Nine Lives
Author : Martin Sumner
Sydney Park, Loss Adjuster for Prudential Insurance, straightens his tie. Slides a manicured finger into his starched shirt collar. Swallows. Checks for the third time that he has his leather briefcase with him, and pushes open the swinging glass door. ...
Extinction Holiday
Author : K. Pittman
Barrett's neighbors, Ceely and HH, had straight papers, so they were the only ones who could give Barrett a ride.
"Where're you headed," they asked in unison, dressed as twins for this week's theme party.
"SuperMall East," Barrett said, unsmiling. "Got a ...
Down to Earth
Author : Ellen Couch
I chose this job. I guess I just wanted to stay close to home.
The big work was done before I was born. Grandad was in demolition- Nana said watching him work was dead exciting. But everything that was coming down came down a long time ago. There are ...
Make Me
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
I was manufactured.
There are no more fathers. There is only one Mother. The humans grew sterile and could not breed by any other means. They were successful in making artificial life but they failed to cure the sickness that took ...
Fading
Author : Cosmo
Every day I am losing more of my sight. Every night, the edge of the moon blurs a little more. I can no longer see the stars. In its way, this slow drift into obscurity comforts me. It reminds me of my mortality.
The city streams by several thousand feet below ...
Taxcelon
Author : Jacqueline Rochow
Private Collins remained at attention as the guard ran the scanner over him. Satisfied that he carried no electronic devices, the guard left him alone with Sergeant Peters.
“At ease, private. Take a seat, will you?”
Nervously, Collins did as he ...
Trust Me
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer
“Trust me,” he said.
“Trust me.” How many times had I heard those words before, only to be followed by some horrendous disaster?
From up here, I can just make out the red smear that used to be Dave. Who’s going to tell his wife? I’m ...
Down to Basics
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer
After unimaginable losses, The Earth Alliance was still unable to breach the Draconian military installation on Hydrae II. The fortress sat safely within a walled city that was protected by sixteen electrostatic cannons strategically ...
Sacrifice
Author : Geoff Revere
“I’m resigning. That’s it. I’m done!” Doctor Holmes spouted, pacing back and forth before the commandant’s desk, his hands shaking. “The boy was eighteen Michael, eighteen!”
“You’re referring to Private Loman?” the commandant asked.
“You know damn well ...
Generator Flowerpot Tropical Premium
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
Here’s one example of how the aliens failed to understand humans.
We’d become part of the galactic alliance and were paired up with a species roughly analogous to our own. They were bipedal, around the same level of technological ...
Non Fiction
Author : Helstrom
The blank page seems to stare at me – it always does. It's an anachronism. I am of an older generation of writers. I like the feel of keys submitting to my fingertips, the facsimile of a sheet of paper presented on a luminescent screen. It is the only light ...
Gilded Cage
Author : Clint Wilson
After eight long years in his lush prison Martin finally woke up one day to something new.
A woman for god sake, the bugheads had actually brought him a woman! She wasn’t exactly sexy by his old standards, short cropped hair and quite plain looking, ...
When Tomorrow Comes
Author : Milo James Fowler
The cattle car filled to capacity rattles slowly down its elevator shaft, squealing through a black punctuated only by intermittent amber bulbs casting a wash of rust across steel bars and the small faces between. Eyes blink, unaccustomed to the ...
Living Somewhere I Never Thought I'd Be Again
Author : Brendan Garbee
My ex-husband shows up on my doorstep on a blustery day in the middle of a sunshower, and he puts his hands in his pockets and sways in a way that tells me he's a little bit drunk. He smiles at me sheepishly and says, "I heard you didn't live here ...
Falling
Author : Clint "Father Goose" Wilson
How did I start all this falling? I can’t even remember anymore. It would seem that I’ve been dropping through blackness for a couple of months now. But that would be impossible. How could I have survived that long?
I stopped screaming a ...
Nothing Left to Live For
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
It was June when Mark and Alicia kissed each other one last time before strapping in for the long sleep to Caltrani. "I love you", Mark had said as the canopies had closed. "Elephant shoes", she mouthed back, and giggled behind the glass ...
The Interview
Author : Andrew Hawkins
The meeting was in a small stale office of the Pentagon, the two crisp suits shifted in their seats as I came in. I was tall clean shaved in a comfortable cream jacket, silk shirt, tie and custom leather shoes worth more than minimum wage makes in a ...
Doctor Panaura
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
Newton left us a gift. Tesla wrapped it up and Hawking put a bow on top. It was the brilliance of Dr. Panaura that opened it for the whole human race.
Dr. Panaura had found a way to trap energy and shape it. Using accelerator kilns, ...
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