Stories

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 : 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 : 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 : 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&#8…

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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : 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 : Henry Gribbin I am a child of the 60’s, therefore I am a veteran of the Cold War. I had the typical abnormal upbringing of that time, but there was one thing that made me somewhat differen…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The woman on screen is stern of countenance, yet there’s mischief glinting in her eyes. It makes her even more beautiful. “Who is she?” “Melpomene Drenaly.” “Why I …

Author : Ronald Guell Day 5482: Here’s the problem with traveling at light speed. There’s no point in looking out of the window. You can’t see anything. It’s just a vast endless flat black. Truckin…

Author : Claudia Silva “How do you want your eggs today, dear?” He entered the kitchen with a big smile, happy to start the day. “I’m in the mood for some scrambled eggs, a little bit of tomato, on…

Author : Thomas Desrochers I read a lot of science fiction as a kid, and I think I made the mistake of believing that the futures I was reading about were like weather forecasts of what was to come…

Author : David C. Nutt “What do you mean you’re not an alien?” “Just that. I am not an alien. I am a herald from another dimension- another plane of existence-“ “Not from these parts, not a human, …

Seventeen years ago, when I returned from the Europa colony, I was asked to give a speech at a middle school assembly. For two hours I talked about recycling. Recycled air, recycled food, recycled …

Author : Thomas Desrochers Michael lit a hand-rolled cigarette, hands shaking. “What fucking century are you from?” Jack opened his flask and took a long drink. Michael exhaled smoke. “What millenn…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer From orbit, this island must look like charred toast floating in a soup of boiled seafood. They’ve rained fire upon us for hours. Not sure what we did, but, as Lail…

Author : Joshua Doyle We could have seen it coming for a couple of years. Identification of pathways that lead to cell aging, the discovery of a method of removing the “unwanted side effects&…

Author : James Langley Dr. Livett tapped at the graphene strap around her wrist and the beachside illusion dissolved into nothing. She stood in the sterile, empty white room; the fragrant ocean bre…

Author : Kaitlin Battle raged on around him, the constant sounds of gunfire ringing in his programmed earlike audio receptors. He, however, was oblivious to anything but the almost lifelike pain ne…

Author : Thomas Desrochers The crowds below were packed shoulder to shoulder, bathed in neon and the ceaseless murmur of advertisements. Ed watched, chewing his lip thoughtfully. “Doesn’t it feel l…

Author : Russell Bert Waters Brushing his teeth, Josh heard a chime from the other room. It wasn’t the familiar chime associated with email or social networks, it sounded more like a “system”…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer (We hope you’ve linked after following our Intergalactic Most Requested: Should I Be Keeping a Human? infoburst. If not, link it before continuing.) IMPORTANT: if y…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer “Transmutation, or more absurdly ‘transmogrification’, that’s the crux of the biscuit, isn’t it?” The speaker stood in the mid…

Author : Lynette Aspey My grandfather was a stone disciple. I only began to understand what that meant when he stopped speaking and began to stiffen. Yet, even then, when the cost to him was clear,…