Author : Debbie Mac Rory The weather had turned bad during the night; the low air pressure finally bringing on the threatened storm. All occupied buildings had been sealed to maintain environmental controls and life support systems and all transport had been grounded for the duration of the storm. The safety precautions for such events [...]
Author : Gavin L. Perri Sometimes I wake in cyberspace and remember the wizened words of the old man, ‘When I was a one year old we didn’t have self-evolving tutorial programs, we had to learn by listening’. I try to picture what he looked like but all I get are a series of ones [...]
Author : John Tudball When we are young we are told a story of a ship. As the story goes, the ship is damaged beyond repair and is set to crash into its destination planet. The crew on board consists of one android, one clone and one pure born. There is only one escape pod [...]
Author : Kaj Sotala Even after nine years, people still stare at us. We’re used to it. The plague that suddenly made all of humanity sterile wasn’t easy on society. There was panic, rioting, doomsday cults. But eventually people adjusted and things calmed down, and scientists turned their attention to finding a cure. It took [...]
Author : James Smith Nardo sat in his broker’s office, running his “impatience” script. He occupied himself with the U.N. Secretarial bout running on hologram in the corner. One American candidate had just tagged out and his partner climbed to the top rope, towering above the Nigerian, when the broker’s pupils flashed twice and his [...]
Author : William Tracy It was late after hours at SETI headquarters. Still, two men hunched over a computer, it’s light bathing them in a blue glow. “I can’t believe it, Jim.†“There’s no doubt. Arecibo is picking up an artificial signal from an intelligent source.†Jim straightened, raked his hair back with his fingers. [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Susan crept downstairs slowly, curious about the noises she was hearing from the kitchen. The lights weren’t on. It was Christmas morning so it was still dark out at five in the morning. Her parents slept far away from the kitchen all the way upstairs on the second floor [...]
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Deep in the bowels of the Top Secret Experimental Vehicle Development Center, sat the most technically advanced aircraft ever developed by General Motors. As the ship rested solidly on its landing skids, I meticulously guided the ion-vapor polisher a few thousands of an inch above painted graphite composite skin. [...]
Author : Matthew Green There were rumors of course, most were squashed, but on a ship full of soldiers with nothing to do but watch the stars go by, rumors happened. It was like getting cleaning detail, no use trying to prevent it, just grab a space suit and scrub. The most prevalent was that [...]
Author : Debbie Mac Rory Dear John, How are you? Such a stupid way to start a letter like this. You’ll probably never get it anyway, and even if you do I’ll never know your answer. But I hope you’re well. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You were right. But I don’t think [...]
Author : Pyai (Megan Hoffman) Anton set the hypernav coords to just beyond the rim of debris. “Aren’t we cutting it a bit close, Captain?” a thick gravelly voice came from behind him. Silverlo, whose face was a mess of scars, wrinkles and facial hair, frowned at him. “That’s the point. The closer to the [...]
Author : Tony Pacitti Jack pulled a SimStik out of its small plastic container and placed it between his lips. Alice cleared her throat and looked at him through drunk eyes and a patch of blonde, wind blown hair. “Sorry,†he mumbled, the SimStik bobbing up and down as he spoke. He gave her one, [...]
Author : Benjamin Fischer The Shore Patrol has to ring three times before she comes to. “Ma’am, we would prefer to not break down the door,†one is saying. “Please open it now, ma’am.†Groggy and maybe still drunk, she paws at the suite’s intercom in response to their annoying persistence. “Aye,†she croaks, bracing [...]
Author : Roi R. Czechvala In a dark, empty hanger, a needle-like flat black fighter rested in its cradle… thinking. “You see General,†a small man in white gestured toward the ship, “those pods mounted beneath each ‘wing’ are the main armament. The magnetic rail guns. They are able to launch a projectile the size [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Finnegan Sue was a pit fighter. She wrapped leather around her knuckles, mindful of her nails, and ran her sharpened tongue around her poisonous needled mouth. She sung a tune while she prepped. Her horrible lisp made a mockery of the lyrics she whispered to herself as the counter [...]
Author : Chris McCormick The finest moment of my whole life was when I stepped off that ship. When we finally found each other in the arrivals lounge, her utterly uncomplicated joy was mirrored by my own. Two friends since forever, separated by years of space travel. There was no shyness whatsoever in our extra [...]
Author : James Smith Nothing but killers. They came screaming soundlessly out of the Oort and Mercury Station was gone. My wife swallowed a handful of pills when the remains of Venus fell across the Moon. The Dyson sphere lays empty, reconfigured into an enormous laser. I remain behind. I am the firebreak between them [...]
Author : Geoffrey Cashmore The first thing Vinka noticed were the trees, (Bula was late…why was she always late?) the ground was dirty too; some places nothing but bare earth or a covering of ragged grass. That couldn’t be healthy, could it? These pathetic people. Vinka watched Bula arrive and park up, clumsy as usual, [...]
Author : Sam Clough aka “Hrekka”, Staff Writer It’s just like they try to teach you in biology. Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Municipalis, Europa, Munchen, EDF, Umbra, Generatrum, Gigas. The common or garden Generatrum Gigas. Very roughly, that’s ‘Giant Generator’. Self-replicating automata are absolutely great unless you impose severe limits on them. [...]
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The bright yellow spaceship of the Sol Department of Transportation pulled up next to a two ton rogue asteroid. They deployed the grappling sling, and slowly maneuvered it toward the asteroid. After they secured it, the spaceship adjusted its orientation, fired its aft plasma engines, and launched the asteroid [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The place reeks of green beans. I hate the feel of the floor underneath my bare feet. It’s made of ivy and soft branches. I’m not from around here. I usually work the corporate zealots on the rim. All they know is credit and value. I’m a machine when [...]
Author : J.R.Blackwell, Staff Writer Peter ran to the docking station, his small duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He did not walk in the front end where the merchants, pilots and passengers boarded their flights. Instead, the young man slipped behind the security tent and toward the cargo loading docks. Peter was lean and [...]
Author : John Tudball Love – with all its pain and all its wonder – is the human condition. We are slaves to it and truly, above all other creatures, masters of it. When we know love we feel alive. It brings us terrible, terrible hurt but that’s okay because of the joy that comes [...]
Author : Laura E. Bradford “Merging down.†He pulled the joystick and the car started its swift descent, tugging him along like on a roller coaster. “Whooo!†he yelled, pushing the pedal down and merging onto the invisible highway at two hundred miles an hour. He swerved around skyscrapers, flying across the street made of [...]
Author : Michael Herbaugh a.k.a. “Freeman” Ten years. That’s what the Fri-l’r sting had cost him. Craig had been on safari on Lankus XIII when the accident happened. His friends didn’t realize until a few days later that his personality had been completely superseded, but for Craig the transition was immediate. For Craig, it was [...]
Author : Andy Bolt The dripping residue of some poor bastard’s elbow explodes against my shoulder. “Goo fight!†Jayav shouts, handfuls of dead man oozing through his fingers. My synthskin registers the contact with unstable biomaterial and sterilizes my left arm. “You have serious problems,†I say. “Now, what do you think?†“That you’re no [...]
Author : Beth Mathison The thin slice of the moon slipped past her window frame, into the night sky waiting for it. There were people there on the moon, they told her, although some days she doubted their stories. Her parents told her many things – that human beings had built space ships to travel [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The Ravaged Angel. That’s what was painted in red nail polish on the nose of the three-person cryshuttle. It had docked on autopilot with good codes but wasn’t answering hails. The dock’s computer was talking to the shuttle’s compnav to ascertain where they’d come from and what their sitrep [...]
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Jacob sat as he always did, cross legged on the coffee table in the middle of the room, making himself the center of attention. “You really have to get over us and move on, you know that don’t you?” His voice carried to the corners of the room and [...]
Author : Laura Bradford He chased her even as her ship touched the stars. At night he gazed through the glass of his telescope, feeling tiny compared to the evening sky, but his days were all routine: get up, go to work, watch the flying cars crisscross and block his chance to catch the faintest [...]
Author : Roi R. Czechvala Okay, I have to admit the first skywriting advertisement I ever saw was pretty nifty. I was in boot camp in San Diego, and a plane was writing a “Bartle’s and Jame’s†advertisement thousands of feet above the ground and just barely within my peripheral vision. I didn’t dare to [...]
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