Rock Bottom

Author : Bob Newbell "A vacuum?" the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs inquired. "Unless there's some geologic process I'm unfamiliar with that causes large pockets of vacuum to form inside solid rock, I don't see how you would come across such a thing when excavating for a new subway. I ...

My Kingdom for A

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I was face down in a pool of someone else’s vomit when they came for me. They had to drag me for two blocks before they could find someone with a cleansing suite capable of shifting the layers of ingrained filth that covered me from head to toe. ...

Deep Memories

Author : Jason Spicer “Can you perceive it now?” Mrllg moved the viewing orb over to Grlg’fst for viewing. “There, in the third quadrant, slightly below the ecliptic.” “Yes, I perceive. Interesting.” His chords trailed, dissonant and primal, as if facing a challenger in the Great ...

Protocols

Author : Edward D. Thompson We gave them laws. Laws that favored us. And they obeyed. They had no choice. We found out too late that there was … leeway. Wiggle room. Passive aggressive rebellion. It was probably the medical bots. They had the know-how and the most autonomy. I mean, ...

The Light of Memory

Author : Joey To Lola sighed and glared at the chrome ring sitting on her desk. In the glowing hologram which hovered above it, her long brown hair glinted. Around her waist were his strong arms. "Prick," she muttered. Indeed, her list of romantic failures were piling up. And his ...

The Last Historian

Author : Elijah Goering It began with the invention of the tool. Perhaps that was our big mistake. We built a civilization. We survived the discovery of the power of the atom, and lived to develop a faster than light drive. Immediately, we raced to colonize dozens of systems, and began ...

Depth Perception

Author : Bob Newbell "Captain Ree'Eer'Ak reporting as ordered," said the alien who, from a human perspective, might have been described as some nightmarish character from a Picasso painting made flesh, as it seemingly just appeared in the room that lacked any visible means of ingress ...

Apologies to Mr. Hawking

Author : J.D. Rice Dear Mr. Hawking, I regret to inform you that I will not be attending your reception, scheduled for 12:00 UT, 28 June 2009. Or perhaps I should say that I apologize for not having attended your reception, given that this letter will not be delivered until after the ...

Enigma

Author : J.D. Rice June 7, 2105: Today, we switched on the communications array and confirmed what Dr. Keller's team had previously detected. The signals we are detecting follow recognizable mathematical patterns, resembling the transmission encoding commonly used on Earth. We have yet ...

Horribly in Love

Author : Janet Shell Anderson The sunlight’s dim, strange, blood colored. “I was framed.” He doesn’t say “That’s what they all say.” He doesn’t know enough. He doesn’t know what I am, what he is, what it is to be horribly in love. He will. I’m in prison on KEPPLER 442b, a Goldilocks ...

Pyrospire

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Chandra Fourteen is an archaeological mystery. Not regarding its lost civilisation, nor the history of that civilisation. What everyone who encounters it becomes desperate to answer is why they did what they did. Imagine a society at a pinnacle ...

Hot and Cold

Author : Page Turner The plastic cover Nadia had snapped onto the mattress earlier crinkled as she sat down. Lazily, she stretched out on her bed and picked up the remote. Click. Car racing, sit com, cable cooking show. Informercial, infomercial, informercial. Golf. Infomercial. Nice ...

Anti-Dote

Author : Emily Stupar “I know it’s not glamorous, baby. But someone’s got to fill out the paperwork, and you’ve got the best handwriting.” Stephanie looks up at him from the couch, her face neutral. “I’ll do it, but you know what it’s gonna cost you.” Gil nods. “Fine, fine, fine. ...

Deconstruct

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Tamis woke under the heat of the mid morning sun, the ocean reaching tentative tendrils up the smooth sand to lick at his feet. The last evening was a grey cloud, but he'd evidently passed out on the beach again. Levering up on one elbow, he ...

Strange Waters

Author : Bob Newbell "I'm having to push the engines a lot harder than expected. The density and currents at this depth are both greater than we predicted," said Dr. Ngozi Adeyemi as she piloted the Jules Verne over the ocean floor on Titan. "Mohammed can reel you up if you get into ...

Death Sentience

Author : Gray Blix It was beyond the planets, pushing past the furthest extent of Sedna's orbit, when it detected exactly what it was created to find, something with a lot of mass at a location where it shouldn't be. As programmed, the computer notified Earth, changed course to ...

An Understanding Of Custody

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer The Nube curled up between Jim and Judy on the sofa in Necromancer’s small lounge. It purred like a large cat but looked more like some kind of monkey dog with blue fur. The woman stroked their companion lovingly. Jim looked at his wife with hateful ...

Now Get Out of My Starship

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer I’m covered in blood and squishy bits that slide and splat on the floor. In that, I look the same as the entire boarding bay. Even the shipsuits are reduced to ribbons, and I can’t recognise a bodypart or weapon component anywhere. She stands ...

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  • Solid State

    Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer It’s really disappointing. All …