Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer This precious space used to be an overgrown park, rarely visited by day and a haven for crime by night. Now it sits as a spot of verdant life amidst ruined towers and shadowed thoroughfares. Those who dwell here call it ‘Greenheart’. It ...

Author : Beck Dacus Azova, Girgin, and Rastat floated through a hole blasted in the alien ship’s hull. Inside, everything was trashed. Whatever had destroyed this ship had been thorough. The computer systems were all but disintegrated. The ship was in complete vacuum, in ...

Author : Samuel Stapleton “Your Excellency. We can’t move on this. The Intelligence Protection Community is watching too closely. Humans have made their move, their motion for an open debate court was approved.” “This is ludicrous! They’ve been slaves for less than 30 ...

Author : Uri Kurlianchik She didn’t have a throat to sing or speakers to talk. Her only means of vocalization were small devices that vibrated and gyrated as she drilled and scraped barren soil in search of remnants of past life or possibilities of future life. She traveled ...

Author : Beck Dacus From the window of his cabin in the I.P.S. Red Baron, Admiral Mortigna sipped coffee and watched as the last repairs were made on Jupiter’s dynamic orbital ring. A hoop of solid material twirled around the planet at speeds faster than needed to maintain ...

Author : David Henson "Honey, are you going to use the DreamMaster tonight?" Sally says to her husband. "You bet. I've scripted a football match," Jim says, laying the DreamTablet on his bedside table. "Big hero." He taps his thumb to his chest. "You?" "Think I'll ...

Author : M. Irene Hill September 8, 2040, Special Area Babylon, Planet Earth: Control center: “We are offline and shield is down. Initiate cataclysm.” The last vestiges of rosy light disappeared behind giant cumulonimbus clouds which rolled in from the four cardinal ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The prototype bodyguard robot stands over both of us, waiting for emergency services that will arrive too late. “Git.” John’s voice is a whisper. I’ve never seen anyone with an expression like his: confused and peeved. Whilst the ...

Author : D.J. Rozell Agent Jackson sat down across the table from the bio-hacker and started in before the guy had a chance to size him up, “We’re not here to collect evidence – we’ve got plenty of that – but to discuss motives. Clearly you are a genius.” The agent was ...

Author : David Kavanaugh “First day on the job?” asked the women in the lab coat, twirling a set of digikeys on one finger. “Yep.” “You excited?” “Sure am. I’ve been on the waiting list for ages! It’s funny; there seem to be job openings here all the time, but I ...

Author : Madison McSweeney It was 9:30 AM on a Friday when the Martians landed on Dave McQuilty's farm. The ship, which was more spherical than saucer-shaped, touched down in the midst of some cows. A long silver platform descended and a little grey man stepped out. Dave ...

Author : Trevor Doyle Sex droids don’t do it for me, but I’ve never had a problem with clones. My most recent Romeo, for instance. The last time I saw him, he was standing on my gold plated balcony, his back to the city that worships at my feet. He looked like a pop star ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer It’s another tediously quiet evening in Watchpost 113 at the western edge of the Sonoran Borderlands. Fred is making waffles while Adey idly flicks through the long-distance views. Fred glances round as Adey jerks upright in his chair, ...

Author : M. Irene Hill Today’s sunrise is a Chinese watercolor painting, with inky tree branches in the foreground of an ombre sky. Below a band of monochrome cloud, a thin line of cinnabar melts into pink chrysanthemum in rhythmic balance. I imagine that a bird’s eye view ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters The moon stares down as I stand on the beach next to what once was the ocean. Powerless to control the tide, or anything at all, the moon seems sad. This is conjecture on my part. The moon hasn’t said anything lately, so for all I know ...

Author : Dylan Otto Krider Talmey is not a pervert, just very lonely. He tried to get dates, really he did. With the computer business, he didn’t have time. Plus, he was shy and -- he could admit this – ugly. But a guy has certain needs; for sex, yes, of course, but female ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer It has always been the way that the skies inspired images of freedom and escape from the troubles of the now. “The sky belongs to none”, as my grandfather used to say. We’ve had Eflubian motherships and Targamor raidcraft, Claflandian God-discs and ...

Author : Anthony Francis Hariq realized she’d wandered into their territory the moment it was too late to go back. She’d turned too early, into the alley to the abandoned school, a blasted block of creaking swings and dirty chainlink the city had let fall ...