Be Careful What you Ask For

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “It was one hundred years ago today, on April 6, 1992,” stated Joshua Noyle, “that one of the greatest minds in the history of mankind passed away.” “And who might that be?” inquired Tom Vittna, although to be honest, he didn’t really ...

Chronos

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Underarm with the knife!” Every instructor I have ever had said that. It’s not strictly true, but it’s a good start. When it comes right down to it, you stick the knife through any gap available, switching grip as necessary. You need to ...

Badass Benny Boots

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer The depressing gloom of twelve noon hanging dark in brown smog was only outdone by the endless rows of ash grey skyscrapers; so many housing projects, so many broken windows, so many bodies rotting in the steel towers of the eastern ...

Population – 1

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Wow, you’re so small,” said the pink humanoid creature looking at me. It had created eyes for itself and a very primitive nervous system to replicate as many human senses as it could. It had used me as a model but standing here looking ...

Second Light

Author : Bob Newbell Lieutenant Thev's cephalon bioluminesced a faint yellow. Clearly, he was nervous. "You do realize, Thev, that this is the most carefully planned celestial engineering project in galactic history?" Thev turned his cephalon to face Project Director Grojjun. ...

Friends

Author : William Mason “They used to have something called friends.” “What?” asked the boy, The machine beeped a few times, and resumed with its synthesized voice, “Friends are people whose company you enjoyed; people who are an extension of you.” “Friends.” repeated the ...

Perihelion

Author : Bob Newbell Four minutes. That's how much longer I have to be human. Or, if things don't go as planned, to be alive. I could have elected to be anesthetized for the procedure. If I had and anything went wrong, I'd never know it. I'd simply never wake up. But I chose ...

Caretaker

Author : Thomas Desrochers Tara giggled and leaned over the railing of the walkway, peering down the cyclopean shaft. “You know,” she told Camus, “I bet that if you were to fall down this you would fall forever and ever and never even stop.” She trilled out a laugh again and ...

Bombs Bursting in Air

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Alumnus Only bits remained. Three stars, a bit of blue and two stripes, one red, one white. They left it to fly in mockery of the country they had defeated. Theirs was a country that valued pride above all. To lose face was worse than death. To ...

Back to the Weapons

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer As the battle collapsed into bloody massacre, I paused and looked at the sword in my hand as violet blood hissed and evaporated in acrid clouds of blue smoke. The brutal simplicity underlying the centuries of field testing sang through my ...

Perfectly Humane

Author : J.D. Rice “I really want to take this fork and stab it through your chest, Mr. Johnson.” “That’s nice, Sam. Now please eat your food.” The boy eyes me with his cold, twitching eyes, fork hand ready to strike, bits of gravy smothered chicken still stuck between the ...

Golden Years

Author : Thomas Desrochers Bertie was a kind looking old man of eighty who had more wrinkles from smiling than anything else, and who looked like he always had a joke on his mind. He wasn't particularly tall, though he was clearly handsome once. His shirt was plaid and tucked ...

Ghost beacon

Author : M. A. Goldin Elise had been bellowing at the comms for two minutes. Where the hell was he? Keeper McDermott scrambled into the room and fell into a chair before the console. He wore worn clothes and a week’s whiskers. “Sorry, I was just tinkering with the electrical ...

Two Paths

Author : Chris Daly There were two, quite different, options open to him now. The optical sensor domes sprouting from his aft projections registered six thermal spikes; a quick cross reference from his synthetic aperture radar strips confirmed the incoming ships. Pulling a ...

Stupid is as Stupid Does

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Humans had always been looking for a way to legitimately kill the stupid. But where did they draw the line? An outside force had to make the choice. Humans couldn’t morally make that kind of decision. After first contact, Earth was ...

Kiss Migration

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer The Pai-Toxh beings of the twin planet set, Andromedae 2787A and B, were nearing their migration time. The entire flock had just about finished feeding and were full of energy for their upcoming journey. Calls went out as alpha leaders ...

Triage

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Life shouldn't be this easy to take. Flick a switch and listen to the muted swoosh of a section spitting its atmosphere into vacuum. Of course, it's not so easy for those losing it. The agonies of the dying beat against my mind and reduce ...

Underground

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The detective stood just inside the tape at the doorway to Grant's office and surveyed the carnage. Deep maroon fluid had been spattered over most surfaces, some of it obviously while still under pressure as it had reached the ceiling ...

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