Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer (Circa 2256) Epsilon Indi is an orange-red dwarf star located in Ursa Major, near the bowl of the Big Dipper. By astronomical standards, Epsilon Indi is a newborn, having only become a main sequence star around the time that the Great Pyramid of Giza was being built. Its feeble [...]
Author : Phill English Bob leaned back in his chair and sighed. The first day had been a long time coming. Every time they thought they had the whole project licked, a new feature came to light that had to be incorporated into the preliminary model. And there were a whole lot of features. How [...]
Author : Steven Odhner Jacob looked down at his hands, at the skin that had grown wrinkled and translucent over time, veins rising as the liver spots bloomed around them. His wedding ring rattled around loosely on his twiglike finger, secured only by the gnarled joint of his knuckle. He had done so much with [...]
Author : Grant Bergland “Computer, I am not the captain, I am a fifth midshipman.” “Incorrect. According to Navy regulations you are captain. The captain and first mate were atomized with the science officer and chief engineer. Point seven seconds later, the chaplain, sanitation engineer, and…” “Stop. Computer, how many others were ahead of me [...]
Author : Debbie Mac Rory Sonia swallowed her meal pills, grimacing. She hated the things, and they always stuck in her throat. Adjusting the infusion cuff on her arm, she picked up the control and started thumbing through a selection of dining experiences: family dinner; ugh, no, not after the last one. Fancy French restaurant, [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Man, we got ripped off.” said Manuel. He was watching an old tri-D of a Flash Gordon serial made in the fifties. In the show, the year was 1998, just like now. It was hilarious and depressing all at the same time. Manuel’s robot servant brought him another drink. [...]
Author : Phill English “I just don’t want to hear it, Helen.” Helen grips Henry’s arm as he moves about the household, packing his things into a small carry-bag. She tries to spin him to face her as she pleads, but he remains resolute in his mission. “Please, Henry, just hear me out. It was [...]
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The Herschel Scientific Outpost was located on the northernmost shore of the Lacus Ocean at Titan’s South Pole. The outpost housed six earth scientists whose primary mission was to study the life forms discovered on Saturn’s largest moon. There were more than a thousand different species cataloged in the [...]
Author : Yubin Kim “I can see time, you know.” She said. He looked up from a piece of paper full of scribbled equations, frowning at the interruption. “What?” She plucked the pencil out of his loose grasp, quelling his half-formed protestations with a mysterious smile. Holding the thin object between her thumb and index [...]
Author : J. Keegan In line at the all-you-can-eat, and I’m waiting my turn; fifty different alien species in the joint; it’s hard to get human food anymore; an earthling on earth and out of place. I lift the lid to, ‘Turkey,’ but it is Alevi style, raw turkey, appendix red. Afraid of faux pas, [...]
Author : Ian Rennie I was out for a walk last night when I heard a cry for help. There was a girl in the river. I don’t know how she got there, she didn’t say at the time, and I haven’t asked her yet. All she said then was “help!”, in a voice that [...]
Author : Liz Lafferty Jonathan Wolf had grown old in space. His craft chugged across the Milky Way on its return journey to Earth. As the first solo explorer and the first man who’d left the galaxy, he was anxious to return home. Potential candidates had been selected based on hereditary aging DNA. His family [...]
Author : Jeff Phillips Grace took her hat off, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her aged hand. She hated the angle of the sun at this time of day, but this was the only place on the grounds where she felt alive. Butterflies lit on the hummingbird bushes [...]
Author : L. Mellancorps Allis coughed. Jard pulled his knife out of its sheath. Jard carries a hunting knife he found in a museum, so it’s probably even older than the video cassettes he likes to collect. It has a blade as long as my forearm with a thick, leather-wrapped hilt. It’s scary looking, sure, [...]
Author : Michael Varian Daly ~About a million miles out from the planet, space began to quiver and distort. After a few seconds, the Susapan scoutship Illaun dropped into normal space. It was small by Susapan standards, twenty six miles on its axis, a bit over seven at its widest diameter, its smooth ovoid surface [...]
Author : Subsplot Alex carefully swung his arms back, making sure he kept his posture right and his hips level. The head of the gold club reached past its apex, and then smoothly but with some force he brought it back in a graceful arc that lifted the ball cleanly of it it’s makeshift tee, [...]
Author : Apollyn So here we are. You and I on the verge of time. Ready to bungee jump right off the scariest edge my eyes have seen. I’ve done this and yet I am this close to turning my back on you and walking away. I can feel my heart all over my body [...]
Author : Debbie Mac Rory “This ship represents the cutting edge of our technologies. It’s fitted with both near-light and dark-light engines. It even has solar sails installed, if you ever wanted to cruise on silent. The ship is designed for a skeleton crew of 6, though it can accommodate up to 25 comfortably, while [...]
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Approximately 800 light-years from Earth, the DSX-13 “dropped” out of hyperspace, and reentered conventional space-time. This was Earth’s first sojourn beyond the “local neighborhood” (100 light-year radius). It took fifteen jumps, and over two months, to reach the intended target, Zeta Orionis, a rare Type O, blue supergiant. The [...]
Strange Horizons (www.strangehorizons.com) is a weekly web-based magazine of and about speculative fiction. The term “speculative fiction” refers to what is more commonly known as “sci-fi,” but which properly embraces science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, slipstream, and a host of sub-genres. The magazine was founded in September 2000, and as [they] said then: “[Speculative fiction [...]
Author : Todd Hammrich On his final day of work the robot A9327R activated with a slight jerk. He was quite pleased that today he would be done with his projects. Long ago he had been created to serve as the monument upkeep specialist and had quite a job set before him. They were old, [...]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer It was the physical changes that were the hardest to get used to. I’m not just talking about the year of physiotherapy. I’m talking about the grey hairs. I’m talking about the soft skin. That and the gradual discovery that life had passed you by. People looked at you [...]
Author : David Richey “She’s amazing!” exclaimed General Perkins. “Thank you very much, General.” Dr. Springmayer said as they looked through the observation window. “We’ve worked very hard to make her so. Having sixty years worth of classified government research and a bottomless budget backing you up doesn’t hurt either.” “You know, I’d believe she [...]
Author : Ken McGrath My body goes limp and it’s like floating, like there’s no gravity. Then I feel the zoom, my shoulders jerk back and I’m off. Blood rushes to my head, fingertips scuttling like tiny crabs dancing over the keyboard, a whoosh by my eyes as the corners flash past in a blur [...]
Author : Richard Watt Isaac blinks and tries it again. There is an apple on the table in front of him, and another on the shelf to his left. He reaches out with his left hand and picks the fruit up. It has the texture and heft of an ordinary green apple. Isaac lays it [...]
It seems like only yesterday that I was reading Outer Space Romance, the first story posted on what was then the brand new 365tomorrows site. That was August 1st, 2005 – four full years and nearly 1,500 stories ago. August first of 2009 brought us Pixelator, and the first story of this, our fifth year [...]
Author : Garrick Sherman Sarah settled back into her seat on the time skipper. She picked up a magazine and tried to read, but found she couldn’t focus. “Are you alright, dear?” the old woman in the next seat asked her. Sarah realized that she was bouncing her leg energetically. “Yes, sorry, I’m fine. I’m [...]
Author : H. Chaskin Above the clouds, it still rains. No pitter-patter. More like split-pea mist. Floating highway roars outside. Looks like Jetsons. Smells like Jersey. Naked Lady Calendar: July. Never used to rain in July. Electric eye jingles an 8-bit interlude above the door. Octo-Gen with no teeth dodders in. Orders a hockey puck, [...]
Author : Joseph Patrick Pascale An imposing man with the makings of a beard splotched across his face, Garrard skulked down the grimy Philadelphia streets slouched forward as if his muscles were barely contained within his hoodie. He crunched the plastic coffee cups that littered the sidewalk – no newspaper tumbleweed to be found here [...]
Author : Steven Saus She is within two hexes before my character notices her perfume. She is approaching from behind. I left-toggle the camera angle back to third person, floating above his head. Minicams hover and spin, filling in the the peripheral things a 120 degree first person field of view misses. She has surprised [...]
Author : Debbie Mac Rory “Now commencing system test number twenty-three. Ship designation VX1965, given name Skipper, are you receiving me”. “Affirmative” Jacob sighed and knuckled his eyes as his other hand reached to the desk to cradle his warm coffee. He wasn’t looking forward to this. He’d designed this model ships core processor and [...]
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