Sector 12 and the Art of Dying — Joseph Kainz

Rab's got a problem. Well, he's got several. It's not just that he's living outside human space and that humanity's defenses keep him there. It's not that he's a Ranger for the Frontier Corps, a more or less unsupported soldier with few resources and no backup. It's not even that Sector 12 is filled with a multitude of alien races that don't recognize his authority and so view him as a criminal or, worse, an enemy.

No, Rab can deal with all this. He's dealt with it for a while. His real problems arrive when a group of Frontier Corps Marines gets blasted into Sector 12 during an unsuccessful attack. Rab is assigned the task of rescuing them, which is easier said than done given that someone almost immediately blows up his ship and tries to either kill or capture him for reasons unknown. That could be a problem.