by submission | Jun 11, 2023 | Story |
Author: Hillary Lyon
Moony stepped back to eye his handiwork. He called to his assistant. “Get over here and tell me what you think.”
Rollo rolled up beside him. “It’s sublime! The coloration, the fine detail. Especially the eyes—they’re so life-life! It’s sure to fool the other—”
“Ducks,” Moony finished for him. “We call them ducks.” Brush in hand, he walked up to his latest decoy to put the finishing touches on its plum-tinted lips.
* * *
Like most denizens of this over-crowded city, Sebastian kept his head down and avoided eye-contact with strangers—and he was surrounded by nothing but strangers. Exiting the subway, he waded against the flow of commuters rushing in like a river of oblivious bodies, rudely shoving and malodorous.
This evening ritual exasperated Sebastian, wore him down—until he bumped into one particularly clean and moderately attractive body. Their crash caused her to drop her book. Sebastian dived to the grimy concrete floor to retrieve it.
“Sorry,” he grinned sheepishly. He glanced at the book’s title: ‘Whittling Wooden Decoys.’ How refreshing, he thought, here’s somebody with an uncommon, quirky hobby. Wonder if she’d like to get coffee, and discuss decoys.
He handed her the book. Their hands touched briefly, and the hard, protective shield covering Sebastian’s tender heart cracked. “Say, would you like to grab a cappuccino?” The stranger smiled, bobbing her head. The shield fell away, bit by bit, and by the time they were sitting in a java joint, Sebastian’s exposed heart warmed to the point of glowing through his shirt.
“Luminous,” the woman commented. “Good sign.” She raised her cooling mocha latte to her plum-tinted lips, but didn’t drink. Instead she blew bubbles.
Sebastian nervously chattered like an old dot-matrix printer, noticing she rarely spoke. A good listener! He happily noted. Maybe she’ll come back to my apartment with me. . .
He laughed awkwardly. “By the way, my name’s Sebastian . . and you are?”
“Scaup,” she declared. “From New Zealand.” In his burgeoning infatuation, he didn’t notice she had no accent. “Go to my place,” she stated, her round, dark eyes glistening.
Exiting the shop, Sebastian couldn’t help but notice how Scaup wiggled her tail and tossed back her feathered hair. A sure sign of excitement!
Her place turned out to be an alleyway dead-end. This can’t be right, he worried. She must be new to the city. She’s lost.
With a surprisingly firm grip, Scaup grabbed his hand to lead him into a cone of light shining down from . . . That’s no streetlight, Sebastian panicked, looking up into the dark sky. He dropped his to-go cup of coffee. That’s a—
* * *
“She’s lured an excellent specimen,” Moony gloated. “As I knew she would! Scaup’s one of my finest decoys.” He gently wiped the dried mocha latte foam from Scaup’s plum-tinted lips before placing her in storage for recharging.
“He’ll make a fine addition to any collection,” Rollo piped up. He rotated the stasis case; inside, Sebastian was frozen in mid-yell, eyes clenched tightly shut. “A prime example of a healthy young Earth male. No scarring, no unnecessary markings, disease-free.”
Rollo turned to his boss. “Will this ‘duck’ be exhibited live, or stuffed?”
“That depends on the vote of the Society,” Moony replied, then added wistfully, “But he’s so perfect, I might just keep him for myself.”
by submission | Jun 10, 2023 | Story |
Author: James A Brown III
Seismic activity had gotten stronger over the last couple of weeks, along with random power drops. It all started when a hole was punched through the center of the moon to take samples for mining.
Dex was taking a breather, looking out a window across the moonscape to the gas giant they orbited. It was odd how this one also had an eye, like Jupiter, and that eye was facing them like the behemoth was watching.
The strange thing about this was there were definite patterns to the quakes and power drains. The drill laser also encountered various levels of resistance as it bored to the moon’s center. Analysis showed harder parts of the moon than other parts, meaning the moon must have formed quickly.
The word had been given, so Dex and the forty-seven other Mining Recons were packing up, as being out in space was probably safer. He had been the first one packed and was doing more analysis while the big ship was being prepped.
There was something below that caught his eye and he studied it some more. It was about half a mile down and seemed to be a chunk of metal a couple of hundred feet long, bent in a perfect ninety angle in the middle. It was a very odd find for what seemed a standard moon.
Another quake started up. Dex paused to wait for it to stop. It didn’t. It got stronger.
An alarm sounded, evacuation. It was time to go.
He collected up his data pads, shoved them into his pack, and ran down the hallway toward his room. After five near-collisions, he made it and put on his spacesuit.
The whole base lurched to one side, violently. Dex ran for the hatch near him, one that went straight to the ship.
As he rounded a corner, he plowed right into a couple of others who were standing still. He pushed past them to see what was happening.
What he saw was the emergency force field holding in their air. What should have been the tube to the ship ended a few feet away and in its place was a deep cavern that disappeared into darkness. The ship was gone as well.
The whole base lurched and exploded, tossing him and everyone around him out into space.
As he sped over the moon’s surface, rising away from it, he saw the strangest sight he had ever seen. The surface of the moon was cracking and folding as if many doors were opening. He had a few minutes of propulsion, and having located the ship, intact and at a safe distance, he aimed himself at it and shot out, joined by the few others who had shared his foresight, and the bodies of those who hadn’t.
Once he had the right momentum, he spun around to look back.
The moon was opening like a puzzle sphere and from this distance, he could see there was a large central construct.
Lights flickered on and holographic projections appeared in the space around the moon. It reminded Dex of an amusement park.
Then came a voice in his mind, using his language.
“Welcome to the resting place of Emperor Jolas Strack IV. By our calculations, it has been … sixty-seven thousand, two hundred and twelve years since anyone visited our fine establishment. Please forgive our cleaning efforts as we were forced to go into dormant mode until we could recharge our systems. Have a nice visit!”
Dex watched the ancient mausoleum continuing to open as pieces of the colony traveled with him.
by Stephen R. Smith | Jun 9, 2023 | Story |
Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer
I’d never dreamed before, at least not that I could remember.
Sure, a lifetime in that chair, I’d hoped for things, but that’s different. Sleep was always empty, vacant. Dreamless.
Ever since I’ve become a retread, the visions have been relentless. This reclaimed meatsuit must have been saturated in deeply emotional experiences, and when they bleached it, some of them didn’t wash out.
Most of these meatsuits come from habitual offenders; death row inmates, the irredeemable dregs of society. Their family gets a payout, they get off the hook early, and people like me born with a body broken in all the wrong places get another chance.
Retread.
I don’t know where this meatsuit came from, and the plastics work had all been done before I moved in, so I can’t even track down the history by likeness, but there’s something about these fragments that I see when I close my eyes that are undeniable, unavoidable, unnerving.
Standing here, now, at this intersection, I can understand why.
The wreaths are still wired to the guardrail, and the crosses, while leaning, remain stuck in the dirt.
Despite all efforts to wash it away – wind, rain, time – the evidence remains. Undeniable. Unavoidable.
If I close my eyes, the road, the railing, her eyes. It’s all so clear to me now.
I understand how someone could want not to relive these memories, be prepared to not inhabit this body anymore to be free of them.
I don’t blame them.
In time, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay in here with them either.
by submission | Jun 8, 2023 | Story |
Author: Paul Cesarini
Den leaned back in his chair, wishing he were someplace else. The sole lightbulb in his “office” flickered defiantly, daring him to try to fix it. He looked up at the bulb but didn’t budge. He’d much rather be home with his wife and his son. Their dog. Those were simpler times, he thought. Back then, my biggest problem was trying to figure out why the sprinkler system wasn’t working, he thought. My big To-Do list – that somehow occupied my weekends – was maybe going to the lumber store, maybe mowing the lawn. Grilling. Real first-world problems, he thought, shaking his head.
He remembered actually getting upset with his son about him forgetting to wipe his shoes before he entered the house. Seriously. Admittedly, most of that was a show for his wife. If it was important to her, it was important to him by default. Still, he actually made a big deal out of something as utterly trivial as that. We were complacent as hell back then, he thought.
Entitled. Pampered, even.
Now, his wife was gone. Almost certainly dead, like nearly everyone he knew. Their house was gone, as was most of their town. That lumber store? Gone. His son – like all other able-bodied males 13 and older – was enlisted and doing his part to help save the world. He wondered if he was still stationed in New Mexico, or if that had fallen, too. He hadn’t heard any chatter from there in weeks, but that wasn’t necessarily atypical for regions that far apart. Each remaining division was almost an island now, cut off from all but the most local communications.
No Internet anymore. No cell towers. No satellite phones. No functioning GPS that he was aware of. Strictly shortwave now, and maybe forever. But how much longer is “forever” now? A year or two? Months? Weeks?
And I got mad. Because he forgot to wipe. His shoes…
by submission | Jun 7, 2023 | Story |
Author: Majoki
That frozen day, the father glowered at his son hunched over the laptop in the kitchen. “This is no way to earn a living.”
The teenager leaned further into his screen dancing with code.
“You’re not even dressed. How is this right?”
The keyboard clacked in answer.
“Look at me. I deserve that. You would not have this house, that laptop. Any damn technology if not for me.” The father’s crooked forefinger jabbed towards the back window rimmed with winter. “Every day I was out there. There! In the cold. In the heat. Day and night with my tools. Crowbar, screwdriver, baseball bat. Picking locks. Breaking doors. Bashing heads. Long hours. Many, many people looking to bash my head in, too. Do you hear me?”
The son nodded incidentally.
The father reached for the laptop and the son deftly pulled it out of his reach.
“I should crush it. It’s taught you nothing about the world. Nothing about what it takes to survive. Typing on a keyboard, trying to steal from miles away. Continents away. You learn nothing about crime unless you look your victim in the eye. Like choking a man you’ve never seen take a single breath. Before you take it away…forever.”
The son set his laptop to the side. “Really, papa. This again? The good old days? When robbing people was hard work. When criminals had to earn it. I’ve heard that playlist before. But I know you’ve never bashed in anyone’s head, let alone strangle them. I know you and your pals are nothing but petty criminals. Like me.”
He turned the laptop, so his father could see. “I’m a dime a dozen. Like thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, out there hustling on the web. That’s where commerce lives now, so that’s where crime lives now. I’m a flea, a louse, a tick, trying to latch on and suck a few drops before the greedy beast notices and tries to crush me. I’m not noble. You’re not. We’re just part of the underbelly, the part of the circle of life we’d rather move past.”
The father looked beyond his son, out the window, to the bare trees, the dirty piled snow, a sky without definition. “It’s what I know. What do I have to give you then?”
The son followed his father’s gaze and closed the laptop. “Papa. You gave me reality. An understanding that this world is not just. That I have to take what I want. My crimes, my tools, are different than yours. I know you wanted a better life for me. These tools give it to me.”
“But I have no part in that kind of life. Your virtual world. I can teach you nothing there. For a father that’s worse than criminal. Worse than doing time.”
A strong gust scoured the piled snow and rattled the windows. “Winter is a kind of prison,” the son remarked. “What do criminals in prison do?’
The father scoffed. “Brag. Brag about what they did. What they’ll do when they get out. Bigger and badder crimes. Bragging is how crooks dream. About good old times and how to get them back. Like you said, we’re a dime a dozen.”
“Exactly the point I’m hoping you see, papa. A dime a dozen. Doesn’t sound like much, but how many dozens are in a billion? In seven billion? That’s a Switzerland of dimes. A massive fortune in small change ripe for pickpocketing. Virtually. For my generation, the big score is no more. It’s about milking the long tail.”
“Milking a tail?”
“Stealing almost microscopic amounts over a very long time from millions and millions of accounts. It adds up. Like your stories of taking tiny nips from your dad’s bottle of Scotch when you were my age. He never noticed the “angel’s breath” you sipped. You weren’t greedy, so you slipped under the radar. That’s what you taught me.”
“None of this is right. None of this makes sense.” The father went to the window and stared out. “But what can one do?” He cocked his head as if listening to something. A microsecond later the furnace coughed into life and warm air pushed into the kitchen.
Both father and son shivered.
by submission | Jun 6, 2023 | Story |
Author: Ed Lazer
Lew was panting by the time he opened the door. It was 98 degrees outside, and the cool air gave him a chill. Lew noticed the new concession stands as he made his way to the restroom. Even the bathroom was updated – brighter, cleaner, smelling of pine needles. He peed and washed his hands and face. The old sign was still above the hand dryer:
LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT?
• Are you being abused?
• Are you being forced to do work for no pay?
• Are you being forced to have sex?
WE CAN HELP. CALL 888-555-1212
Lew was deciding between a burger and a chicken sandwich as he headed for the exit. He walked down the short hall, took a left, but found himself back in the bathroom.
“What the hell?”
Same bathroom, different people. A father hustled his son from the hand dryer to the exit. Lew followed behind, went down the hall, turned left, and entered the bathroom—again. This time it was darker. One light above the sinks was out, another blinked. The people were seedier, the smell of stale urine overpowering. A guy with ragged clothes holding a “Please Help” sign stared at him.
Lew ran to the exit and down the hall again with the same result. Except now, the bathroom was even gloomier, and the toilets and garbage bins were overflowing. The floor was wet and filthy. The guy with the sign was still eying him. Now it read, “Abandon all hope.”
Lew panicked. He went to the sink, splashed cold water on his face and tried to calm down. He went to the drier and looked up at the sign. It had changed.
LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT?
• Are you stuck in a cycle of despair?
• Have you lost hope that your life will get better?
• Are you unable to find an exit?
WE CAN HELP. CALL 111-111-1111
Lew fumbled for his phone and punched in the number. It rang three times.
“Restoration Services. How can we help you?”
Lew stammered. “I can’t get out of the bathroom! I try to leave, and I keep ending up in the same place. Except it’s darker and dirtier, and I’m losing my mind!”
“I see, can I have your name please?”
“Lew Laszlo.”
“Yes, we can help you. Proceed to the exit, and this time do not take your right hand off the wall as you make your way out.”
“Hey, you!” yelled the sign man. “Where do you think you’re going? Get back here!”
Lew ran toward the exit. He kept his right hand on the wall, holding the phone in his left. The hall got progressively darker until there was no light at all.
“Are you still there?” Lew shouted.
“Yes, you’re doing fine. Just keep going.”
“How much farther?” Lew yelled.
“NEAR!” the voice shouted. Someone pounded into Lew’s chest, and he almost fell. The hall seemed endless.
“Are you still there? How much longer?” Lew gasped.
“I’m HERE, you’re NEAR.” the voice yelled. Again, someone smashed into his chest. Lew dropped his phone and lost contact with the wall.
Lew felt like he was floating. Voices were getting louder in the hallway. The light was getting brighter, but everything was blurry. Lew felt something on his face. He was jostled as shapes hovered around him. Suddenly, he felt a warm blast. His vision finally came into focus, and he saw the flashing lights of the waiting ambulance.
