The Surrogate
Author : Charles Spohrer
”EAT SAND NOW!”. The humans hit the hot sand as the mortar shell screamed towards them. The surrogates did not move. They stood still as the flowering debris sandblasted their metallic shells.
Hector made sure he landed on the ground behind the ...
The Jupiter’s Cup
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer
The Jupiter’s Cup is the most famous and most prestigious graviton propelled regatta in the solar system. Graviton sailing enthusiasts were particularly excited this year because of the rare celestial positioning of Jupiter, Saturn, ...
On the Job Training
Author : Jared R. Cloud
The General and the Secretary of State sat in the Oval Office, waiting for the new President to return from the bathroom. Although both had jumped in their seats when they first heard him vomit, he was on his third or fourth round now, and they were ...
Building the Lioness
Author : Alex Moisi
Maya knew that she was dying. You didn't need to be a bio-mechanics expert to know that the nanoids inside her body were running out of energy. The climate and gravity of this remote planet were taxing the minuscule robots more than she had expected. Soon they ...
The Slow Home
Author : Glenn Blakeslee
At four in the morning the alarms went off. Lois hardly stirred, but I went downstairs to the kitchen, started a pot of coffee, and then slogged my sorry ass to the control console, next to the laundry room.
Red lights glared from the temperature ...
Assumption
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
The bullet blistered past the right side of Stryker's helmet, so close that for a good minute or so he was deaf in that ear before the pain gave way to a dull ringing.
"Stupid bastard," he muttered under his breath.
The sniper he'd been ...
Ripples
Author : Waldo van der Waal
“Did anybody see you?”
The tone of voice left no doubt with Neville Fox that his answer would have a profound impact. He studied the face of the man before him. General John G. Cooper was not a man to be trifled with. The tattoos on his forehead ...
The More Things Change…
Author : Carter Lee
-flash-
There was no one else, anymore. Something had happened, and I am all that is left. Here on this empty, dusty stretch of nothingness. Grey plane stretched out on all sides, merging with the grey sky, lit only by a dim sun. There was no one, there ...
The Boast
Author : Asher Wismer
The Boast sat on the hill and watched the man-things playing with fire. They burned themselves, each other, and finally set the forest alight. The fire didn't reach the Boast, so it just watched.
The Boast sat on the hill and watched the man-things ...
Wintermen
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
My skin is a grid of white tiles.
I’m on the moon, I’m naked, and I’m outside. I’ve been here for hours waiting for my target.
I turn my cue-ball eyes up to the sky. I don’t need to breathe but the batteries that power the whirring ...
A Moment of Uninspiring Clarity
Author : Ryan Somma
Wyndallo took an unexpected breath of cold, sterile air. He opened his eyes and saw his exhale condense against the glass door to the capsule, which was smoothly lifting away from him. He registered the air outside the capsule was colder than inside, but ...
Gordon's Face
Author : Glenn Blakeslee
Janie and I sat on the rocks in the afternoon sun, overlooking the shallow valley and, beyond it, Gordon's face on the mountainside. We waited until the sightseer buses left the parking lot, and walked down the path to the viewing area.
It was ...
Love Hurts
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
Street-lamps outside lit her bare flesh an iridescent blue, but he knew in the absence of light, she was chiseled obsidian, black as the sun was bright.
"It's been a while," her voice low and gentle, "I wasn't sure you'd come back."
Logan ...
From The Journal of Finneas Q. Sassafrass
Author : Tony Pacitti
“You ever hear of a fellow named, Jules Verne?” the man asked me.
“Sure I heard of him. Frenchman. Done borrowed an idea or two from him from time to time.”
“It’s funny you should say that,” he said.
The man smiled such that it didn’t do much in the ...
The Dovecote
Author : Elizabeth L. Brooks
Every morning after the war, Joshua went up to the roof to take care of the dovecote. The chore gave him an excuse to get away from the pounding resentment and fear that throbbed through the living spaces below.
He enjoyed it when they needed ...
A Line in the Sand
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer
I was sound asleep in my San Agustin home when I was awakened at three in the morning by a member of Homeland Security. Without explanation, I was unceremoniously whisked from my comfortable bed and hustled onto a LJ40 Learjet. It ...
Locked Out
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
Someone’s hacked my bank accounts and left me out in the cold.
My chip is being recognized as zero balance. None of the doors work. I don’t even have enough money left in my account for the surcharges that would let me into a public ...
Crossed Wires
Author : Milly Rowe
“Now all we do is cross these two wires, and were done!”
Anna slammed the lid of the robots head down and turned to her student.
“That’s all? Two wires!” DJ was stunned.
How could reprogramming a robot be so simple? DJ had always assumed it would be far ...
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