Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Jack stood a few feet to the side of the station wagon, the door hanging open, the engine having just rattled and coughed into silence. Ahead, bathed in the yellow glow of the headlights was Celine, barefoot in the jeans and tee she'd ...

Author : Fred D. White After crossing the interstellar void for more than half a century Captain Carey, now fully awake, and his passengers, still in cryo, escapees from the toxic nightmare that Earth had become, entered orbit around Proxima Centauri-b. The human species ...

Author : Mark Renney Thomas was having a bad day. The bugs were everywhere, he was rife with them and he was writhing. He hated this - he knew how he looked. He had seen others like it, in a high level state and unable to control themselves and quite frankly he had thought ...

Author : David Henson I turn around, push open the door to the clinic, then spin back around and march to Check-In. “Ralf Pattersen,” I say to the guy at the desk. “That’s ‘Ralf’ with an ‘f’ and ‘Pattersen’ spelled ‘en.’ “ “Yes, Mr. Pattinson, how can I help ...

Author : Amy Sutphin She was perfect in every way. Her soft blond curls framed her perfectly proportioned face and amber, almond eyes. Not a single blemish marred her perfect skin. Yes God had made her perfect above all others. Of course in her case, God was a 3D printer ...

Author : Vanessa Kittle Something was wrong. Bear sniffed the air. There was no meat where meat should be. The sky was bright but there was no meat. The flocks of watchers were not watching. His stomach hurt. He sniffed the place where the greens came to bring meat. He ...

Author : Jeremy Koch Little was known of Planet Bes save that it was a world of impenetrable darkness, and according to the chronometer in Simonova's exoarmor, she had already been there for six days. Six days since the crash of the *Grigory*... six days alone. *I suppose ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer They’re leaning on the Antares descent stage. Von is sipping a latte from a little café in Venice. Griddin is swigging real kumiss from a Mongolian bar in Gwanghui-dong. Their view flickers with the pulsations of the environment field ...

Author : Morrow Brady ​"It's a planet and it's coming right for us" After three hours sleep, Director Reeve Scali struggled to comprehend the message. “Come down Sir, you must see it for yourself” Scali, puzzling momentarily in the cold night, sprang into ...

Author : David Blatcher Jason threw the low fat yogurt drink at the smartFridge and it splattered pale pink against the door. He had told the fridge to order milkshakes, the kind he always had after running. His new phone buzzed; 'Stay hydrated after exercise’. He tossed it ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Commander Abhrams wasn't an athlete, but had trained almost maniacally to meet the physical requirements of the space program. He wasn't the smartest either, and in school most reports included notes suggesting he 'would do better if ...

Author : Bryan Pastor “Absolutely ridiculous. The music of this era su….” “Hold that thought, what’s the make and model of the car we’re looking for?” “Blue Nissan…” “Like that one?” “Crap! Quick turn around.” “Where?” Anderton pointed at the bridge that ...

Author : Bill Diamond Suzanne wanted revenge. And, she’d convinced herself it was justified to achieve a greater good for society. To avoid jail, instead of acting rashly, she had waited and planned. She'd been fired from her job as a line cook at an upscale restaurant. ...

Author : Kelly Sauvage Angel “So, how was transport?” Betta asked as I settled into her chair. “Speed of light, really.” I gathered and lifted my hair in a messy bundle so she could snap the nylon cape around my neck. From the moment we landed, I’d found myself warily ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I look up as Anthony strides in, closing the door behind him. “You closed the door. What’s gone wrong?” He grins, then hands me a metallic tube. I turn it over. A courier tube, used for documents too precious for digital transmission. I ...

Author : Rollin T. Gentry At the end of the world, he reaches down a callused hand and grips the cold, steel leg of his cot, a small chill that takes him back to the days before the world was scorched and blistered. In the predawn, before the sun has mustered its strength, ...

Author : Anthony Rove Dan shivered as he felt a fat, cold drop of sweat run from his armpit down his side. He quickly patted the side of his torso, trying to use his loosely hanging dress shirt as a makeshift paper towel. He hoped none of the council members ...

Author : David Flynn Davis was a Flyer. But his wings had been removed surgically. This is no cliché. You know, wings of the heart, and that bullshit. Davis was surgically invested with wings when he was in his twenties, had a thirty year career delivering packages, ...