Author : Neil Floyd We don’t like to use that word. It sounds negative, don’t you think? The whole procedure is much safer now. Please, try the caviar. It’s real. No, I insist. Ou…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Dez pulled the bike up to the edge of the tree-line, the electrics going quiet automatically. In the distance, mile-high lamp standards flooded the distribution c…

Author : Mattias Ahlvin The man in the gray overcoat sat in his old station wagon. He waited. He took a sip of coffee from an old thermos and adjusted his glasses. He glanced at his watch and looke…

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Tzen sat on the third floor of the abandoned building in near darkness. Only those streetlights that remained unbroken filtered light through shattered windows an…

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 : Olivia Black, Staff Writer Cold. For so long it has only know the frigid expanse of deep space, numb to the wonders, and horrors, of the galaxy. In this solitary existence, time has no mea…

Author : Beck Dacus In the middle of filing my taxes, I got a phone call. I hoped it would be some kind of relief from this stress, but it wasn’t to be; it was my wife’s lawyer calling, saying she …

Author : Russell Bert Waters It’s not easy being a psychopath. I don’t care about others, but I also don’t care about myself. I’ve never felt a connection, and I’ve al…

Author : Eric Spery 27 December, 2033 A thin sunbeam streamed through a crack in the blinds. It lit John Kohl’s pregnant wife Angie as she snored quietly in bed. He sat at his desk drinking coffee.…

Author : Joachim Heijndermans “Hello? Is anyone there? I can’t see. Is anyone out there?” “Yes, I’m here.” “Who are you? Where am I?” “I’m Kon. Can you tell me who you are?” “My n…

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 : Philip Berry From the couch, engineer Stanislaw Hast looked past the grey-suited, female psychiatrist and through the broad window. The star, a long dying sub-giant, threw a dusk of burnt …

Author : Timothy Marshal-Nichols “So this bloke then, this Galvano bloke, so this Galvano della Volpe is dead.” The Local Defence Officer thought for a few seconds while twiddling with his moustach…

Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Tendrils of smoke rise from the ancient bridge, but it stands strong. Atop it’s singed arch, two men stand, their powered-down armour dulled by dirt and char. The t…

Author : David Henson The chaplain sits beside the young man and lays a small box on her lap. “Mr. Parker, would you like to pray with me?” “That’s not for me, Chaplain. But…

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 : Philip Berry Every child remembers their first visit to the field. They follow the teacher over the low rise that was a burial mound for the first settlers, and down a glass ramp into the …

Author : Craig Finlay It seemed fine, to place it there. You were on the weekly trip to the greenhouse with Mom and Dad and Stella holding your hand the whole way as you skipped 10 meters at a time…

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 : 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: Kate Runnels Ara studied the Avatar for a moment, liking what she saw. It wasn’t enough like her to raise suspicions if anyone she knew played the game, but she would be comfortable playing…

Author: Janice Rothganger This was the spot. No longer needing his compass, Jackson tucked it inside his shirt. He dropped his pack and went about setting up the campsite: pitching a tent, igniting…

Author: Ajith S Nair It was a Friday and in Saudi Arabia, Friday is a holiday for most people. I just got home after finishing the night shift. I am not supposed to be back for work until Monday ni…

Author: Jae Miles, Staff Writer That leaden feeling in your gut as you trudge from transport to entrance. The warmth of the lift buttons under your fingertips. Those shooting pains in your head as …

Author: Jeff Mauser They peered through the small site-port of their shuttle in astonishment. Their small ship had been designed for docking purposes only, not for landing on a planet. The sky was …

Author: Kaelen I’m tired, yet I can not sleep. Of course, sleep is not something I need or can even do, but I do enjoy taking quick naps, as I call them. Getting disconnected for short periods enli…

Author: DJ Lunan President Nugrubyev looked deep into the lens of the RTV and BBC cameras and smiled broadly. He caught his image in a control monitor. All those hours with his hot voice coach, bod…

Author: Joachim Heijndermans “And thus concludes this portion of our tour,” said Theo to his group. “If there aren’t any further questions, I suggest we all sit down for lunch and–,” He…

Author : T. N. Allan There’d never been any protocols set in place for a disaster of this magnitude, no emergency course of action which might have retrieved the situation; but how could there have…

Author: Jae Miles, Staff Writer A savannah night is interrupted by the snarls of attacking lions. I hear screams, see flashes of weapons as wielders fall. They keep popping in. I’ve become adept at…