Expiration Day
Author : Ajax
Zoë sat rigid in the steel chair. Her gaze was locked, unwavering, on the screen in front of her, which displayed a countdown. Five minutes and fifty-six seconds, a relatively short time, seemed an eternity to Zoë. Her hands tightened on the hard, uncomfortable armrests. ...
Against the Stream
Author : Edward D. Thompson
Salome slumped glumly in a corner of the locker room. Her corner. Where she usually savored the sweet taste of victory for a moment, alone, before the crowd of the press and the press of the crowds engulfed her.
Victory seemed hollow today.
She didn't look ...
Power Flows from the Chin
Author : William Minor
I am a constellation of particles, bound together by an art I do not understand. Until I was removed from my master I had no consciousness. Now I feel it through every part of my being.
They feared my master. They cut me off of him in patches and tossed me onto ...
Time Enough for Hate
Author : Edward D. Thompson
What would you do with a time machine? Braydon knew HIS answer.
Sheila had been the love of his life. Sweet, supportive, lovely, and caring. But all those late nights in the lab perfecting the device took its toll. The day it finally worked he came home ...
Lunacy
Author : Bob Newbell
It was July 20th, 1969 when Neil Armstrong made first contact with the Selenites. We'd known throughout history that the Moon had life. The ancient Sumerians had noted the satellite change color over time and they had theorized, quite correctly, that it was ...
Trip to the City Zoo
Author : Ian Wise
The children gathered in a cluster outside the gate. The light from hydroponics reflected softly off the tops of their heads, all turned to the large black and white animal a few feet away. It dipped its head down and took a bit of grass, a tail swaying back and forth ...
Time
Author : Jacob Mollohan
The Rocky Mountains arc across the skyline, visible for a few moments, before a vast dust cloud whips up blurring them into obscurity. Arid wind rustles through the foothills carrying the storm my way. Sweat runs down the back of my neck as the tepid air blows ...
As the Dawn Comes
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
I will lay you to rest, and with the sun’s rise, I shall engage the engines. You said you wanted to journey the long night with me, and you shall.
I am not sure when you became more than just my operator, but I will not let such imprecision ...
Confessions of a Tree Nymph
Author : Holly Lyn Walrath
In the tree world where I live, trees are not substantive. Instead, they are doorways, two oaken lines with a dark, sparkling maw between. When I step through, I’m in the tree world, my world.
I’ve been making the pilgrimage to see you, though you don’t ...
Muscles Remember
Author : Roger Dale Trexler, for Karen Fiorino
The ship touched down on the barren planet. Tabitha Sandor piloted it alone, because the thing in her belly had killed everyone on the ship. It made her destroy the ship. There was no way for her to go home.
I’m not going home, she ...
Choices
Author : Arielle Friedman
Lisa sat on the balcony of her apartment and gazed at the city glittering below in the evening light. She'd always loved this balcony.
She heard the door open behind her. Robert.
“Lovely view.”
“Yes.”
“We need to talk.”
“No we don't. We've made our ...
Blue Harvest
Author : Andrew James Woodyard
Space whales ain't really whales like on Earth. They look like 'em, but whales ain't as big as no asteroid, and they ain't filled with blue sludge. We found one floatin' 'bout ten Earth years back out by Gloombridge 1618 in deep sleep, and let me tell you ...
The Erudite
Author : Ian Hill
As if caught in a sudden zeal, Adrian spun the locking mechanism and pushed the iron door open against the howling wind. Torrents of needling water cut in at steep angles, slicing to the bone with unchecked frigidity. The light inside the cabin’s entry room ...
Through the Looking Glass
Author : M.K. Langley
The basement was dark, and the cool damp air smelled of mildew. Jack and Charlee’s mother didn’t allow them in the basement, but she was at work and unable to tell them no. So the boy and his younger sister had spent the morning digging through stacks of old ...
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, ...
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