Author: Kent Rosenberger Everything was about to pay off for Riley. All of the years of planning, preparing, researching, waiting and traveling had all brought him to this particular spot on this particular day at this particular time. At any moment now the elusive Irish ...

Author: Thomas Tilton “What is the time, sir?” asked the robot, Julian. “Let's see.” I consulted my timepiece. As a gag, I wore a small sundial for a watch. “Well, as soon as we see the sun, I'll let you know.” “I see,” said Julian. “And when will that be, ...

Author: David C. Nutt “Why are you doing this to me?” The man-who-looked-exactly-like-himself, his torturer, sighed. “To get the authors attention.” “You mean God?” “Hardly. I refer to the author of your story.” “Your story?” “No. Your story. You’re the author of my ...

Author: M.D. Parker A chime signaled the readiness of the mixture. She considered it for a moment; There should be celebratory horns of cheer, she thought. If only this machine knew what it had just done. She gripped the cylinder with all four digits wrapped tight. A ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer A witch walks into a bar. Heads turn and phlegm is conjured from the depths of throats and spat from pursed lips to the floor. The sight of her simultaneously repulses and excites, and the rooms huddled patrons collectively decide that the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer It’s astonishing just how beautiful space is, for all that it’s largely empty. “Kaelen!” Mother, mother. Even from half a light year out, I can feel you. My view narrows… There. She’s standing on a rocky promontory, guards at her back, ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher She watched Victor move off the loading platform emerging from the thin smoke like a god. The chamber was still partially filled with the exhaust from the vehicle’s landing sequence. He was lean and purposeful. Long confident strides. He was wearing ...

Author: David K Scholes “What was the cause of death?” I asked. “Well,” replied the bot medical examiner, “they may both have died from sheer fright. Both of them experienced a huge increase in heart rate and blood pressure before their automatic personal protection ...

Author: J.P. Quinn Parker flipped on her monitor. She’d definitely heard it this time, there was no mistaking it. It sounded as if someone was in here with her. Cycling through the closed-circuit, she searched the facility, but still couldn’t see anything. This was ...

Author: Janet Shell Anderson Enormous sound, heard and felt; goes right through me; my bones feel it. Shock. The sky over the Potomac cracks; the sound streaking overhead moving from East to West as if heaven’ll fall into two pale, white pieces. One breath. Two. I’m not ...

Author: Alzo David-West What Ozzie did most with his virtual reality game The Invasion was not the playing but the observing. His parents had recently moved to the big city, and they put him in a new school and a physical fitness club there. However, he was not ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer “This is not who we are”, I mutter as I watch the images cycle over and over on the screen. We are a haven and we love and hold close the freedom and liberty that we’ve cultured here on our tiny beautiful moon. Our special speck of clean ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Another flight of stairs disappears into the shadows above. If this were an old movie, I’d casually rest my hand against a spotless wall while pausing to see if my pursuers have given up. If not, I would spring lightly upwards as if the ...

Author: Mandira Pattnaik First time it felt like a huge soap bubble had released at the nape of my neck, and, rising to the cerebrum, burst in slow motion, into pixelated colors---an unspecified shade of purple dominating an array of pinks and crimsons. My head had throbbed ...

Author: Scott Porter Life on a Civilization Ship is so easy. So simple, so complete. The authorities have thought of everything. Everybody has their part. The Marie Curie had left earth four hundred years earlier, looking for any Earth-like planet to deposit her 2,500-odd ...

Author: Ellie Brumley The heavily sealed double doors slid open and I entered an operating room filled with doctors and scientists in white lab coats. I knew immediately I was doomed. Experimental surgeries were practically a death sentence. “Welcome,” a scientist said. ...

Author: Moriah Geer-Hardwick You might call it fear. When your knee gives out on the stairs, suddenly, without warning. Gravity snaps its jaws around you and rips you from a passive illusion of self-control straight to the floor. An immediate awareness of potential damage ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher Bruce moved across the monotonous landscape with ease. Not quite desert. More powder than sand but not really either. All beige, all flat. Featureless. Except for the wall. The diminished gravity and PowerDrive suit made walking relatively muscle ...