Old Times There Are Not Forgotten

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer Captain William Dietz shuddered in revulsion every time he mounted his aircraft. It was a tiny lifting body. Its short, sleek swept wings blended seamlessly into the fuselage halves. He lay ventrally in an exact Dietz shaped depression ...

Refuge

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The Chaots dance the K'chana K'chan as the Haalen vaults scream. When they finish the ancient steps of the Cornered Circle, the vaults will channel years of accumulated energy through their engineered nervous systems and another haul will ...

The Community

Author : Cech They try not to let them know that they aren't human. They say it's for their own good; they wouldn't be able to handle the reality. I don't know, though. I mean, if they knew from the beginning, they weren't told anything else, why wouldn't they be able to ...

Next Time

Author : Damien Krsteski Nurse Anne's botoxed face creases into a contrived expression of worry but her tone remains bizarrely casual, "I'm sorry Mrs. Adrian, but as you can see for yourself, we're unable to start therapy on the fetus." Caroline gets visibly agitated. "No," ...

Star Light, Star Bright

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer It wasn't much. A rocky asteroid honeycombed with branching tunnels and storage chambers. Though predominantly a rocky body, it contained enough nickel and iron to shield its twelve inhabitants from hard radiation. Though not the most ...

TrueMate

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I hope I like her. I hope I like her. The Truemate service is just one of the programs. There's Perfectjob and Opti-health as well. It's no utopia but people the world over agree that this system is the best so far. There isn't much in ...

Write

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer The room is dim as I seal the doors and windows against the polluted mist that descends most nights. I wave the low-lights on as I pass to check on Linda. She's sleeping peacefully so I wander back to the den, collecting a can of coffee on ...

Pretty Boy

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The police bulletins all called him 'Pretty Boy', but those that preferred their atoms in the form they were currently coalesced called him 'Mr. Floyd', or simply 'Sir'. His reputation had followed him from planet to planet, system to ...

Secrets

Author : Isaac Archer Dad brought me to his lab again today. I was really excited when he told me I could come help him with his work because I want to be a scientist too. He told me not to tell Mom, because it's a secret, our secret. "Some things are for sharing," he said, ...

Carrion

Author : Holly Day The boy didn't fly so much as claw his way up through the air, swinging first one arm, then the next, up over his head while he made his ascent. His arms and legs were twisted metal wrapped in plastic, and his face was completely covered with a clear ...

Vox Vlamantis in Deserto

Author : Suzanne van Rooyen The little girl, stained red by dust and blood, surveys the field beyond the fence. Perhaps a flutter of wings or chirp of crickets... Only dead-grass silence. Her face twists into a rictus of pleasure as she skips hop-scotch over bleached skulls ...

They Snuffed the Rooster

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer "Curfew, curfew. Off the streets. Curfew, curfew…," the recorded voice droned from a passing tank. The accent was oriental. Korean? Japanese? He didn't care. As long as he could order a beer in Japanese, biro, he didn't care. It was all ...

Pay Yourself First

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The Argon cruised through dense fog heading out to sea in weather most trawlers wouldn't brave. She lined up between the marker buoys and throttled up, downwash from her propulsors kicking up spray from the water thirty meters below her ...

New Frontiers

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer A year before the New Horizons spacecraft was schedule to fly by the dwarf planet Pluto in July 2015, NASA awakened it from its scheduled hibernation for equipment checkout and trajectory tracking. During the systems check of the LORRI ...

SONiKEAMart

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Stephen hadn't been feeling well. The search for a cure was tedious work and it didn't look promising. He had had seventeen operations in his life. He was nearly one hundred and fifty years old. Stephen was one of eight hundred and ...

Genesis

Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Mandragora worked to provide for his family as his father had. He was far across the fields when the Autarchy ship descended through the clouds. He watched aghast as it incinerated his home and then scattered the embers as it ...

Twinkle

Author : S. Alessio Tummolillo Year 3187 “This is Lieutenant Edge requesting docking permission from the I.S.S.” Aurelius brought his Q-Fighter to zero speed, floating before the massive space station. He focused on the dull stars in the distance. He thought back to his ...

Flash Fiction

Author : J.D. Rice "John, I asked you a question." I shake the images from my head as quickly as I can. It can sometimes be hard to concentrate after engaging the interface. For some reason I always thought I'd get used to transitioning in and out like this, but she's ...

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