Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Tzen sat on the third floor of the abandoned building in near darkness. Only those streetlights that remained unbroken filtered light through shattered windows and draped plastic into what was once an active construction site. The money ...

Author : Mark Thomas It was a self-destructive spasm of madness! When the hunter cornered it, The Future had assumed the guise of a malnourished, homeless psychotic, bumping his shopping cart full of human trifles along a dirt path underneath a highway overpass. In this ...

Author : Rory O Reilly The blue was bright beyond measure shooting far out from the supernova displaying a beauty across the void. The vast ship passed within viewing range, the shimmering metal reflecting strongly. To the stern lay the bridge resplendent in decadent ...

Author : Russell Bert Waters Amah had always held her close and sang to her. She always felt secure in Amah's arms. She didn't want this to become a memory. The winds shrieked fiercely one night as Amah was taken from her; taken from them all. She was told to hide, and ...

Author : Mattias Ahlvin The man in the gray overcoat sat in his old station wagon. He waited. He took a sip of coffee from an old thermos and adjusted his glasses. He glanced at his watch and looked up and down the street that intersected with the side street he had parked ...

Author : Doug Hawley After twenty three rejections of my masterpiece “House Of Rats”, I started looking for a more reasonable publisher. The publishers and editors that I had been dealing with were a bunch of snobbish Ivy League arts and literature majors that couldn’t tell ...

Author : David Blatcher The withered astronaut had forgotten how to walk. The one fifth gravity on the station was too much for him, so an orderly in a hazard suit dragged him to the chair in the middle of the tiny interview room. The astronaut faced the camera through the ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Tendrils of smoke rise from the ancient bridge, but it stands strong. Atop it’s singed arch, two men stand, their powered-down armour dulled by dirt and char. The tension between them is palpable, even to the concealed observers, far back ...

Author : Sarah Rankin Gordon Fighting his arthritis, Professor Fitzsimmons carefully rolled his stool to the corner of his laboratory. In front of him sat three large sealed coolers. After slicing the duct tape, he pulled out and inspected the first pressure vessel, a ...

Author : Andrew Evans Dane was in a panic. He breathed in a short rhythmic tempo. Cold blue desert surrounded him, as vast as the Sahara and just as deadly. The mercenary’s breath shown in the slight dawn light. The only hope, a small outpost, lay visibly in the distance, ...

Author : David Henson Hurry, Trixie, I say to our Yorkie. As she squats behind me, I notice a bright light above the horizon. I figure it must be a freighter coming back from the mines, but something doesn't look right. Lilly, I say to my wife, let's go out back. I want ...

Author : Mark Thomas The blues singer hung his head, sad and mystified. “But the oscillator confirms perfect pitch.” He looked directly into his band leader’s eyes, and noted a slight dilation in Bob’s pupils, but no sympathy. “Perhaps,” the singer suggested meekly, “if I adjusted the ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The fist that passes over my noggin ain't much smaller than my skull. The knuckles are ridged with bony plates. I see them facts register with the moke who was threatenin’ me just before his face disappears from view with a sound like a sledgehammer ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Dez pulled the bike up to the edge of the tree-line, the electrics going quiet automatically. In the distance, mile-high lamp standards flooded the distribution center with artificial daylight, even in these early hours. Long haulers, ...

Author : Olivia Black, Staff Writer “All you need to do is lie back and when you wake up, the imprint will take over.” Something is wrong. So very, very wrong. The thought blares through my mind over and over, sounding alarms through every synapse and nerve ending. This ...

Author : Beck Dacus My eyechip surprised me while I was eating breakfast by telling me about the traffic on Bernadette. There was a parade blocking the street, and I needed to use Bernadette to get to the grocery store. “Oh.” My wife looked up from her eggs. She’d just ...

Author : Tony Sandy 'Get out and stay out!' Robert looked out of his window. His neighbor was in his drive, surrounded by suitcases and other personal paraphernalia. He leaned out of the window. 'Thrown you out again?' He said, not so much as a question but as a ...

Author : John Pedersen I do beg your pardon, sir. Please forgive the inconvenience. Oh, no sir, I assure you we are not out of anything. Well, sir, the National Weather Service has issued an atomic advisory, and we must insist all our customers move away from the ...