The Seven Year Scream
Author : Aldous Mercer
Gerrard goes down on one knee to tie Junior's shoelaces. He double, then triple-knots the things, and wonders what else she's left deliberately undone.
"Did Mommy tell you why I wanted you to come today?" His voice is low.
"Uh-Huh." Junior's toddler-treble is ...
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Author : Roger Hammons
The Lady of the House had a mind of her own. “Christopher James Robbins!” she scolded. “Yes, ma’am! Yes, ma’am!” he replied, picking up the dirty clothes. The forceful puff of hot air from the vents made him chuckle, which seemed to annoy her even more.
He ...
Junk Planet
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer
The piles of scrap starship parts stretched off toward the horizon in every direction. I’d lived on the junk planet for almost five years now, but my escape was imminent.
I wound up here like so many others, stranded in orbit with a broken ship, ...
A 'Simon-Pure' Tale
Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer
I’s down at Calhoon’s Saloon washin’ the day’s grit outta my mouth with belts of sour mash. Was hotter’n a cat-house on nickel night with nothin’ to jaw on but leathery yarns told too many times.
Sudden-like, I feels a cold wind ‘cross my arm n’ ...
Trash Man
Author : Mark Tremble
The gravel road leading to the dumping ground is the colour of washed bone in the moonlight. Nothing moves except the leaves of ironbark trees when the night breeze comes. Inside the caretaker’s trailer, which is parked closer to the piles of industrial waste and ...
Big Bang Theory
Author : Dawn Napier
Six year old Jacob found the marble under his bed, behind a grey bin filled with army vehicles. It was bright blue and glowed faintly in the dusty darkness.
Jacob picked up the marble—then dropped it again. It was hot, so hot that it burned his hand. He stuck his ...
Scrap
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
I look at the disc embedded in the tree by my head. I've just avoided the embarrassment of being beheaded by the greatest hits of the 1990s. The slotgun is an innovation that embodies the creed of the scrappers, using society's discards to provide ...
The Spotter Alone
Author : Jay Hill
Corporal Hawkins woke to a loud ringing in his ears, the sound muted only slightly by the rush of pain swimming across the top of his skull. He undid the strap on his Kevlar helmet and ran his hand through the blood and sweat pouring down from his high and tight ...
Good to Have Company
Author : Townsend Wright
The girl with the bright red hair walked into the dingy, ramshackle hotel. The lobby was edged with people, some standing, watching, most asleep under old coats or bags, except one man with a disfigured face who was sitting cross-legged in meditation.
She ...
Dockside
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
I stand on the shore. I am starting to hate my job.
The smaller automatons here weld and stitch together and ferry cargo. They are mobile. They have wheels and treads. The shipyard is a hive of activity when a ship comes in.
What I do is reach ...
Chronoscope
Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer
17th Day, 8th Lunar, 1860 N.E. (New Earth )
09:47:23 I look to the west; to the future. I meditate on how close we came to not having one. Our predecessors, our degenerate, self-obsessed ancestors destroyed themselves. We’d be naught but savages ...
FOOMF!
Author : David Stevenson
“Come in, come in. Have a seat. Mind the filing cabinet. You wanted to speak to me?”
“It’s about my black hole paper.”
“Remind me.”
“Well, In theory, I have a way to generate black holes here, in the lab.”
“Really? Do we have room for massive degenerate ...
A Swirl of Chocolate
Author : K Esta
Time travel is impossible. Or so Charlie had always been taught to believe.
He stood shivering in the darkness of the November morning, his breath creating puffs reminiscent of his long-past smoking days. Worrying about cancer seemed so trivial now.
His leather gloves ...
The Suicide Concerts
Author : Morrow Brady
They legalised suicide to combat over-population but the widespread stench of decay demanded a more ritualised approach.
This emerged as a celebration of a life lived too long and metastasised into the suicide concerts.
In the summer of 2212, the festival of ...
Uncertainty
Author : Alex Skryl
"Computer, report!" yelled the Captain.
"Sir, all primary systems are online but the star orientations do not match anything in my database."
"What was our entry confidence?"
"It was six nines, sir."
Captain Nurbek swallowed hard, "Show me the trajectory ...
The Common Threat Doctrine
Author : Bob Newbell, Featured Writer
It was the year 3.98 billion, but no one regarded it as such. Sentient beings across the Milky Way knew the date by the Galactic Pulsar Network Clock. The day was an historic one. A delegation of 88 sentients representing the most advanced ...
The Art That Keeps
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer
“A Tamborda Eleven-Ess-Two should never be underrated. Treat each one as if it just came off the production line.”
Master Needle’s words are soft-spoken yet carry upward to all in the gallery. On the dojo floor, his whipcord frame stands in an ...
Never More Than Half a Billion
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer
Doctor Flynn had a difficult decision to make. He looked up from his desk. The afternoon sun was beaming through the window alleviating the need for candle to see by. Out in the massive garden two-dozen people knelt, keeping the commune alive, ...
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