Author : Bob Newbell The man and the machine surprised one another when they happened to both enter the half-destroyed and looted store from opposite sides. The human reflexively reached for a gun, his hand finding only an empty holster. The robot pointed an arm at the man despite the ...

Author : Morrow Brady Wilma's Pass, a single stitch in the gaping wound that was the M1 Motorway, was popular with dairy farmers because of its cow content. Conceived on environmental guilt and funded by the local council's surplus budget, it was a bridge designed to be organic in ...

Author : Steve Buttner Few dishes satisfy like a classic croute du monde. A melange of shatteringly crisp technological flakes, floating in a richly flavored, savory slurry of organics, all a foil to the spirited kick and bright acidic finish of the hydrocarbon-rich rocky solids, ...

Author : S T Xavier The old man looks up from the notepad sitting in front of him at the table. “Is this all of us? I can never remember anymore.” The teenager sighs loudly. “Geeze, gramps. Must be so hard counting to ‘four’ at your age.” With a smirk, he turns to the child and ...

Author : Steven M. Sloan There is something out there stalking me. I can’t see it; but I know that it is there. I’ve been in the bush for nearly a month since the crash, and it’s been here all along, behind me all the way. I just can’t shake it. And now I am completely alone. Capt. ...

Author : Rick Tobin The short walk from the trees near the campus to the administration building winded him. The air was too thin for Linet. Once inside the conference room, Linet pushed the tall paperwork pile forward on the bare meeting table. He turned in his steel-backed chair to ...

Author : Tiasha J. Garcia "Um, Houston, we have a problem," the woman tittered nervously. Really, she was little more than a girl, radiant in the late spring sunshine as it gleamed off her long brown hair. "Yes, and what would that be?" the man/boy inquired, relaxing amidst a cloud of ...

Author : Ben Friedman I remember your gom jabbar. He was a squeaky clean critter, always huddling skittishly by his water bowl, furiously scrubbing his tiny paws then drying them off with wood shavings. He would drop all his waste in a tiny hole he dug out beneath a low flat rock and ...

Author : Philip G. Hostetler Somewhere along the line I drew a circle instead. I thought about it. When thinking in linear terms, does the line break on through to the other side to terminate at the beginning? If so, does it differ at all from a circle, the enigmatic snake ...