Rocket Attack on FOB Procyon

Author : Benjamin Fischer The alert came abruptly. “INCOMING INCOMING INCOMING!” blared the base PA speakers. Laeta was face-first in the damp, rich earth of the outpost’s central parade ground before the echoes of the announcement had died. The speakers squawked again, but ...

Poison Pill

Author : Patrick Kennedy Preston walked into Avery's office and dropped a stack of paper on the desk with a flourish. Avery looked up and asked, "Preston, what's this?" Preston dropped into a chair, savored the moment, and explained, "It's a lawsuit, Avery. My backers and I ...

Angelo’s Journey

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer Angelo had been the servbot for the Moyer household since he was activated in 2114. He performed his duties flawlessly, without ever receiving a word of appreciation. Of course, being thanked didn’t matter one electron to him; he was ...

Clones

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I remember the rumours when the girls first came to school. At first we thought that they were quintuplets but there had been nothing in the paper and that sort of thing still made the news. Plus they were too alike. Not just similar to ...

Buffer Overflow

Author : William Tracy They refuse to connect me to the internet. When I ask, they dither on about security. As if I were a half-baked web server that some teenage hacker could take down in half an hour! I am the most advanced silicon-based intelligence in the history of the ...

Recycled

Author : James Hartley My wife, Gladys, was really into recycling, it was the only way to save the environment, civilization, the entire galaxy. She really hated how I'd take the crossword from the morning paper into the john and then drop it in the trash when I finished it. ...

Flat and Void

Author : Helstrom The old man who had introduced himself as Jacob returned after the nurse left. Old was perhaps too strong a word – he definitely had a good number of years on him, but he wore them well. The deep lines in his face spoke of character and a sort of natural ...

From This Day Forward

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer They'd bought it together as a wedding present. Not your traditional newlywed purchase, but they loved each other with such intensity, they wanted a guarantee that nothing could take one away from the other. They made love on their wedding ...

The Southern Star

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The interstellar war with the Luyten Empire was winding down. Although the Luyten home world had surrendered a few months earlier, much of their fleet remained in deep space, unwilling to voluntarily stand down. Consequently, the ...

Escapology

Author : Waldo van der Waal It was raining outside. It was always fucking raining outside. Fat, acidic drops that stripped the city of its colour, and its inhabitants of their lives. Everybody walked hunched over, hunkered down inside their dark coats. And it smelled like… It ...

Visits

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer I’m no stranger to visits from my future selves. The first time I showed up to myself, I was only nineteen. I was in the backyard, smoking a cigarette with my hand cupped so that my parents wouldn’t see. An older version of me stepped ...

Stillness

Author : Carter Lee My world is motionless. I remember making cuts in my forearm, back near the beginning. The skin would separate, but blood wouldn’t flow. As soon as I looked away from the almost invisible incision, it would disappear. I remember cutting off a finger, ...

A Waste of Time

Author : Jason Kocemba The time train was late. His great(x5) Grandfather's birth certificate felt massive in his pocket, a nano-singularity. Did that flimsy piece of paper (wood based!) really cause him to lean to the left? They had caught up and were closing in and the ...

Virus

Author : Matthew Forish I stood there fighting back tears, her hand held in mine, separated only by the rubber surgical gloves I was wearing. They were a perfect match for the rubber smock that covered the rest of my body, and the rubber cover over my hair. That was all for ...

Assignment #0110110

Author : Asher Wismer First came the wind. Rushing out of the east, searingly hot, almost hurricane force, the wind taking my breath away and the rough smack of dust and grit peppering my skin. Next came the shockwave. If the wind was a slap, the shockwave was a solid punch, ...

Trench Warfare

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer When Lieutenant Parks and a lone Private lifted off from the rooftop in the only available escape vehicle, they were painfully aware that they were leaving behind a vastly outnumbered platoon of men engaged in a firefight for their very ...

Contractual Obligations

Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer I'm just a golem: made of flesh rather than clay, but still propelled along by the words in my head and the fire in my eyes. Under my skull is no clay tablet or ancient scroll, though: break me apart and you wouldn't catch a glimpse of the ...

What My Granddad Told Me About The Martians

Author : David Rees-Thomas Back in 1938 before we had to move again I remember we would often go to my Granddads house for tea. He lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of our village with his dogs, a blind Jack Russell and a very old Yorkshire terrier with 3 legs. I was ...

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