Author: Susan Cornford Breakdowns always happen at the worst possible times and places. I was already running late on my last cargo run between the Four-Parsec star group and home base. If I got a little creative with my log entries, the old crate could be pushed up to just ...

Author: David K Scholes Canberra Airport Australia 2045 “The Qantas flight QF 2134 that left Perth for Canberra 10 years ago and never arrived,” Bathr hesitated. “It is held, ageless, in a time vortex – held for eternity or until the vortex ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Dax found his usual seat in the back corner of the cafeteria and unpacked his lunch. He laid out a sandwich, a can of iced coffee, and an orange on the table in front of him, then fished a lock-blade knife from his jacket pocket and set ...

Author: David Henson When I finally got my M-plant, I couldn’t wait to try it out. I went to a local cafe, approached a woman wearing a TP earring and touched my TechPath lapel pin. She immediately raised her index finger. I held my fingertip to hers, and we both thought ...

Author: Hari Navarro I crawl through the flap in the folds of my midnight sheets and touch her again. I touch the cold stipple of her naked skin and it is not the hollow caress of dreams. I am not in that place where images scatter and reform into half-remembered fragments, ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “‘The shell is the key’? He said that?” “Yes. The carapace is the most remarkable aspect of this truly unusual species. In layman’s terms, it’s a pico-honeycomb that has all the useful properties of a hybrid of Kevlar and graphene. Add ...

Author: Kristin Kirby You get coffee. You glance around. A dozen people sip beverages or talk or stare into their computers. You sit. Then you spot him. He’s at the counter. He looks at the menu board. You watch him order, watch him pay. “Thank you,” he says with a ...

Author: Antoinette Constable A three-year-old boy stumbles along the streets, long after bedtime, holding his mother's hand. They are skirting barricades, guns, uniforms. The mother longs to lie down and sleep a long sleep somewhere safe, somewhere dry, yet she keeps ...

Author: Mark Joseph Kevlock "Why, sir, the past is a portal to happiness!" the interior re-decorator barked. "I guess," Smithfield hedged. "I'm just not sure about this anymore." "But the work is complete! Your living room, your entire downstairs, your upstairs, your ...

Author: Roger Ley Riley signed for the package and came back inside the house. ‘What was the delivery?’ asked his wife Barbara looking up from her tablet? He looked at the label. ‘Actually, it’s from Estella.’ ‘Your ex-wife?’ ‘How many other Estellas do I know? ...

Author: Abigail Hughes Current Proprietors of Earth, We are drafting this letter in response to the riots that took place outside of our headquarters, in the hopes of putting toxic rumors about our organization to rest. If your protest taught us anything, it is that it ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer She placed the order online, as she had done before. No credit checks anymore, no profiling questions, just pick a time and a place, and the service guaranteed her date would be on-time and appropriate. She showered and partially dressed ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’ve travelled distances that make oceans seem like ponds. I’ve dealt with solar flares and meteor storms, flown half-blind and bleeding from situations that would make a sane man scream for his mother. As I look up at the snow-white ...

Author: Hari Navarro I found a way into tomorrow but when I got there it didn't care. Though I burrowed deep through caverns cold and waited patiently for the drugs to take hold this newest of days it took no heed, no, for me this day it could care not one bit. For days ...

Author: John McLaughlin "Will it hurt?" "No, just feels a bit weird. Like your veins have turned to ice." The tech switches on the IV and they hear the gentle hum of the pump kick in. She's correct; a deathly cold is already gripping his extremities. Hayden lays back ...

Author: John Xero “The storm is upon us,” Barrett states grimly, finally looking away from his monitor, finally acknowledging the absence of hope. “How bad?” As if I need to ask. “Bad enough.” He shakes his head. “If we’d just caught the edge of it... If we could ...

Author: Jason McGraw Zach opens his AI tutor and selects “Asteroid Belt” from the index. In his learning visor, 3D images of spinning rocks reflect the sun. A male voice narrates: “The Asteroid Belt is located between --” Zach fast forwards. “There are three major types ...

Author: Hari Navarro My daughter is born into the whore spit snarl of a Cape Hatteras hurricane. Beautiful and waxy, her delicate scent distilling the shedded taint of my own sweat, piss, and blood. Blue nostrils flare as tiny lungs struggle to fill, but for this, I ...