Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The cooling towers hum less at night, as the temperature drops in the world above. ‘The World Above’. Oh, how our leaders love that title. They use it everywhere, usually presented in ways that used to be reserved for heaven and similar ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer "Do you know what happens when a black star dies?" Tony asks, rhetorically, not waiting for an answer. "It collapses in upon itself, and in one last gasp, ejaculates a single burst of energy into the void." His assistant nods, numbly, ...

Author: Vivienne Burgess I remember Agni on your lap, myself on the faded mat in the mess hall, practicing knots. Agni couldn’t keep his head on his shoulders, but I was listening. You started with the small things, shutting your eyes to speak, said it was important to pass ...

Author: Anthony Rove I am sorry, Samuel. You are thirteen and a man. Today, we go to The Grid. Oh, nephew. Shed your tears in here with me. You are a man now. And, as a man, it is okay to be frightened. It is okay to cry. I cry sometimes too. Sometimes, I am so scared ...

Author: Kate Runnels Ara studied the Avatar for a moment, liking what she saw. It wasn’t enough like her to raise suspicions if anyone she knew played the game, but she would be comfortable playing in this body she had tweaked from the stock body given by the game ...

Author: Duncan Shields, Staff Writer "Look we rescued you, correct?" "Yes, but-" "You were floating in a derelict colony vessel. You were a corpsicle. A cryo refugee. We could have LEFT you there!" "Yeah, I know. You revived me and the other two hundred surviving ...

Author: Sam Matey Nnenna Inkar Uzoma, first human consul to the Empire of Mhunghelvardh, walked out of her spaceplane onto the dais and into a fantastical wonderland. The palace gardens of Mhunghelvardh spread out below her, kilometers of alien vegetation in every color. A ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer We’d been down for a long while before Commander Bramson came up with the idea of linking to the orbiter, getting it to swing into low orbit and tractor beam us off this damn rock. I objected on the grounds that humans can’t extract oxygen ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Baxter found the fortune teller at the very back of the carnival grounds, as far away from the entrance as one could get without leaving the sprawling complex. It was either an afterthought or the origin point, which exactly was ...

Author: Kim Kneen “It’s rare but sometimes Saplings simply fail to thrive.” Dr. Moran peels off her gloves and drops them into a bin labeled Hazardous Waste. Moran hands me a leaflet entitled Recalls: your obligations and I stuff it into a pocket and bundle Saffy up in ...

Author: David Henson My daughter is marrying a goddam Martian. They’ll probably end up living with me and Edith ‘cause he’ll never hold down a steady job. Martians is lazy. Just ‘cause Mars was the first to be terraformed, they think they shouldn’t have to work, that ...

Author: Thomas Tilton Hard, mean knocks at the door. That would be Mr. Farcus, the landlord. Chuck was already two months behind on rent, and today was the fifth day of month three. Mr. Farcus was coming to collect. “Just a minute!” Chuck said, opening his closet and ...

Author: Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Slow Jim Parker. That’s me, friend. Please to make your acquaintance. Nasty accident you had there, friend. Nas-teee accident. And I’ve seen some! And this shack of a hospital won’t do you any good, either, no offense. Well, I’m ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer It breached the atmosphere in the late evening, the sun beginning to warm the far side of the little blue planet as it tucked into the shadows and dropped down to the clouds. It swam in the moist air, swirling and cavorting with the ...

Author: Servaya It began, as many things do, in the dead of night. “Dad!” cried the boy. “There’s monsters under my bed!” The covers were down before he was fully awake, and as he rolled smoothly to his feet, his mind begins processing the situation while his body ...

Author: Garrett Frechette We have called ourselves a great number of names over the course of these many years. At times, we presented ourselves as federations and republics, our history records our imperial conquests and peaceful coalitions. We are Milky-Wayans, we are ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Trent sat in the small office cradling the cup of hours-old coffee until the clock showed twelve. He then unfolded himself from his chair, collected his flashlight and his hat and started his rounds. Every hour, on the hour. Up the east ...

Author: Joachim Heijndermans Darren rushed into the bathroom as if hell was on his heels. With his shoulder, he slammed the door open. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure that stood before the sink, greeting him with a “Pardon me! Growing a tail here!” as he ...