Post-Postal

Author : Kevin Crisp Framed by her cavernous high-backed leather chair, the chairwoman is totally unaware of the glyptodon’s furry beak edging gradually nearer her face. “I’m very disappointed with what’s coming out of Creative, Jerry. I know you’ve been away on your ...

The Jubilee

Author : Desmond Hussey Melissa hesitated as she raised the cocktail to her lips and took in the vast crowd gathered in her honour. She caught her daughter’s eye and smiled, despite the pressure of tears welling up behind her eyes. Jamie was beaming with… was it gratitude, ...

For a Moment's Peace

Author : Sam Davis "Ray, I've got proof! Come quick!" Leeroy's voice came through the sheet over the doorway that ineffectively kept the July heat isolated to the livingroom. I wanted to go back to sleep but something in his tone dragged me from the comfort of my cot. I ...

Interpol Staff Meeting, 17 August 2086

Author : Jay Hill Phillipe Renault tried to wait for the speaker to finish before posing his question. He stirred sugar into his espresso with a tiny plastic spoon, gently moving the utensil in a tight figure eight. After several seconds, he tapped it on the edge of the ...

Keep Them Dying

Author : Townsend Wright They came when I was young. Crash landed, really. Science said it was a great discovery, but they couldn't live in our air. But they could do something to their own DNA, made their offspring suited to earth. Big bug things, we started calling them ...

An Explanation

Author : Thomas Desrochers People don't want to feel anymore, not beyond petty happiness. They don't read to expand their minds or learn or come across the emotional depth that real art brings about. People read their shallow books about overcoming some petty obstacle, about ...

The Sound of Silence

Author : Desmond Hussey “Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping, And the vision that was planted in my brain, Still remains, Within the sound of silence.” - Simon and Garfunkel I ...

The Resurrected

Author : Desmond Hussey The twin, muscled eunuchs shove the girl to the feet of Tar Marrella, Crèche mother. The remaining forty-seven crèche citizens stand in a rough circle surrounding them. All but the girl wear pale, toga-like robes and watch impassively, dull eyed and ...

Fine Line

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer My father always told me that there was a thin line between bravery and stupidity. Just like genius and insanity, it frequently comes down to time, place, outcome and who's doing the judging. Right now, I don't need to check with any ...

Sentence Option B

Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer “Well let’s see now Mr. Williams, you have your battery charged for over 100,000 hours of usage, plus the suit’s solar absorbers are in good order. Your spots will provide ample light should you land somewhere where it’s night. Of course on ...

Blackout

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “During the mission, your memories are yours. After the mission, they belong to the military.” The sergeant had droned on at the beginning of this op. It was a standard briefing. I remember seven similar briefings followed by months of ...

Final Effect

Author : Desmond Hussey Dr. Chow Ming Fu and his cat Schrödinger are the only inhabitants of the titanic supercollider surrounding Canis Majoris like a ring. With a diameter of over 4.5 billion kilometers, the supercollider harnesses the gravity of the massive sun, spinning ...

Skyhook Waypoint

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Terry abandoned the powerbike at the bridge a few hundred meters before the checkpoint, running it off the road, down the embankment and parking tight against the understructure before he waded into the river. He swam across, letting the ...

Graviton Tsunami

Author : Patricia Stewart The patrol ship SS Rakki was approaching Moonbase Delta when the science officer announced, “Captain, I’m picking up an emergency distress signal from the Ultragravity Research Station orbiting Jupiter.” “Are they requesting assistance?” asked the ...

Hard Time

Author : Bob Newbell "We beat it!" Those were the words my lawyer had said to me right after sentencing. "It" was the death penalty. "Son, you shouldn't have done this in Texas," he'd said to me the first time we met. "This" referred to killing a man. It happened in the ...

Marooned

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer It's been ten years since the Humanis Confederacy swept the Roekuld from the Spiral Arm in a rebellion that no-one thought mankind capable of. In six months we undid the defeats and treacheries of fifty years. Victory was absolute and mercy ...

Reading

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer They stood on level sixteen of the meat building, waiting for their order of sharkbeef. This vat boutique specialized in hybrid delicacies and Kay was hosting a birthday dinner party tonight. The invites and accepts scrolled across her ...

Survival Therapy

Author : Kevin Crisp The judge gave Rick several choices, of which the young men’s wilderness therapy program on an uncolonized but certified habitable world seemed the most palatable. He learned to pitch an atmosphere tent, tie a tourniquet and find cover from acid rain. He ...

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