Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Sometimes, when we got bored, we'd turn off the artificial gravity and do mundane things in zero gee. Sitting on either side of what passed for a mess room table over breakfast was a particular favourite pastime of mine. The slow motion ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer My guardian wakes me with a mental alert: “Intrusion!” I lie there, unmoving, keeping my bodyware idle. The first rule of surviving killsoft: do nothing to allow it further access. “Where, Teriya?” I silently reply. – It’s a difficult ...

Author : Lisa Jade I still recall the sorrow of the Project Head when he said I was leaving Earth. I’d questioned it; there were plenty of people more qualified than me. I wasn’t sure why they’d chosen me, or why they treated the Stasis Project like a death sentence. It ...

Author : Beck Dacus While the feds brushed their feet on my welcome mat and walked into my kitchen, I was scanning my mind for things I had done wrong. I hadn’t reported any alien sightings. Never smuggled drugs, or touched drugs in my entire life. None of my friends had ...

Author : Austen Rodgers They spawned from the Heavens Burst and raced beyond the measure of speed and distance, and for a time longer than the total existence of any other species. Like streaks of cosmic fireworks, they spread outward and settled on planets scattered ...

Author : Roderick Holl Elijah checked the readout on the pen-sized tool, cursing to himself as he placed a hand on his helmet and spoke into the communications channel, “Hamlet do you read me? I don’t think the problem is this balance spring.” “It must be something, it’s ...

Author : Catori Sarmiento It will only grow bigger. The abdominal bloating that began as a minuscule bump is gradually becoming more obvious. He placed a hand on the swollen mass, now full enough to cup in his palm, as a quiet anxiety pulses from the source to the base of ...

Author : Andrew Bale How is it that death is an instant? A few seconds ago, the gasping, struggling, savaged body of Ensign Harper had been a living person, and then, in an instant, he was gone. She held his body, felt it settling, relaxing from its former struggles, ...

Author : Leanne A. Styles I skip down the corridor, swinging my gun in delight. Even above the wail of the alarms, Ben’s screams carry, amplified by the lofty glass walls. As I enter the stairwell, I contemplate why, out of everybody in the office, I’ve spared ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The monsters are just about to carve into my flesh when the fright-spasm finally wakes me. I struggle to breathe until panic releases my chest; gasping breaths hiss and thunder. The viewport is fogged with condensation and I’ve wet ...

Author : K.A. Magrowski The giant handprint appeared on the hill sometime during the night of April 30. No one in the nearby farming communities and town saw or heard anything, but on May 1 everyone woke to see the imprint in the distance, across the cow pastures and ...

Author : Iain Macleod "Dude! We are so boned, dude! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Jimmy frantically tapped at his console, sweat beginning to drip off the end of his nose. "They're sentient, man" "What? All of them?" replied Carl, the older of the two keeping calm, ...

Author : Timothy Marshal-Nichols “So this bloke then, this Galvano bloke, so this Galvano della Volpe is dead.” The Local Defence Officer thought for a few seconds while twiddling with his moustache. Then spoke into his radio, “Sucker's dead.” “Repeat,” came back the ...

Author : Daniel Helman One time there lived a small planet that decided to invent some silicon-based machines to serve as emissaries to the rest of the universe, to be a good neighbor. A few apes had some promise, as being able to develop, maintain and enjoy these machines, ...

Author : David Henson The module thuds onto the planet's surface. Commander Stevens adjusts the stabilizers. "No prize for that one." Lieutenant Johnson cuts the engines. "You always think you can do better." "Do you have to take everything I say ...

Author : D.J. Rozell Jordan didn’t flirt with Alex until the divorce was final. The marriage had been full of broken promises, but why add one more? However, with the papers signed and a few weeks of decent sleep unknotting the muscles that had been locked in perpetual ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The moon is a purple crescent that stretches from horizon to mid-sky. The few stars are scattered pinpricks of yellow, too far apart to make any sort of constellations. Consequently, the available light is less than ideal for people ...

Author : Janet Shell Anderson I saw the full moon last night, and it reminded me. Jonathan has been gone a week. Sometimes I hole up in Rock Creek Park; I know places in the woods, in the sweetbriar and holly and tulip trees where no one ever comes, hear mockingbirds ...