Author : Janie Brunson “Welcome to the Talent Exchange Office. You must have a talent you would like to trade?” “Yes.” “What is it? Your talent?” “I &#8230…

Author : Jules Jensen She needed a couple more voice samples. And then this would be the perfect catch, exactly what the buyer wanted. She sidled up closer to him, and nodded to his wife as she bro…

Author : Phil Rejmer Humanity and its lost tribe met, finally, in between the stars. We faced each other, the representatives of each clan, standing in the metal halls of each others’ vessels…

An old bottle with a key in it, attached to a box kite by a simple string. It was illogical to think it might have worked, but no one wanted to question a man of such intellectual stature. Perhaps …

Author : David Barber “Yes,” answered Moreau. “A landmark legal verdict.” Absently he trailed a fingertip between the vorpal racer’s eye-nacelles and down the streamli…

Author : Dylan Otto Krider Qualifications for the office of Head Chieftain were demonstrated by the battle of wills: Each was given a vehicle of equal weight so they could drive headlong toward eac…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The bridge is quiet. That special kind of quiet when everyone is busily engaged in not paying attention to something. In this case, it’s the trio who stand in a tig…

Author : David Henson Bridget goes to the DBG keyscreen in the kitchen, taps in a detailed proposal for Frank and her to host Clarise Jenkins and Tremont West for dinner, then hits SEND. “Ple…

Author: R.J. Sadler Herman sat at his cubicle nervously waiting for the next round. He could hear the wheels whoosh along the carpet tiles. “Here ya’ go jack.” The forms fell on his desk with a spl…

Author: Chris Stewart In the Spring of 2028, a press conference was held announcing that the Phanes Project, the largest database of human DNA ever gathered (some samples going back many centuries)…

Author: Steve Pool Rosalee loved her job. She loved taking care of the home and family of her employers as much as she loved anything that she did. Well, technically, “love” was a bit of a stretch.…

Author: Marcel Barker NPA 002 PRENATAL – AUTH GRACE HOSPITAL “And? What does the brain scan say? Is little Baby J going to be a Johann?” “Beg pardon?” “As in Sebastian Bach.” “I see. No, the …

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Have you ever grown your own computer? It’s not like they show on MeVee. There’s a lot more liquid blend used because spillages occur all the time. The damn things …

Author: Gerard Hutchings The postman was early and had left something for me. I threw on an old tracksuit to go out and check the letterbox. As I approached I noticed a dollar coin on the footpath,…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer I drag the chair into the middle of the room, close to the table and set myself and my coffee down. “Hello Gladyce, you wanted to see me?” The questio…

Author: David Henson “I’m going to lay down and take a nap,” I tell my wife. “You mean ‘lie down.’ ‘Lay’ is a transitive verb requiring an object.” “OK, OK. You’ve been popping smart pi…

Author: Janet Shell Anderson The reason I haven’t heard from my brother Jonathan is he’s dead. I made a mistake. It’s foggy, one of those autumn fogs that grow out of the Potomac and everything see…

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Sho…

Author: David Covington Thousands had died, cities devastated, but the war was not real until that day. It had been fought at a distance with drones and missiles. None of the fighters ever saw the …

Author: Jae Miles, Staff Writer The stars appear like fireflies seen through vintage sunglasses, the ones that used to give everything a mellow brown hue. My grandfather had some, an inheritance fr…

Author : David C. Nutt “Angel Cordoza, Operator 7157, signing on: 0700 EST 11 Jan.” “Good morning L90-05 this is control, do you read?” “Affirmative control. I know why you’re calling.” “Uh-huh. An…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Funny how the roar of wind fades into the background after a while. I loved the wind roar in my rag-top coupe. Drove that antique everywhere, pretty much spent my l…

Author : Eric San Juan By the time the sandstorm passed, the sun had fallen and the orange skies had faded to a bruised brown and purple. The towers still seemed unreachable, perched on a dream hor…

Author: Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “It’s not that I hate being rich. I love it. It’s just that I feel undeserving. I wish my situation wasn’t so unique.” said Carl Whittaker 4 to his therapist. “…

Author : John Arcadian The lag has made us patient. Not humanity, just Marie and I, and maybe a few others. You see, I’m on the lunar launch station on the farthest part of the moon that is viably …

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer “Bald Eagle, this is Leopard, are you receiving?” “Leopard, good to have you back. Confirm reinforcements. ETA three minutes.” “Bald Eagle, this is Leopard: abort, …

Author : Rick Tobin Dear Humans: By now, you will be fully aware we are living among you. In some ways, in the last four hundred years, we have become you. No, there was no strident message or head…

Author: Adam Fout “All of it.” The creature’s look is quizzical. My helmet inhibits no sounds; I feel that my words are quite clear. My hands shake. My gloved fist smashes the surface of his table.…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Jackson3 walked home from the factory in knee deep snow, although the snow bothered him about as much as the sun did in the summer, which was not at all. The wate…

Author : Q. B. Fox Subject: No man is an island. From: ISowending@EarnestPeople.com Dear Robert, I know that’s not your name. They call me Jane. That’s not my name. Does that remind you of somethin…