Burn notice
Author: Jeremy Nathan Marks
The wind was wet.
It blew down from unseen heights and spread a damp veil across the plain. The soil, not accustomed to dampness, clotted. The surge in moisture caused large, segmented creatures with prolific legs to fall from the trees and ...
Candy cane
Author: Jeremy Nathan Marks
At the console, the technician remembered a few Latin words from school: Deux ex machina. He couldn’t remember what they meant, but he heard his teacher saying them. He felt sweat on his temples, and hoped his supervisor would excuse it.
At a ...
But Satisfaction Brought it Back
Author: Robin Cassini
“Please, have a seat.”
A bare lightbulb flickered overhead. I settled onto a folding char. The steel dug relentlessly into my spine. It was not meant to be comfortable.
With a creak, the officer positioned himself across the small table. He ...
Artificial You
Author: Travis Connor Sapp
5 days before present day…
10:38 AM, the sun is out, and Juan rests cozily on a rickety mattress. The normal person is up and doing work, endlessly living their boring 9 to 5, but this big fella starts his day around 11 AM.
Juan ...
Dear Henry
Author: Bryant Benson
Dear Henry,
Sometimes I wish I never met you. When you found me washed up on the beach in my final hour I was something different that could have stung or bitten, but you took me into your home and gave me a safe place to die. I truly wish it wasn’t ...
Click. Split. The Metal Gleams.
Author: Majoki
Click. Split. The metal gleams.
That was all. Decades of research. Years of development. For this.
Click. Split. The metal gleams.
Hiroshi was toast. His head to be delivered not on a silver platter, but on a silicon wafer to Project Director. He was ...
I’ll Walk
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
“Did you see that, Pete?”
I nod.
“Just another rocket from Abaella.”
Said on the news it’s going to be in range of Earth for another month.
“It’s bigger than that, Pete.”
Amanda sounds unhappy. I wander out onto the porch in time to ...
Shadow Memorabilia
Author: Rick Tobin
Jason continued to turn a small half-fried reptile in a solar often. Cooking took longer on this world with its distant red sun. Bursts of drifting dust blew over him and his two companion portal flyers. Emily was rinsing her hair delicately with precious ...
The Machine
Author: Palmer Caine
Between gates things get weird. Perception splinters to span myriad levels, too many to navigate, too many to understand. Like of Galaxy of mirrors, everything reflected infinitesimally. Or so it seems. Maybe a fly with its many segmented eyes could ...
The Darkening Road
Author: R. J. Erbacher
The road ahead was dark and going darker as it banked down into the shadows of the towering mountains, blocking the angled light that was parching the land. Pausing there at the summit he wondered if there was anything in the valley below that waited ...
No One
Author: Joann Evan
One morning, I received a suspicious email. The subject line said “King Crimson.” The sender was “No One,” and when I rolled over the name it showed only random letters and numbers. I knew I shouldn’t open it. It was probably a scam. I clicked delete.
I ...
The Note
Author: Hillary Lyon
Wilson drifted from guest to guest serving hors d'oeuvres, taking drink orders. Most party goers hardly regarded him, too engrossed in their conversations.
Save for Brenna. Young, idealistic, she possessed a heart big enough for all creatures—as she ...
Railgun to the Sun
Author: Majoki
The gently rolling hills stretched to the horizon. Randy Jansen shielded his eyes from the noon sun to get a better look at what Jack Forsythe was pointing to along the base of the wind turbine towers. From his vantage, the barrel looked a mile long rising to ...
UXO Hunter
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
Swinging into the forward turret, I see the displays are alive with scanner arrays and intricate calculations.
“Morning, Hinton. How’s the hunting?”
“Once again, Zaba, I’m going to ignore the irrelevance of arbitrary planetary ...
Good Taste
Author: Alastair Millar
“C’mon, Jack, the fans will just eat this up! You know they will”
“That’s kind of the issue, Morty.”
“It’s totally ethical, don’t worry about it.”
“But is it tasteful? There’s going to be people that hate it.”
“Then they can choke on it! This is ...
Stem Cell No. 173
Author: Yueyang Wang
No.365: assigned as Breeder for Stem Cell No. 173.
I saw my number on the screen.
This was my first time breeding.
The surgery started immediately. Mechanical arms extended a catheter into my body, warm fluid surged in, and then instruments moved ...
The Prisoner
Author: Srdjan Budisavljevic
..Finally, he opened his eyes. The feeling was strange, like the feeling of rebirth. Faint images of his former existence sporadically surfaced in his consciousness, but he was unable to recognize those memories as integral parts of his ...
Planet X
Author: Jas Howson
Xero had been scouring the planet for scrap parts for half the day. When she and her partner crashed, their comms device, along with the rest of the important equipment on their ship – and their ship – had scattered across the planet. Frequent sandstorms ...
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