Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer He was sitting in his chair exactly where I’d left him six hours ago, looking out the window of the impeccably reconstructed early 16th Century workshop. His p…

After a night of drinking, following the uncontrolled sleep of total blackness, there comes for humans a level of morning sobriety that is so clear it is painful. The white light of morning truth s…

Author : Suzanne Borchers “Ivan, what the hell is that!” Roger pointed at the creature roosting on the rafter. “It’s a chicken, of course.” Ivan reached up and smoothed one of its orange feathers. …

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I’m with the XIA. The Xenomorph Intelligence Agency. I’m undercover. This is a soft war; more of an intelligence-gathering mission to discover weak points and …

Author : Robin de Graaf Bartleby pushed open the heavy pub door. A bell jangled and a handful of pub patrons gave him a quick look-see. Realizing that they had no idea who he was, they quickly retu…

Author : Kiel Finger He stabbed his knife into the hardpack soil. It didn’t go in very deep; in fact it barely stood upright. Maybe an inch or two into the ground, tilted to the left. Not as dramat…

Author : Joseph Pascale My ears were assaulted by a variety of sounds as I entered the 21st Century-style café. The most alarming was the grinding sound that could have come from a malfunctioning r…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer I’m pulling taters when I hear the bell and the rhyme starts pounding in my head. I scatter the haul as my legs take off of their own accord, carrying me with them.…

Author : Gray Blix Glastonbury Tor was cordoned off by military, of course, but one hundred and fifty metres below tens of thousands coursed through the town and fields east, where a festival was u…

Author : David C. Nutt “Give me a good reason why I should not demote you, Sub-lieutenant.” “Excellency, I followed the mission parameters to the letter. I do not understand why the creatures react…

Author : Peter Haynes It’s a long winding tramp from the Ship Inn (formerly the Coachman) to Shapwell Ghyll where the spacecraft rests. At what is widely accepted to be the route’s start, I watch w…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer I’m impressed: the manufacturer’s claim was true. C-NhD – Compressed Nhildentium – really does make a ship unbreakable. “Sir, the worst casualty is Engi…

Author : Jonathan DeCoteau “Stupid quotes are only tweets in disguise.” –unknown (but most likely someone who’s been unfriended) Riley saw the invasive little bug flapping its electronic wing…

Author : Beck Dacus I was told that, when I awoke, I should expect the thunder of battle to have already started. But when the doctor woke me, his face calm, if not bored, I heard only the low rumb…

Author : J.D. Rice I sit across the table from him, listening as he talks about work, about how frustrated he’s become with his newest project. His voice is even and firm, almost business-like, des…

Author : Iain Macleod “Spare change please, pal?” The couple walked on, oblivious to him. This used to happen in the old days too but for different reasons. Harry had been on the street…

Author: Jae Miles, Staff Writer It has always been the way that the skies inspired images of freedom and escape from the troubles of the now. “The sky belongs to none”, as my grandfather used to sa…

Author : Dylan Otto Krider Talmey is not a pervert, just very lonely. He tried to get dates, really he did. With the computer business, he didn’t have time. Plus, he was shy and — he could ad…

Author : Philip Berry Olwen, the expedition’s chief archaeologist, was the first to see it. A line of metal protruding above the sand. There was a dip by the windward edge, where eddies of air had …

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Dust settles in a silence broken only by the slow drip of shattered optics. The fools who thought it nothing but a bar brawl are either fled, dead, or wishing they …

Author : Robert Lafosse I stayed up late, flicking through the returns as the polls closed. It was a close match. It took almost 10 minutes from the last poll closing until the votes were all count…

Author : Alexandra Balasa Good evening, Mr. President, I understand that my actions have been misconstrued as a declaration of war against your nation. This is an unsound hypothesis. War is a human…

Author : Lindsay Haber The bed swallows her lovers. They are all the same, the type of men who can’t commit, the type of men who only want those who don’t want them back, the type who leave during …

Author : David K Scholes Galactic Commitment “You performed well,” said my unit commander mark 5A droid “courage above and beyond the call of duty and all that.” “They were only virtual reality sim…

Author : Pratyush Mishra There are moments of desperation and… There are times when I have a glimpse of who I truly am and then suddenly… There are those moments when I can hear the Whi…

Author : Janet Shell Anderson The WORLSNEWS says she’s got the best body on the planet. So where’s Giovanna Tatiana Romanova Baldwin? Not in Gulf Stream/Delray. The Secret Service’s going crazy at …

Author : Robert Lafosse She was on her way to the Kyiv National University of Construction. It was a glorious May morning, the sun beating down from a crystal blue sky. A light breeze ruffled her s…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Remote data entry: 17-10-94:00:21:12 – Origin: Earth 50.825024, -0.383835. There’s a crater in the ceiling and blood on the floor. It forms a crimson ring around th…

Author : Elle B Sullivan “I’d like to file a complaint.” The teller looks back over the counter at me, and sighs audibly. “You will have to fill out form 3C,” he repli…

Author : Steven Carver One last tremor ran through the pod as it passed into the atmosphere of the small blue planet. The heat shield retracted from the viewport and the pilot got his first view of…