The Thinking Cap

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “Status, Mr. Ortega?” was Captain Edgington’s terse request to his first officer. “Not good, sir,” replied Commander Ortega. “It appears that Chief Engineer Koshiba had ordered all of his senior engineers into the engine room in his ...

Food Chain

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Imagine a blue spider. One of the big hairy ones that move really fast. Make it the size of a tomcat. Replace the back pair of legs with bat wings. Add venomous spurs to those wings. That’s what is watching me as I sway head-down in the ...

Surprise Party

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Okay, they’re coming! They’re coming! Quick hide! Oh man this is going to be great!” All the people scattered snickering behind bushes, trees and rocks all around the clearing as the cryopositor's trunk arm extended down from the ...

Thought Supplier

Author : R. Michael Cook Knuckles knocked against the truck window. Mary leaned over and cranked the window down. Rain and the diesel engine nearly drowned out her voice. "Phil, buddy?" "Yeah," said Phil, leaning down to the window. His breath fogged up the glass as Mary ...

The Uprising

Author : Bruce Meyer It could have been the simplest of conquests. One properly-placed shot and the rebel city would be nothing but ocean. “I’ll sink ‘em all,” Lam said, his red face was projected as an image ahead of Enoch’s cockpit window. “I’ll blast the monsters to the ...

Mining

Author : Nathan Martin Jev killed a cop. Technically, he pushed an undercover narcotics agent into an airlock and blew the outer hatch. Technically, it was the loss of pressure and lack of oxygen that killed the cop. Jev just pushed the button. Would've gotten away with it ...

A Practical Trip

Author : Robert White “Wait. I don't get it. I thought transit was supposed to be instant” “It was. It is.” The scientists are always so snarky. “We did all the tests, sent animals and clocks back to the beyond and everything was instant. So this here cannot be ...

They Stole My Soul!

Author : David Barber "Welcome back to the Stirling Surprise Show, with me, Haydon Stirling. Later, we'll be talking to fash sensation, Jess Marlboro, but first, They Stole My Soul." His earpiece murmured and Stirling turned smoothly to camera three. "Yes, my next guest, ...

Gamberol's Clock

Author : Alex Grover He breathes in with speckled time undivided, and he breathes out with golden dust. His body is bulbous, a multicolored neon affair, reds and greens and blacks all in lines like that of a heated circuit board, charred from overuse. His beard is human flaw ...

A Chance

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer For a person thrust into such bleak and hopeless beginnings David had done well for himself. His parents, murdered by a slum gang when he was but a boy of five, and he himself taken into slavery, he had spent over a decade in their chains, ...

Flying Things

Author : Skyler Heathwaite The moonlight bled through thick overhead leaves and massive drosera. Lokshin blinked away sweat, peering up into the seething body of the forest. Sarant was up a tree nearby, much too long in coming down. The fighting of the flying things had ...

Chelonia

Author : Rachel Verkade The killer told me he'd had a turtle in his head. He seemed perfectly calm and reasonable about it. A turtle, living nestled in his brain. I asked him if the turtle was what had made him kill. He didn't know. If it did, he didn't hold any ill will ...

The Alchemist

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The elegant décor did nothing to lift the atmosphere in the room as the small group of officers and dignitaries parted to let Inspector Carbeth through. He strode up to the sprawled body and rapped his cane on the parquet flooring to prompt ...

Nostalgia

Author : Thomas Desrochers Thomas began remembering in the middle of the first week of May. There wasn't a particular reason for it, no epiphany, no aching longing. It was just that Thomas had spent so long trying to forget that the only thing left to do was remember. Before ...

Kids

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The pulsing orb set down in my farmhouse’s back yard in the middle of the night. The corn swayed in the breeze, completely unaffected by the alien craft. It silently came to a stop on the grass just outside the cornfield, shifting in ...

The Neodymium Accord

Author : Desmond Hussey “Greetings, friend and foe. I humbly thank you all for temporarily putting aside our differences and attending this unprecedented, historic peace conference.” Twenty-three translators echo my words into twenty three different alien languages for the ...

Cold War

Author : Bob Newbell Antonio pitched forward onto the ice, the exit wound in his left upper back clearly visible. He was dead. I finished reloading my rifle and took cover behind what remained of the wall of the dome. It was almost entirely a ground war now. Between our ...

Thank you

Author : Debra Lim When the call finally came, I just stared at the phone. The answering machine picked it up, and Dr. Wainwright's voice echoed throughout my small room. “I'm afraid the implants didn't take. I'm terribly sorry to tell you that she didn't-” I shut off the ...

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