Stories

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2NX8SVC

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io By Divine providence, we captured the mermaid with neither loss of life nor injury to any seaman, nor any harm done to the specimen. So easily we might have passed her by without even noticing her; but the sharp young eyes of Small Jack espied her a… Strange Horizons - A Journal of Certain Events of Scientific Interest from the First Survey Voyage of the Southern Waters by HMS Ocelot, As Observed by Professor Thaddeus Boswell, D.Phil, MSc.; or, A Lullaby (Part 1 of 2) By H… https://ift.tt/2UyjfSg

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Guns and bombs, or spears and arrows, or rocks and clubs: all variations on the same theme, and all of them outdated. Why, historically, has one country, or tribe, or fiefdom sought to overthrow another? To control its population and its resources, …

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The muted whirring of the carefully padded bells from the wind-up alarm clock was enough to wake Enoch. Though he came awake slowly, he was immediately and acutely aware of the loose sheets that lay about him. Rather than rewrap the sheets snugly he…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io You can’t hurry love, no you’ll just have to wait.…” So sang the Supremes. As humans we have been able to quantify a good many things. Love is not one of them. It remains as mysterious and fascinating as it ever was, likely since before the dawn of …

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io If you eat regularly at a restaurant, eventually the waiters and waitresses will come to know what you typically order. Especially if it’s breakfast or lunch. There used to be such a place here in my hometown called TRISH’S. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Sometimes you wonder what a particular dream might be like. Or even if it is a dream. The whole “the waking world is really a dream,” as typified by films like The Matrix, is a bit of an overdone trope now. That doesn’t mean you can’t imagine what o…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io In the Spring of 2003 I and an Indian driver soon-to-be-friend spent a month driving 2,000 miles across northern India. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io ROCHEFORT: Cheez, Boss! I thought they’d never cut you loose! Are you all right? BECQUEREL: Do I look all right? Pour me another one, damn it. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Michael J. Ferguson and Christopher L. Smith Flavor burst onto his palate like a mouthful of fireworks. Yes! That inevitable and delightful burn of heavenly nectar from an earthbound distillery. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io He was squinting through the eyeslit of the tank, trying to make out whether that was a boulder five hundred yards in front of him, or just another swirl of dirt lingering in the still air, left by the Mark Ten Centurion in front of him, when the vo…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Weary beyond weariness, Joklyne rubbed his burning eyes for the ninth time. Bed! If only he could tumble into a soft bed and sleep for a week. But to do that he must have a bed, and his most recent landlord had just evicted him for being too far beh…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “One-Niner confirms release. Switching to Launch Control, frequency two-zero-zero-decimal-three-zero. Speedbird One-Niner out.” “One-Niner out. All right. Retract docking booms.” via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io PRIDE AND PUPPETRY Back | Next Contents PRIDE AND PUPPETRY by Christopher Stasheff “I thought show business was going to be fun,” Cairn muttered as he eyed the gateway to the city—the gateway, and the two huge guards who stood by its pillars, their …

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “I need to know who is trying to poison me.” I tried to keep the anger out of my face. This sorceress, a street magician I did not quite trust even if she did come with a recommendation from Brother Michael, was not responsible. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, among other wonderful books, once said that the library was his church. Nowadays we have many more ways to worship. eBooks and browsing the internet have changed the way we absorb knowledge. For many people it…

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via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io “DID SOMEBODY FART?” Michaels said, too loudly, hitching up his weapons belt as he stood over the aliens’ table. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Jessie Ramirez showed her Illinois I.D. to the ticket taker of the Chicago Art Institute. As she put the card back in her pocket, she accidentally dropped her sketchbook and pencils. Sighing deeply, she picked them up and then walked inside. via Poc…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io One human ship stands between the alien threat and the destruction of Earth. Captain Baraye and her crew must intercept the alien ship before it reaches the jump gate to sol system. The odds are stacked against them, but heroes come in all shapes an…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Max makes his living as a snatcher, jaunting back through time to retrieve Valuables for paying clients. He was in on the retrieval that brought Shakespeare back to twenty-second century. Only he never saw a penny on that retrieval. But this new job…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io TROOPER GLASSMAN pulled his helmet on, locking the gasket against the collar of his battle suit. He took a quick look at the little green indicator that showed suit integrity. Satisfied, he settled in to wait for his turn to enter the boarding tube.…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io MORRIGAN by Morris G. McGee Being a goddess isn't what it used to be; being a goddess in the Twentieth Century is almost sad; and being a goddess in Ireland has little future. Oh, I know there are a few who follow my ways: the I.R.A. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io - Lab Rats by Jody Lynn Nye via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2TJjyMU

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io - Suicide Mission by Christopher Stasheff via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2J3ekHV

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io - The Murder of Halley's Comet by Larry Niven and David Drake via Instapaper https://ift.tt/2THwmDz

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io The mammyth is out there. Unless, of course, it’s not. First there is a mammyth. Then there is no mammyth. Then there is. Unless there isn’t. How do you find a legendary, maybe mythical, creature? You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care.…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Yes, I am aware of the irony. But how the hell else was I going to get them clothes? They couldn’t run around in those colorful silk gowns of theirs, cut tight enough to show every breath, but slit high enough on the sides to show their . . . assets…

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io Jess heard Duchess Caitlin calling from the top of the tower. The girl sounded as though she was in genuine distress. Jess plumped the two full buckets of water she had been carrying under the nearest bench. via Pocket

via FREE Fiction / Raindrop.io https://raindrop.io ". . . Then Verrol and Liaya challenged the Dark Queen herself," old Mikal said, drawing light from the hearthfire into pictures to illustrate his tale. Minute figures in jewel colors sprang into being, moving and reacting as if they were true being…