Only the Lonely
Author: Alastair Millar
The Company had refused Karl’s request to have his wife join him on Mars again, he explained; this time because “the dependents’ travel budget was cut, and it’s run out for this budget cycle.” As usual, Accounts had the final say, and being just a ...
Unseen Unnoticed
Author: Majoki
They stared right through me. It used to bother me. Now, it’s essential.
I uncoupled the mag-links while Symplex’s security personnel looked past me. I didn’t fit their profiles, didn’t merit a glance. That’s what it is to be me.
I live by a pair of ...
Disposable
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
The squad’s sitting there having breakfast when Tommo’s head explodes. Just like that, we’re all on the deck.
Except Bert. He’s still sat there noshing his way through a bacon butty.
“Bert! What the frack?”
He swallows before ...
Cigar Over Macclesfield
Author: David Tam McDonald
Colin gave a polite cough to start the meeting. As team leader he sat at the head of the table. Brian, the secretary, sat to his left, perusing the agenda, which was blank and absolutely not taking any minutes. Tony, Richard and Lyndsey sat facing ...
Storm
Author: Martin Clyde-Wilkie
There’s an angel outside town, if you know where to look. Push through the gorse and scramble along the river bed, keeping your gaze away from the branch of lightning
frozen over the gully, until you reach the edge and can peer down at it.
It ...
Liberating Homer
Author: Laura Jarosz
“Whaddya mean, gone? Like, dead?”
Dante shrugged. “The safehouse was totally empty. Door hanging open, no Homer inside. No stories, either.”
I pressed my hand against my pocket and felt the reassuring crinkle of paper. At least I still had last ...
Energy Credits
Author: Bridger Cummings
Scanning the reels of family videos gave LF495 some odd sensation of warmth. Was it like eating? LF495 didn’t eat, but it did need power. It was connected to a multi-layer variate array of servers across the entire planet. It didn’t really matter ...
Alien Laughs Last
Author: Susan Jensen Sweeting
Pelcretuche searched for his Xanax, grateful for all six of his tentacles, since he couldn’t for the life of him, remember in which pouch he had put it.
Finally, his twelfth suction cup latched on to the shaky little bottle in the pouch just ...
O Death, Where is thy Sting?
Author: Bill Cox
I know you came here to be entertained, to read a slice of sci-fi, but I’ve no choice. What you’re about to read is the horrifying truth. I’ve tried posting it elsewhere, on message boards and forums across the internet, but they get me every time. You ...
Tolerate
Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer
George is waving his arms about again: never a good sign. Neela catches my eye and nods towards him, raising her eyebrows and frowning. Receiving the ‘sort it out’ message loud and clear, I take a last drag, then stub out my smoke.
His ...
On the Plane
Author: Joann Yu
A woman sat on a plane next to a man. He had blond hair tied in a tiny bud, wore a blue sweatshirt, and a black mask covered half of his face. She didn’t know if he had blue eyes. She didn’t dare to look at his face.
On the plane, she saw dusk coming ...
Eternal Dissolution
Author: Liv
The need to write has become urgent. My thoughts, once manageable, are now turbulent, like the incessant ticking of a clock, warning of something terrible.
I haven’t slept in days, and I bite my nails to the flesh. The cause of my horror is real. My name is ...
Into the fold
Author: R. J. Erbacher
Scott heard the girl’s scream and thought, ‘Oh crap, not again.’
He was taking out the boxes from the new gadgets he had bought for his recently acquired apartment, bringing them into the alley to be disposed of properly. Scott figured it was still ...
New Mutant
Author: Mark Renney
The moment is almost here. At last, after all the speculation and rumour, the grand reveal. A cage has been wheeled onto the stage, sitting at its centre, covered by a white sheet, pristine and perfect. Everyone is certain that, when the cover is pulled ...
A Semblance of Bravery
Author: James Callan
The holographer did more than tell us who was next on their list to be murdered, though that alone would suffice as unnerving. They didn’t mention names at all, opting for an artistic approach, something avant-garde to demonstrate their next dreadful ...
Tuesday
Author: Jeremy Belcher
The beeping was coming from the back of his skull. Softly at first, then loudly, it crescendoed violently and rattled him awake.
Blearily, he opened his eyes to the silhouette of an enormous, hulking machine. Its high intensity spotlights were ...
Migration
Author: Majoki
He hadn’t planned on becoming a ghost hunter, but that’s what Mordem Letac felt like now. A trained naturalist, he’d come to the northern reaches of the Yukon Territory earlier in the summer to study migration patterns in the face of ecosystem collapse ...
Trochilidae
Author: Ann Graham
Other Sister touches Timid Sister’s elbow, offers a boiled egg on a tiny porcelain plate. She swallows the egg whole. From May to October Timid Sister pushes aside the drapery and plants her face between the window grille bars at sunrise. There’s a smear ...
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