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 ...

Author: Jules Jensen “The wolves are always at the door. Remember that.” His voice was cold and dark, like an unlit cellar. The intensity in his manic eyes made me wonder if he honestly thought there were real wolves literally scratching at the door, their hungry maws ...

Author: Rick Tobin Matt drifted in distant thought, staring at melting butter pushing raspberry jelly seeds up and over the pockmarks of his whole wheat English muffin. His senses filled as a mix of fruity sweetness rose up, enhanced by toasted bread essence to dance with ...

Author: Morrow Brady It always starts with a gentle scratch. I pressed activate and watched Robot, still as a statue within the secure concrete chamber. Processing fired up and Robot slowly drew its finger across its abdomen. It gently scratched, then clawed, then dug at ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Dino’s at the hatch, jigging up and down like he does when he’s worried. “Table Seventeen, the Lantoran’s getting antsy!” I flip the trout end-over-end in the pan: “Tell the lovely cephalopod that his trout is being sautéed in ox butter ...

Author: Mina As non-corporeal xenobiologists, we are trained in riding corporeal forms. The forms we ride are oblivious to our observation from the inside out. I was specialised in hominins. Our training insists that we change host regularly which, on a spaceship with a ...

Author: Helena Hypercube The Adjuster rubbed his aching na'ora. Consciously, he eased the beating of his hearts, so that the blood flowed with less force. He was used to having to make a few adjustments when he encountered a new species, changing a few social structures, ...

Author: David C. Nutt The Bailiff stood and took a deep breath. Once he prided himself on being able to do his entire spiel in one breath. However, with the newest fad of rolling one’s last three past lives into one’s current name…well, breath frequently required. “O ...

Author: Tia Ja'nae My hands are sweating something fierce, even though they shouldn’t be. Just nerves, I guess since I’m here under false pretenses. Got arrested on my birthday for violating societal acts of moral turpitude. Federal law stipulates you can’t stay a virgin ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Max had started the day with anti-anxiety medication, some painkillers, and a mild sedative. He was so relaxed that the nurse had to practically pour him into a wheelchair to get him down to the transfer station for the ...

Author: Kemal Onor Captain Dean returned home late. The welcome party had already made coffee and spilled through the halls and rooms to talk in bursts of stories. There was the initial buzz of salutations and welcoming home. Cups were raised and health was toasted. The ...

Author: Alex Z. Salinas “I got to know some people.” Something nobody says anymore. So when a guy behind me at the café whispered that in my ear, I turned around and shushed him. Put my hand over his mouth. I told him we could get killed if somebody heard that. Nobody ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer How did everyone miss a cabin in this Protected Nature Zone for so long? The windows are covered in ivy and the veranda is thick with brambles. “Hya! Hya! Bellit, come now! We must away!” The shouted sentence comes from a woman standing ...

Author: David Henson A gust of wind found us while we were walking in the park. She opened her arms, skipped backwards, pretending to be a kite. Like you used to do. Before you got sick. Before you helped them create her, your dying gift to me. We came upon the spot ...

Author: Neil Otte “What a strange way for an Arkansas farm boy to die”, he thought. He could imagine Gramps shaking his head and saying, “Son, you are a caution”. Of course, his love of numbers, ability to fix mechanical systems, and delight in growing things – all ...

Author: Arkapravo Bhaumik I am sitting outside the Department of Surgery & Smart Implants and I can see the operation theatre beyond the glass door. Radha is clasping my palm tightly. We both know that this has to be done, and we have discussed it between the two of us ...