Morning Stars

Author : Steven Holland The front door security alarm deactivates. This unit reactivates and runs start-up diagnostics. Left motivator reports lubricant coverage below optimal levels. Observation noted. This will not interfere with this unit’s operation until scheduled ...

Rebirth

Author : Jacqueline Rochow We assumed that they were aliens. I mean, when something nonhuman approaches you from space and opens communication, it’s a freakin’ alien, right? Stands to reason. They set up a station on the moon and opened communications. They were friendly. ...

And That's When The Screaming Started

Author : Steven Odhner "I'm sorry, Dave. The effects are likely permanent." Roger looks properly sympathetic as he gives me the news, clutching my chart like a shield and wrinkling his forehead. I'm distracted, not by the bad news but by a green stain on his lab coat that ...

Senior Project

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer It was a significant indiscretion to say the least. To have become emotionally involved in your science project was bad enough, but to have affected its outcome was unforgivable. In fact, it was a breach of conduct worthy of ...

Curiosity Killed the Spacer

Author : Thomas Desrochers A distress beacon blinked softly in the night, the quiet red light weakly calling out "help me, help me." Around it pale white snow swirled through the air, gently eddying around the dark shape of the crashed cargo hauler, lazily working to cover ...

After The Fall

Author : Glenn Blakeslee After The Fall Carlos was at loose ends and alone, so he hot-wired Daniel's old Chevy, siphoned gas from abandoned cars and drove north. He hadn't seen Daniel for a while and was sure he was dead. He saw people from the freeway but didn't stop. He ...

Time Stations

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer She set up a receiving station in her office. That receiving station was anchored at 3:45 PM, August 22nd, 2018. As soon as she turned it on, the messages from her future self came pouring in. Advice on theories, scores from sports ...

Hibernation

Author : T. King His eyes fluttered open. The hatch hissed as he pushed against it and steam began to swirl around the cold metal floor. Other than a huge kink in his neck and some joint stiffness, he was feeling fine. Evans had been sleeping for a long time. Now he got ...

Fingers, Itchy and Green

Author : Ken McGrath I should have left it alone. But you know what it’s like you just can’t help picking at these things. Remember when you were a kid and your mum’d tell you not to pick at a scab or stop scratching your chicken pox or whatever, well that’s exactly what it ...

That Golden Chance

Author : Joseph Hoye A choice: the camp or the city. Carl would be dead within an hour if he approached the city without an offering for the Fathers - mercy and I.O.U.s have long since dried up on this world. An offering is not merely a representation of life. It is life. ...

Significant Difference

Author : Jacqueline Rochow “Well? What’s it like?” “Shut up, Dev, I’m trying to concentrate.” Nara squinted through the telescope, adjusting the focus slightly. “Well isn’t that something.” “Let me see!” Dev strode over, only to be halted by Nara’s glare. “I’ve just set ...

Teddy Bear

Author : Jeroen Amin She lay on the bed in the darkness of her room, clinging to her teddy bear. She spoke in excited whispers so that Mommy sleeping next door would not wake. She told of all the adventures that had comprised her day. “Daddy, I wish you could have seen ...

A Flash in the Pan

Author : Mark Wallace The literary agent wore a sharp suit and a slick smile when Charles walked in. “Hey Charles, my man. This is really an honour.” “Thank you,” said Charles, a man of late middle age, bearded, with a sad, sober expression of face. He was dressed neatly ...

The Birdmen of Alpha Apodis

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “When are these damn birds going to let us go back to the Shuttle?” demanded Captain Linnaeus. “We have weapons, Captain, they don’t,” stated Lieutenant Baldwin, the ship’s exobiologist. “Therefore, I suppose that we can leave anytime ...

Stars

Author : C Sousa “Son, have you seen the stars?” “This one time when I went camping,” I replied. It had been lame, just a handful of lit pinpoints in the sky at this touristy little campground my parents had found. “That’s not really seeing the stars,” he told me. “I can ...

Reflection

Author : Heather O'Connell The stifling heat from the fireplace made the tiny kitchen unbearable. Gracie's pile of laundry never got any smaller. She looked out the window at the ocean in the distance. How did she know it was the ocean? Her thoughts were not her own. I could ...

Lock Down

Author : Brenna Robinson Something happened back in those days that caused the compound to go into lock-down and never open again. When I started asking myself questions, and I decided that it could be only one of two things. Either the world had ended, or there was a ...

Nine Lives

Author : Martin Sumner Sydney Park, Loss Adjuster for Prudential Insurance, straightens his tie. Slides a manicured finger into his starched shirt collar. Swallows. Checks for the third time that he has his leather briefcase with him, and pushes open the swinging glass door. ...

Random Story :

  • Hard Currency

    Author : Desmond Hussey, Featured Writer “That’ll be two-thousand kilowatts,” …