Author: A.M. Miles The artificial intelligence called Capsaicin is an eight-foot tall tower of star-steel that leaps through the dust-filled air in perfect grand jetes, their legs parallel to the ground, their arms flying to their sides like wings ready to take them to the ...

Author: Palmer Caine Something knocked on the window. I saw its form in the mirror, but no detail. Before I spoke it slid open the door and landed on the back seat. I watched it in the rear view mirror, trying to find a comfortable spot. “Where ya off too?” I asked once ...

Author: Bryce Matthews One day, inexplicably, Henry Jacobs began to travel through time. He wasn't sure why. Henry was only nineteen and had accomplished an extraordinarily small amount of things in that time. Why didn't this happen to a scientist, a historian, or even ...

Author: Ken Carlson “It’s just outer space,” said Mrs. Evans. “So what?” The boy could hardly contain himself. “So what…” said Tommy Phipps, her most curious 7th-grade student. He paced before her desk. The prescription sunglasses he wore to school, the ones that masked ...

Author: Glenn Leung I am Amara Theseus, Captain of the Battle Starship Atoma. I have recently taken over command from the previous Captain and my mother, Laura Theseus. Our great ship has led the people of the Kuiper Federation to countless victories against the imperialist ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer A flickering light spasmodically turns the twisted wreckage into a black and white sketch of a chaotic mess. The illumination comes from a workspace lamp, it’s shade torn away during the bombardment that ruined this flagship. There’s a ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher Please! There had to be a way to save him. Widge was hit bad. The blast took out most of his right midsection including a portion of the flexible titanium rod that was his spine. He couldn’t stand. Cerulean cream-colored liquid leaked from a ...

Author: David C. Nutt Chaos and wreckage all around me. How did we get this way? Collision? Battle damage? Malfunction? It was still hazy. I pulled myself up and limped down the corridor. Not really wanting to look down I did anyway and saw that mercifully the six-inch gash ...

Author: Josie Gowler Janelle rounded the corner. She stopped next to me and sighed, all the usual motivational talks abandoned. “It could have been so beautiful here, David,” she muttered. The ship was on its way and I didn’t have time for pleasantries. “You knew. The ...

Author: Rollin T. Gentry Sweating and panting, I skid to a stop in front of apartment 4-G. Old Haxalot might be losing his touch. He normally locates the newbies in half this time. The black SUVs are only three blocks away. On the other side of this door is a young ...

Author: Janet Shell Anderson “Who’d slash a fifteenth-century Madonna?” That’s the question the robots at Zup’s grocery in the far, far north of Minnesota asked. They didn’t talk about Nils or the bear. I was accused. Last summer, up at the lake to buy Nils ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer “Listen to me closely, Commander, and form a visual. The beautiful naked Christian is lashed to the side of the mighty bull as it agitates in the stall beneath the arena. Hands scream for air as they are bound with braided leather to its ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Shadows dance across the wall as the spotlight swings from its broken mount. I see sparks in the darkness of the crack left by my blow. Too long looking! Its backhand catches me and I bounce off a wall. Getting my feet under me in time to ...

Author: Glenn Leung In the skyscraper-laden landscape known as Tri, Howard lived and worked as a lecturer and a father. His students were the exciting sort, always full of surprises with their in-class antiques and colorful essays. His family was the loving sort, his wife ...

Author: Rick Tobin Sanders’ trembling hand hovered over an ejection hatch separating him from interstellar vacuum. He paused, chest heaving, fighting his ending as if a stealthy gorilla was reaching through cage bars, catching him staring too closely. “Always heard ...

Author: David C. Nutt The chief of security removed the object archaically nailed to the briefing room door. There were gasps. It was paper. Forbidden by their protocols on the station. With a reverence and awe once held for holy relics, the chief delicately unscrolled the ...

Author: Robb White “God, not Apophis again,” Eddie said. He set the tray in the middle of the table. “‘fraid so,” Kathy sighed. “They started up as soon as you left. All the bars in town and we choose the space nerds hangout.” “I beg your pardon,” Bill said, “but as a ...

Author: David Barber These days visitors were few. The slim guidebook mentioned the Palace of the Red Emperors, famed once, but felled by an earthquake and never rebuilt; also the market, where travellers of discernment might purchase items from ages lost; a broken radio, ...