Author: Bridger Cummings Scanning the reels of family videos gave LF495 some odd sensation of warmth. Was it like eating? LF495 didn’t eat, but it did need power. It was connected to a multi-layer variate array of servers across the entire planet. It didn’t really matter where you were because one was everywhere. Earth had […]

Author: Deborah Shrimplin Ben and Evelyn watched as the rescue spaceship sent from Earth punched through Planet Exos’ orange atmosphere without them. The spaceship was scheduled to return in two weeks. In three weeks, the damaged life support systems in the experimental habitat would fail. Evelyn and Ben had volunteered to be the last passengers […]

Author: Beck Dacus Each time the floor shuddered, all our chains rang like windchimes. The shackles around my ankles were linked to the wrists of the “inmate” behind me, on and on in a long line of us marching forward. As I stumbled I pulled on that man’s wrists, nearly bringing him down as well. […]

Author: Don Nigroni Yesterday on Christmas Day, I was at my filthy rich, albeit eccentric, uncle’s house. And that’s when and where everything went awry. After dinner, he took me aside to his library to enjoy a cigar and a tawny port. “We know our current materialistic paradigm is pure garbage, yet we still cling […]

Author: Aubrey Williams The cheap hotel room was draughty, the shadows ink in the recesses. Each sheet of green William Morris wallpaper was peeling in at least three places. For all the dinginess, though, it was a room, and I needed one. By a feeble light I’d tried to work, but the sound of the […]

Author: Beck Dacus One half of the sky brimmed with stars, the Sun at one light-week’s distance barely outshining the rest. The other half was utterly dark, as if the universe ended at a sheer cliff. As I approached the blackness, detail started to emerge, my headlamp casting shadows on icy gravel the color of […]

Author: Majoki They stared right through me. It used to bother me. Now, it’s essential. I uncoupled the mag-links while Symplex’s security personnel looked past me. I didn’t fit their profiles, didn’t merit a glance. That’s what it is to be me. I live by a pair of simple rules. The fact that they come […]

Author: Mark Renney The island is getting smaller, but those who reside in the Tower are in denial. Hiding behind the steel rafters and columns and the reinforced sheets of glass that comprise the walls of their homes, they won’t accept that a very real danger lurks beyond their windows. The occupants of the Tower, […]

Author: Brooks C. Mendell “Where is she?” asked Dr. Nemur, holding her glasses in place while looking under a chair. “Relax, Doc,” said Burt. “It’s only a mouse. We’ll find her.” “Only a mouse?” said Nemur. “Her frontal cortex packs more punch than your bird brain.” “I get it,” said Burt. “I’m not your type.” […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Abby whips her wing-tentacles about, making little ‘cracks’ of delight as a gigantic silver dinosaur walks by, its crystal eyes filled with icy fire. Every footfall causes things to shake and drinks to splash about in their cups – unless they’re being carried on the spindly spider-legged copper tables that […]

Author: David Barber This was back in 1937, in Wheaton, Illinois, where Grote Reber built a radio telescope to track down persistent background noise that was annoying Bell Telephone Labs. The Depression still lingered and Bell wouldn’t employ him, but in his spare time Reber built a 30-foot dish in his mother’s back yard and […]

Author: David Tam McDonald Colin gave a polite cough to start the meeting. As team leader he sat at the head of the table. Brian, the secretary, sat to his left, perusing the agenda, which was blank and absolutely not taking any minutes. Tony, Richard and Lyndsey sat facing them, all eager to begin. “I […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The squad’s sitting there having breakfast when Tommo’s head explodes. Just like that, we’re all on the deck. Except Bert. He’s still sat there noshing his way through a bacon butty. “Bert! What the frack?” He swallows before replying. “When was the last time they missed? We’re the ones who […]

Author: Laura Jarosz “Whaddya mean, gone? Like, dead?” Dante shrugged. “The safehouse was totally empty. Door hanging open, no Homer inside. No stories, either.” I pressed my hand against my pocket and felt the reassuring crinkle of paper. At least I still had last week’s story. As I walked numbly away, I let my eyes […]

Author: Martin Clyde-Wilkie There’s an angel outside town, if you know where to look. Push through the gorse and scramble along the river bed, keeping your gaze away from the branch of lightning frozen over the gully, until you reach the edge and can peer down at it. It doesn’t look much like you’d expect. […]

Author: Jackson Lanzer “Do you ever just want to feel sad?” A young woman said, looking into the eyes of a young man. “Sometimes it’s all I want to feel,” he responded. “Sometimes sadness is even sweeter than the purest joy.” The man and woman strolled up to a ticket office. Their faces were illuminated […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The two personages in blue suits look at me like I’m an ornament. One that grandma got from her mama, only kept because of that, and never found a soul who liked it anyway. Tall blue suit flicks a glance towards skinny blue suit, who’s standing slightly behind and to […]

Author: David Henson “I’d rather not plug in now, Pop.” “Robby, you and Sally do as your father asks. It’s good to relive family memories.” Steven Matlink sees his wife, son and daughter enter the reminiscences room and put on their helmets. “Thanks, Dorothy. They always mind you better than me.” “And whose fault is […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The woman with the crossbow spits into the fire. “I don’t understand why they didn’t just reboot the computers as soon as it started.” Her sidekick nods, pushing their cap back before joining in. “Reckon a lot of them eye-tee types were in on it. Musta been.” The man next […]

Author: Majoki When the founders of Providence made planetfall, they had but one credo to establish their new civilization on the uninhabited world: Blind ignorance is unfortunate. Willful ignorance is shameful. Manufactured ignorance is unforgivable. Two hundred forty-one local years later, when the invading conquerors of Providence divvied up the planet, they wondered why the […]

Author: Hillary Lyon The lights on the console rapidly blinked in sequence. What that sequence was, Jackie couldn’t tell. It was all random nonsense to him. His finger hovered over the reboot button. If he hit restart, he’d have to work up a report, and explain his actions to the captain. But if he didn’t […]

Author: David Barber The man in the window seat on the late train from London is Charles Biggins. This is before he became a hero. He’d been to see As You Like It and was enjoying having the carriage quietly to himself when a man settled into the seat opposite. “Mr Charles Biggins?” Charles’ gaze […]

Author: Antonio DIsi Yesterday, I turned forty, without even realizing it. My life has become an endless sequence of days and nights, of bicycle deliveries, all dictated by an unrelenting app. Every morning, I wake up not knowing what the day holds. The only clue is my smartphone, incessantly vibrating, announcing new orders to deliver. […]

Author: Mikki Aronoff Our vinyl patches proclaim our purpose. ANIMAL, VEGETABLE, MINERAL WE WATCH THEM ALL DECIDE WHO PASSES We are birthed to serve, groomed to wait and watch, to scrutinize and assess. We follow guidelines. Detractors regard us as arbitrary, but if we were not here to filter, what would this world be? We […]

Author: Rick Tobin Her lips were soft as marshmallows fresh out of the bag—tender yet unyielding to Aaron’s hard press against them. They’d been torn apart from their love for years, but now, suddenly renewed, he could not hold back tears as they kissed. His strong hands held her thick dark hair as he pulled […]

Author: Alastair Millar If you’re a trillionaire, you can get powerful people to turn up when you call an informal meeting. It’s one of the perks. As the Industrialist’s guests finished their excellent meal, the Diplomat put down his glass and said, “This is all very pleasant, but why are we here?” “I’ve decided to […]

Author: James Flanagan From Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II this storm has raged unabated. Wars and plagues have scoured the Earth while eras of enlightenment and eras of disgrace have risen and slipped away, and always the mother of all storms has boiled and churned — the Big Red Eye of Jupiter. Annie Edson Taylor […]

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The room is greener than my natural dermal shade in springtime, and the air conditioning is more noisy than effective. Both of which are features of another day on Earth, the quirkiest destination in Cluster 644984, catchily known as ‘The Milky Way’ among the locals. “I hate humans.” I turn […]

Author: Allie Nava They say your life flashes before you as you fold into the arms of death, and perhaps that is what happened to me when I lost those eight minutes and twenty seconds. I was a child peddling gleeful “whee’s” on a red bicycle, over a calming ocean of green hillocks. I was […]

Author: Paul Schmidt Joshua burst awake, a dislocated memory of laughter and candlelight tapering into the ether. That same synthetic voice buzzed in his ear. His contact companion, installed at his ocular barrier, always had a habit of waking him abruptly. “Rise and shine, Joshua! It’s a fantastic day.” Joshua gritted his teeth, groggily slipping […]