The Timing has to be Perfect
Author : Q.B.Fox Peter Stovold had hoped to be the first person to solo circumnavigate the sun in his [Manchester Evening News sponsored] Solar Flare 2. The timing had to be perfect; repeated Earth orbits before shooting off on a flawlessly planned course that used…
read moreThe Cheating God
Author : William Tracy, Featured Writer The royal palace was mostly quiet. It was late afternoon, and the heat from the desert sun drove all but a few guards to seek shade. Even construction on Pharaoh’s great pyramid on the far side of the Nile had halted for the…
read moreSummary Judgment
Author : Charles Spohrer I totaled my motorcycle. Of course, I had no medical insurance. I figured if I ever did have an accident, it would be final. I never expected just a couple of broken bones. The ambulance dumped me off at County. The drivers wheeled me inside…
read moreA Moment in a Life
Author : Saurja Sen The scanners showed signs of the same life-form across the galaxy, so it was safe to assume that the species, whatever it was, had discovered space travel. Thus communication with it was allowed and my advance team was sent in to begin all…
read moreA Catherine Rose by any other name
Author : Q. B. Fox “Each freighter, since the very first one we built, is given a unique name,” the technician explained. “Can I choose a name, if it’s not already taken?” I asked. “I’m afraid not, sir,” the tech was barely apologetic. “A name will be assigned to…
read moreInsert Coins To Operate
Author : Ken McGrath I roll off her and onto my back, panting, satisfied and with the sweat already drying into my chest. My head sinks into the pillow and I smile. Turning to look at her it slides, like water, right off my face. Her façade is starting to flicker and…
read moreJennies
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Jennies were shipped world-wide. They were referred to as Jennies because of their genengineered origins. Some people referred to them as Generators because they were filled with energy, hardly ever slowed down, and kept the…
read moreTranslator
Author : Matthew Banks “Brankahhh nakahhhsret,” said the vibrating sphere. “Much impertinence is hydroscopic,” said the speaker on the translator console. McGuine frowned, but Leak still had that constant, infuriating grin plastered on his face. “Frehhhnat bossssth…
read moreTeslapunk
Author : William Tracy, Featured Writer A lone figure swung precariously from the side of a sky-scraping tower, painfully inching his way up a rope. That tower and others stood in rows, crowding out the sky. Their sides gleamed silver, studded with large, black…
read moreHand Hinunter das Licht
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Hans lay face down on the surgical table, completely immobilized and wide awake. His father’s rubber shoes moved in and out of his field of vision as the older man busied himself in preparation, his voice a constant hum of…
read moreThe Company Store
Author : Ian Rennie Hilton’s eyes opened, to his own mild surprise. Everything he saw was in dim monochrome, suggesting it was either really early or he was really tired. He was sitting in an armchair in a small office without the faintest clue how he had got here….
read moreThe Survivor
Author : James Marshall Foray wondered why he didn’t just sit down and die. He was naked but for a pair of underpants, and his skin was stained red with the blood from hundreds of cuts and scratches. He was gaunt, and his hair and beard were long and itchy. The vines…
read moreThe Encounter
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Major Clanet’s head felt like it had split in half. He forced his eyes open and saw his android navigator standing above him. “What happened?” he asked. The android extended a hand and helped the human to his feet. “We delivered…
read moreStars going out
Author : Chris Abernethy I don’t know why I ran. Caution, paranoia, groupthink… pure blind panic maybe, god knows what finally sent me scurrying up out of the elliptic, screaming in tight round ol’ Ares and out into the darkness. Guess it won’t really matter, hell…
read moreA Rose by Any Other Name
Author : Jacob Lothyan When the box was finally opened, it was assumed by some that it had been tampered with beforehand. After all, there was a fairly explicit warning that stated: ANY ATTEMPT TO OPEN THIS BOX OR OTHERWISE INSPECT THE CONTENTS BEFORE THE INTENDED…
read moreCollapse
Author : William Tracy, Featured Writer 1165 Third Street is quiet, as it has been quiet for over a century. Once, its two hundred floors housed accountants, engineers, executives and staffers. Its occupants ebbed and flowed with the fickle whims of the economy. All…
read moreHoly War
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The oval office had been compromised. I knew because I was the one who compromised it. I was standing over the body of the atheist president. The dark hues of her face were being framed by the blood from her slit throat as she lay…
read moreCogito, ergo sum.
Author : Jacob Lothyan It comes back to an inherent flaw in the system. The Incident Imprinter isn’t exactly time travel, not as time travel was originally imagined. That is to say that we still don’t fully understand how matter on the quantum level can be in two…
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