Author: Hari Navarro The girl sits atop the corrugated roof of her grandfather's garage as her fingernails loosen and flake from her hands. Her dog, Apollo, a grandiose name for so tiny a pup lays curled into a tight coil dead at her side. Absently she caresses the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I see her shoulders tense, then one hand releases as the other arm swings out and round. Ashes form a plume on the wind. “He’s gone, Darion. Free at last.” Essa blinks back tears as she smiles at me. There’s a release in her eyes, a ...

Author: Lora Kilpatrick Moon for Sale Looking for space? No pun intended. 14.6 million square miles of untouched beauty (except for a few boot prints, rover tracks, and flags). Half of the property looks out into deep space—great for stargazing! ...

Author: Alex Z. Salinas Erections used to mean something. This is the summation of my research at the bibliotech. Long before Dr. Claude “Stretch” Kransenberry, “the Grand-Godfather of Teleportation,” untangled the stickiest of equations in quantum entanglement and ...

Author: Roger Ley The Land Rover stopped, and Riley pointed, the prehuman footprints showed clearly impressed into the flat, dry, African rock surface. It was the third day of their family safari in the Great Rift Valley ‘We can spend a few hours here but we need to get to ...

Author: Hari Navarro Large Hadron Space-Time Shunt, Saint-Genis-Pouilly/Global Broadcast in ...3...2...1 - Transmitting: "I'm no speaker. My life a desert of beautiful numbers, a place where words stick as I swallow. I haven’t been chosen, it’s but chance that I find ...

Author: Irene Montaner The pink young woman was followed by a green man. A deafening explosion and hundreds of sparkly green dots illuminated the night sky. His features could be properly distinguished against the darkness. A middle-aged frowning man; he wore glasses and ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The truck crests the ridge with a loud whine from the drive servos momentarily rising above the sound of tyres on rough ground. “There!” A slim figure leans against a rocky outcrop: shirtless, barefoot, a cigarette hanging from her ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Walter moved purposefully around his small kitchen, pulling out bottles and tins, each marked with black ink on hastily applied white labels. Jasika read them while he worked; garlic powder, dried dill weed, flour and bread crumbs, and a ...

Author: Ian Hill Farmer Hoggins stood bent in his field, working over a particularly embedded knot. Sweat dripped from his brow and mixed with that of the ground as he repeatedly scratched at the sinuous snarl with the jagged end of his plow. The fibers before him were so ...

Author: Rick Tobin Tight bindings held her fast to something upright and cold. She stood blindfolded before her captors. Sweat trickled over her eyebrows, infiltrating throbbing eyes, and then eroding mascara into rivulets over her black cheeks and paralyzed quivering lips ...

Author: P. T. Corwin He had to bring her back. Even now, so close to the end. When the smoke from the machine parted Grace rushed out wearing that strawberry dress he had bought her for her sixth birthday. And Victor scooped her up in his arms – his Gracie – and held her, ...

Author: John McLaughlin "Children are a protected resource!" The nine-year-olds repeat the Camp Haven creed and then take their seats, gaze never wavering from the flag. At the head of the class, a strapping man swells with pride at the sight of these glowing youth. "Hi ...

Author: Mina Excerpt from Dr Harriet Walters’ report: We can confirm that the new procedure has been a resounding success from a physiological point of view. The subject has not reported any headaches or other adverse physical symptoms. Psychologically, the ...

Author: Hari Navarro My daughter was raped as a baby. Does the fact that she was nine and not a baby make me a liar, does it take any of the sting from an opening sentence surely designed to shock and pull you into the tawdry undertow that sweeps through these words? But ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Dmitri shuffled through the crowd, his handler's grip tight on his elbow. Someone had draped a jacket over his hands, tightly zip tied as they were in front of him, presumably to stop onlookers from becoming anxious. "When you're on the ...

Author: Rick Tobin “He’s blind. He ignored shielding restrictions.” Carose bent away from his medical monitor while speaking to Captain Wolir on video screen. “There’s nothing to do. Earthers never evolved protective eye membranes for such space encounters. How did he get ...

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 ...