Relativity

Author : J M Walker he had no idea if she would have this opportunity again. Every second counted. Only moments were left of her two hour time allotment. Her opportunity to advance earth's technology, and most likely her career, depended on how much information she could gather in ...

Pax Aqua

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer There is a stream that runs from the foot of the dais where I meditate; shimmering and trickling along the length of the cave system before it fills the little pool under the shading overhang, which drains into the aquifer. M’tembe smiles as I ...

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 ...

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