan Yanez

Deeks said, as the youngster swaggered up. Lukas shook his head at the boy. He was acting like the battle was won. It was far from over. They still had to find and secure the rest of the Navy soldiers in addition to the pirates. Add that to the feeling creeping along his spine, it was far from over.
    “Smitty!” he bellowed and the man appeared quickly.
    “Aye, sir?”
    Lukas grinned at the man. He was a good foot taller than Lukas’s own six feet and broader than a whale. He managed to keep the men in line as well. Not that the crew was a bad one, only sometimes if they were at sea for weeks on end, things could get a little sticky. Smitty settled the sticky.
    “Take the youngin’ here and four others to secure the men in their ship’s hold. Keep an eye posted, too. Something’s here watching us.”
    “I feel it too,” Smitty said, his own eyes scanning the area. “We’ll keep watch. You go find the Cap’n afore she decides to skewer us all.”
    “Aye, we will.” He turned and started gathering the men that made up his crew. They all checked their rifles and then set out to find their Captain before the dragons and whatever else lived in this forsaken place decided to greet their new visitors.
     
    ***
     
    “Crewmembers lost or injured?”
    “Just you. You’re crazy by the way. You do realize that, don’t you?”
    Stephen looked at his sergeant with a smile. “We’re all a little crazy.”
    Amil shook his head. He pointed to Stephen’s shoulder where the bullet had eaten his skin. “I’ll send the medic over to get you stitched up.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Oh, I know you are, but what kind of sergeant would I be if I let my captain walk around bleeding all over his Royal Navy uniform? Plus, it would be better if the men didn’t see their fearless leader dripping blood across the deck.”
    Stephen pursed his lips. He knew his friend was right.
    “I’ll see that the prisoners the pirates took are released. We won’t have to worry too much about the pirates. I think we killed most of them. There are a few that are wounded, I’ll see they get care.”
    Stephen nodded. “So much life lost for nothing. They could have just surrendered. Instead, we tore them to pieces.”
    Amil shrugged. “They chose their own path. I say the more dead pirates, the better.” He turned and walked down the deck barking orders to the men and women under his command.
    A moment later, a lanky private appeared at Stephen’s side with his black medical kit. “Sir, where did they get you? Shoulder?”
    “Yes. The bullet only scratched me. Disinfectant and a quick stitch job should do it.” Stephen shrugged off his coat to give the medic a better look. His long sleeved shirt was torn and bloodied where the bullet had entered. Stephen would let the medic work around his shirt instead of removing the material. “It’s Wilmot, isn’t it?”
    The private gave him an unsure look, not knowing whether the captain knowing his name was a good thing or not. “Well, yes, Sir, it is. I was just transferred to your ship.”
    Stephen sat on the railing of the merchant craft as he carried on the conversation. “I try to get to know the names of my crew as fast as possible.”
    The medic smiled again before opening his bag. “Well, that’s a great thing, sir, if I do say so myself. And if I can add—without being a suck-up—what you did was amazing.”
    Stephen took his eyes from the deck of the busy ship. Amil was moving quickly. The remaining living pirates were already in chains. The merchant ship’s crew now freed and receiving medical treatment of their own. “What was amazing?”
    Stephen sucked in his breath as the medic mopped his wound with a piece of gauze dripping with disinfectant. The disinfectant the Navy used was one Stephen was all too familiar with. The sharp sting took his breath away for a brief moment.
    Private Wilmot continued as if he had missed the captain’s moment of weakness. “Well, I mean, how