The Sun Cult

Author : Sharon Molloy The bean juice tastes as bitter as it always does. I drink it only to stay awake and so live another day. The rest of the tribe piously swallows it as part of the sun worship ritual. They also swallow stupidly circular logic: This plant is the sun’s favorite, ...

Stricken From the Record of Space and Time

Author : Charlie Sandefer The elderly scientist took a nervous breath before he stepped into the machine. He typed in May 23, 2016 and flipped the switch on the center console. The machine began to shake violently. His frail frame was slammed against his seat. He tightened every muscle ...

Stuck on Libby

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s a blue moon above and it’s nothing more than that. Here on Libby, the moons are blue. The rocks here are all shades of blue thanks to a chemical process that occurred during the creation of this planet. The vegetation is blue because ...

Forever High

Author : Joshua Doyle We could have seen it coming for a couple of years. Identification of pathways that lead to cell aging, the discovery of a method of removing the "unwanted side effects" from THC, the discovery that tetrahydrocannabinol could be used to target and suppress ...

Lost Account of the Misty Islands

Author : Stephen Ahlgrim May 16, 1787 I cannot pretend to hide my excitement. My ship sets sail today, to the Misty Islands I had only read in folklore. Origin of the Species sits apprehensively on top of my sack. I am certain that Darwin's spirit is as anxious to see the fabled Homo ...

The Progressive School

Author : Katie Krantz The woman and the school were equally sleek. Her hair and the metal exterior both shined: their luster was unnatural in the most pristine sense. Her heels clicked against the dark wood floors, and she gestured with her long, black nails to the various facets of ...

Vessel Virgins

Author : Rick Tobin “This one, it’s too close. Something’s wrong!” Taylor Hines tapped the green screen, yelling at Corus, as her brilliant, red-scaled hands clawed the communications panel. “Ogira 6. Ogira 6. Back away point three apars from the dwarf star. Ogira, respond.” ...

Gravity of the Situation

Author : Bob Newbell The low rumbling sound in my starship goes up in both pitch and volume. Even through the Koliada's graviton fields and inertia attenuators, I can feel the vessel shuddering. "Computer, report!" "We have dropped out of FTL," says my ship. "We are caught in a ...

Death Threat

Author : Beck Dacus "I'm here, Vickers," Ricky said, walking in to the wire-filled room, setting down his backpack and collapsing into the chair in front of the monitor. "I got the guy. What was his name?" "Irwin Farlow," Vickers said from upstairs. "You captured his mind, how do you ...

Hydrogen Butterfly

Author : Glenn S. Austin It was the first ship to be outfitted with the Time Jump and the Magnetic Field Drive. It was the perfect pairing of technology. The right tool for the specific research that Gleason was pursuing. Traverse back in time billions of years to when the Sun was ...

True Love

Author : Todd Wells Jon approached the pearly gates. The kindly old man smiled. "Welcome," he said. "Here, everyone spends their immortal life together with their true love. Soon, you will be reunited with your wife, Julie." "That's wonderful. Thank you so much!" Jon entered the gates ...

Better Than Reality

Author : J.D. Mraz A man snores on his pseudo-leather recliner, the remote dangling between his half closed fingers. He is bald, the white of his stomach hairy and stained with unwashed sweat. The light of the TV dances along the wall, ballerinas at play. His stomach rises and falls at ...

Strength In Numbers

Author : A. A. Woods When I approached the dominant species of that vibrant blue planet, they bowed to me as their new ruler. Queen, they called me. Big oneness. They allowed me into their web of minds without hesitation. I entered their war-ravaged colonies and ...

Sulfur-Yellow

Author : Andreea Daia Yesterday’s art show was a disaster. Again. No surprise that Howard was a jerk, but this time he called me a wuss in front of Aliena. “Your solar system looks like it’s been blustered by a magnetic storm. Don’t tell me you think anything could live there. Aww... ...

Lizzie

Author : Austen Woodward It had been a normal Saturday, I’d got up, done my hair, my makeup, slipped on my dress and walked out of the house, making sure to lock the door behind me as my parents always sleep in and are worried about intruders. I turned the key in the ignition and set ...

Stem Intent

Author : Morrow Brady When pigeons deviated in mid-air and windless leaves rustled, the hidden dreamers were about. A detector notified me it had seen something, so I went to my balcony and tuned my visor to the corresponding wavelength. Carpeted with warm dappled light, the Italian ...

Unfinished

Author : JWH Gobbin hated this place. It stank of death and soldered metal. But then again, so did everywhere else in the belt these days. Resulta, as the locals now called it, was originally settled as part of the water-ice mining boom in Orkon Crater, the only remaining traces of ...

The Queen of the Moon

Author : Bob Newbell Queen Chandrietta VI motioned for her Prime Minister to stop speaking while she gave instructions to the royal hairdresser. Her majesty was only one point nine three meters tall, fairly short by the standards of a native of Earth's Moon. After thirty six ...

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