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Four Letters

By submission | December 31, 2015
Author : Andi Dobek “So, I was watching this film last night.” “Yeah? Which one?” “Something called Casablanca.” “I’ve heard of that one. Never seen it. Any good?” “I don’t know. My emotive censors blocked most of it out. I guess so.” Iteration 247 stared at Iteration 7225. ...
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Home Is Where the Heart Is

By submission | December 30, 2015
Author : David Atos He landed his ship on her front yard. The spare key was still underneath the ceramic frog, so he let himself inside. The living room looked right. Their vacation pictures were hanging on the wall: the two of them on the beach in Maui, in front of their rented ...
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Symbology at First Contact

By submission | December 29, 2015
Author : S T Xavier This whole “first contact” thing is such a hassle. Neither of us can understand each other. You’d think we’d have spent more time learning their language before coming down to talk, but of course we didn’t. Management knows best, after all. “Don’t worry, ...
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White Marble

By submission | December 28, 2015
Author : Phil Gagnon Our destiny was to spread from our cradle, to go forth and tame the universe. Our motivation for this was simple; pandemic, mutually assured destruction, cometary impact, the thousand ways that humanity could die. Whether by fate, chance, or its own hand being ...
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The More Things Change

By submission | December 27, 2015
Author : Morghan J. “You understand why I require payment up front in a hard currency; when I complete my task, you will have no reason to pay me.” The woman idly stirred her cocktail, eyes latched on the man in a wheelchair sitting across from her at the bar table, his eyes gaunt and ...
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Testing

By submission | December 26, 2015
Author : John Domenichini Don held the phone closer to his ear and raised his voice. “Gramps wait. Don’t test anything. Wait for me… Gramps!!” He pulled the phone away from his ear. “Damn it!!!” Don’s roommate, Hong, sat calmly on his bed. “That was your great-grandfather? The ...
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Christmas Stars

By Stephen R. Smith | December 25, 2015
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Dara rolled out of her bunk and onto her feet in a smooth, practiced motion. On the way to the door she winced as the tightness in her calves made each footstep painful, but by the time she'd hit the column midship the ache had mostly ...
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Twilight Cruiser

By submission | December 24, 2015
Author : Roger Dale Trexler The ship skimmed the border between light and darkness as it had for millennia. Mankind found it by accident. In their quest to explore space, they had finally traversed the distance between Earth and Mercury. The ship had been so small that it was never ...
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Survival

By submission | December 23, 2015
Author : Travis Gregg She deeply inhaled the damp and humid air, savoring the coolness. The forest was ancient and the tree trunks nearly crowded out the sky. Even though the air was thick with moisture, and condensate clung to the ferns in the underbrush, finding fresh water was the ...
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Hep to the Jove

By submission | December 22, 2015
Author : Bob Newbell Culturally, they are the descendants of the hepcats and beats and hippies and hipsters and the other various subsequent nonconformists of the past half-millennium who organically came together to form distinct subcultures. But there the parallels end. Even the ...
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Where Honey Came From

By Julian Miles | December 21, 2015
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “What’s this, grandma?” “It’s honey, dear.” “Honey tastes nice. What is it?” “It’s what the bees made for us, Matty.” “Real bees made this?” “Yes, dear. A long time ago, before they flew away.” “Where did they go, grandma?” “We ...
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Hardcopy

By submission | December 20, 2015
Author : Michael Blewett Her father glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “How long?” she asked. “Two minutes and thirty seven seconds,” he replied, gazing out the airlock window. The curtness was for her, she knew, but it was hard for her to hear – especially now. The girl ...
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Ultraviolet Evening Gown

By submission | December 19, 2015
Author : Steve Pool Tess always threw the best parties; it was a fact that Lizzy was painfully aware of. Tess owned all the trendiest causes, giving her complete control over the calendars of every social climber in the city. She played the role of Alpha Queen with ruthless ...
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The Sun is Alive

By submission | December 18, 2015
Author : Connor Harbison “What did you just say?” “You heard me. The sun, it’s…alive.” “Impossible.” “No, no, hear me out. According to my research, the sun, it’s a living, breathing thing. Being. Not life as we know it, per say, but still, life. In another sense.” “I don’t ...
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Spectrum Plectrum

By submission | December 17, 2015
Author : Jean-Paul L. Garnier The shuttle clanked back and forth in its many dimensional dance. The strands all lay separated by their individual frequencies, ready for use at any given moment, and waiting for their chance to join the great tapestry that was unfolding. If only man had ...
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A Martian-American Folly

By submission | December 16, 2015
Author : Konstantinos Kalofonos Sotiris glanced down at his sleeve and brought up his family’s bank statement on the Fabroscreen. The corners of the screen flickered as the frayed edges of the flannel were losing connectivity. The large negative number was clear enough to make him ...
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Misclassified

By submission | December 15, 2015
Author : T Anthony Allen I am not a pervert. And, I find it hard to accept I have to point that out to complete strangers. Of all the planets I have been to, Verity is most disorienting. A city here looks much like any other, buildings everywhere, but the buildings are very much not ...
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Battle Fatigue

By submission | December 14, 2015
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 ...
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