Author : Beck Dacus The engines stopped burning after a full year of deceleration, and all the ships turned to face their destination. The mechanics triple checked the cannons before opening their compartments, and did touch-ups on all the fighters before deploying them. ...

Author : Nick Wood Five hundred words Izzy. Further we go, less we get. No pictures either. We lose bandwidth as the vast miles mount, so my words must be enough. We’re beaming photon packages with data ten light years back. Latest planet-hope is called Delteron-9. Twice ...

Author : J R Hampton T- minus 14.6 minutes to impact. The automated voice of the starship crackled. Dazzling lights from the control panel snaked intricate patterns across the monitors. As he reached out to touch the buttons, Commander Singh’s hand seemed to vanish into ...

Author : Philip Berry “Is it surprising, really? After what they did to you, that you can’t feel a thing.” But I could feel. Too much. My skin was on fire. “No Lana, I mean really feel. Perceive emotions. You can’t.” But I could sense my own. Disappointment. ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Dead-pirate-flying slams past me in silent majesty, drives blazing, weapon ports opening. I kick the pedals to accelerate port and ahead, then split the sticks: left fully forward, right hard back. There’s a lurch that makes my stomach ...

Author : Olivia Black, Staff Writer “How are you still alive?” “What are you talking about?” Mearene is staring at me like I’m the second coming and I swear I’ve never seen her eyes bug out like that. “Your suit. Look at it.” She points at my exo-suit with a trembling finger. I glance ...

Author : Alana Pasternak Hello out there! Congratulations for surviving this long! If you're reading this, it means you've found a device with this app on it - either one of the devices we've left lying around to be picked up, or one of the devices that was epoxied down, ...

Author : Irene Montaner He had known of his fate since the day he was born. He had been designed to complete an outstanding, yet suicidal, mission. He would be cruising the Solar System for years before disintegrating during one final visit to one of the gas giants ...

Author : Beck Dacus Once everyone in the auditorium was seated, Professor Gildritch wheeled his invention forth. On top of the rolling table was a small, modest-looking device. Gildritch didn’t care to explain it. “I’m sure several of you have heard rumors about what I’m ...

Author : Joachim Heijndermans The floor is so damn cold. I wish they'd turn the heat up or at least let me keep my socks and shoes. What are these floors made of? Some kind of metal, maybe? For a single person cell, it's way too big. You could fit a Firebird model jet in ...

Author : Iain Macleod Here come another fresh load off the shuttle. I hate them, bloody smug rich earther kids here to "give something back". Dragging their wheeled suitcases behind them, taking selfies wearing sunglasses. We're inside a dome, morons! The sunlight is fake ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The Nighthawk café is quiet. In the dim light cast by grimy neon tubes, two men sit nursing mugs of coffee and shot glasses of whisky. “Looks good, Crow. Looks good.” The older of the two waves his hand, encompassing the café and ...

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 ...