Going for Gold

Author : Paul Starkey The athlete sat before me took a while to speak. At first he just sobbed. It’s a common enough reaction; I see it in many of those referred to me. A combination of fear and guilt, with a spoonful of self loathing mixed in. As was often the case he ...

Civilization

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Vladislava Demidov and Pierre Rousseau were Space Traffic Controllers for the Alpha Centauri Tri-System. They were half way through their shift when their long range sensors picked up an unidentified ship approaching from the direction ...

And We Do Insurance…

Author : Tony Healey When my heart decided to start failing on me around my seventy-fifth, the doctors offered me a bio-mechanical one. They called it ‘the ox;’ so called because it apparently never wore out. I remember sitting in the consultants office, surrounded by plastic ...

Aries

Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer I love making a drop. The rush as you plummet through the atmosphere, the scream of re-entry. The abrupt jolt when you hit 100m H over G and descend. The rush of cool air as you jump through the open doors and hit the deck. Just like ...

Terrorgator

Author : KJ Hannah Greenberg Snazzle considered, as she queued up, among the morning roses and goldenrod, that members of the machinists’ men didn’t take warmly to her puttering about their racks and chargers. Despite the technicians’ protest to the contrary, whenever she ...

Away In An Incubator

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer We put Jesus24K99 into his cage for our own protection. The anti-coagulants weren’t holding. He was destabilizing. He’d bleed out soon. The hole in our research was the stigmata. The actual crucifix had been uncovered in a basement ...

Material Decisions

Author : Lisa Marie Andrews "What'll you choose?" She stood behind the boy and looked into the mirror. His cheeks were dusted with freckles; eyes darkened with indecision. "I don't know." He said. He'd always thought it odd that the skinless wore no clothing. They ...

Clutter

Author : Phill English Special Agent Jessy McCormick knocked gently on the door of the Director's office. He looked up from his desk, where a large holographic display was swarming with reports that he was busy gesturing into folders, signing quickly, or dumping into a ...

Vindication

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The two Capellians had traveled over 40 light years to collect a breeding pair of humans for the University of Xenobiology, on Capella Prime. During the trip, they also diligently recorded the various transmissions emanating from Earth ...

Separated

Author : Jeff Kirchoff A few short keystrokes and the room sprung to life, bare, the walls black yet glowing with the subtle aura of electrical potential. Rico strolled to the center of the small space and looked at the crumpled paper clutched in his left hand with a ...

Alone

Author : Thomas Desrochers Whether or not something is difficult is largely a thing of perception. If you practice doing most things a lot, then they become easier. Driving, hunting, farming – they all becoming easier with practice. Living alone does not. For three ...

My Sign? Exit.

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Levon leaned against the shower tube, letting the jets of water assail his body from all sides. As the sweat of the previous night's activities rinsed away, the more subtle indicators of his exertions seeped in. Both his head and kidneys ...

Listen For The Tone

Author : Carol Reid Is there a sign over Gina's head that reads, "Vacancy"? She imagines it in neon, that peculiar orange pink reserved for a certain class of motel-- and apparently for her, a certain class of fucked up female, who had a reasonable, ordinary life before the ...

Syndrome

Author : Q. B. Fox The members of Juliet Patrol, 29 Group, Royal Engineers hunkered down in a squat two-story, stone building balanced on the hillside. Lt. Harry Banford watched through the unglazed window as a UN superiority denial aircraft painted a con-trail far, far ...

Strapped To The Chair

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer It’s a reasoning process. There are seconds left. The cold leather of the chair is warming up beneath my manacled wrists. The restraints are tight on my arms. I’m wide awake and dreaming. I can’t decide if it’s a syringe or a snake ...

Fear and Loathing in Monochrome

Author : K. Pittman Sometime before midday's full blaze, Susan threw down her skein and stopped walking. Georgia broke pace steps later and trod back, face flattened, hat shadowing her glare. "What." "I want milk. I'm tired of water." Susan half-turned and looked from ...

The Digital Age

Author : Nick Gonzales "You heard they finally nailed teleportation?" "No." "Yeah, just yesterday." "For real?" "Fo rizzle." I turn to look at Billiam, his eyes lit up expectantly as he leans towards me across the table. His face is twisted into his characteristic grin ...

The Shipmaster's Widow

Author : Michael Merriam "We never had much," she said. "The freighter was our life. Now it’s all lost, ripped apart by a neutron star." I sat next to her. I couldn’t answer. My mind was dazzled, my eyes locked on her naked body stretched out on the bed we shared. She ...

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