The Savant, by Donnie Clemons, is an action packed science fiction adventure.  In the story a veteran space fighter pilot is sent to retrieve a code breaking device that may help to win a war, but the device isn't what he expects it to be.
 

Raven was dying. Her life’s blood spewed into space in the form of vaporous clouds mixed with hydraulic fluid. A few hours ago, while exploring the edges of Alliance space, the small scientific vessel accidentally came across a previously uncharted planet. Coming into a high orbit, Raven’s crew scanned the planet with powerful sensors that gave evidence of an advanced race on the verge of undertaking interstellar travel. As soon as the scans were finished, however, the planet’s defense systems kicked in to launch a sophisticated array of lethal weapons that devastated the ship, causing the defenseless science vessel to lose control and enter the planet’s outer atmosphere. Realizing the ship’s dire circumstance, Raven’s captain deployed a homing buoy that rocketed to a higher stationary orbit just above their position. Despite the crew’s best efforts to regain control, the tiny ship disintegrated in a ball of flames, leaving only the yellow elliptical buoy as a reminder of its existence.

This story first appeared in Issue #3 of Amazing Journeys Magazine.