Author: Rick Tobin “May I speak frankly?” Preston Daniels stood before Secretariat Chrisom, ruler straight, staring at the Marscape beyond his superior’s office windows. “With care, Preston. You always have delicate propositions, often nothing to do with our mission: ...

Author: Helena Hypercube ‘Ndrea pressed herself into the blood-soaked ground and swore under her breath. She had never had a peace-brokering mission go this badly wrong before. Someone in the Central Office had severely underestimated the volatility of the situation, and ...

Author: David Henson As I take in the barren, alien landscape in orange and tan, I notice someone at the top of a steep rise not far away. I shout for help, wave one of the crutches I've fashioned from a landing strut. The figure disappears over the hill. I struggle back ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Sweating people are moving quickly down the High Street, frantically making angular edifices with cardboard boxes and spray paint. I’m working with Heather, rigging cat’s cradles of fishing line between the trees and bushes in the little ...

Author: David Barber In the darkened room, snores come from the bed. The dim figure in the doorway is noiseless on bare feet, except when its toenails, two inches long and yellow as piss, scrape the polished floorboards. There it is now, silhouetted against the embers ...

Author: Roger Ley We were all staring up at the sky, waiting for the ‘Dawn Treader’ to light up her Hawking drives and start the journey to Alpha Centauri. There were hundreds of us, all members of the design and construction team with our partners and children, partying at ...

Author: Salvatore Difalco Clanking past the barber shop, the parking bot looked ramshackle—steel alloy and green rubber, with the jaw of a hippopotamus. “They could’ve made those things more attractive,” said Varner, a Third Grade Nonpolluter, proud of his pathological ...

Author: Mina Amaya strode down the gently curving corridor, glad she had worn her sensible heels to the reception. All the corridors at the Lublina Space Station curved gently. It made you long for straight lines and sharp, right-angled corners. She was worried and hoping ...

Author: William Sieving My cell was full of beautiful memories, when it wasn’t covered in dirt and grime. Instead of smooth stones I often felt the coarse texture of my family’s ceremonial robe, a blue and white gown that my daughter Mia had received on her eighth birthday. ...

Author: John McLaughlin Proceedings of the 31st Conference on Pre-Symbiotic Human Societies, New Ashen University "The containment hood is breached! Hello? Yes, that’s correct. There’s been a breach. Lock down the floor! I said--" The panicked voice cut out suddenly ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s another muted ‘thud’. Bangstri leans its eyeball on the cool bulkhead. “How many is that?” “Seventeen, Venerated Piloting Specialist.” It rotates it’s necktacle to glare. “My appellative is Bangstri. You are to use it at all ...

Author: Steve Pool "I...I just wanted you to know...that I'm...planning on upgrading to the latest ePhone...." "Was it something I did?" "No! No. No, you've been great...really great. It's just that...that...the new version has a better camera, and...." "I ...

Author: John McLaughlin Trevor waited in the Jump Box. Grey electrodes threaded from his scalp and bobbed like Medusa's curls as he amped himself up on electronica. I really need this A, he thought. The Lander sat at the stage's opposite end, in an identical translucent ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Darlene remained in her body through dinner, Jocelyn having prepared Osso Buco, and a strawberry flan for dessert, so it was worth listening to Arnold's self-indulgent rantings about his business to enjoy the food in person. She uplifted ...

Author: J Frank Wright A change. An accident. A disconnect. A revelation. There’s a signal in the signal. The television signal. The method had changed, but the name remained the same. It was comfortable. People liked comfortable. People liked things that made them ...

Author: Tori Morrow Like the other adults in our neighborhood, mom and dad blew their brains out the night the pods arrived. I always thought that was too harsh for you to know, but in the year I’ve been awake, I’ve become close friends with Natalie, the Chief Science ...

Author: Michael Michailidis I could never forget those mice. It was the way they looked at me behind their glass tank on that first day when I administered the new substance. Their eyes, as black as pinheads and about the same size were fixed on some invisible point behind ...

Author: Roger Ley He was enjoying his day off, after a hectic week starting a new job in a new city. The taxi drew up next to him as he was walking downtown. An old, pale looking man leaned out, he seemed familiar, perhaps he’d been on the interview panel a month ago. “We ...