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The Blue Hour

By submission | May 30, 2016
Author : Tyra Tanner It is the blue hour. That space between twilight and full dark when night’s silhouettes press flat against the horizon. Pines stretch their jagged limbs blackly above eye level, like a claw-marked rip in the canvas of the coming night. Sometimes, at this hour, ...
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The Memory Hunter

By submission | May 29, 2016
Author : Kate Runnels Emi always looked them in the eyes - the poets knew them as the gateways to the soul - even though she plugged in and dove their mind. Dove their cybernetic link and into the electronic pathways. She always looked them in the eyes. There were green eyes with ...
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That Would Have Been Wrong

By submission | May 27, 2016
Author : John Tippett Helen and James Abernathy exchanged an incredulous glance as the reporter on the car radio began to lose her composure. “Turn it up”. James complied. “...must recognize that early reports during a crisis are often incorrect.”, the clearly shaken announcer ...
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All New Food is Gross

By submission | May 26, 2016
Author : Sharon Molloy “That’s the surprise, Daddy?” A family of four stood in the restaurant lobby, watching unfamiliar shapes moving in a huge tank. They’re staring at me!” “No, they’re not. They don’t have eyelids.” “They have too many legs.” “Those aren’t legs, and they ...
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Soldier

By submission | May 25, 2016
Author : Bob Newbell I'm going to die here, thought Or'Vykl to himself. Or'Vykl stared out through the visor in his helmet at what had been a residential suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. The area showed little evidence of the orbital bombardment that had fallen upon more strategically ...
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Silent Scream

By submission | May 24, 2016
Author : J.D. Rice Her mouth opens wide, eyes squeezed shut in a show of agony, teeth bared, then suddenly comes to a stop. The moment of her death slows to a crawl, like time itself is standing still. They say this is what it's like to see someone die. Everything just slows down as ...
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Ensurance

By Julian Miles | May 23, 2016
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Sarraled stared through the viewport as the lander spiralled down through the thin atmosphere. “Looks like this place was inhabited.” The pilot nodded: “They died out just before we established the base. Sad, really.” “That good?” “Yes. ...
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Integrated

By submission | May 22, 2016
Author : Edward D. Thompson (edacious) Erica poured her first cup of the morning, missing the friendly hum of greeting the coffee pot used to make. The day had begun with such a homey feel then. The crackle of the toaster, the busy hum and whine of the microwave, the steady, reliable ...
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Growth Industry

By submission | May 21, 2016
Author : Rick Tobin “Hey, Doc. How’s it going?” Mike Compton, freshly tanned, popped his head into the geneticist’s offices. His counselor remained seated, turned toward the window overlooking the campus quad featuring coeds being tempted to indecency on manicured lawns by the early ...
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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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