Author: Philip Ekstrom She walked into the donut shop looking like a daffodil. Yellow blouse, light green slacks, standing straight and tall with a quiet presence that looked the world straight in the face. She stepped aside to let others pass as she scanned the room. Her ...

Author: Richard Simonds John Jorgensen had won. No other word for it. He was the richest, most powerful man in the world. Shares of SuperAI had gone up 500% the day before as they had finally cracked the super intelligence barrier and released the code to the public. What ...

Author: Sandra Meaders Tatiana crept out through the night with a green pack on her back and a gun in her hand. The gun felt heavy and rigid. Her fingers streamed with sweat despite the cold air whipping at her long blond hair. She placed the gun down and pulled out a black knit cap from ...

Author: Alastair Millar “How many victims?” This was the fifth case in under a month, and Commissioner Jones was apparently taking an interest; he’d come down to the scene in person. “Four, sir. Three here, one in the consulting room,” said the keen but clearly nervous ...

Author: Alzo David-West While wars were burning, flowers were growing. *** No one had paid much attention to the small comets that had landed on the fringes of Eurasia, North America, and the Middle East in the midst of the ruptures and revolts that were dividing and ...

Author: Mark Renney It is difficult now for Jess to pinpoint exactly when the other one began to take hold but it had been years, at least five and maybe even more, since the visitor first arrived, appearing in her head, determined to see through her eyes and to take ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Why thank you, Susan. Happy to be here. You’re very kind, and one of the few to express my troubles so gently.” “Yes, I can see the reply streams. There’s some lag, but I’m not one for quick banter at the best of times, so it’s no ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher I was holding hands with the ‘alien’ as we walked through the forest. I had been dating her for the past three weeks now and even though I had seen her naked she wouldn’t sleep with me. She was stunning beyond compare and I really wanted to be with ...

Author: Aubrey Williams “So, anyway, I’m afraid I’m still going to have to kill you.” The Astronaut’s expression would have read puzzled and disappointed as he sat on the edge of the asteroid’s crater, if he wasn’t wearing a reflective visor. The green, long-snouted ...

Author: Brian Ball Alan was Newton’s cannonball, spinning in chaos, cursing this tiny moon. The ship grazed the atmosphere and was reeled in, defenseless. He was alone. His orbit increased to 14,500mph. 226,000mph. 450,000mph. Each spin pulling him down a bit closer. His ...

Author: Eva C. Stein Jen watched the boy wobble on his magnitro board, sparks flaring at the edges as one foot just skimmed the dusty ground. “He’s heading for disaster,” she said, not expecting a reply. “Or notoriety,” a voice said beside her. She turned. A stranger had ...

Author: Majoki Sebastian picked up a sheared finger. He gingerly held the digit, storing its smooth, young paleness in his memory before dropping it in the orange bio-waste bag fastened to his belt. Jakarta, Cape Town, Yangon, Chengdu, Lima, Montreal, Oakland. He’d seen the ...

Author: Alzo David-West The astronomers of Tui had built a Colossal Telescope, and peering into it, they were astonished to find in their home galaxy a planet much like their own—a world of olive shades and deep blues dancing around a sunny-colored gem. They zoomed in ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer He doesn’t see me coming: hardly a surprise. Who expects a random victim chosen from a crowd leaving a club to have a bodyguard? I punch him in the side of the head to get him away from the target, then kick him in the ribs to pre-empt ...

Author: Colin Jeffrey They returned Bromley, their butler android, to the factory after he started talking to himself while looking at his reflection. The trouble had started the month before when he paused halfway through serving breakfast to stare at his image in the ...

Author: Hillary Lyon The room fell silent as the Admiral strode into the briefing room. He snapped on a holographic representation of a small solar system. The planets on display swirled in their orbits around the ghostly sun. “For the last several generations,” he ...

Author: Robert Gilchrist You know what it will do to you. The warnings are everywhere. The PSAs on holovision. The billboards on the highway into work. Your social circle has even been impacted by it (Sophie’s cousin’s boyfriend is still in recovery). But that’s not going ...

Author: Linda G. Hatton Juniper’s steel-toed boots weighed down on the gas pedal like a cement anchor at the bottom of the sea, letting up only as she pulled her new fifty-thousand-dollar investment into the slot marked “service.” She ducked out of the car as soon as the ...