Author: Matt Cowan It is not unheard of for a subject in Our care to die: We look after so many, and the rigours of interstellar travel affect each species differently. When it happens, We always try to follow local custom, to ensure the remains are disposed of in the ...

Author: John McLaughlin Dr. Jan Gorlick retrieved a new Synthetic from the docking bay, guiding the naked man by the hand as they ambled slowly to the center of the lab. There, he tapped two keys in succession and his console beeped. Coolant escaped from the chamber before ...

Author: Martin Berka Alma sobbed over the bed, oscillating between wails and shrieks until the exasperated surgeon ushered her to his small office at the back of the ICU. He offered her a seat, eased the door closed to spare his assistants’ ringing ears, and maneuvered a ...

Author: Lisa Jade It always takes a few moments to remember where I am. As I wake from a fitful sleep, my eyes fixed on the inside of the tank, it comes back to me. What this place is. What I agreed to. What life is like now. When the System boots up there’s a kick ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s a dark atmosphere here on the hill, which is a sad achievement: with modern lighting and the city sparkling below, the Governor’s place is usually the brightest spot. Until Maleshi brought the ruckus to the docks and Grunhilde ...

Author: Mina No corporeal mind could comprehend the Cloud in their base form. Looking directly at them was like looking at the Milky Way but from a vantage point many light years closer to the centre than the Earth could claim to be (hence the unoriginal designation for ...

Author: Palmer Caine. “Have you heard about Lauren?” the fat thing asked, “Apparently your old partner, as wonderful as she is, has upset everyone, dealing to all sides...apparently.” Grottman scratched his flabby, floppy head. Felix smiled. He knew about Lauren’s ...

Author: Alzo David-West Wind blew over the plateau. The sky was a desolate faded blue. A woman with tangled black hair rode a slow-moving horse, a travois with a bundled load drawn after it. She wore a hide shawl and carried a broken spear. Her feet were bare and ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “That’s it. Let the colours soothe you. So easy. Relax. It’s all here. Anything you need to be concerned over, everything you must have. There’s nothing you need to fear because we’ll tell you if there is. No, don’t worry. You’re not ...

Author: Morrow Brady It had all become so complicated. The way we worked. The way we interacted. The expectations heaped upon us by our forebears. We needed to look back at where we had come from. It was how it was though. This world with its regulated cultural norms ...

Author: John McLaughlin Toru Sato was negotiating for a new body. "And they're rad-resistant too?" The blonde sales rep smoothly reclined, a wide smile ratcheting onto her face as if delivered from an assembly line. "Oh yes, as of last year the radiation resistant ...

Author: William Gray “I’m scared,” Leanna said, staring into the kaleidoscope, eyes wide, turning the aperture. “Scared of what? It’s just colors,” I responded. She put the kaleidoscope down on the bedside table. Her skin was pale, as if she had coated her entire body ...

Author: David C. Nutt “Is this trip really necessary?” “Beg your pardon?” “Repeat: is this trip really necessary? What is the nature of this excursion?” “Ummmmm…not that it is any of your business, but I was going to make bread and I realized I’m all out of yeast.” “Did ...

Author: Hari Navarro Raymond gulps the weight of his breath and it tastes like death as he lays unable to move on his bed. "Does the name Lucas Lockwood mean anything, Raymond?", coos the shadow as she paces, her bare-feet crunching on the tattered pile of his ...

Author: David Henson It was a windy day in the park. I opened my arms, skipped backwards, pretending to be a kite. At first, he seemed pleased. But something tugged away his smile. I knew he was thinking about her again. I suggested we have a picnic sometime, recalled ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer We’re glaring at each other across a gap that is – as we have repeatedly tested – exactly nine metres wider than either of our best reaches. The ground for kilometres around us is nothing but churned mud and scoured rock. Not a leaf, not a ...

Author: Timothy Goss Lieutenant Tann wiped his fuzzy torso. Months in a Chrono-tube caused the growth of a downy hair that matted together on the backs of his legs and arse. The computer suggested both Lieutenant Tann and Major Spar rub themselves with oil before taking to ...

Author: John McLaughlin I took my shot and it landed true; a beam of light, passing briefly through the void and extinguished in a collapse of reality. Well, not exactly. There is no direction, or time, in the Manifold--only the roiling chaos of the quantum fields. I've ...