Dis' Country

Author : James Zahardis Ambassador Xiao, with decades of political service and negotiation of the Nigerian Treaty still evoked an inauspicious “Is this the best we’ve got?” when it was Worldcast that he would be sent to Arizona. He was a paunchy sexagenarian, whom one would expect to ...

The Taste Twins

Author : Morrow Brady I surfaced from the suckling gel, my memories muddied like debris in a low tide canal. I know gelwork has long term memory risks but this post work haze was getting ridiculous. "Shell clear", I mumbled. Layered, milky scales shimmered transparent, revealing an ...

Empathy Test

Author : George R. Shirer The assessor is attractive in a button-down kind of way. Blonde hair, pink jumpsuit, digital makeup set to minimal. Her face is a sculpt, something from one of the mid-level catalogues. Attractive, but not too attractive. The same face you see on a thousand ...

Franny

Author : Bronwyn Seward Franny, I know this letter will be nonsense, beyond your wisdom and understanding. But I need to write it. You need to read it. I dated it so that years after you have shoved it into an old shoe box or tucked it away in your hope chest, you can look back on ...

I Just Want My Dreams Back

Author : James McGrath The knife blade gleams in the half-light, sliding through its target. The tape then gives and the box lid opens. This must be box five-hundred, I think as I pack the circuit boards onto the conveyor belt. But what do I know? All time has moulded into a lump; one ...

The Bar

Author : Bob Newbell, Featured Writer The man wearing Victorian garb with what appeared to be brass welding goggles pushed up on his forehead walked into the bar. The look of confusion on his face had little to do with the bizarre menagerie that comprised the establishment's clientele. ...

Mathmagicians

Author : Desmond Hussey, Staff Writer “… Mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and confine man in the bonds of Hell.” - St. Augustine Numerals flow in random digital pulses around a wide black band high in the perilous chapel’s white marble ...

Patsy

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Oh for god’s sake, not again.” It’s only the fourth time I’ve thrown up in the last hour. As I reach for the towel, everybody in the room tenses. They relax after I wipe my mouth and sag back into the chair. “For a killer, he doesn’t show ...

An Offer He Couldn't Refuse

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer We were pretty much finished. A dozen seven-foot Parakti loomed over us, spewing their fowl breath past yellow fangs. The survivors huddled behind me, fourteen hungry women and children. They had all looked up to me for protection. Now? The leader’s ...

Player Pianos

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Greenland. That’s where we discovered them first. All melted wires and skin grafts. Christmas lights in their eye sockets and playing poker with old-school punch cards. The population of an entire small town turned into player pianos. We found ...

Full Circle

Author : John Kinney When I was twenty years old, advancements in medical science and our understanding of DNA coding finally climaxed. I invested half of my money in a company called Stockholm and Siegfried, who specialized in genetic manipulation and, most importantly, cloning. They ...

It all Makes a Difference

Author : James McGrath "I know you've all heard it, but you have to hear it again..." We'd heard the guide's speech six times, so Kirstin and I stood at the back joking around as usual. He'd recite the dangers of leaving the tunnel, how we'd be guarded and eventually he'd tell of our ...

Dreamstim

Author : Travis Gregg As I fired my gun into the Stim’s chest I wondered if he saw me as a monster or if he understood that I was only doing what he had forced me to do. His choices had brought us to this point and I was just trying to clean up the mess. My partner and I got the call ...

Symbiosis

Author : Bob Newbell The Cold War between the United Colonies of the Asteroid Belt and the Oort Cloud Alliance had been going on for almost 50 years when open warfare finally broke out. The planet Uranus proved to be such a rich source of helium-3 that neither side felt it could allow ...

The Final Assault

Author : Josie Gowler I opened my eyes. I was lying on an army bunk. My lieutenant and best friend Nick was sitting at the foot of the bed. He sat there in silence looking a cross between concerned and pissed off. With a black eye. I got up, staggered over to the toilet behind its ...

Guide To Alien Sex For Dummies

Author : Geetanjali Dighe Congratulations! You are one of the lucky few who has just won the underground bestseller “The Guide To Alien Sex For Dummies”! Trusted Industries, now in their 100th year of mining, and the sole asteroid mining company (37th asteroid mined!), are giving away ...

The Time Goblin

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer Throughout the universe there are many creatures that eat other creatures. Few however match the intelligence and hunting prowess of the time goblin. His species is incredibly rare, a solitary armless biped said to have originated from an ancient ...

The Mathematics of Future Paradox

Author : joe malone "Can we watch Michelangelo work today?" my wife said, at the breakfast table. "I have to go into the future today," I said. "The future? You said that you would never go into the future. You said going into the future is like a man opening his girlfriend's mail. ...

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  • Unmoored

    Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Where did we find …