Ark of Mirrors

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer One ingredient can change so much. In this case, it caused a genocide that’s lasting my entire life. It’s my birthday today. Me and my siblings. Well, I call them my siblings but they’re just hundreds of variations on a theme. ...

Carnac

Author : Roger Dale Trexler The ship closed in on Earth. They’d been there many, many times before: Easter Island, the Pyramids, and the South American crop circles. Three tweenagers looking for adventure. It was off limits for them to come to Earth, but that was the very reason ...

Send in the Drones

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Bald Eagle, this is Leopard, are you receiving?” “Leopard, good to have you back. Confirm reinforcements. ETA three minutes.” “Bald Eagle, this is Leopard: abort, abort, abort. Total loss inevitable.” “Leopard, intel disagrees. Target is ...

Fruit

Author : Tommy Walker Brian awoke from a blissful and exhausted sleep in his wide and comfortable bed. A successful business had provided a plush penthouse apartment with every possible luxury. He rolled, half conscious feeling for her, the silver haired girl he’d met and shared his ...

Speculative Fiction

Author : Bob Newbell Frejj glided two meters above the street of the marketplace, each pulsation of his gelatinous, umbrella-shaped body propelling him forward through the green chlorine atmosphere toward the cafe at the end of the street. Seeing his friend, Vallier, resting on a ...

Halfway House

Author : Rick Tobin Jason’s pale fingers trembled hesitantly across his gray suit pants. His first suit. Any job. Take anything. His father’s pleading reverberated like a taiko drum. Sweaty palms left dark trails across his scrawny thighs. He gulped. Worms wriggled in his stomach from ...

Door Number One

Author : Christopher Stewart Everything was powered up, the switch thrown, and she stepped through, crossing the threshold out of nowhere. I remember everything about her so clearly. Not that she was remarkable, other than appearing out of nowhere, but shooting the instrument panels of ...

The Last Emergency

Author : Jason Zinnerman Perched high on a sturdy branch, the man marveled at the intruders’ precarious fortune. They tight roped the border between likely and more likely death by landing in the hard green clearing instead of the dusty sun scorched wasteland just beyond their reach. ...

Wired Heart

Author : James Langley Dr. Livett tapped at the graphene strap around her wrist and the beachside illusion dissolved into nothing. She stood in the sterile, empty white room; the fragrant ocean breeze replaced by the smarting odour of bleach. She redressed into her uniform, the white ...

The Empire of Mars

Author : Bob Newbell Shortly after dawn, the Emperor of Mars walked among his subjects. The Emperor was tall and dignified as he strode across the sands of Solis Planum. His subjects were gathered about him in silence. He neither called nor regarded himself as "Emperor". If asked, he ...

Insurance

Author : Katie Stevens I was twenty three when it happened. One minute I was half out the window, high on vodka and ecstasy, arms spread wide, embracing the world, the universe and everything in it. The next minute, my boyfriend, equally high on coke, lost control of the car. There ...

Luna

Author : Cosmo Smith Somewhere, hundreds of feet below, the drying of seaweed soured the air. Elias breathed in deeply and smiled. It reminded him of better times. He was curled in a hammock at the end of the promenade of the Chateau de Lin. Only a terrace with a low parapet ...

Good Work

Author : cchatfield I didn’t want to show up to work today. By the time my crew arrived for the usual day of loading and unloading, packing and unpacking, signing and releasing, I’d rehearsed a little speech about the importance of keeping our jobs. “This is a time of crisis and ...

Plant Life

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Frouda Jeffries touched down on the soil of Binauer 4, smart boots neutralizing any toxins and spreading defoliant footsteps as she walked up to the leader of the plants. ‘His’ name was a gust of pheromones. They just called him Windy. Giant, ...

Acceptance

Author : Suzanne Borchers Arnold, a four-foot bot, assists an elderly woman by holding her drink in one hand and supporting her upright with the other. He had been superseded so many times that today his job is tending the grannies and granddads at Ever Pleasant Retirement Home. ...

Perimeter

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The night is slashed with beams of white light and the sky is spotted with technicolour detonations. “Who does that? I ask you. Who does that?” I don’t know how Mitchell can talk and run at this speed. I shrug in reply and keep going. We ...

The Year Rounders

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer A stadium-sized vehicle crawled along on massive tracks to my right. I hadn’t been awarded a sleep cycle for ninety-eight kilometres and was well overdue when the klaxon finally sounded. Not slowing my pace an iota I looked up and saw a half-dozen ...

Take Me Dancing

Author : Brent Benton Marsha leaned back and surveyed the sky from the park bench. “Johnny, will you take me dancing?” “Dancing? Marsha, how can you talk about dancing when things have gone to hell? They force us to sleep outside and barely feed us, and you talk about dancing? ...

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