Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Vapour coils along the bough, drifting away in little skeins of dissipating light. Tobias grins. Luminous breath: sure sign of irrevocable infection. “How do you feel, my son?” He looks up at the white rectangle glowing at the throat of ...

Author: Mark Joseph Kevlock How much is enough? When is it time... for the end? She's just a reporter. This is just an interview. I knew the world, of course, before there were any such things. My name is Hanois Brutale. I'm immortal. "I feel like... a passive ...

Author: Rollin T. Gentry Despite what Detective Bouchard still believes, I did not kill Cassandra Gibbons. I didn't kill her two years ago, and I sure as hell didn't kill her again this morning. Cassandra was a physicist and a postdoctoral renegade who was obsessed with ...

Author: John McLaughlin Pillars of flame smothered the Trac's windows as it descended swiftly through outer atmosphere. The craft's accommodations were quite decadent: cushioned seats, masseuses, and gleaming trays of food and liquor crowded to the edges of the heat-blasted ...

Author: Robin The silence in my ears woke me. I lay there, ocean rocking the docked boat, and mentally rewind to the beginning of the album. I couldn’t think of anything else to listen to. This is the only one of Isakov’s albums that are still preserved, and, of course, ...

Author: Rick Tobin Deuteronomy 28:41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. Just a toe. That’s all. Just her pointed phalanx appears. No more, at first. She plays me like a fly cast trout. She can’t be real, ...

Author: Mark Joseph Kevlock I needed a big brother, so I disguised myself and went back in time to become him. I'd lived all this before, as my kid self, so it was pretty easy. I just had to remember the details along the way. First was a mustache like the Village ...

Author: Mina Major Tom Valence knew it was a one-way trip yet he felt at peace, euphoric even. Soon he would be with them again - Liv and Susie. He sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Tetrad. The agony of the absence of his wife and daughter had left him hollow - Susie had ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer He gently places a finger on her hand. “Now try. Over there. No, don’t look back, you won’t see him. Look in the window. He’s just to the left of Mrs. Bakker, kissing her shoulder.” Krista stares around the room, at Connor, then at the ...

Author: John McLaughlin Semi-Finals Status Update: Seven-in-Absentia vs The Last Dragon. One hour remaining! The text crawls across Danny's white suburban bedroom ceiling--bright and blood red--and descends behind the armoire on the far wall. He ignores it and continues ...

Author: J Frank Wright Clank. Clank. Clank. The little silver pyramid hovered to the kitchen sink. Two metal arms emerged and started doing the dishes. Clank. Clank. Clank. Dan thought that something must have broken when it crashed in the ...

Author: Jamie Bainbridge-Wood One- The Ghost is Another Machine The point of this exercise is observation but I'm distracted, observing that Dwyer's return will cause some surprise. The house he has chosen sits at the top of a steep slope, between two snowy hills. The ...

Author: Alicia Cerra Waters My mother came home from work that night with the corners of her mouth turned towards her chin. She took off her yellow fluorescent vest and hardhat, which was scarred with dirt and the colorless remains of the unionist sticker she’d scratched ...

Author: Steven Watson “It’s not the end of the world.” This was how Clara consoled herself: by affirming the exact opposite. For it was the end of the world. The earth was dying, and only a small mountainous corner remained habitable. A band of several hundred humans ...

Author: Jes Sanders “This is war now.” Murfree Tain blinked his retinal feed off and scowled at the cityscape sliding beneath him. He couldn’t bear watching his company’s stock dive any further. His companion, Bill, clicked a Zendorphin dispenser that doled out one ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The moon picks out bright lines from the vegetation-shrouded hulks at the sides of the road. High above, our Night Ravens duel with watch drones. So high that any kills fall outside our ken, leaving the night undisturbed. “A long time ...

Author: Janet Shell Anderson I married for money, wasn’t much good at it. I used to hunt. Last week, driving west from Valentine on 20, I noticed the roads were empty. Not a stock truck, horse van, pickup. Not an old rez beater, though we’re pretty far south of Pine ...

Author: Palmer Caine Every hair on Dexter’s body stood erect, his pupils dilated and his ears began to twitch. Xians’ caused this reaction in humans when on the hunt, it was defensive. In memory time would slow, every sense overloaded. He’d been working the Plaza all ...