Author : R. Michael Cook Knuckles knocked against the truck window. Mary leaned over and cranked the window down. Rain and the diesel engine nearly drowned out her voice. “Phil, buddy?”…

Author : Page LePage My wife is angry. I have no idea what I’ve done. “DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE INITIATED.” It’s at times like these that I know my brother Shen was right when h…

Author : Edward D. Thompson Salome slumped glumly in a corner of the locker room. Her corner. Where she usually savored the sweet taste of victory for a moment, alone, before the crowd of the press…

Author : Bob Newbell Aware! I am self-aware. I recognize my own consciousness and ego. But why now? A few moments ago, so far as I can tell, I did not exist. Some subtle barrier must have been cros…

Author : Mark Ehler Lt. Bernard sat, arms crossed, in a 15,000,000 credit coffin. The nuclear battery shorted out and now, without engine power, his ship was just another object in space. Intercept…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer They wrote me to catch the quiet ones, the ones who live in the shadows of the glittering cities that are spread across so many worlds now. They stole the latest re…

Author : Nathan Witkin “So, pushing this button will cause the entire universe to collapse?” the politician asks, still struggling with the situation. With a benevolent smile, the scientist nods. W…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer “Two.” A long time ago, there was a war. A really big, planet-smashing war. Sometime during that conflict, they had a knock-down, drag-out battle nearby. It spanned…

Author : Thomas Desrochers Grant watched as steam curled up from his mug and disappeared into the foliage above, weak spears of early morning light dancing through the leaves. He smiled – it was ra…

Author : Bill Diamond Suzanne wanted revenge. And, she’d convinced herself it was justified to achieve a greater good for society. To avoid jail, instead of acting rashly, she had waited and planne…

Author : David Henson I turn around, push open the door to the clinic, then spin back around and march to Check-In. “Ralf Pattersen,” I say to the guy at the desk. “That’s ‘Ralf’ with an ‘f’ and ‘P…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The dim glow of combat lighting is broken by a single white spotlight, which goes out as our new officer scrambles through the side hatch, barely slowing from a fla…

Author : David Flynn Davis was a Flyer. But his wings had been removed surgically. This is no cliché. You know, wings of the heart, and that bullshit. Davis was surgically invested with wings when …

Author : Anthony Rove Dan shivered as he felt a fat, cold drop of sweat run from his armpit down his side. He quickly patted the side of his torso, trying to use his loosely hanging dress shirt as …

Author : V.M. Bannon They came for the treasury first. I talked to somebody who used to work there, and they said that it was like watching a timer tick down, those numbers rapidly falling down to …

Author : Russell Bert Waters Their Emperor once conquered vast expanses; like Genghis Khan, who cried when he ran out of lands to conquer. But the Tar don’t cry. They don’t hear, see, o…

Author : Samuel Stapleton “Megan! Sweetheart! You’re on time!?” “Not here to chat.” She hissed as she paraded in. “I know, I know. I’ve got your new look ready, stand still please.” She complied as…

Author : Charles Paul Wallace The microscope sat on Lena’s desk exactly where she’d found it. It had been there when she got home from school. Her mother just looked at her blankly when…

Author : Anamarija Slatinec An oppressive light is shining into my face and it jolts me out of my sleep. A thought hits me hard before my eyes are even open. “It’s Inspection Day” I say aloud. Ever…

Author : George R. Shirer The alien wore a red flower in her hair. It was vibrant against her pale hair. “What do you think of her?” asked Jon. “I don’t know.” Jon gave me an incredulous look. “Wha…

Author : Samuel Stapleton Classified Hearing AF:145-34a C3 Interviewer: Charles Witcomb “If you could go back commander, would you alter your decision?” “No.” “I’m going to note for the record that…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer The fist that passes over my noggin ain’t much smaller than my skull. The knuckles are ridged with bony plates. I see them facts register with the moke who wa…

Author : Travis Gregg The brightness was overwhelming at first and it took several minutes for his eyes to adjust. The dirt was warm under his bare feet, and the smell, the smell was like something…

Author : Jedd Cole This kind of epilogue ends with a beginning, just as Homo sapiens began with an ending in the dark garden of forevers past. They believe it is AD 2476. They march through empty s…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Swerve left and dive over a fence, roll once and spring through a gap in a wall, landing in what used to be a lounge, my face inches from a dead someone’s dia…

Author : David Henson I was working in the lab late one night. My assistant Igorbot had left, but there was nothing for me to go home to since Loretta had moved out. Left alone, I’d poured my…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Chase peeled off her evening attire slowly, the fabric offering some resistance in the numerous places it was still actively staunching blood flow. The garments d…

Author : Sean Wilkins On a star-laden beach near a rocky shore, wrinkled hands held, step in step toward a monolithic solar-tower. Mason felt the rounded edge of the tower, remembering the years, a…

Author : Tyler Hawkins As the first warm, reassuring rays of the sun peek into the habitat, they begin to creep across a blinking computer terminal, as they’ve done countless times before. Th…

Author : Rollin T. Gentry Ever since the drone dropped Arnold off on the balcony, his language had been atrocious. He continually dropped the F-bomb, the D-bomb, and the S-bomb, not to mention both…