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Occupational Hazards

By submission | March 8, 2015
Author : Connor Harbison The sand got everywhere. Lieutenant Sawyer cursed her luck. Others from her Academy class had postings all over the galaxy, on exotic planets and flashy space stations. Only she was stuck here on this assignment. Aurelia IV was her home for the foreseeable ...
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Torn and Frayed

By submission | March 7, 2015
Author : Joe Essid The air felt greasy as Shane climbed off his Harley into a tropical Virginia July evening. Even shirtless, in ruined jeans and a leather vest, Shane felt clammy. Only the wind, all the way from Leavenworth and freedom, had kept him from melting. ...
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The Universe Keeps Slipping Away

By submission | March 6, 2015
Author : Decater Collins Two years ago, they wouldn’t have been able to afford such a house. Debra didn’t like thinking about before. “We can afford it now. That’s all that should matter." “You’re not worried about it being too remote?" "Look at this bay window." The house was ...
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Wayward

By submission | March 5, 2015
Author : Bob Newbell I raise my hand and wave to get Scott's attention as he walks into the restaurant. He comes over and joins me in the booth. He gestures at my drink. "Is that whiskey? Never seen you drink anything stronger than red wine. Something up?" "Yeah. Remember a couple of ...
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All Your Banners Are Dust

By Julian Miles | March 4, 2015
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The robot stands there just after dawn, under the skies of another beautiful day, atop a rusting hulk, waving a steel pole about in a way that hints at long-lost purpose. On the ground nearby, two large felines rest on their haunches, their ...
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Takeover

By Clint Wilson | March 3, 2015
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer “Kraaaxxx, a full report please.” “This one will be easy sir. Take out their electronic web and they’ll be virtually blind. It’s still in its infancy and these bipeds are extremely dependant on it for everything from news to ...
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Meatless

By Stephen R. Smith | March 2, 2015
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer "It's not meat you know." He'd slipped up silently beside me at the meat counter and was pointing to the shrink-wrapped flat of striploin I was holding. "They print those, from meat flavoured engineered inks, but they're not meat." As I ...
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Doing Smore with Les

By submission | March 1, 2015
Author : Rick Tobin “See, the smoke goes straight up. Nice day tomorrow, if we could go outside.” “Meter still reads dangerous. Maybe the Van Allen will come back.” “Out of our control. It’s the Sun. No wonder cultures worshiped it.” The elder, Lester Simpson, rested on flat ...
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She's in my Head, While I'm in Hers

By submission | February 28, 2015
Author : James McGrath I began by stealing money. Hacking mindchips isn't new; thousands across the planets survive by stealing bank details, logins, passwords, and rerouting what they find. Making it disappear, to pop-up elsewhere without the slightest of trails. It was challenging ...
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Procrastination

By submission | February 27, 2015
Author : Jaime Astorga John_357897453 woke up, looked at the timer which sat next to his bed, and realized that he only had five minutes to live. Five sidereal minutes, anyway. For him, it would feel more like several hours, not that was an excuse to waste any more time. With a ...
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Inter

By Clint Wilson | February 26, 2015
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer “But it’s been almost two hundred years sir! How could this be?” “I don’t know. No one on board can explain it, but there are definitely at least a dozen human lifeforms showing on scanners down there.” The ancient story of the plankton combine, ...
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The Waiting War

By submission | February 25, 2015
Author : Bob Newbell "May 18th is totally unacceptable!" says the Thrike admiral. "That date falls in the middle of the Feast of the Blessed Serrod, the Great and Enlightened. But on June 4th, then...THEN," he raises his neck frill for emphasis,"you should beseech the Mother of All ...
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Starbird

By Julian Miles | February 24, 2015
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer It emerges from whatever variety of nowhere that allowed it to traverse the vast distances between the worlds of the Beacon, and I know that it’s a Stranger. I’m about to slap the alarm pad when the nine-hundred meter form dips its prow and opens ...
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Birds of a Feather

By Duncan Shields | February 23, 2015
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer There are trillions of them and they fly in layers. The larger ones at the top interlock together during mating season, puzzle-piece continents drifting above us. The whalescoops dive down to feed on the krillsparrows below them. Turtlehawks and ...
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The Mind

By submission | February 21, 2015
Author : David Wing It was clear from the read-outs, we were going to fire. The question was, how bad? Barnes had reset the system, but it didn’t work, the countdown remained and the Mind kept on ticking. Its lights shone a staunch red and while we ran here and there, flicking ...
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Rover's Return

By submission | February 20, 2015
Author : Roger Dale Trexler They heard the sound of the approaching vehicle and looked at each other. “That can’t be,” said John Hemington, “the rover’s been gone for three weeks. It’s programmed to stay gone for two months.” He looked quizzically at Daniel Hepford, ...
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Unmanned

By submission | February 19, 2015
Author : Bob Newbell General Vlank walked along the corridor toward the Research and Development Lab, his motors whirring quietly with each step. Quietly, but perhaps not as quietly as they once did. He'd been neglecting routine maintenance. A lot of the High Command had as the war ...
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Physics Minor

By submission | February 18, 2015
Author : Gray Blix "The universe is holographic? Surely you're joking." "I am not joking, Dr. Feynstein. But I did not say THE universe. I said YOUR universe. Your universe is a simulation. Pay attention. There is not much time." The young man appeared jittery in the flickering ...
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