The Cost of Survival
Author : Suzanne Borchers
Sarah sighed.
She walked past the shelter’s only window—a 6-inch square with 6-inch thick glass. She focused on the gray metallic wall in front of her, refusing to even glance at the window with its hazy view of volcanic rock.
A 2-inch by 3-inch photo on a ...
Paradox
Author : Bryan Pastor
“You can’t kill me.”
Two men stood facing each other in a glass walled penthouse. Beyond the glass a neon jungle stretched in every direction.
“I mean, you can shoot this body, rob it of its life, but you can’t actually kill me. Time won’t allow that.” He ...
Update
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
I was a time traveler. I say ‘was’ because it’s apparent to me now that this was a one-way trip.
I realized I was a god as soon as the pain stopped.
I could hear all the other gods, shouting in my head. Billions of them ordered into groups and ...
Empathy Won
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
They lay together for hours after they'd finished, he propped on one elbow, she on her back, eyes closed for the most part, but opening one occasionally to watch him watching her.
"It's the way the sun reflected in your eyes that caught my ...
My Clone Sleeps Alone
Author : Roger Dale Trexler
The hydraulic door hissed open as I looked out the porthole. I could see Alpha Centauri, still a generation or two away, in the distance. I sighed.
Behind me, Brandon 8 cleared his throat to get my attention.
I turned.
“Another one?” I asked, nodding ...
Empty Nest
Author : Tyler Hawkins
It started around the 22nd century. Like all revolutionary technology, it didn't suddenly wrench its way into our lives and start running them, it was truly a gradual change. But anyone who's alive now has always had the Mother's support, Mother's love, and ...
Insurance
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
“What’s the range?”
“One hundred metres, sir. Awaiting go code.”
The screen showed multiple long-range views in stunning detail: the sunset illuminating a long balcony on which an old man sat sipping a drink and having a smoke. On the ground ...
Emergence
Author : Adam Levey
“So, what does it do?”
The brief silence was filled by the hum of various electronic devices strewn around the cramped room.
“...Do?”
“Yes. Does it do anything? Tricks?”
The sound of traffic drifted up from the street far below, like the fumes they had once ...
Blue
Author : Ethan Noone
She looked at him in horror.
He wondered what was coursing through her mind as she stared at him. Her repulsion, evident. Her disgust un-disguised.
"Why did you show me this?!" she screamed.
"Because I love you. You needed to know. Me. For good or bad."
She ...
Scrapped
Author : George R. Shirer
Noir York. V9.7.
The rain fell, neon droplets painting the city’s stark black and white streets in a kaleidoscope of liquid color. Sitting in Smiley’s, propping up the counter, Dashwood stared through the window at the technicolor weather.
“Shit. Would you ...
Copperhead
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
Branson felt the rhythmic thrumming of the helio-copters long before he saw them, and instinctively he curled into a ball, pulling his hood over his head and pulling his hands up into his sleeves. There would be no heat trace when the ...
The First Man on Mars
Author : W. Jason Petruzzi
I sit at base camp, on a rock ledge above a dry lake bed on the planet Mars, looking out at the red sky and the inhospitable landscape. We searched for water, digging thousands of feet under ground in hopes of finding it, just as the eggheads told us to do. ...
GSDS Take the Wheel
Author : Gary Will Kreie
I love my new self-driving car.
My name is Leo. This is my brand new 2029 crashless car with vehicle-to-vehicle communication and GSDS, the Google Self-Driving System. I love my commute now. My car is pre-programmed to know the best way to get me downtown ...
Practical
Author : Aaron Koelker
The old man looked over his shoulder at me. His clothes, hands, and face were just as greasy as any of the parts within the dinosaur engine compartment beneath him. His arms were black with it up to the rolled sleeves clinging at his elbows.
“What is ...
Treated and Released
Author : Bob Newbell
It was a typical night in the emergency department. I'd assigned a couple of medmechs to use the tissue menders on a pair of Loraxels who'd gotten into a bar fight with a Sniddan. The brawlers had apparently forgotten that Snidd Prime has three times the gravity of ...
In Our Shadow, Infinity
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
The ship had stopped in between Earth and the moon, twinkling like a massive cathedral made of glass and crystal. No shockwave or energy point. It was just suddenly there.
Our Earth defenses reacted immediately. The defenses of the asteroid ...
My Caverns They Shine
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer
“Commander Marshall, do you read me?” There was nothing but static. The two belt patrol cops raced over the surface of the massive asteroid in their rock-battered cruiser. The rookie Chang said, “We’re coming up on the camp sir.”
They crested a ...
Cracked Shot
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
The era of warp drive started badly. Ships went in. Nothing came out. Then they found that ships did come out, just a gazillion miles from where they should have.
It took some very clever people to realise that there was only one ‘computer’ with ...
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