Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer “It’s not meat you know.” He’d slipped up silently beside me at the meat counter and was pointing to the shrink-wrapped flat of striploin I was holding. “They print those, from meat flavoured engineered inks, but they’re not meat.” As I turned to look at him, he withdrew slightly […]
Author : Rick Tobin “See, the smoke goes straight up. Nice day tomorrow, if we could go outside.” “Meter still reads dangerous. Maybe the Van Allen will come back.” “Out of our control. It’s the Sun. No wonder cultures worshiped it.” The elder, Lester Simpson, rested on flat stones near the fire pit. He poked […]
Author : James McGrath I began by stealing money. Hacking mindchips isn’t new; thousands across the planets survive by stealing bank details, logins, passwords, and rerouting what they find. Making it disappear, to pop-up elsewhere without the slightest of trails. It was challenging at first, but I grew tired of repetition; of safety. I took […]
Author : Jaime Astorga John_357897453 woke up, looked at the timer which sat next to his bed, and realized that he only had five minutes to live. Five sidereal minutes, anyway. For him, it would feel more like several hours, not that was an excuse to waste any more time. With a stretch, he got […]
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer “But it’s been almost two hundred years sir! How could this be?” “I don’t know. No one on board can explain it, but there are definitely at least a dozen human lifeforms showing on scanners down there.” The ancient story of the plankton combine, Goler II was well known. […]
Author : Bob Newbell “May 18th is totally unacceptable!” says the Thrike admiral. “That date falls in the middle of the Feast of the Blessed Serrod, the Great and Enlightened. But on June 4th, then…THEN,” he raises his neck frill for emphasis,”you should beseech the Mother of All Creation to have mercy on your souls, […]
Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer It emerges from whatever variety of nowhere that allowed it to traverse the vast distances between the worlds of the Beacon, and I know that it’s a Stranger. I’m about to slap the alarm pad when the nine-hundred meter form dips its prow and opens vast wings of multicoloured […]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer There are trillions of them and they fly in layers. The larger ones at the top interlock together during mating season, puzzle-piece continents drifting above us. The whalescoops dive down to feed on the krillsparrows below them. Turtlehawks and wolflocusts prey on rabbitdoves and deergulls. Hummingbird piranhas flit and […]
Author : David Wing It was clear from the read-outs, we were going to fire. The question was, how bad? Barnes had reset the system, but it didn’t work, the countdown remained and the Mind kept on ticking. Its lights shone a staunch red and while we ran here and there, flicking switches and turning […]
Author : Roger Dale Trexler They heard the sound of the approaching vehicle and looked at each other. “That can’t be,” said John Hemington, “the rover’s been gone for three weeks. It’s programmed to stay gone for two months.” He looked quizzically at Daniel Hepford, communication expert. Hepford looked out the viewport. The wind was […]
Author : Bob Newbell General Vlank walked along the corridor toward the Research and Development Lab, his motors whirring quietly with each step. Quietly, but perhaps not as quietly as they once did. He’d been neglecting routine maintenance. A lot of the High Command had as the war dragged on. Sometimes, standing in his recharge […]
Author : Gray Blix “The universe is holographic? Surely you’re joking.” “I am not joking, Dr. Feynstein. But I did not say THE universe. I said YOUR universe. Your universe is a simulation. Pay attention. There is not much time.” The young man appeared jittery in the flickering light. Feynstein glanced at the overhead fluorescent […]
Author : Cliff Cymrot I once thought living forever was a gift. We all did. At first it was the rich and affluent that benefited from nanobots (bots); those impossibly complex micro-machines. They cured disease, maintained proper hormone levels, repaired damage, even healed wounds so fast that blood was kept from bleeding out (heaven knows […]
Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer It all started when Amelia and I were sat in the deserted faculty restaurant at 3AM. In reply to a piece of silliness that had being going on all day, I said: “What if the dream goes sideways?” The silence of mutual epiphany descended and we dropped our cans […]
Author : Rob Sharp ‘What the hell!’ A dozen pairs of eyes turned to glare at Jerry. A little black dot on the front page indicated that question seven, the question he was halfway through, had been altered. He read it again; it was different. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled and hunkered back into his chair. The […]
Author : Bob Newbell I’m gonna make it, I think to myself as my ship streaks past the Asteroid Belt. Only a few small colonies in the outer solar system. Soon I’ll be safely in the Oort Cloud. It’s a good place to lay low until the heat’s off. Probably need to hang out there […]
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Carter Blake woke screaming into sweat soaked sheets again. It had been over a year, but the memories were still crystal clear and relentless; from the calm serenity of an afternoon patrol to the searing heat, the sudden impact and as his vision cleared, the view past the freshly […]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Wings of Night. That’s what Jeffrey thought the ship should be named. Instead, the bonehead Captain James had named her Silverfish. Jeffrey sat at his small, cramped station going through his pre-launch checklist, face lit by the screens and buttons in front of him. The head engineer Sparling wanted […]
Author : Gray Blix Leaning across the table, “Either you start talking, or I start dismantling you.” “Excuse me, Detective Gibbon, but aren’t you supposed to read me my rights?” “You’re a robot. You have no rights.” “May I please call an attorney now?” “You’re a robot. You don’t get an attorney.” The door opened […]
Author : Emily Stupar The rain swirled over tiles and across rooftops before spreading like drapes down the sides of each decrepit building. Lights from the richly populated northern quarter dyed the clouds a deep purple and orange, giving the two fugitives in the west just enough reflection to navigate the unplumbed depths of pools […]
Author : Emily Stupar The Department of Innovation and Study’s car smells exactly the same as the last time I was forced to pack up my partner, Buckwalter, and make a Cookie call: unassuming plastic and rubber underlined by our own sweaty anxiety. We drive in tense silence for twenty minutes until Buckwalter slaps a […]
Author : Rick Tobin Bright yellow sulfur combined with duller golden salts into a drifting, wispy fog around the genetically modified mules. Their packs glistened with the settling, bitter powders. Additional chartreuse dusts escaped from the gills on their fetlocks as they converted IO’s caustic soup into a replacement for Earth’s atmosphere. Solid wastes exhausted […]
Author : Anthony Abruscato The beeping told me my oxygen level was low. “It’s like falling asleep,” said Gordon. Mars dust coated his space suit. I clutched a picture of my wife and daughter. Gordon’s oxygen tank read nineteen percent. He palmed a photo of his own. “Will you make it home?” I asked with […]
Author : Suzanne Borchers “You have a decision to make.” Her surgeon leaned forward on the chair, eyes soft with tiny wrinkles around them. Mary glanced first at her husband sitting quietly next to her and then to their hands clasped together. She faced the surgeon. “Didn’t the microbots’ transplant work? We need a baby.” […]
Author : Gray Blix Scientists couldn’t help but wonder if solar flares that disrupted communications worldwide for three days were related to the concurrent solar computing experiment. “Thanks for joining this web teleconference on short notice. As usual I will provide a detailed project update and others on the team will contribute as appropriate. Let […]
Author : Roger Dale Trexler “It’s troubling,” said Commander Smithee. “I don’t understand how the crew of the Carcosa could have disappeared. From all intelligence, Maurid 3 is a safe planet.” “It’s outer space,” replied Captain Cox. “There’s nothing safe about it.” Smithee nodded. “You’re right, of course….but it still doesn’t explain how the crew […]
Author : Jae Miles, Staff Writer Jardine dragged himself over the log, gasping in agony as the belt that formed the tourniquet on his leg caught. His jodhpurs were stained and the lower sections were covered in bloody handprints where he’d had to kick Harvey loose. It had been the first Pembrokeshire hunt in over […]
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Are we robot zombies or are we the pinnacle of humanity? Are we ahead of the evolutionary curve? Did we make the leap that all creatures with a finite lifespan have to or are we freaks? The universe remains as silent as it ever has on the subject. No […]
Author : Rick Tobin Log Entry: Friday, August 19, 2033 I doubt anyone aboard will miss me, but how to go? No cords or a decent rope for hanging. Not a belt on the whole ship. Velcro won’t cut it with the smooth walls on the Jones. If I had a decent cook’s apron I […]
Author : Gray Blix “I don’t see anything, mommy. I want to go inside.” He was lying in his child-sized lounge chair next to her adult-sized lounge. The nights were clear and warm in Stella’s corner of the world after the astronomers’ announcement, so people looked up at the sky expecting to see new stars […]
Author : Richard D. Deverell My name is Jackson Smith. I work as the coroner for a large county with a small population and even smaller infrastructure. Last week, a train derailed in our county, dumping toxic chemicals that killed more people in the week after the accident than the derailment itself. I hadn’t slept […]
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