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Greenhand

By submission | May 20, 2016
Author : Iain Macleod "I still dont get it, man." The youngster looked up at the grizzled older man. A drilling veteran of over twenty years he looked like an old bear with a hangover. "Go over it again" "Come on, new blood. It's not that hard. How did you even get through your ...
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Island

By submission | May 19, 2016
Author : Eric San Juan By the time the sandstorm passed, the sun had fallen and the orange skies had faded to a bruised brown and purple. The towers still seemed unreachable, perched on a dream horizon. Faint whispers of yesterday clutching at sky that no longer wanted it. He checked ...
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Longevity

By submission | May 18, 2016
Author : Philip Berry I agreed with the policy. Leave the elderly and infirm here, in the care of the medimechs, while transporting the fit and fertile to the safety of a freshly terraformed planet outside the sector. I volunteered to help with the messaging, the politics and the ...
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Culture

By Julian Miles | May 17, 2016
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s a smashed petri dish in the sink, the splashes of water on the pieces syncopating with the drumming of the water pouring into the steel basin. I look down at a hundred moving reflections of my face as the water rushes away. The flow carries ...
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Objective Emotion

By Stephen R. Smith | May 16, 2016
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The professor entered the lecture hall at precisely nine o'clock, took off his blazer and draped it across the lectern. Gradually the conversation in the room declined from a dull roar, to a persistent murmur, to near silence. "Good ...
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Emotions in Binary

By submission | May 15, 2016
Author : Megan Crosbie Azrael found the defective droid waiting in the termination chamber. “Will it hurt?” it asked. “No,” he replied, injecting the serum. “You weren’t built to feel.” Its illuminated eyes flickered. “I’m scared…” Azrael watched the floor as the droid spasmed and ...
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Windblown

By submission | May 14, 2016
Author : Sarah Vernetti The entire thing was the wind’s fault. Yes, she (not the wind) had ripped up her Form 1908, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get rid of it completely. She had intended to report to the base and submit the form as instructed. After all, she wanted to stay on ...
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Hangdog

By submission | May 13, 2016
Author : Rollin T. Gentry He was one of seven paintings of the faces of cats and dogs. In watercolor and India ink on stark white backgrounds, they were all rather cartoony, but Hangdog -- that was the nickname I made up the first time I saw him -- he was something special. He was ...
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Brian and I

By submission | May 12, 2016
Author : J.D. Mraz Dear National Robotics Institute, In reply to your cease and desist: No, I will not stop current activities with my JS1000 Companion bot. I see no reason to. There was nothing in your policy or purchase agreement that said modification was forbidden. I have read it ...
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Men Below

By submission | May 11, 2016
Author : Callum Wallace “You haven’t heard? Soul is cheap.” Raised eyebrow. “Souls are cheap?” The director shakes his head. “Not souls, plural. The soul. Each soul, if you will, individually, is worth pittance. Hardly more than their task. No, the soul is cheap, because there will ...
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When the Clocks Go Forward

By submission | May 10, 2016
Author : Kevlin Henney Morning light, autumn flickering a shadowplay across the curtains. Bright and windy out there, perfect for a walk — perhaps the woods? No need to rush, but it would be good to get out of the house. The kids will drag their heels to the door, to the car and all ...
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James’ Bus

By Julian Miles | May 9, 2016
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I don’t get to see Grandma Spoon as often as I like. What with the economy, austerity zoning and riots, cities can be difficult places for those unable to use or reach civil transit lines. She wouldn’t move. Her home was the one she’d shared ...
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Cancer

By submission | May 8, 2016
Author : Tanmaya Dabral The Earth was dying. And all the genius of human beings couldn't do anything about it. They had terraformed even the most uninhabitable regions of Earth: the Antarctic enjoyed lush green forests and loam covered the entire Sahara. And yet, it was not enough for ...
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Intaglio

By submission | May 7, 2016
Author : Rick Tobin “Everyone back from Charon?” Captain Swanson paced about the control center of Abraxas. His bullish voice rattled younger officers as Swanson towered above at seven feet, his glimmering blue eyes set against his callow Cajun skin. “Sir,” replied Ensign Pallute, ...
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Whispers In The Box

By submission | May 6, 2016
Author : MD Parker The sound of clinking dishes dominated the air as he sat across from the old man. Jason placed his digital recorder on the table. “I told you that won’t work.” The old man stared with apathy. “Why not? Could you explain that again?” Jason rolled his eyes. “What I ...
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Resonance

By submission | May 5, 2016
Author : Ian Clarke Professor Rogers said, “The way we measure and mark points in time is completely artificial and irrelevant to time travel, using clocks and calendars to locate points in time is impossible. Without a reference point we have no means to locate the time we want to go ...
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Sinker

By submission | May 4, 2016
Author : Tino Didriksen At the mid of the 21st century, we received the first signal, overriding the output of every speaker on and off the planet with a coherent but seemingly meaningless message. It wasn't until the second and third signals blared forth with about a week between, ...
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The Fall of Acheron

By Julian Miles | May 3, 2016
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The clouds are limned in blood. Carmichael said it was a trick of the light; I have to take it as a warning ignored. We came to Acheron - actually Acheron IV, but as the rest were uninhabitable, we dropped the designator – to build a paradise. The ...
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