Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s a lot to be said for the feeling of security granted by street lighting. Not overlooking the fact that its arrival heralded mankind moving from a lifestyle largely governed by the availability of daylight or men with ...

Author: David C. Nutt From my corner table at the café, I saw the tourist read the plaque. The same plaque adorns every public space on our planets, but this is the first. I know the words by heart. I was made to memorize it as a child. It is not the most elegant tome ...

Author: Jeremy Nathan Marks I was the only person who ever saw the castle in the air. It appeared one morning, a visitor from nowhere suspended high up in the cobalt blue of a December morning. Hovering thousands of feet over emptiness, that castle could have been a ...

Author: Moebius Twins focused better together. Navigating the universe in a faster than light vessel required a higher level of brain power than a single person could manage individually. In the late 23rd century, Dr. Sabine Korgev created a revolutionary device that ...

Author: JT Velikovsky They say, (well, Science says) the human brain is wired to love natural rural scenes. So, call me an old-fashioned Utopian, but… these days, I always have my brain-computer interface re-design, re-sculpt, and re-paint, my realtime-vision of the city ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer “You are going to sleep with me”, said my wife as she stepped out of the future and spoke to a man who wasn’t me. “You’re so strange”, smiles the man as he touches her fingers and pushes the hair from her eyes. “First you will cup my ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The sirens start to wail. “Run!” John turns as he shouts, swinging a rucksack of stolen provisions onto his back. By the time we see torch beams flicking about in the hands of guards heading this way – the section where their spotlights ...

Author: David Barber The flag of the Kingdom of Florida features a white ibis, and supporters of beleaguered King Rollo consider it patriotic to pin ibis feathers to their caps. After the recent troubles with Atlanta, it even looked disloyal not to. Sept collected ibis ...

Author: David Henson I wait outside the garage for one of the missionaries from Uklid. I have to admit life is better for most people since they arrived. The Uklidins began with small enhancements like portable force field emitters they pass out like candy. Concerned ...

Author: Shon-Lueiss Harris “Most patients don’t notice a thing until they head to the bathroom,” explained the doctor as he smoothed the sensors along his patient’s forehead. “How’s everything feel?” Gene turned his head and began making expressions. “Everything’s great. ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher Space, the final… Space wasn’t the final anything. It was a lot of nothingness that went on forever with a bunch of frozen spinning rocks and a few abnormally hot globs of gas. Just fucking empty. Through his helmet's face-plate Marco swiveled ...

Author: Anna Ziegelhof “Navigate home.” “Sure thing, Dave.” “Open Spotify.” “Any particular playlist you’d like to listen to, Dave? You seem a bit short-tempered tonight.” “Playlist After-work.” “Playing ‘After-work’. Are you sure you’re not in the mood for something ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer One day the body of a beautiful naked woman appeared. She was dead or, at least, it can be said she had not the animation of life. And her body contorted as it floated and wove through the air as if it were caught of the very tip of a ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Here we go again, shooting when we should be talking. I’m sure the gigantic shrimp things didn’t mean anything, but it’s a little late when Jeff’s on the guns. One of them twitched the wrong way and his favourite twitch lights up the ...

Author: Helena Hypercube “I sense a disturbance in the space-time continuum,” the old Master said portentously. “Does that actually mean anything?” her impatient young companion asked. “Yes, youngster, it does.” “What does it mean, then, Master?” asked young Gavin. “It ...

Author: P. T. Corwin The people of Earth didn’t understand what they were signing away. We were swept up in the raving speeches of our leaders, who told us of a new life for mankind on distant planets. They promised us control, a free society away from our new owners, who ...

Author: Lisa Jade Why is this cell always so damn cold? Of course, the guards don't call it a cell. Officially, it's a 'holding chamber'- a secure room where I can wait for something – anything - to happen. I huddle into the thin, grey jacket they gave me, breathing ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Fū-jiin sat cross-legged on a mat before a low table, on which rested a bonsai tree nearly half a meter across its canopy, and nearly a quarter of that tall. He rotated the tree barely a degree at a time on its mag-lev base, pausing at each ...