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Population – 1

By Duncan Shields | April 2, 2012
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Wow, you’re so small,” said the pink humanoid creature looking at me. It had created eyes for itself and a very primitive nervous system to replicate as many human senses as it could. It had used me as a model but standing here looking ...
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Second Light

By submission | April 1, 2012
Author : Bob Newbell Lieutenant Thev's cephalon bioluminesced a faint yellow. Clearly, he was nervous. "You do realize, Thev, that this is the most carefully planned celestial engineering project in galactic history?" Thev turned his cephalon to face Project Director Grojjun. ...
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Friends

By submission | March 31, 2012
Author : William Mason “They used to have something called friends.” “What?” asked the boy, The machine beeped a few times, and resumed with its synthesized voice, “Friends are people whose company you enjoyed; people who are an extension of you.” “Friends.” repeated the ...
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Perihelion

By submission | March 30, 2012
Author : Bob Newbell Four minutes. That's how much longer I have to be human. Or, if things don't go as planned, to be alive. I could have elected to be anesthetized for the procedure. If I had and anything went wrong, I'd never know it. I'd simply never wake up. But I chose ...
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Caretaker

By submission | March 29, 2012
Author : Thomas Desrochers Tara giggled and leaned over the railing of the walkway, peering down the cyclopean shaft. “You know,” she told Camus, “I bet that if you were to fall down this you would fall forever and ever and never even stop.” She trilled out a laugh again and ...
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Bombs Bursting in Air

By Roi R. Czechvala | March 28, 2012
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Alumnus Only bits remained. Three stars, a bit of blue and two stripes, one red, one white. They left it to fly in mockery of the country they had defeated. Theirs was a country that valued pride above all. To lose face was worse than death. To ...
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Back to the Weapons

By Julian Miles | March 27, 2012
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer As the battle collapsed into bloody massacre, I paused and looked at the sword in my hand as violet blood hissed and evaporated in acrid clouds of blue smoke. The brutal simplicity underlying the centuries of field testing sang through my ...
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Perfectly Humane

By submission | March 26, 2012
Author : J.D. Rice “I really want to take this fork and stab it through your chest, Mr. Johnson.” “That’s nice, Sam. Now please eat your food.” The boy eyes me with his cold, twitching eyes, fork hand ready to strike, bits of gravy smothered chicken still stuck between the ...
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Golden Years

By submission | March 25, 2012
Author : Thomas Desrochers Bertie was a kind looking old man of eighty who had more wrinkles from smiling than anything else, and who looked like he always had a joke on his mind. He wasn't particularly tall, though he was clearly handsome once. His shirt was plaid and tucked ...
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Ghost beacon

By submission | March 24, 2012
Author : M. A. Goldin Elise had been bellowing at the comms for two minutes. Where the hell was he? Keeper McDermott scrambled into the room and fell into a chair before the console. He wore worn clothes and a week’s whiskers. “Sorry, I was just tinkering with the electrical ...
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Two Paths

By submission | March 23, 2012
Author : Chris Daly There were two, quite different, options open to him now. The optical sensor domes sprouting from his aft projections registered six thermal spikes; a quick cross reference from his synthetic aperture radar strips confirmed the incoming ships. Pulling a ...
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Stupid is as Stupid Does

By Duncan Shields | March 22, 2012
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer Humans had always been looking for a way to legitimately kill the stupid. But where did they draw the line? An outside force had to make the choice. Humans couldn’t morally make that kind of decision. After first contact, Earth was ...
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Kiss Migration

By Clint Wilson | March 21, 2012
Author : Clint Wilson, Staff Writer The Pai-Toxh beings of the twin planet set, Andromedae 2787A and B, were nearing their migration time. The entire flock had just about finished feeding and were full of energy for their upcoming journey. Calls went out as alpha leaders ...
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Triage

By Julian Miles | March 20, 2012
Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer Life shouldn't be this easy to take. Flick a switch and listen to the muted swoosh of a section spitting its atmosphere into vacuum. Of course, it's not so easy for those losing it. The agonies of the dying beat against my mind and reduce ...
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Underground

By Stephen R. Smith | March 19, 2012
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The detective stood just inside the tape at the doorway to Grant's office and surveyed the carnage. Deep maroon fluid had been spattered over most surfaces, some of it obviously while still under pressure as it had reached the ceiling ...
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Star Fair

By submission | March 18, 2012
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. ...
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Shadows

By submission | March 17, 2012
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 ...
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The Fine Print

By Patricia Stewart | March 16, 2012
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 ...
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