Author : Rollin T. Gentry “Argh! You…you hammerhead-shark-looking son of a bitch!” I yelled aloud for the first time since I’d started playing this alien’s stupid game…

Impossibility Crow By Remy Nakamura The Kingdom Coffee Missionary Handbook tells Paulo that he should always put his guns away during a door approach. He’s heard this hundreds of times before, but the Handbook speaks with a voice of authority, deep like a luchador’s, strong like a drill sergeant’s, calm like his abuelito’s. It slides …

Vegetablemen in Peanut Town By August Marion Otto scanned the grassy countryside for any sign of marauding vegetables. The steeple he and Darby were in wasn’t quite thirty feet tall, but it was taller than any other building in Peanut Town, so it offered an unobstructed view of the surrounding farmland. There were acres and …

Author : Joachim Heijndermans The floor is so damn cold. I wish they’d turn the heat up or at least let me keep my socks and shoes. What are these floors made of? Some kind of metal, maybe? F…

by Alanna McFall narrated by Amanda Fitzwater with guest host Amy H. Sturgis Welcome to the 2nd Annual Artemis Rising a celebration of women and non-binary authors This story has not been previously published. Discuss on our forums. For a list of all Escape Pod stories, authors and narrators, visit our sortable Wikipedia page Thank you for visiting […]

by Abra Staffin-Wiebe narrated by Diane Severson with guest host Mur Lafferty Welcome to the 2nd Annual Artemis Rising a celebration of women and non-binary authors This story has not been previously published. Discuss on our forums. For a list of all Escape Pod stories, authors and narrators, visit our sortable Wikipedia page Thank you for visiting us […]

by Jen Finelli narrated by J.S. Arquin This story has not been previously published. Discuss on our forums. For a list of all Escape Pod stories, authors and narrators, visit our sortable Wikipedia page Thank you for visiting us on Facebook and Twitter about the author… Hi! I’m Jen Finelli, and I’m a professional author, content-consultant, and ghost-writer deeply in love. Because I’m also […]

Run By C.R. Hodges The claxon blares three times: all clear. We file out of the underground shelter and up the serpentine lava tube. Our semi-annual hibernation drill, bureaucratic gibberish for run down to the emergency shelter and hide, is now monthly. I’m all for avoiding nuclear annihilation, but I wish the drills weren’t scheduled so […]

Author : Beck Dacus Once everyone in the auditorium was seated, Professor Gildritch wheeled his invention forth. On top of the rolling table was a small, modest-looking device. Gildritch didn’t car…

Author : Irene Montaner He had known of his fate since the day he was born. He had been designed to complete an outstanding, yet suicidal, mission. He would be cruising the Solar System for years b…

Author : Alana Pasternak Hello out there! Congratulations for surviving this long! If you’re reading this, it means you’ve found a device with this app on it – either one of the d…

Author : Olivia Black, Staff Writer “How are you still alive?” “What are you talking about?” Mearene is staring at me like I’m the second coming and I swear I’ve never seen her eyes bug out like th…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Dead-pirate-flying slams past me in silent majesty, drives blazing, weapon ports opening. I kick the pedals to accelerate port and ahead, then split the sticks: lef…

Author : Philip Berry “Is it surprising, really? After what they did to you, that you can’t feel a thing.” But I could feel. Too much. My skin was on fire. “No Lana, I mean really feel. Perceive em…

The Android’s Prehistoric Menagerie By A. Merc Rustad The world explodes. Unit EX-702 comes back online when UV wavelengths activate its solar plating. Its optics are crusted with red dust; a low-powered system scan concludes that though its left arm is missing and there is excessive oxidation damage along its chassis and helmet, as well as …

Meltwater By Benjamin C. Kinney My beloved waits for me in the flooded church. She’s died one time too many, and I can’t get her back without her help. At least, at last, it gives me a reason to see her again. The church lies at the edge of the Mediterranean fracture, below cliffs barely eight …

Author : Tim McDaniel The ceiling opened and the Priest Judge Arbitrator descended into the Control Center. Tloygruu bobbed his head up and down the correct number of times, but one hand snuck down…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer June looked up as the diner door opened. There was Jack, ten-fifteen every morning like clockwork. Same dark, carefully pressed single-breasted suit, always with …

Author : Russell Bert Waters The moon stares down as I stand on the beach next to what once was the ocean. Powerless to control the tide, or anything at all, the moon seems sad. This is conjecture …

Author : M. Irene Hill Today’s sunrise is a Chinese watercolor painting, with inky tree branches in the foreground of an ombre sky. Below a band of monochrome cloud, a thin line of cinnabar melts i…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer It’s another tediously quiet evening in Watchpost 113 at the western edge of the Sonoran Borderlands. Fred is making waffles while Adey idly flicks through the long…

Author : Trevor Doyle Sex droids don’t do it for me, but I’ve never had a problem with clones. My most recent Romeo, for instance. The last time I saw him, he was standing on my gold plated balcony…

Author : Madison McSweeney It was 9:30 AM on a Friday when the Martians landed on Dave McQuilty’s farm. The ship, which was more spherical than saucer-shaped, touched down in the midst of som…

Author : M. Irene Hill September 8, 2040, Special Area Babylon, Planet Earth: Control center: “We are offline and shield is down. Initiate cataclysm.” The last vestiges of rosy light disappeared be…

Author : David Henson “Honey, are you going to use the DreamMaster tonight?” Sally says to her husband. “You bet. I’ve scripted a football match,” Jim says, laying the…

Author : Uri Kurlianchik She didn’t have a throat to sing or speakers to talk. Her only means of vocalization were small devices that vibrated and gyrated as she drilled and scraped barren soil in …

Author : Samuel Stapleton “Your Excellency. We can’t move on this. The Intelligence Protection Community is watching too closely. Humans have made their move, their motion for an open debate court …

Author : Beck Dacus Azova, Girgin, and Rastat floated through a hole blasted in the alien ship’s hull. Inside, everything was trashed. Whatever had destroyed this ship had been thorough. The comput…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer This precious space used to be an overgrown park, rarely visited by day and a haven for crime by night. Now it sits as a spot of verdant life amidst ruined towers a…

Author : David C. Nutt “I don’t need to explain it to you again Mr. Ambassador. There’s absolutely nothing you can do but accept our terms.” “This is an outrage! It’s piracy! It’s – “Yes, it’s all …