Star Fair

Author : Kyle Hubbard Humans are remarkably ugly. The kylhu child had never seen a real one before, so it stared with morbid fascination at the man on the stage. The human marched back and forth on two legs, bellowing and waving his bizarre limbs in grand, sweeping gestures. ...

Shadows

Author : Thomas Desrochers I found her on my way home from a party. She was sitting in the middle of the park's square in the four shadows of the four streetlights, and she was hugging her knees to her chest as if her life depended on it while her head was tucked in behind ...

The Fine Print

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The Judge yawned as he seated himself at the bench. “What are we doing here, Mike?” he asked the bailiff. “Your Honor, we are hearing the civil case of ‘Captain Taylor versus Solar System Transportation, Inc.’, a dispute over wages due ...

Step On A Crack

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The thing about the planet Kuroshka was that it had seventeen centers all orbiting each other. It was several times the size of Jupiter but had managed to create a mantle. The centers had formed their own molten-core solar system deep ...

Performance Art

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Alumnus I stood over him. His blood made a growing pool as it exited the wound in his back. The ounce slug of lead had gone all the way through. He looked up at me with crazed eyes. He raised his hands to me. He tried to speak, but choked on pink, ...

The Big Game

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer As they lowered into a spot outside the arena and Jeremy’s father shut the hove’s engines down he continued to give his son the pep talk. “A year enslavement. Do you even know what that means? Of course you don’t,” he answered himself. “You ...

Safety First

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer “The view from here is mighty fine, it sends a shiver up my spine.” I laugh at Kara’s ditty as it arrives. Nothing but the truth, even out here. My suit keeps me spread-eagled on the side of cannon four as it thunders along with its seven ...

The Digital Dame

Author : A. Zachary Spery I was looking good when I wheeled into Chaucer's, the hottest singles bar in lower downtown. I just had my corpus bridge upgraded to a new Mitsushimi DX900q and installed prominently on the side of my Neodynamics' engramatic coprocessor case. My high ...

Drudge

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Mark stood a few feet from the doorman and presented his ID, which was accepted with apparent derision. The heavily muscled bouncer glanced over the details of the badly forged photo card and tossed it back. "One point eight meters? No way ...

Snap Decision

Author : George R. Shirer Thraewen hangs in the middle of the view-pool, pretty and pristine. Dillon and Three can see the nightside’s cities, bright constellations scattered across the Capwen Archipelago. Three strokes the Starfish’s controls and the bioship moves. Night ...

The Preacher

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Alumnus The sky was dark. So dark the streetlights came on at noon. A storm was on the rise. He paid the weather scant attention. The sudden cold gust barely reached him. He merely rolled his shoulders deeper into his battered leather duster and ...

Sun Dragons

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer “The satellite passes above us now.” “I know my lord. I can sense it up there too.” “How dare they… spy on us like this?” “They are unaware of us my lord, they only study the planet.” “They have their own planet. We don’t travel there, ...

Orbital Decay

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The maintenance spacecraft pulled alongside Lunar Array II, located in selenocentric orbit approximately 500 miles above Crater Korolev on the far side of the moon. Lunar Array II was the second of six lunar satellites to be visited by ...

Little Boxes

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Only the super-rich could afford these beachfront houses. The houses were green, fully off the energy grid using their own geothermal, wind, wave and solar energy collectors. The houses were maintained by computers that informed the ...

Ancient Evil

Author : John E. Geoffrey It was at the time when the stars were right and a full moon stood over the desert, when a rose bloomed over the ruins of the ancient, nameless metropolis, the name of which had been banished and forgotten over the course of the millenia (but which ...

What They Are Afraid Of

Author : Ion Jim was excited. He gleefully danced about as the elevator slowly squeaked downward. He was thinking about the popcorn he had saved from that convenience store he found a few weeks back and how this would be the perfect opportunity to pop it. Its not like he ...

Icarus

Author : J.D. Rice “Icarus to Daedalus! We have primary stabilizer failure! Repeat, we have primary stabilizer failure! We're losing altitude. Please advise!” The lieutenant was shouting, screaming into his microphone, trying to raise his voice over the sound of his ship as ...

Hell Comes to Slug City

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer Agent Rockton was all on his own here in the heart of the city. He appeared no more than a shadow, creeping stealthily through twisting service alleys under the cover of the ink black night that hung perpetually above this remote rock that ...

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