Sci-Fi

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 […]

“Whoa! Hold on, partner!” the host of the party asked with his fake Texan accent. “What is that costume supposed to be?” Of all the insufferable things, he was wearing a cowboy hat on his green…

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 […]

Three days later Alessia sipped tea by the circuit board, Mr Tumnus purring her lap. Things were going more smoothly than she might have feared. Too smoothly, if Alessia was being honest.

Alessia frowned at the central circuit board of the Astral Dancer. Paw prints. Again. She heaved an exasperated sigh. “Mr Tumnus, I have told you a thousand times, you can’t go into the engine. I don’…

The miner birthed itself among rubble and vacuum, as it sang the last threadbare diamonds out of their stones. Where are the finest diamonds? No longer within reach. The miner had forged and extracted…

You are a baseball fan, sitting in the centerfield seats eating an overpriced hot dog. You are wearing a baseball cap, but not a batting helmet, of course. (Why would that be an issue? Hmm…

Teacher is an old-fashioned bug with a blue carapace and eyes like two domes of gold beads. She is very pretty and smells like follow, but when she flutters her wings you better look smart or you’ll…

You’ve never seen something like this before.

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 […]

Beneath his feet lay the warm wood of the walkways. Mosquitoes buzzed around the yellow swamp flowers and spindly birch trees. The hills, overgrown with ancient pines, obscured the lake where Michael went, following a path strewn with fallen needles and gnarled roots.After swimming, he settled in the shade with one or another book picked from the sanatorium's library. Assuming that, besides him, some other space pilots also resided in...

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 […]

Dear Aunt Harriet, If you’re reading this note it means you survived. That’s wonderful news: I always loved you the most. The notes I sent out with Aunt Anita and the cousins are friendly letters, I promise, us being kin and all, and I surely hope they survive too. But I’m happiest about you.