Last Supper

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I eat what I dislike the most first so that I end my meal with what I like best. It’s the way I lived my life. By getting the bad things out of the way first, I could save the best for last. That was before I knew I was under ...

Countermeasures

Author : Jessica Thomas MOOT blinked. Across the aisle, LU-C sat dark. Down for maintenance. Irrelevant. LU-C couldn't warm MOOT's circuits. Not anymore. New protocol. External temperatures reduced by five degrees. MOOT could handle the cold. Not the issue. ...

First Flight

Author : Andrew Bale “Commander, I’m getting something weird on the optical arrays – a signal oscillating from the IR into the UV.” “Are we emitting? Where is it coming from?” “I think somewhere behind us, sir – we must be getting some scatter off the dust. Given the ...

The Last Terran

Author : Victoria Barbosa   “Look what I found skulking around outside.” The Grosthnos pulled Rory into the control room by one skinny naked shoulder. “Claims he's a Terran.” “A what!” The captain, a burly Hronoid with tusks like a rhino's, swiveled in his command ...

The Torus Ring

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “That’s the largest Stanford Torus habitat I’ve ever seen,” stated Commander Strohm, the Endeavor’s science officer. “The major diameter of the Ring must be over twenty kilometers. But it appears to be abandoned, Captain. It’s no ...

Going Steady

Author : Julian Miles It’s a cure worse than the condition, yet they sell it like it’s a panacea. I saw another one today and I listened to her at the counter. “How much is a week’s supply?” “Five hundred euroyen, miss.” “Oh, great. I’ll take a fortnight in day and night ...

A Good Day's Work

Author : T.C. Powell After a three-day's pursuit through nothingness, Rass Det's cruiser, the Virgil, finally tracked down the green-black war barge known throughout the Terran League as Deathspike. It orbited Regis III with shields up and weapons armed, obviously ready for ...

Auteur

Author : Jake Christie "Places!" shouted Lunar Exploration Unit #4837-E. "Places, everybody!" The other research machines trudged, trundled, and rolled across the dust. The tiny six-wheeled rover took his place at the foot of the mineral collector. The giant thick-treaded ...

Wedding Day

Author : Harris Tobias I felt a shifting in my circuits like I got when I rebooted, a slippery, falling feeling that signaled stress— or was it joy? The whole idea of feelings and emotions was new to me. An upgrade, I didn’t think was much of an improvement. It was difficult ...

Out of Time

Author : Julian Miles “They’ve got reinforcements!” I checked my chrono. Down to one thousand, eight hundred and forty-three instances. I warned Flank Axel Leader as Scout Axel Second cut into our channel. “Looks like two full companies.” Damn. That meant twelve hundred ...

You and Me and an Ass Makes Three, Tonight

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The O'Brian Star sat fixed in space between two possible orbits. On maneuvering thrust, we could roll into a pattern over Telavor, shuttle down for some much needed rest while the ship was refitted and resupplied and plot our next ...

Star Light, Star Bright

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer We were at Jason’s house partying when it happened. W6, The Rapture, Day One, whatever you call it where you are. I remember everyone’s phones going off. They lit up in the darkness of the party, confusing everyone like surprise ...

Fundamental Forces

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The holographic image of the Secretary of Space Command came into focus in the Fleet Admiral’s ready room. “Status Report, Admiral,” demanded the Secretary without ceremony. “We own the space surrounding the planet, Madam Secretary,” ...

Remedies

Author : Ian Rennie The trader frowned. The translation device, never superbly reliable, had been acting up ever since he had arrived on Cygnus 1. "I'm sorry," he said, "What did you say?" "I said, what are you selling?" Veloth, the trader, relaxed. For just a moment, he ...

The Lottery

Author : Travis Gregg His vehicle crested the hill on his way into work that morning and it came into view like it always did. The billboard never failed to draw his attention, no matter that he’d seen it literally hundreds or even thousands of times, once every ...

The Iteration Cube

Author : Garrett Harriman Mesdames Snell and Putnam clashed into the nurse's office. Most weeks, their campy enmities proved indispensable in the rebuking of their children. Not today. The diversity and girth of this congress fared worrisome. Present were Sloan, half the ...

Sign of the Times

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer “Fucking bastards.” “What?” “Fucking Nip bastards.” “What are you talking about?” “First of all, they violated the Earth Non-Aggression Treaty by bringing the war to the home planet,” Larry Talbot said through clenched teeth, “then ...

Synesthesia

Author : Evan McCoy Crecy knew something was wrong with the optics app when he opened his eyes and the world exploded into colour. At first the experience was violent and a little frightening. He blinked several times and probably had some vague notion that this would clear ...

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  • Starlight

    Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Manik pulled up to the …