Salary Man
Author : Ray Daley
The Misthkthos had been on Earth over a year when I talked to my first one. They'd come in peace, landed in a quiet region and strolled out of their ship into the night to check out our planet.
Easy enough to spot them as aliens you'd think? Then you'd be thinking ...
Fun Slows Us Down
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
I’m with the XIA. The Xenomorph Intelligence Agency. I’m undercover. This is a soft war; more of an intelligence-gathering mission to discover weak points and destabilization technique hypotheses in case they’re needed.
It’s the pin-striped skin ...
Past Tense
Author : Robin de Graaf
Bartleby pushed open the heavy pub door. A bell jangled and a handful of pub patrons gave him a quick look-see. Realizing that they had no idea who he was, they quickly returned to their pints. Bartleby looked around, until he saw who he was looking for. He took ...
Old-Time Memory
Author : Kiel Finger
He stabbed his knife into the hardpack soil.
It didn’t go in very deep; in fact it barely stood upright. Maybe an inch or two into the ground, tilted to the left. Not as dramatic as he would have liked, but the meaning behind the act was clear.
It was an old ...
Pageturner
Author : Joseph Pascale
My ears were assaulted by a variety of sounds as I entered the 21st Century-style café. The most alarming was the grinding sound that could have come from a malfunctioning robot, but was actually emitting from large copper contraptions. I was also unaccustomed ...
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 ...
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