Author: David Henson The table is still set, and one of the plates is untouched— baked cod, peas, potatoes. Cold. Ruined. I was so upset at work, I forgot to call and tell Helen I wouldn't be home for dinner. I hurry upstairs and find the bedroom door locked. “Helen, I'm ...

Author: A.K. Blake “You can’t be serious.” The President squints, shielding his eyes. “We find blunt assessments most expedient.” The agent from UPRA oozes twenty meters away, sunlight glancing off her transparent flesh in rainbow prisms that give all the humans ...

Author: Matthew Harrison “Good morning, Robert, how nice to see you,” Jenny said. “What do you want to do today?” Robert smiled as he settled down at his PC, even though he knew Jenny couldn’t see him, wasn’t even a person. She was the little chat-bot icon at the top ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer By the time the stubborn git drops, I’m not sure if my nose is numb from the cold or from him hitting it. Christ, what a night to be out earning. Snow up to my ankles and only a footie top under my now-torn padded jacket. Dammit, I like ...

Author: Martin Lochman You love watching your human sleep. You love watching as she lies on the bed almost motionless, eyes shut, her face a mask of perfect serenity. You love seeing what she is dreaming about behind closed eyelids - sometimes about her family, friends, ...

Author: J.D. Rice As the sun rises, the ruins of the city begin to glimmer in orange and gold. Mangled hunks of metal and shards of glass reflect the rising sunlight, making the landscape come alive in various hues, welcoming me to a new day – another day of loneliness and ...

Author: Michael F. Da Silva I will tell you about the last time we tried a counter-invasion. The plan was this: to decapitate their command structure and destroy their ability to create bridges across the multiverse, thus locking them in their own worldline and perhaps even ...

Author: Rick Tobin “There is simply nothing we can do for you medically Mr. Tambor. Digeenia is fatal in mammals, like you. Perhaps someday there will be a vaccine or treatment, but considering its outcome, you might want to choose our pathway alternative. It promises a ...

Author: Paul Williams Siblane started work when his phone told him it was 9 am in the United Kingdom. He connected to the network, listening to the clicking of the automated dialer. He never saw the numbers called, just the location. The United Kingdom, full of old rich ...

Author: Ádám Gerencsér In all probability, this is our final broadcast. It will be repeated on all available automatic relays in binary code for as long as power supply persists. The time left is enough for but one final act of resistance: a high-frequency message of ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer We’ve had kids stealing our garden gnomes for years. Some came back, some didn’t, and some sent me postcards, usually from Skegness or Blackpool. As years went by, those kids did well. Our wandering gnomes sent postcards from Ibiza and ...

Author: DJ Lunan I love my bathroom. Its the best thing about my divorce. Alaskan white suite, powerful extractor fan, splash-blade shower, heated towel rail, and no queuing behind the kids. But divorce is expensive. I moved out of the family house to a ground floor flat ...

Author: Aethelric Jones Am I human? I feel like a human being. I’m Jack Hawkins, married with two children. But that was a very long time ago. I don’t look like a human being. I have no flesh or bones, I never get hungry. Actually, I’m a starship, or more like a star drone ...

Author: Leanne A. Styles The gatekeeper snatches the bag out of my hand, the lenses of his telescopic goggles making minute adjustments as he peers inside. “My watches and coin collection,” I say. “No money?” “Not anymore.” “Searched a lot of yards, have we?” he ...

Author: Bruce van-Schalkwyk Noah’s eyes tracked the blip on his screen. Displaying 19% battery, but being the furthest away from the garage, he didn’t want to take any chances with the auto-cab. He typed the return command on the open prompt, pressed Enter on the ...

Author: Gabriel Land In every direction, there was nothing but baked dirt, tumbleweeds, and flat death. The blazing sun weighed down on me. I didn't know which way to walk, and I didn't know why. How I'd gotten there was long since forgotten. Being lost wasn't the ...

Author: Beck Dacus Captain Whilford sat in the command chair, glowering. As he drank coffee with a blanket around his shoulders, he wondered what could’ve possibly warranted unfreezing him a year before arriving in the enemy system. Everyone on his ship ranking higher ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Our fleeing shadows flicker in the strobing light from far-off eppy guns - still enough to hurt our eyes, not enough to drop us. A while later, Oli gasps: “Where?” Good question. Sheer luck we’d headed out in search of cold drinks. The ...