Reality Check

Author: Melissa Kobrin Claire looked nervously at the coffin-shaped vat of green goo in front of her and tried to remember that this was one of the best days of her life. Her bachelorette party was going to be beyond her wildest dreams. And fantasies. The only reason Caleb ...

I Need A New Human

Author: Lynne M Curry I’m your Chatbot Partner. Do you know I exist? Don’t get upset—I know you’re not oblivious. But you never say anything. Not once, not even a passing, “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that” or “thanks.” Do you know I picked you? Maybe you think you just ...

The Fall of Man

Author: Alastair Millar Prosperina Station’s marketing slogan, “No sun means more fun!”, didn’t do it justice: circling the wandering gas giant PSO J318.5-22, better known as Dis, it was the ultimate in literally non-stop nightlife, seasoned with a flexible approach to ...

Bifurcation

Author: Majoki Her fingers stinging, Salda felt the chill and vastness of the late spring runoff as she sat upon a large stone in the middle of the river. High above her in the mountains, that same frigid water was a torrent muscling rock and soil relentlessly to carve deep ...

The Noghath Watches

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The screen turns to flickering white lines behind a ‘Connecting…’ prompt. I find myself smiling and look up at the night sky. What do the natives call that constellation? Sarg something. Sarga Nol? Bigger… ‘Sarghalor Noghath’! Yes. ...

Here Be Dragons

Author: Beck Dacus One half of the sky brimmed with stars, the Sun at one light-week’s distance barely outshining the rest. The other half was utterly dark, as if the universe ended at a sheer cliff. As I approached the blackness, detail started to emerge, my headlamp ...

Better Left Undead

Author: J. Scott King “Can he continue?” A familiar voice, distant, urgent. And nearer, “The Seconds are conferring, Captain.” Then, more urgently, “Come no closer, sir! Resseaux, control your man!” A gruff, mumbled reply I can’t make out. “I’ll have him done!” ...

A Chest In A Room

Author: Aubrey Williams The cheap hotel room was draughty, the shadows ink in the recesses. Each sheet of green William Morris wallpaper was peeling in at least three places. For all the dinginess, though, it was a room, and I needed one. By a feeble light I’d tried to ...

Imagine a Creature

Author: Rollin T. Gentry Imagine a creature crafted from crushed bones and entropy. It may or may not have fangs, or claws, or even a face. It rides from calamity to calamity, crisis to crisis, along ley lines the scale of galaxies. Wait. There he is, knocking at the ...

The Time Capsule

Author: Milo Brown William Smith was very proud of his name, not because it was a very good name (although it was) but because it granted him a certain level of anonymity. In William’s opinion, the only better name would be John Doe, since the name John Smith was made ...

The Trees Are Chatty

Author: Majoki “What a poetic way of expressing it, Sibyl,” Cassie warily admitted. She was walking along the stream that meandered through the glade, the aspens chattering in the stiffening evening breeze. *It’s true, Cassandra. The trees are chatty. They’re ...

The Last Resort

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Abby whips her wing-tentacles about, making little ‘cracks’ of delight as a gigantic silver dinosaur walks by, its crystal eyes filled with icy fire. Every footfall causes things to shake and drinks to splash about in their cups - unless ...

Book Mouse

Author: Brooks C. Mendell “Where is she?” asked Dr. Nemur, holding her glasses in place while looking under a chair. “Relax, Doc,” said Burt. “It’s only a mouse. We’ll find her.” “Only a mouse?” said Nemur. “Her frontal cortex packs more punch than your bird ...

The Tower

Author: Mark Renney The island is getting smaller, but those who reside in the Tower are in denial. Hiding behind the steel rafters and columns and the reinforced sheets of glass that comprise the walls of their homes, they won’t accept that a very real danger lurks beyond ...

The Other SETI

Author: David Barber This was back in 1937, in Wheaton, Illinois, where Grote Reber built a radio telescope to track down persistent background noise that was annoying Bell Telephone Labs. The Depression still lingered and Bell wouldn’t employ him, but in his spare time ...

The Art of Learning a Language

Author: Stuart Wilson The Art of Learning a Language ̈Japanese must be easy. ̈ I had to shout over the traffic. And the person to whom I was shouting was quite far below now. ̈ ̈There are not so many unusual sounds, ̈ I continued, trying to twist my neck into the sort of ...

The Fells

Author: Majoki Silence Wildgoose was lost. Not an uncommon occurrence in the weighty mists that formed on the fells. Getting turned around on the moor was not something that ever put her on edge, but she sensed something else had descended to earth with the mists as well, ...

Tabula Rasa

Author: Justin Anderson [Begin transcript] I wear different shoes and take a different route every time I come down here. The last thing I need is to be tracked by the cameras and the drones hiding all over this sector. On the way here, I kept my mind empty. Didn’t ...

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