Read The Red Queen for Free Online Page B

of the media.
    “Okay, we’re live,” said a dark-eyed woman next to the camera in front of Zubren. A set of familiar words appeared on a teleprompter.
    “Greetings to the people of the Oras Union. Today we’re here to honor the life of a man who did all the Fleet Services asked of him. He was an engineer and a hero,” he said, forcing passion into the words. He’d rehearsed them so many times, they felt empty and meaningless.
    “Without him, I’d be dead. He risked everything, gave everything for the people of the Oras Union. All to help end the Crawler War.”
    When he reached the end of his speech, the words WITH EMPHASIS rolled onto the teleprompter.
    He barely mustered up the energy. “I will always think of Gilm for his contributions to the dream of ending the Crawler War. And I hope you will too.”
    At a thumbs-up from the woman, he left the podium. As he passed the picture of his friend, a pang of regret stirred up in him. He’d lost many friends in combat, but none of their funerals were dressed up and scripted like this. No one had ever written a speech for him to read in front of thousands of viewers. That’s why it hurt. The insincerity. They were supposed to be mourning the loss of Gilm, not using him as a propaganda tool for resistance against the Crawlers.
    Gilm’s father and brother gave eulogies, then Lieutenant Maxforth stepped up to award him a posthumous Medal of Valor for his rescue of Zubren. The funeral ceremony ended with words from a Maester and an eerie hymn by the choir. The hymn echoed across the grounds even as Fleet Services field operators carried Gilm’s casket to his new resting spot. After this, the attendees departed.
    “You know, this place could be beautiful if it weren’t a cemetery,” Elaine said, letting Asher down to walk on the grass.
    “Well, it won’t be getting any nicer,” Zubren thought out loud. Fleet Services had wrangled together several hundred attendees who didn’t carry the Crawler virus, but already reports were spreading of outbreaks throughout the Western Plains and Alkebulan. Refugee camps had suffered the worst due to their tightly packed living conditions. It would take a few weeks for scientists to develop a vaccine. Zubren doubted that would be the end though.
    “Do you want to walk by yourself?” Elaine asked Asher, who seemed intent on escaping her grip.
    She released him. Without warning, he raced out, not so much as stumbling across the lawn. A leisurely pace was enough to keep up with him. Zubren wondered if it was strange to enjoy seeing his son walk so well in a cemetery.
    Then he noticed the open hole up ahead. In an instant, he swooped in and picked up Asher.
    “Now why are you so attracted to danger?” Zubren muttered. It didn’t add up evolutionarily.
    Elaine bent over and peered into the hole, shrugging. “He must’ve thought it was Alice’s rabbit hole.”
    “Huh?”
    “You’ve been away for so long now you’ve forgotten,” she frowned. “We’re on the story of Alice. You know, in The Fourth Anthology of Fairy Tales .”
    “Oh, that. Right. Is it any good?”
    “Find out for yourself.”
    That evening, Zubren replaced Elaine in his son’s bedroom, cracking open The Fourth Anthology of Fairy Tales .
    Asher grasped for the tome. Zubren smiled and pulled his chair closer to the bed.
    “You want to look at the pictures? We’ll get to that. Now let’s see. We’re on Chapter 2: The Garden of Live Flowers.”
    Alice raced with the Red Queen. But no matter how fast Alice ran, she couldn’t move past the starting line. She needed to run her fastest just to stay in the same place.
    Halfway through, Zubren paused to reread a few key parts to himself. With a dry swallow, he realized the fairy tale was getting under his skin.
    “What do you say we skip the story tonight?” he said, stowing the tome in his son’s bookshelf. With a kiss good night and a flick of the lights, he ended up in the hall with no immediate