Author : David Burkhart Where the hell is she? Joel searched everywhere for her. The cargo hatch was still securely sealed so she couldn't be in the cargo bay. She couldn’t have opened the forward hatch or they would have been sucked out into space. It was only a small ...

Author : Michael Jagunic There was an asteroid belt made of bones on the other side of the quasar. I saw it, long ago. It is all that I remember of the last place. Of the place that came before that, I remember nothing except that I was there, long long ago. Sometimes I ...

Author : Steven Carver One last tremor ran through the pod as it passed into the atmosphere of the small blue planet. The heat shield retracted from the viewport and the pilot got his first view of a real ocean. His home planet had dried into an uninhabitable barren husk ...

Author : Elle B Sullivan "I'd like to file a complaint." The teller looks back over the counter at me, and sighs audibly. "You will have to fill out form 3C," he replies in a monotone voice. He hands the form over to me and I take it to the seating area behind me, ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Remote data entry: 17-10-94:00:21:12 – Origin: Earth 50.825024, -0.383835. There’s a crater in the ceiling and blood on the floor. It forms a crimson ring around the leg sheaths and pelvic girdle assembly that used to contain Chris. As ...

Author : Robert Lafosse She was on her way to the Kyiv National University of Construction. It was a glorious May morning, the sun beating down from a crystal blue sky. A light breeze ruffled her skirt a bit as she walked. Olga hummed along to a tune on her iPod. ...

Author : Janet Shell Anderson The WORLSNEWS says she’s got the best body on the planet. So where’s Giovanna Tatiana Romanova Baldwin? Not in Gulf Stream/Delray. The Secret Service’s going crazy at my cousin’s huge estate. He’s been elected Vice Pres. He thought they’d ...

Author : Pratyush Mishra There are moments of desperation and... There are times when I have a glimpse of who I truly am and then suddenly... There are those moments when I can hear the White Lady walk in with the notes. She brandishes the hypodermic syringe and pats my ...

Author : Leanne A. Styles “You’re insane, Estella,” my sister said, peering out the window to catch a glimpse of my new pet. “Stop being so dramatic, Maia,” I said. “The breeder said if you care for them correctly they’re the perfect pet. Besides, I wanted something ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s a beautiful morning reflecting in the waters of the Donaukanal. On the opposite side to Franz-Josephs-Kai, a young man sits behind an easel and smokes a cigarette between sips of wasserwine: a diluted fermentation that ensures ...

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Saykoe felt the agents following her, unseen, but their presence always just a corner, just a doorway behind. She slipped into the narrow gap between two buildings, opened her communications system and coded in to decrypt the tunnel. As ...

Author : Andi Dobek The instrument panel flickered longer than I’d have liked before its glow intensified, and the loud knocking finally quieted as the machine entered standby mode. I focused on the snugness of the harness around my chest, rather than what was about to ...

Author : Robert Lafosse I love this house. It is full of memories. The kids were brought up here. The family had its best times here. There are marks on the wall that map the growth of the children. The scars and scraps are a testament to the love and happiness that reined. ...

Author : Tony Sandy 'Stop!' The shout rooted Martello to the spot. 'If you step forward, you'll regret it.' 'But it's only a puddle surely?' 'You're new here aren't you?' 'You mean this planet?' 'Yes, this planet.' 'Yeh but-' 'That puddle isn't a ...

Author : Beck Dacus Mars. Before terraformation, it was a cold, dry, airless wasteland, all because it lost its magnetic field so many billions of years ago. Its core cooled down too far, and the dynamo at its center died, allowing the sun to strip its atmosphere and ...

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The Forward Operating Base is packed: personnel and equipment moving with alacrity in what, at first glance, appears to be a scene of total chaos. Standing quietly to one side, a holonews anchorman lets his videodrone stabilise before ...

Author : Bryan Pastor It had been there longer than Keen realized, but once it caught his ear, the sound drove him insane. The incessant tapping was foreign, yet familiar. He had heard it before, maybe back in his years on Earth, but in relation to the last ten years, this ...

Author : Neil Herndon Looking out. Or looking in. Do we stare into the expanse, or does it and its inhabitants look in on us? Which one of us is the exhibit in a zoo? In space, windows are structural weaknesses. Down here, if we have windows at all, they need to be over ...