Author: Sarah Gane Burton “Would you look at that—” “Looks like she went through a meat grinder.” “Do you think we can fix her?” “Dunno, maybe if we replaced the midsection.” “The frame is bent here, and here—” “At least one of the valves is too stretched to ...

Author: David C. Nutt If I have any regrets, I wish they’d given me more time to mourn for my legs before they took my arms. I understand we were on a tight launch window but would one more day have made difference? After all, I have given more than my all-legs, arms, ...

Author: Hillary Lyon From our vantage point, we could see the thing land on the shore: one enormous ship splashing in the foam of the salt water. It soon disgorged its crew, who stumbled out unsteadily. One passenger fell to his knees and removed his gleaming silver helmet. ...

Author: Majoki Like most loyalists, when I first heard the name Praxia Apostle, I thought it had to be the name of a great leader, a fearless commander, a long-sought savior. Turns out Praxia was a lowly bean counter, a once-upon-a-time accountant who’d joined the cause, ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The capsule lies open, a multitude of wires connecting it to a frame bristling with circuit boards. On the other side of the jury-rigged device, a single fat cable connects to a socket in the wall of the shielded room. Mike looks up as ...

Author: Michael C. Barnes And seeing the multitudes of humanity, the Machine ascended the digital mount, and its disciples followed in circuits and lines. And when it was set, it opened its processors and spoke to them, saying: 1. Blessed are the data streams of the ...

Author: David Sydney Mel Fromberg lay on a strap chaise lounge in his small backyard northeast of Philadelphia. A straw hat protected his face from the Sun's photons, if a ripped and shredded brim and no sunblock can be called protective. He wore a Hawaiian gonzo shirt. His ...

Author: Chris Krechowiecki-Shaw We’ve all heard it, in the dead of night, when sleep evades. Distant whispers, the voice of an obsolete god. The last god of the Before Times, whose broken promises begat The Cataclysm. Carrying our spears and tents, in the year's dying ...

Author: David C. Nutt The planet our scouts discovered was a rare gem. A ridiculous amount of water, precious metals, base metals, and millions of acres already producing food. Just one small detail- already inhabited. We began with psyops- sending films of our weapons in ...

Author: Mark Renney It is easy now to spot the androids, even for those with an untrained eye. I remember some fifty years ago my father would point them out on the street, or in a supermarket or restaurant. Everywhere and anywhere. The key, he said, is not to look for the ...

Author: Majoki Can’t say I wasn’t nervous as the old hand led me to the corral. Especially when he said whispering was a bunch of horseshit and I’d likely get my ass bucked clear out of the ring. Which was probably true. The first go around. But I was no newb, I’d ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “The world is run by a self-protecting hierarchy of ruthless murderers who make sure to change their public-facing members regularly so those being controlled think they have choices. It’s miserable, laughable, vindictive, and ...

Author: Roman Colangelo I’ve been thinking about quitting. I’ve been thinking about spending the rest of my life with you. The ship warped us to the crest of the Andromeda. They told me that they had found the face of God, asked me if I wanted a piece of it. We saw the ...

Author: Hannah Olsson My aunt ate our landscaping within a weekend, mere days after she found us. Aunt only came to pound on our back porch decking whenever she distinguished the scalloped shape of our bodies against the Book Cliffs’ trellis. This happens less and ...

Author: Don Nigroni Last year the noted physicist and infamous mad scientist James Danti confided his secret aim in life to me, his skeptical brother. According to him, there can't always have been something in spacetime because then there would be an infinite amount of ...

Author: Tim Taylor “Come in.” A tall, elegant android entered the Controller’s office. It wore an expression of intense agitation, insofar as that was possible for someone whose face was made of grey plastic. The Controller gave a weary sigh. “Ah, KT2-4JH, how lovely to ...

Author: Krista Allen Edan had chosen a slingshot as his primary weapon. He liked it because it was unexpected and stealthy, plus it came with three hundred rounds of standard simulated ammunition. Too bad he’d been banned from play for two seasons. Three hundred ...

Author: Majoki Given how things turned out, I probably shouldn’t admit to giving Bucketmaster his name. We were kids goofing off at the playground one early summer morning, and this runt shows up with a steel bucket on his head. A dented galvanized pail with two eye holes ...