Free The Red Queen by Gibson Morales Page A

heavy-set man with curly, pepper-colored hair and a wrinkle-worn face sat down on the stool next to him and grinned. Lieutenant Maxforth.
    “You won’t get another drink soon with a tip that small,” Maxforth said. “And from the way you’re shaking, you’ll need one.”
    Zubren sipped. “Just post-flight jitters. I’ll be fine.”
    “You really are a stiff,” he chuckled.
    “Guess that’s why I've made it this far in Fleet Services.”
    Maxforth shook his head. “After what you accomplished, I owe you a drink. It won’t go to waste, will it?”
    “The penny-pincher Maxforth buying a drink for his pilot? You’re either really drunk or really happy.”
    “I’ve found the two tend to go hand in hand.”
    “With truths like that I’m surprised you aren’t a Maester.”
    Smiling, Maxforth held out his glass. “To the end of the so-called eternal Crawler War?”
    Zubren gulped down a good third of his bourbon and shuddered. He needed a buzz to say his next thought aloud.
    “I’m not toasting that until we break up the Haze.”
    Frowning, his lieutenant placed his beer back on his coaster and neatly arranged them to form two concentric circles. “Where do you think we’re hitting next?”
    Zubren didn't know why, but he’d never even considered the question. Maybe he didn’t expect the Alkebulan Drop to succeed. History hadn't exactly favored humanity. Even if the drop eliminated the Crawler nests on Oras, he couldn’t feel safe with their monstrous satellites hovering around the planet’s exosphere. Water reserves were almost depleted and two-thirds of the planet was scarred to the point of uselessness after centuries of the Crawler War. If they couldn’t expand into space soon, daily life would erupt into a new kind of war, to put it mildly.
    “Well? Can I count you in?” Maxforth asked, raising his hands impatiently.
    That snapped Zubren out of his daze. He’d missed what Maxforth had said before. “For what?”
    “Have you been listening to me? I’m talking about a mission to attack the Haze.”
    “You make it sound like we’re going tonight,” he said, trying to lighten the tension.
    “That’s not an answer. We’re talking about ending the War.”
    Maxforth never spoke of ending the War like this. Something must have happened. Something dire. Maybe the Oras Union had used up its water reserves faster than he’d read. But something told him it was his loyalty Maxforth cared about right now. Not ending the War.
    “Yes. You can count me in.”
    Zubren wasn’t lying, but he forced an artificial amount of enthusiasm into the words. If he could flick a switch, drop a single nuke, and wipe out all the Crawlers from the universe, he’d do it. Breaking the Haze around Oras wouldn’t be anywhere near that simple. More sleepless nights, more sore joints, and more time away from his family awaited him in the battles that would be fought above Oras. If he was honest with himself, ultimately more failure awaited Fleet Services and the Oras Union. Not that he planned to reveal his cynicism to the lieutenant.
    Maxforth’s phone rang.
    “Maxforth here.”
    As Zubren watched Maxforth frown and nod to the person on the other end, a sense of impending doom struck him.For as much as they seemed to share the same distress, he and Zubren might’ve been telepathically linked. Maxforth mouthed a curse. All the color had drained from his face.
    “Next drink’s on me,” he said shakily and leaned in to whisper into Zubren’s ear. “The Crawlers just wiped out Sector 20.”
    * * *
    “Yay, Asher! You’re doing it.”
    The infant teetered over the grass, almost falling three times on his way to the pond as Elaine guided him with two gentle hands over his shoulders.
    “These are the moments you’ll wish you could relive when he moves out,” Elaine said. The soothing tone she used with Asher, their son, masked the impatience in her voice.
    Zubren pursed his lips and muted the MobileScreen on his