Science Fair

Author : Mark Thomas The teacher flexed the piece of moulded plastic. “I used our 3D printer to make it,” the girl said. Her heels were placed tightly together and she wobbled her hips back and forth nervously. She was new to the school and always tried so hard to impress. The ...

Entwined

Author : Rick Tobin “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining…” She choked off her singing of the next phrase, unable to overcome phlegm from fearful regret as Marcus lay still next to her in the dark, cramped ejection pod. Oxygen recycler packs heated smooth surfaces of the ...

Airlord

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “My mum said that wouldn’t fly.” She stands there, looking up at me, hands behind her back, daisy-print summer dress blowing in the hot breeze. “Why did she say that, little lady?” Her eyes widen, then she smiles: “Because you’re a ...

Like Father like Son

Author : Michael Mieher "That was great sweetheart. Now get out.", he punctuated his request with a slap on her slightly larger than shapely bottom. She hadn't been the prettiest girl on the beach, but then he wasn't the handsomest, or best surfer either. Mark had figured out two years ...

The Black Death

Author : Philip Berry London, 1348. Tantlas turned away from the rough-hewn window and its view of the wooden spire of old St Paul’s Cathedral. His three children slept. It was a very warm evening, mid-August, and the sheen of sweat on their exposed arms caught the moonlight. ...

Sojourn

Author : Kristin Kirby As she trudged across the rocky sand, shivering, she stared at the one dim star in the sky and wondered how the inhabitants of this soggy planet could see anything. Her gasps were harsh and wet. She was breathing water.> Lost, drowning, she knew she wouldn’t ...

Language Lesson

Author : Karin Terebessy This is German language lesson number twelve. Let's review. I will ask if you understand. Verstehen Sie? If you understand, how would you answer? “Ich verstehe.” Very good. Let's continue. Pretend you see a woman across the park and you want to get her ...

Zen and the Art of Evolution

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Aphys was lonely. When she'd been commissioned, the hospital was alive, bustling, a constant influx and exodus of those needing medical care, and she was so very equipped to help. A fully autonomous physician's aide, from admissions to ...

Matured

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Cheese: the catalyst for the end of the world? I worked for the Temporal Institute, investigating anomalies caused by our limited access to time travel. Now, everyone knows that time travel is proscribed by the Shibe, the mysterious entities who ...

The Timekeepers

Author : Matthew Harrison “Tell Mr Hoffmann, Jimmy,” said his father. The noonday sun outside had been dazzling, and Jimmy’s eyes were still adjusting to the dimness of the shop. The old jeweller loomed formidably behind the counter. But at his father’s prompting, Jimmy piped up, ...

Tradition

Author : Gary Bremer I awoke with a start from a dream that I’d already forgotten. Groggily registering that it was sobbing from my six year-old son’s room that woke me, I quickly glanced at my phone sitting on my bedside table. 2:41 a.m. Shuffling quickly down the short hallway to ...

Iron Age

Author : Rick Tobin It’s insane to record anything, but what else is there to do, floating alone at twelve-thousand feet? Altitude sickness will kick in soon enough…maybe a blessing. I’m out of supplies and dehydrating. Frightened people grabbed Bibles; others cash…some each other. I ...

Stitched Up

Author : Lisa Jade Wake up, Michael. Can you see? Look up. See the white light overhead, the white ceiling? The walls? White, too? Good. Now. Try and move your left hand. No, the other left. That’s it, good. Don’t try to sit up. Lie still. Now, think back. What do you remember? Do ...

Variations on a Theme

Author : Lauren Triola In Universe A, you meet as children. You become high school sweethearts. You live happily ever after. In Universe B, your family moves out of the country before he moves to town. You never go back. He marries your childhood friend, only knowing you through ...

The Rich Can Have All the Lemon Tarts They Want

Author : Janet Shell Anderson Black holes can now be rented. Aliens may arrive! That’s the headline on everyone’s App. “The rich can have all the lemon tarts they want.” Another headline. Giovanna Romanova Baldwin said that three days ago, then disappeared. If Aliens landed, would ...

Jargangil

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The tide is full of bodies and the sky is filled with lies. Sullen waves roll corpses back and forth, trailing organic tatters in varying shades of death. Above me, seagulls scream furiously at the metallic crags that obstruct their flight and deny ...

Song’s Next of Kin

Author : Morrow Brady Following hospital sedation, Song Jai's medical file displayed next-of-kin as MAC 1500t, Song’s Mechanised Automaton Companion. With no legal reason to deny such a request, the hospital duly summoned Mac, Song’s robot assistant. Mac’s tungsten humanoid frame ...

Aoyama has Left the Building

Author : Timothy Marshal-Nichols It had been on all the news channels but that didn't make it any the better. Today was the first visit of holiday makers from our nearest inhabited planet Narimiya. Simmons hadn't been paying attention to those news reports and he'd been called in that ...

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