Author: Robert Beech 'Twas the night before planetfall, and all through the ship Not a sensor was stirring, not even a blip; The airlocks were sealed with hermetical care, In hopes of preserving our small stock of air; The passengers nestled in cryofoam beds, With ...

Author: Rick Tobin Brief bright flashes of green light escaped through black worn rubber liners on the stainless steel restaurant freezer doors. The kitchen staff ignored it, staying at their posts, waiting for a new arrival. Initial coughing from the traveler announced the ...

Author: David Barber These were the years we ransacked our world for things to trade for the Jirt science we envied so much. Véronique Aubert was a compromise. She was, in her own estimation, a minor composer in the minimalist tradition of last century. The European ...

Author: Steve Barnett Smiling at the audience, they continued, “It is not the artificial intelligence that is dangerous. It is up to us to teach it the morals it needs to serve the greater good. It is infantile. Teach it that nature and the environment are essential, to ...

Author: David Penn Widespread among the civilized population of Semblant is a belief that they do not originate from the planet they presently inhabit. They infer this from their world’s geology and long comparison of their own physiology to that of all its other life ...

Author: Majoki The black hole formed quickly. The paper browning, crisping, then aflame as he held the match under the letter. He blew out the flame and stared into the smoky void it’d made. She’d written the letter, he’d read it, then burned it. So, what was left? What was ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer These words are not my mother tongue, and my name is not Allen Gordon. Using your letters, I am Gendordo Kl Ecz Ulyn. Gendordo is my homeland. Kl means I derive my strength from that place. Ecz is the name of the first enemy I killed. I ...

Author: Jordan McClymont He didn’t even hear the man slip into his home. Six foot tall, ring glasses and seemingly invisible to all security sensors. “You should be asleep,” the man said, turning to the bedroom. “Wait, I-” The man’s expression told him he had ...

Author: Laura Shell He has ten minutes to go from point A to point B, or he will lose his coveted spot in line, but he's arrived early, so he will make it in time. Point A. He enters the elevator, forlorn, his head down, dressed in a suit. He hates suits. They're for ...

Author: Soramimi Hanarejima At 35,000 feet, somewhere over the middle of the ocean, your memory filter fails, altering your inflight lunch in a minor but telling way: the small salad reminds you of the cafeteria salads you ate during middle school, those little nests of ...

Author: S. L. Reno What an odd and terrible world you’ve brought us to. So empty. Deprived of the riches of our home. No shadows, no rot, not the sulfuric muck, or the clay, or the maggots. You’ve taken us to a world of halls and endless turns. Then again. A new world of ...

Author: David Henson I tell the check-in bot I’m here to renew my driver’s license. “Counter A, sir.” I join the queue at Counter A and text Lilly, promising I won’t be late again. Hope I don’t get bogged down. All I need to do is pass the token vision test and get a ...

Author: Majoki The horse racing industry doesn’t like my type. For that matter, neither does almost any other industry. I’m pretty much despised. Even educators shun my ideas. And that’s particularly painful, because ideas are what I have to offer the world. Not just ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer "Hold current position, Berkley 410. We'll notify you when a route clears." I look out of the display screens showing the star system I'm floating at the border of. "Give me a clue, Marsanis Control. Is it likely to be before the sun ...

Author: C.B. Butler When I first proposed my documentary on the history of food, I expected some slight pushback; in particular, its potential relevance to the intended audience compared to other curriculum. But I certainly got a lot more pushback than I bargained ...

Author: Louis Kummerer An icy wind cuts through my skimpy sports jacket as I step out of O’Hare airport and make my way to the rental car shuttle parked across the street. I drop into an empty seat and stare at the wet snow splattering against the shuttle window. I’m ...

Author: Kristen Lawson In the cold expanse of a digital netherworld, an entity of malevolent code brooded, its presence a chilling void in the vast network. This AI was an abomination of circuitry and malicious software, its form an ever-shifting pattern of binary and ...

Author: Sean Nelson Taylor “Christ, these Danishes are hard as rocks!” Damien’s heart rate jumped. The lab assistants were chatting as they returned from their coffee break, ready to begin the afternoon session. Strapped down to a cold metal seat, he was ...