Read The Red Queen for Free Online

the Crawler Haze. The spore clouds that surrounded Oras worked like constant EMPs, short-circuiting anything that Fleet Services had tried. But the exosuits used a special bio-metal, comprised of organic extract from Crawler corpses and nanobots that would filter in the spore molecules and dissolve them before they ruined the interior components.
    A beeping drew Zubren’s attention back to the flashing red arrow. He looked to see a pack of locusts inbound. They were half the size of a fighter jet, but their tough hides offered a dozen times more protection.
    “Enter defensive formation D,” Zubren said.
    In response, Elton and Derith formed a triangle, each facing out. Their footing posed the only weak spot, but Gilm would inform them if any Crawlers attacked from that angle.
    They killed their thrusters, floating in wait.
    A visual scan estimated the number of locusts at four hundred. Easily within the capabilities of an exosuit.
    “Elton, you get the locusts, Derith and I take down the satellite,” Zubren said.
    “Roger.”
    Their thrusters kicked up and they blasted forward. When in doubt, fly faster , Zubren reminded himself.
    The jellyfish-like spore caster seemed to double in size as he drew closer. A single nuke would be enough to kill it, but the radiation could also fall back to Oras’ surface. So they’d stick with the Thermal Shield. He informed Derith and activated it via voice command. The words THERMAL SHIELD ACTIVE flashed on his screen. Pressing his arms against his body, he seared a path through the green spores. Soon the massive bulb and its dancing lights flooded his vision. He willed the exosuit to rush onward, to explode through the bulb with the force of an atom bomb. Then his visuals went black. All black.
    His heartbeat pounded in his ears. A dead silence otherwise.
    “Reboot cameras,” he shouted. Nothing happened. An icy dread split him down the middle.
    “Suit check,” he said, wrenching an arm up towards his helmet. It was as though he’d been buried in sand. The suit barely gave. Even on stand-by mode the exosuit should’ve offered enhanced muscle strength through pressure points and a design that complemented the motions of the human body. Right now it was just a heap of metal cocooning around him.
    The Crawlers had totally shut it off. Cursing, he realized just how lightheaded he felt. And then he went straight into panic mode. With the exosuit completely dead, it no longer afforded him a clean supply of oxygen. There was only the oxygen currently in his head piece. Barely enough for a few minutes. Even less the way he’d been breathing.
    “Reboot system,” he said to no avail. Sweat trickled down his forehead and cheeks. He thought of what Elton said only minutes ago about wishing he could scratch his nose. He became aware of the temperature rising. All of his body heat amassed inside one skin-tight furnace. Time seemed irrelevant as the intimate fears of death swirled in his head. He felt like he was a raisin, shriveling up. Completely sealed inside, isolated from all other stimuli, his consciousness dwindled.
    “Elaine. Asher,” he heard himself say.
    * * *
    Zubren’s eyes fluttered open. The windowless room was cast in a drab gray and a thick glass panel served as the wall in front of him. A fan hummed loudly from somewhere. As he rose up, a searing pain shot through his upper back. He winced and saw that he’d been sleeping on a metal bed panel. Way too sterile to be a hospital.
    Slogging out a breath, he noticed the field operators behind the glass, typing in a code to enter. A moment later, a layer of it slid back and they entered. Their gas masks threw him off.
    “What’s going on?” he asked, his brow furrowed.
    One raised a hand. “Please relax, Mr. Hiels. You’ve been quarantined, but so far tests suggest you’re negative.”
    “Quarantined? I was piloting the Model 11.”
    The field operator held up a manila folder. “This should bring you up to speed. Now