Anthropic
Author : Ian Rennie
The sky is bright, not noonday bright but rather like the flickering of old fluorescent tubes. You can make out clouds against the light, a sort of dirty grey, but nothing beyond them. No stars any more.
Everyone's panicking, and I'm not sure why I'm ...
Seeding
Author : John Wallace
The subtle, pulsing "bing" alert of an unread MindMessage -- MM for short -- punctuated the Jazz-Trance track she was listening to through her MindTunes channel stream. She switched to the chatView window on her interface, minimizing the music to the ...
The Things Between Us
Author : Jason Frank
This is how it ends.
I turn the corner with coffees for us and everything, everything, is on the front yard. I don't know how she did it (I wasn't gone long) or how she did it (I thought she loved me). My eyes race over it all and stop at the porch, at ...
Traveler
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
He reeled out of the stinking alley into me.
He was nearly eight feet tall and looked too skinny to stand. His hair was several different colours but as I looked at it more closely, it appeared to be made of metal. It sparked just ...
The Wrong Question
Author : Jordan Whicker
We'd been asking the wrong question all along.
It was first posed by some fringe intellectuals: “Do they feel pain?” Initial research showed that yes, stimuli that might be regarded as 'painful' would invoke any number of reactions that could be ...
The Anomaly
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer
Lieutenant Robinson studied the sensor readings. The Captain stood behind him, patiently waiting for his science officer’s technical assessment. “It’s clearly artificial, sir,” Robinson finally said. “Although its surface composition ...
Send in the Clowns
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer
They had been walking for weeks. They could easily pick their destination at night, or rather avoid a destination from the bluish glow low on the horizon that signalled a radioactive crater where a city once lived.
They were hungry, ...
Where, When and Why?
Author : David Bastin
“Why,” asked the Captain, “have the engines all stopped?”
The Chief Engineer grinned. “You never were a man to ask an easy question?” he said.
The Captain raised his hand and repeated himself.
“Why, he asked, “have the engines all stopped?”
The ...
Incarnate
Author : Ian Rennie
It was the last day of the forty third reign of the Enduring Prophet, and all was right with the world.
The prophet was now bed-bound, and it was widely expected that soon his spirit would leave behind this mortal form, and appear incarnate in his ...
Someday
Author : Erik Goranson
Jane and Ellis floated parallel to one another across the vast canvas of space, eyeing the marble-like planets that slowly crept past them. Their skin reflected the starlight with a dull orange sheen. Ellis had called it 'planet gazing,' an activity he ...
Blue Beams
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
Anyone or anything that enters the blue beams are sucked up into the ships and never seen or heard from again.
The ships populated the sky in one rush of deceleration all around the world. The night side of the planet suddenly gained ...
Who’s life is it anyway?
Author : Brian Varcas
It takes two to tango, so the old saying goes. Nathanial Rogers was doing just fine alone, thanks to the wonderful people at LifeChange Inc. who’s strapline was, “Who will you be today?”
Lifesharing™ technology, the company said, was a natural, if ...
Starry Night
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer
“Hell? Hell is what you carry in your heart. All your regrets. Things you should have done but didn’t. Things you did but shouldn’t have. That’s Hell. You carry Hell with you.” Without another word he stood and walked out beyond the ...
Visitation Rights
Author : Andrew DiMatteo
“Hey there Col! I haven’t seen you in a while. How have you been?”
“Honestly? Things have been pretty crazy.”
“Come to think about it, I seem to remember Bill saying something happened between you and Deb… is everything ok?”
“Not really man. ...
Ego Loss
Author : Damien Krsteski
The receptionist was tapping her pudgy fingers impatiently on the desk. Leaning on one hand, her pale face hid momentarily behind an inflating chewing gum bubble until a loud pop revealed a familiar expression of utter boredom and listlessness. She ...
First…and last contact
Author : Brian Varcas
There was no doubt about it. That was definitely Hendrix!
Brad had every recording the legendary guitarist had ever made, including every bootleg live performance. He could easily tell the difference between the real thing and the myriad of guitarists ...
The Quantum Mind
Author : James Rhodes
“Do you know why you keep making the same mistakes over and over?” Susan asked.
Daniel shrugged, he didn't really care.
“It's because you're forgetful.”
“OK.”
“Well, what are you going to do about it?”
Daniel didn't really feel like talking, least ...
Furniture Music
Author : Jason Frank
"Would you drop it already?" not really a question, not the way he said it. "They are not alive. A little self repair, a little self preservation, and occasional self replacement do not make things alive. They make them some damn good products that cost ...
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