by Julian Miles | Apr 26, 2021 | Story |
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
I wake with a dagger in my hand. The other end of the dagger is in someone’s neck. Raising my gaze, I see the life fade from his eyes. The moment stretches as details sketch themselves in around the face of someone I don’t know. A ship’s bridge. Crew members staring in horror. A purple and green planet on the view screens.
The nearest person’s gaze flicks to my left. Something hits me from the left. I’m knocked down, dagger seemingly locked in my hand. Blood fountains across my falling view. I hit the floor, then hit my head. Darkness.
“Is she awake?”
“She’s coming round, sir.”
I open my eyes. The ceiling is blue, the lighting soft and indirect.
“Welcome back, Shistal. If that’s your real name.”
It’s not.
“Becky. Rebecca. Rebecca Ethelsdotter.”
“Dotter? You’re from the Scandic Worlds?”
“Issker.”
“Why do you have greenish skin?”
I raise my hand. Long fingers. Their colour is wrong. I giggle.
“Eisa said I had green fingers. Don’t think she meant it literally.”
“Eisa?”
“My sister.”
Him!
“Faen!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Eisa got a new boyfriend. Madden Lars. I thought he was a creep, and that was before he tried it on. I told her, she finished with him. He said he’d get me for doing that.”
“How is this pertinent?”
“She said he described his job as ‘cyberpsychiatrist’. We laughed about robots lying on a couch. A few days later, I found out what they do is adjust behaviour with implants.”
A bearded man with blue eyes leans into my view.
“We’ll have to continue this conversation later. Something just came up.”
It goes quiet, then crewmembers come in and wheel whatever I’m lying on into a grey room. I hear the door close with a hiss.
The bearded man reappears.
“Sorry about that. I think I got where you were going with that line of thought. Hold still. We’re about to do a passive scan.”
“Why passive?”
“Because I think anyone who set you up with an implanted cyber-identity so you could assassinate someone, but rigged it to have you live long enough to realise, is nasty enough to have booby-trapped it. That’s why I moved you to a shielded room: so this Madden or whoever he works for can’t detonate you before we’re done.”
Swallowing hurts; my mouth has gone dry.
He leaves. Time passes. Things hum and stop, then click and stop, then hum again. There’s a hissing noise. Things get blurry. Darkness.
“Welcome back, Rebecca.”
I’m lying in a bed with a raised back. The bearded man is sitting to one side. There’s a nurse on the other. A uniformed man in body armour stands by the door.
“Was I booby-trapped?”
He nods.
“Very much so. You’d been set up to injure or kill everyone near you. The medical team have taken it all out. Our security team have already extracted enough information to prove that, despite your body being used, you’re not actually guilty.”
“What about Madden?”
“He’s been arrested and taken off Issker for questioning. I also requested a protective detail for your family. Just in case.”
“I thought he meant it, too. But I was preparing for petty vandalism, not kidnapping.”
“It certainly raises some dark possibilities. You’ll be questioned when you return home. They’re sending a vessel to collect you. Until then, you get to enjoy the cruise from this private room in our medical centre.”
“Thank you.”
Questioning isn’t the problem. I’m more concerned about how I stop being green.
by submission | Apr 25, 2021 | Story |
Author: John Albertson
The dinner bell rings, and we line up in pairs. My pair today is Veronica. I don’t like her.
I take a plate from the VendingLady – brown MEET, maybe synthbeef, with powdery mash and what they call gravy but my mum would have called dishwater. Veronica takes hers and goes to sit at one of the steel tables. I follow – not like I have any choice. She’s my pair.
I pick at my food. The texture of the MEET is like old boots, the mash like a pile of dust. Veronica catches my eye and smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“You know it’s my birthday today?”
I look at her. Today? But that means…
“Yep, sixteen today. So you won’t see me again, well not for what? Two years?”
“Three,” I say. I’m thirteen.
“Three…” she sighs and chews a mouthful of MEET. “So what’s that, four? If I’m lucky.”
I nod. Four babies. If she’s lucky.
“Four,” she says, her eyes far away. If I hadn’t looked away, I might have missed it. Her hand slides her knife off the table, tucks it into a fold in her dress.
I eat the rest of my MEET in silence.
#
The bedtime bell rings, and we line up in pairs. My pair tonight is Veronica. I’m afraid of her.
We go into the small bedroom one after the other – there isn’t enough room for us both to stand so I lie on my bed while Veronica gets into hers.
The medicine bell rings, and we sit up in our beds.
A nurse comes in, her face is flushed – she coos over Veronica and tucks her into her bed.
“A wonderful thing, dear, a wonderful thing!” She says, over and over as she checks Veronica.
The nurse holds out my pills. I take them – swallowing them as I have every night for three years. The nurse holds out the same pills to Veronica.
“Last time for you dear,” she says, smiling.
Veronica takes the pills, puts them into her mouth.
The lights-out bell rings, and we lie down in our beds. The lights go out.
I hear a rustle, and then Veronica is there – her mouth pressed against mine. I feel the two pills slip past my lips, followed briefly by her tongue. She sits up, holds my nose until I swallow.
“Don’t worry little bird,” she says. “No-one will blame you.”
I try to reply, but I slur the words. My arms are heavy, my head like a rock as I try to sit up. It’s no use. I pass out.
#
The wake-up bells rings and we stand up in pairs. Except we don’t. I stand, but my pair is still lying down. Her face is pale. There are splotches of red on the grey blanket covering her.
They come in, their faces drawn. The nurse is sobbing.
I feel the knife in my sleeve, where Veronica pressed it last night.
My pair today is Veronica. I love her.
by submission | Apr 24, 2021 | Story |
Author: Stuart K Watson
As I wake, I think: Today would be a great day to start the next world war.
I look outside. The lawn is still there, with the neighbor’s scooter lying on its side in the middle of it. Unwarranted incursion. The trees are still standing. Birds still fly. Nests still hide behind the leaves.
There is entirely too much tranquility, peace and harmony, I think. No smoke. No carnage. No lines of refugees. Where is all the destruction?
I emerge from an entire night of sleep and find no bloodshed and ruin across the landscape of my yard. It’s a good yard. Boring, but good. It could be famous, as a battlefield, decorated with white headstones by the thousands, or crosses, if you prefer. I’m partial to headstones.
If this is going to happen, it’s going to take work. First, I need to stew up a good mess of hate. Stop talking with my neighbors. Demonize them, like on Halloween. Watch their every move suspiciously, from behind closed drapes. Take offense when loose documentation from the garbage collection blows across my border without the appropriate people.
That would justify an offensive. We could start small. I could attack my neighbors, just to generate interest. A nuclear strike? I look in the fridge. There’s a container of month-old spaghetti. That would kill.
Our homes sit on lots as small as European countries. Close. Frictious. I could fire a few salvos, to introduce the concept. Or fusillades. I’ll need to find out what a salvo is, of course, and then where to get some. I need lightbulbs, so I’ll ask my hardware guy if they have any salvos.
And howitzers. None of my neighbors has a howitzer, as far as I know. I’m sure their kids would love to help set one up, roll it out, shove the shells in and pull the cord that trips the firing pin. Or whatever makes it go. Then wait to hear where the salvo lands.
Their parents might not like it, if the howitzer was aimed at their house. “Hey, you kids! Quit shelling our house and get on over here. Dinner’s ready!”
Before I go to the store, I call the community college to see if they have any classes on artillery or armed warfare.
“Entry level stuff,” I clarify. “Like Bazooka 101 or … well, you understand.”
The person on the line says nothing — for a minute or so. Then I hear a click and a buzz. Bad connection. A good war would help us get the phone connections we deserve, sure as shootin’.
I sit in my easy chair with a cup of decaf to continue planning.
This war thing, it’s complicated, I think, and take a sip. I should think about it a little more before I go off all half-cocked. Yep. Think about it. After my nap.
Outside, it’s as if the war never happened. Peace and quiet. Trees leafing out. Kids on bikes with plastic weapons learning to shoot each other. I close my eyes. My wife removes my glasses, but by then, I’m dreaming of the next great war.
by submission | Apr 23, 2021 | Story |
Author: Alzo David-West
Cold rain was falling. A man in a worn jacket entered a private clinic. He put his broken umbrella in a stand by the door. The young receptionist at the front desk asked if he had an appointment. She handed him a form and asked him to wait. He sat on a bench and stared vacantly. The receptionist said the psychiatrist was available. The man got up and entered the office. The psychiatrist told him to take a seat.
“I’m having a dream,” the man said.
“Would you tell me about it?” the psychiatrist asked.
“Everything around me is pitch black, and there is a sound, a deep, loud wind sound like accelerating rotator blades.”
“What happens next?”
“I look up before me, and there is a massive floating ball of solid blue light twice as high as me, and encircling the upper fourth of it is a rapid, glowing red line, the source of the sound.”
“Is anything else there?”
“Nothing else is there except the orb, the sound, and me,” the man said.
“How do you feel in the dream?”
“I don’t know how to get out. I’m fixed in place, mesmerized by the sight, and then I wake up. But every time I awaken, it’s harder to get out of the dream.”
“Why do you think that is?” the psychiatrist asked.
“It’s as if I’m being pulled into the dream.”
“When did you first have the dream?”
“It started in mid-April, and it has returned many times. I drew a picture of the orb. I can show it to you.”
“I would like to see it,” the psychiatrist said.
The man brought out a rumpled piece of paper from his pant pocket. He gave the paper to the psychiatrist.
“The orb is like a giant machine,” the man said, “a machine from somewhere I don’t know, that has entered deep into my mind and wants to absorb me and erase me.”
“Do you try to run away?” the psychiatrist asked.
“I can’t move or scream or do anything, only stare at the orb and hear the sound.”
“Can you imitate the sound?”
“That sound—whuh-whuh-whuh-whuh-whuh-whUH-whUH-whUH-whUH-whUH-WHUH-WHUH-WHUH-WHUH-WHUH—that deep, loud wind sound like accelerating rotator blades.”
“What do you see next?”
“Everything around me is pitch black. I’m having the dream again, and I can’t get out. I can’t get out.”
…
“The dream is a symptom of anxiety psychosis,” the psychiatrist started. “Something in your life is beyond your control, and the neurotransmitters in your brain are generating feelings of fear and powerlessness.”
The man was quiet.
“I recommend four weekly consultations and 20 mg of phenothiazine in four divided doses daily,” the psychiatrist said. “If you could wait outside, the receptionist will prepare your prescription and our next appointment.”
The man got up, paid at the front desk, and never returned.
* * *
Cold rain was falling. The young receptionist arrived early at the private clinic. She put her small umbrella in the stand by the door, went to the front desk, and sorted papers. There between, she brought out her smartphone and read a very short story, a strange tale about a synaptic portal that materialized in the brain of a man in a worn jacket, transporting him from within into the void of inter-solar space.
by submission | Apr 22, 2021 | Story |
Author: John Chadwick
He lays his hand upon the lever, the cold metal sinking into his palm as his fingers slowly wrap around the handle, feeling as though the rigor mortis was already settling in. Thoughts swirl and smash inside his skull reminding him of the mechanized calamity he unleashed upon existence – invention born ignorant of bone and flesh.
Everyone, no, everything that he knew…
“The reality of what I’ve done…I cannot- No, will not, survive with its constant torment.”, he thought.
His arm slams forward, squeezing a fist around the contraption, feeling it engage and lock into its place. Behind him, in its man-made metal womb, he hears the machine sputter and spur. A sporadic buzzing of programmed hate, awakening inside the cold, copper vessel.
A deep breath, and a moment to accept the moment, passes when he finally turns around to face his companion. Its dimly-lit visage was mostly blank, save for a pair of dull lamps behind clouded, amber-stained portholes. Never did he think that this familiar face will be the last he sees.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” He asked firmly.
Seconds after his inquiry, the automaton lurched forward, as if it was breaking free from ice. Its right knee bent with a mechanical screeching stutter and clomped its foot down upon the metal floor of the bunker. Then, methodically repeating the motions with the left leg as it took its first step of “life” out of the shroud where its creator prepared it for animation.
Another step, complete with a symphony of metallic friction as alloy joints scraped upon each other followed by the thud as each foot contacted the floor, seemingly shaking the room. This second step led the golem to a distance where the cables connected to its head and limbs drew taught and disconnected forcefully from its metallic body, causing them to swing back under the hooded platform where it previously stood.
Now, only feet from him, he stared into the yellow lamps that existed as its eyes, the only relatable part of its anatomy that resembled a human. It gazed back soullessly, the only noise to be heard was the humming of the reactor core within its torso.
He closed his eyes and tried wetting his mouth though it was as dry as the scorched landscape of the surface above.
“Do it..” He muttered in a deep exhale.
The creature’s arms rose in a jerking manner accompanied by a loud whir. Its hands outstretched in a clasping pose, it lurched forward.
He inhaled sharply as the cold, metal claws of his creation made contact with his skin, enfolding around his neck. The pressure increased as they tightened with a high-pitched buzz.
Then it stopped – hands frozen in place. For some reason unknown to him, it ceased its murderous grasp.
“My God…” he thought. “It’s refusing its order. It’s rethinking its decision – No, it’s making a decision!”
“I can fix this.”, he whispered, looking into its glowing eyes. “I can fix it all.”
He pulled his arms up and laid his hands upon the golem’s arms, still frozen in place, stretched out with its hands around his neck. Just as he had done so, the motors within its gripping hands began to buzz again, continuing to tighten.
Struggling in panic, he drew one more breath, “No, wait!”
by submission | Apr 21, 2021 | Story |
Author: Kei Lynnette
“Is it just me or do power and tea go just wonderfully together?” The Empress’s companion laughed and replied, “It’s just you Empress, and if you don’t mind me asking, how did you come into so much power?” The Empress only smiled. “Don’t tell me it’s because of your ‘sunny disposition’.” her closest companion said with a sarcastic smirk. The Empress looked out to the spectacular view of her empire and sighed contentedly. “You could say that it was a happy coincidence.”
The fancy hotel room was a cleaning service’s nightmare. Soiled sheets lay twisted in large heaps and what used to be a comfy bed was now of no use. The culprit of this mess stood on the defeated bed with her arms crossed and her face the picture of anger. Lennon Walter was understandably upset about being kidnapped, and by aliens no less. “This stupid room is of no use to me anymore! Show me a better one now!” Lenny yelled loudly.
Her captors showed Lenny to a larger room with an even larger TV. The girl didn’t hesitate to power the TV on. Promptly, Sunday morning cartoons started playing in full volume. Lenny cackled at the stupidity of the characters and was surprised to hear soulless laughing coming from behind her. “That’s new,” Lenny says, these creatures had not shown any emotion until now. Lenny and the aliens watched poorly animated cartoons for about an hour until she turned off the television so as to order the aliens to get snacks. She was not expecting the group of aliens to turn on her angrily. “Oh crap, sorry! Sorry -” she clicked the show back on. ” – look it’s back.” The aliens turned back towards the screen as though nothing happened.
Like everyone else that watched cable TV, these aliens despised commercial breaks. It was during one that Lenny yawned and said sleepily “You fellows had an extreme lack of dopamine.” the aliens only gave her confused looks. Her eyes widened “I thought beings from space were eggheads, you don’t know what that is?” When no one answered, she sighed, “Well, dopamine is called the happy chemical,” Lenny tried hard to remember what her teacher had said about this topic. “Dopamine helps humans, and you guys, plan while also helping us find things interesting.” She stares pointedly at the TV “Like funny tv shows for example.”
The aliens nodded, but before they could go back to watching, the TV powered off. Lenny ignored their cries and calmly but firmly said, “I’m going to need some answers before we continue. Why did you capture me?” she smiled slyly. “No answers, no TV” The aliens hurried to explain that they had come to Earth after discovering that an heir for their empire was there. Lennon was that heir because her great-great-great-grandfather had bought a star that eventually became their small empire. The aliens had taken Lenny from her boarding school in hopes of convincing her to lead their failing empire and make it as powerful as it was in centuries past.
The young Empress continued her story “Of course I accepted their offer, what do you take me for? We hopped on the nearest space bus and blew that popsicle stand. Only painful memories and a troubled past were on Earth. But that’s another story for another time.” She glanced around as if thinking an invisible enemy was around before leaning in close with her friend and saying “There are other heirs you know, the leaders of other empires.” she gave her trademark sly smile “I think that needs to change very soon.”
End of Step 1
