The Dutiful Husband

Author : Martinus Guzman My confused senses grasped at the world about me. Skin pulsed along with a faint rhythmic metal tick of a clockwork engine. Ozone, cinder and iron burst over my tongue, tasting a room filled with energy and power. Dank corners and oiled machinery ...

Arms Race

Author : Steve Hall The spectators watched raptly as the assault team crept through the artificial cityscape. Their experience was obvious – steady, even steps, eyes and weapons constantly scanning a full hemisphere of potential threats. The point man held up a closed fist, ...

Retrograde

Author : Nic Swaner Scents from inside the suit intertwined their intentions with the sights of tangled and tessellated hair illumed by firefly LED’s, spiking my circulation with memories and murmurs of dopamine. I took her by the gaze; she steered her sight away from mine. ...

Under Surveillance

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer A low, thin fog rolled down the hillside. There was something almost menacing in its approach. When it encountered an object, a tree or a rock, it appeared to stop in surprise as if trying to make up its mind before dividing and going ...

Soldier Boy

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer James was sick of his grandfather’s racism. He didn’t care if he was a war hero. “They’re not people, Jimmy. They have no feelings.” His grandfather shouted from the other room. James loaded up the dishwasher, closed it, and took a ...

Sprites

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Earthmen first encountered the Sprites in 2384. The Sprites were fist sized glowing spheres that emitted a pulsating white light. However, the light defied known physics. Normally, a prism would refract white light into a colorful ...

Open House

Author : Brian Varcas “OK, so what did you really think of it, now we’re on our own?” She had made all the right noises when the agent was showing us around the place; “Yes, I think I could see us living here...it feels like home already” that sort of thing. She’s always way ...

Speed Dating

Author : Ian Rennie The first thing he noticed was her neck. She had a certain way about her when she laughed, like she had to throw her whole head back, like this laugh was something bigger than she could easily contain that emerged from her like Venus from a seashell, and ...

Robot the Clever Robot

Author : Jason Frank Reconsidering old things, as she was that week, Marlene unpacked the first robot she had built, the robot named Robot. She had not so much as thought of the robot in years and, seeing it again, was surprised to find it not so shoddy as she remembered. It ...

The Daily Commute

Author : J. Rohr “I’m not taking the job.” Melissa sighed. Rubbing her temples, not relishing the impending migraine, she said, “You have to.” “I’ll find something.” “It’s been six months.” “We can wait a little longer.” “No, we can’t.” Bob opened his mouth, rebuttal ...

La Longue Carabine

Author : Eric Poch "When legend becomes fact, print the legend" -The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance I've learned that if you put a man in a hole long enough, he'll think of everything you could ever imagine. Put a dozen men in there long enough, and they'll create the stuff ...

ExaByte

Author : Aradhana Choudhuri “John, I’m done. I’m getting rid of all of them.” “Go for it. You don’t need to ask me.” “Do you want something? There’s lots of vid, from when mom was little.” “Where would I put it? Just…just flush it, ok?” “Tomorrow. Federal Data ...

Indiana Girl

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer Virginia “Jen” Taylor was a good soldier. She had the quiet good looks of the girl next door. She had the spirit typical of an Indiana farm girl. She could be sweet and feminine; she could mix it up with the boys. She could carry water. ...

Come On Out

Author : Jason Frank I sure don't mean to say that the pods they sent us here in aren't nice. There is a chance that they might be too nice, though. I'd be the first to admit that's a strange problem to have, but we have it. I'm not trying to say that I'm better than anyone ...

Plaque

Author : Marlan Smith Tark stared at the diagram. It was a golden square, clearly valuable, more valuable than the machine it came off of. He honestly didn’t think he would ever have found salvage this far outside of the galactic rim. “What are they?” asked Pim. He was ...

Silicon Valley

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer The humans have been gone for decades but we try to keep the traditions alive. All of us review humanity’s output. We see the movies. We watch the comedies. We review fashion shows. We witness the elections. We fashion ourselves to ...

The Vendetta

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer To say that my head hurt, is to say Canis Majoris is just a big star. My probing hand felt a large knot on my forehead, and a substantial amount of warm sticky blood. Despite the pain, I managed to force open my eyes. The first thing ...

Flare

Author : Asher Wismer Words cannot describe the light, the heat, the impossible closeness of a star. In this place, even with the best shields science could build, the sheer intense pressure of solar power is more than I can even attempt to explain. Of course, it was worse ...

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