Positive Ground

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’m not one to fight against futile odds, no matter what current bravado, ancestral habit or bloody-minded tradition dictates. That creed has taken me from police constable to Colonel in the British Resistance - after we split from the ...

To the Bitter End

Author: Charles Ta "We're sorry,” the alien said in a thousand echoing voices, “but your species has been deemed ineligible for membership into the Galactic Confederation." It stared at me, the Ambassador of Humankind, with eyes that glowed like its bioluminescent ...

Some Enchanted Evening

Author: Stephen Price The stranger arrives at the community hall dance early, before the doors open. No one else is there. He stands outside and waits. Cars soon begin to pull into the parking lot. They are much wider and longer than the ones he is used to. He watches young ...

Mrs Bellingham

Author: Ken Carlson Mrs Bellingham frowned at her cat Chester. Chester stared back. The two had had this confrontation every morning at 6:30 for the past seven years. Mrs Bellingham, her bathrobe draped over her spindly frame, her arms folded, looked down at her ...

A Time and Place for Things

Author: Soramimi Hanarejima When the Bureau of Introspection discovered how to photograph the landscapes within us, we were all impressed that this terrain, which had only been visible in dreams, could be captured and viewed by anyone. This struck us as a huge leap, but ...

Always in Line

Author: Frederick Charles Melancon The scars don’t glow like they once did, yet around my pants’ cuffs, neon-green halos still light my ankles. Mom used to love halos—hanging glass circles around the house to create them. But these marks from the bombing blasts on Mars ...

Bait

Author: Majoki The float bobs and I feel a slight tug on the line, a nip at the hook. A shiver of guilt, a nanosecond’s exhilaration. I finesse the reel, patient. What will rise? There’s nothing like fishing in a black hole, quantum casting for bits and pieces of worlds ...

Breaking News

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Condor’s back. Ten years ago he stood in front of me, the rain streaming down his face failing to dim the fire in his eyes. In reply to my question about why I should hold off reporting, he offered me a datacard. “Your enthusiasm gets you ...

Sowing Seeds in Digital Soil

Author: Aspen Greenwood In a world gasping under the heavy cloak of pollution, the Catalogers—scientists driven by a mission—trekked through dwindling patches of green. Among them, Maya, whose spirit yearned for the vibrant Earth imprisoned in old, faded textbooks, delved ...

12 Steps

Author: Janice Cyntje Alfonso stood near the podium of his community center's conference room and waivered. Although he was grateful that his niece had invited him to speak at this 12-step support group, he was nevertheless cautious of the emotional fallout from airing his ...

Ask the Thompsons

Author: Jennifer Thomas Get advice from three generations of Thompson women: Sara (age 90), Lydia (age 60), and Willa (age 15)! They all receive the same questions but answer independently. Today they discuss the most-asked question of the year! Dear ...

Wall

Author: Jeremy Marks One morning an unfamiliar odor filled the air. Sweet at first, the scent soon reeked of rot. It was not a domestic smell but something wild: a floating carpet of flowers a few kilometers offshore. Townsfolk used spyglasses to study a mysterious group ...

One More Story

Author: J.D. Rice "I remember them." My hand moves the candle with perfect precision, carefully transferring the exothermic reaction from its wick to that of the taller candle in front of me. The combustion thus spread, I place the first candle back in its holder. The ...

Mandelbrot’s Monster

Author: Majoki “It’s not a case that we can’t see the fuckdam forest for the fuckdam trees,” Lipton spat as she whirled on Parrati, “because anywhere, anyhow we look at it that fuckdamn beast is waiting, ready to bite our fuckdamn heads off.” Parrati tapped slender ...

Bladesmith

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Tallisandre peers at my dagger. “That’s a wicked stick you have there. I’ve never seen the like.” I hold it up so the light from the forge catches the square end of the blade, showing the third edge and double point where the ...

Senescence

Author: Peter Griffiths Elsie had heard some noise in the night, but hadn’t had the energy to get out of bed to see what it was. Now she could see splatters of paint on the window pane, grey on the grey of the cold morning light. The result was obvious even before she ...

To Savor

Author: Jordan Emilson “Make sure it has a name” Werner whispered to the darkened figure beside him, looming over the crib. In the blackness the room appeared in two dimensions: his, and the one his wife and child existed in across the floor. Her head turned, or at least it ...

The Emissary

Author: Alastair Millar “It would be fitting,” the Sardaanian said, “if you took a new name now. A human name.” “But my name has always been T!kalma,” the woman replied. “Yes,” ze replied, “but that is one of our names. Your birth people are reaching out, as we predicted. ...

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