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Clyde

By submission | April 20, 2011
Author : Clint Wilson Even though the thing had now had a couple of weeks to absorb our language I didn’t really think it could understand me, but all the same I still uttered the pre-scripted line. “Living Being… I address you as a devoted protector of the Terran empire. ...
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Inside

By submission | April 19, 2011
Author : Jake Wagner Space was our grandparent’s final frontier. Nobody really noticed when the satellites started falling. And even if they did, nobody cared. They burst into flames, streaking brilliantly across the night sky as they tore to pieces in our atmosphere. But ...
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Fertilizer

By Duncan Shields | April 18, 2011
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer No one misses prisoners with life sentences. That was the key. Mars was turned into a prison planet. NASA had set up fledgling terraformed domes on Mars and teleportation technology was a reality. After a life sentence was passed on a ...
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The Mad Cow Special

By submission | April 17, 2011
Author : Marlan Smith Rob ran into the bar and slammed the black leather bag down on the counter. “Done! Gimme!” His eyes were wide with fear. Hal looked at him, then down to the bag. He casually emptied his drink between thin lips and then smiled. “You know the ...
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What Happened to San Francisco?

By submission | April 16, 2011
Author : David Bastin It was the third year of the drought of 2130 when San Francisco rebuilt itself, put out to sea, and sailed away. *** At first, when they heard what San Francisco meant to do, everyone laughed. Nobody thought that the people of San Francisco were ...
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Marcus Grillman, Culinary Artiste

By Stephen R. Smith | April 15, 2011
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Janie loved the restaurant from the minute she walked in; dark wood panelling, slate floors, high ceilings broken up by a latticework of heavy wooden beams. "You see, we've put your investment to good use Janie my darling." Markus slipped ...
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The Application

By submission | April 14, 2011
Author : Ian Sweeney We sat at the computer and accessed the System. First, we needed to select the reason for our application. We scrolled through the options. Domestic violence. No. Infidelity. No. Incompatibility. Linda looked at me with sad eyes and I nodded. Next, the ...
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Special Ops

By Roi R. Czechvala | April 13, 2011
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer The morning sun cast a dim ruddy light through Frank’s single window. He missed the cheerful yellow light of Sol, though in this incarnation he had never been to Earth. Though his heart was attuned to his home planet’s local star, his ...
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The Interview

By submission | April 12, 2011
Author : Jason Frank "Now, it's just the two of us. Why don't you start by telling me what it is about you that is special?" "..." "Come now, there must be something... some small ability you keep from everyone, some extra talent that no one else seems to have? You wouldn't ...
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Meta DeStad

By Patricia Stewart | April 11, 2011
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The mammoth multi-functional spaceship, the HMS Drebbel, descended slowly through the skies of Beta Bevatt and settled gracefully onto the undulating surface of the planet-wide ocean. For the next two hours the giant ship filled its ...
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Limited Options

By submission | April 10, 2011
Author : Steven Odhner "I can already tell you aren't interested in the admittedly confusing equations I've taken the time to write out, which is fine. So to give a quick and imprecise summary I will use the tired metaphor of Schrödinger's Cat, where a cat is placed in a box ...
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Adoption

By submission | April 9, 2011
Author : Harris Tobias It was adoption day at the facility. All those humans slated for euthanasia looking so bewildered, frightened and lost. How can anyone just leave them all to die? Thork and I rolled by the glass fronts of the cages stacked three rows high. So many of ...
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Sorry

By submission | April 8, 2011
Author : Richard Chins Sorry fragments of the dead man's face reflected the white of the setting moon, lighting the ragged road side hump of molten metal and highway slag. His burning flesh cocktailed with a tart tarmac stench that bit at the lip. I thought of burying him, ...
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Red Tank

By submission | April 7, 2011
Author : John Xero "BRRRRRRRMMMMMRRRRRRR" "This is my dad’s tank." "B-B-B-BOOM, B-B-B-BOOM" "It’s red and it has really, really big guns." "And it has scanners." "WJJJJJJJJJJJJ WJJJJJJJJJJJJJ" "The scanners show him where the bad guys are and then he blows the bad guys ...
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For Services Rendered

By Roi R. Czechvala | April 6, 2011
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer The place never failed to depress me. You can’t polish a turd. The walls of the waiting area were painted off white and they had made an effort to buy a superior quality of cheap, shabby furniture. Around the corner it was different. ...
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Monitor

By Duncan Shields | April 5, 2011
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I’m on a steamboat at night. It’s hot out. I’m standing at the railing throwing earthling dimes into the dark water in the Mississippi night. I’m wearing a white linen suit. I feel like a dandy but wool would be suicidal in this ...
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Communal Thought

By submission | April 4, 2011
Author : Patrick Condon Do you remember what it was like before? No. I don’t think so. Do you? We knew our civilization had peaked. The few world leaders left concluded that Communal Thought was the only solution. It is the one thing preventing ...
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The Light of other Universes

By submission | April 3, 2011
Author : Jeremy Wickins It was perhaps the greatest experiment of all time. For a split second, all other possible universes would be aligned, and we’d have knowledge of our place in the great order of things. – I threw the switch that brought the bizarre energies together ...
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