Author : Bob Newbell “Another ten billion dollars a year?!” said the Senator incredulously. “And that on top of the billions already spent annually? And for a scientific toy that …
Author : Joe Essid The bluish-gray haze in the western sky this morning is not the shadow of the Earth, rising up against the Dawn. No, there is something out there. It’s coming, already slip…
Author : Laila Amado Marjorie began freaking out when we lost contact with Earth. I gather she thought she would still get to go home one day, though I can’t imagine the corporation ever paying for…
Author : Jack Strange Funny, I never saw myself going into showbiz. I started out as a lawyer, would you believe? It was a good living. I was paid well and saved up a good-sized pension pot. But no…
Author : William Tracy The moonless night was interrupted by a bright flash of light. A demolition round gouged a neat twenty-meter hole in the jungle. A light jumper craft settled into the fresh c…
Author : Asher Wismer Here’s me, walking through the deserted streets of Chicago. I can see a few ravens pecking at some unidentifiable detritus in the gutter; somewhere, a car alarm is weeping to …
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Once they were gathered on the elementary school playground, teams needed to be selected for a game of Grobnars and Subjugates. Dinklebarg, a grobnar, was toda…
Author : Michael Herbaugh a.k.a. “Freeman” Ten years. That’s what the Fri-l’r sting had cost him. Craig had been on safari on Lankus XIII when the accident happened. His friends did…
Author : Sean Monaghan Sid smiled as Alex handed him the separation results. One more test and they could announce. They’d known all along of course, since the first samples, but Mars Twelve …
Author : Philip Berry Stan looks right through the innocent, who stand in pools of studio-bright light where the afternoon sun reflects from countless mirrored towers. Turn up the power and they…
Author : Beck Dacus Running down the hall to Solo’s dressing room, I could hear the security guards behind me. It didn’t matter; I only needed a second with Solo, and then I would be a legend in my…
Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer I needed to disappear. Fast. I never wanted a criminal life. It’s not like I killed anybody, or stole the nation’s pension plans, unlike some governments which…
Author : Patricia Stewart, featured writer The USS Jovian Explorer skimmed above the turbulent cloud tops of Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. The large clamshell doors on its underbelly slowly opened …
Author : TJMoore It was a Thursday. I’d just finished a little job for the landlord and I was looking through my latest copy of Dames when the bell rang. I looked at the monitor and saw a sultry …
Author : J.D. Mraz A man snores on his pseudo-leather recliner, the remote dangling between his half closed fingers. He is bald, the white of his stomach hairy and stained with unwashed sweat. The …
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Nick inhaled on his cigarette until the glowing ember reached the filter, then flicked it absently out the driver’s window. His younger brother James sat up…
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Laredo’s tugship was idling peacefully in geosynchronous orbit. Laredo was ten screens from the end of Asimov’s Second Foundation when the LSC alarm sounded,…
Author : Michael Parker Accessing… Initiating systems… “What is this?” The voice, smooth and metallic, surprised her. Doctor Lyndahl turned to see model SL-4 moving. Its skull-shaped head examining…
Author : Beck Dacus From Earth, the lie was invisible. Looking up would present you with a deep blue sky, maybe some clouds sometimes, and a bright yellow sun (white from Low Earth Orbit). But I wa…
Author : Patricia Stewart March 26, 2167. It was the best of days; it was the worst of days (if you permit me to paraphrase Charles Dickens). At 8:00 EMT (Earth mean time), I accepted delivery of t…
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Here’s one example of how the aliens failed to understand humans. We’d become part of the galactic alliance and were paired up with a species roughly analogous…
Author : Jennifer Parsons To any who watch television, the researcher’s setup should be plenty familiar, especially so to an old R&D man like myself. Two rooms, divided by a big sheet of glas…
“How much money are we talking?” Jake asked. “Fifty thousand dollars.” Jake couldn’t see the doctor’s face, but he’d developed a mental image of the man ov…
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Lieutenant Bensen’s neck snapped in my strong hands with a crack and a gurgle. Her surprised eyes goggled up at me as her body went limp. Corporal Mancie…
Author : Ryan Swiers From the sand she raised herself. The desert wind had coursed over her exposed flesh and the gritty pain of its wake made the effort slow. Sleek tendrils of sand rolled from he…
Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer I work on Opingtu. Two-and-a-bit AUs from civilisation, on a good day. Lee thrust the crowbar into my hands, and set off down the corridor at a run. I swore, and r…
Author : Victoria Benstead-Hume We made it to twenty-eight weeks before my neighbour reported me. Twenty-nine and the doctor classed it tainted. As if that mattered. Lace curtains lend a sheen of r…
Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The laboratory is filled with the sound of slow drops landing. The smell alone is enough to drive three officers back. Seeing the mess does for the next five. Offic…
Author : David Blatcher Jason threw the low fat yogurt drink at the smartFridge and it splattered pale pink against the door. He had told the fridge to order milkshakes, the kind he always had afte…
Author : Bryan Pastor “Absolutely ridiculous. The music of this era su….” “Hold that thought, what’s the make and model of the car we’re looking for?” “Blue Nissan…” “Like that one?” “Crap! Quick t…