The Scan

Author : Helstrom In a flicker, it was gone. I just caught a glimpse of it, not enough to make out anything more than the sweep code overwriting its tracks. It cycled fast. What it left in its wake, though, was unmistakable. Lobotomized subroutines churned through aimless ...

Righty

Author : Roi R. Czechvala They were on me like white trash on Velveeta. I knew being a courier was risky business, but damn these guys were playing for keeps, and all I had was this lousy Chicom .22 semi-auto. I was in deep kimchee. I should have known this wasn’t a normal ...

Yes Boss

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Oh please let me die for you! Please!” said the gleeful soldier in front of me. Soldier. I couldn’t believe we called them soldiers. I mean, she’d had the proper basic training and had passed all the physicals and all that but I don’t ...

Anomaly at Titan

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The twin doors swooshed aside and Roger Oakley entered the Control Room of the EATES (Experimental Advanced Tactical Exploration Ship). The room contained only one piece of furniture; a large reclined chair on an elevated platform. ...

It's A Small Universe

Author : Jeff McGaha My head ached painfully. I squeezed Matthew's hand tight as he squirmed. Sweat seeped between us, lubricating and aiding his attempts at escape. I sighed and gave up on holding his hand. I grabbed his wrist instead. He continued to struggle, but it ...

The Belly of the Beast

Author : Todd Hammrich

My name is Jeffrey Donahume and I’m making this report in case anyone out there is listening. I am the pilot of Single Shot 5 of the one-way exploratory expeditions. I was on my way out of the system when, unfortunately, my ship was damaged entering the Oort ...

Trade-In

Author : Benjamin Dunn Little Tyler looked around nervously. Tim dragged him into the reception area by the hand, a scowl engraved on his face. He marched up to the reception desk, hoisted Tyler by the armpits, and sat him down in front of the receptionist. “I want a ...

Collision Course

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The caravan of return vehicles lifted off the comet in rapid succession. Allen Culbert looked out the porthole and watched silently as the comet shrank into the distance. For the last nine months, the 1288 men and women of the Comet ...

Hauntingly Beautiful

Author : Jann Everard “Isn’t that Giselle?” Laura nudged her husband. “She looks amazing.” Jake flipped his sandy-colored bangs into place and unconsciously flexed the muscles at his shoulders. Jake’s rapt attention to her teen-age nemesis across the auditorium made Laura’s ...

Runner

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer “Hit him again,” said Milly, “Let it go for six seconds this time.” That smile played into her lips again, making me glad that it was this blubbering, fat loser in front of us that owed money and not me. “Please!” he begged between ...

Trains

Author : Jacob Lothyan “It’s an old family story. A mystery, really. Or was. I just know it meant a lot to my dad, his dad, and so on. That’s the only reason I held on to it. “So it goes, my great great-grandfather worked at the Santa Fe Depot in Leavenworth—first city of ...

Skeletons

Author : Jacob Lothyan The strobe effect of the cherries in my rear window made me instantly nauseous. All uniforms made me nervous these days. Now I had one walking up the side of my car, and I couldn’t help feeling suspect. I rolled down the window before he arrived, ...

Life in Orbit

Author : Garrick Sherman Jack peered through his neighbor’s window at the poisonous brown planet below. Behind him the party rolled on in a soft murmur. He looked out the wide domed roof at a blanket of stars, then back to the globe below. A hand brushed against his ...

Visionary

Author : Jennifer C. Brown aka Laieanna “I can’t believe we’re referencing pop culture to actually get a look at the universe,” said Megan. She flipped another page of her palm size book. “I mean anything we anticipate coming down is probably in this thing.” Her purple ...

Connection

Author : Rosa King It’s the fifth day and she still hasn’t given up. She sits just outside the range of the station defenses and she watches. I look out of the window and shiver despite the warm fug of the laboratory. “She knows.” “Don’t be ridiculous,” Tom says. “It has no ...

Solar Storm

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer “Good Day space travelers. This is James O’Brien bringing you the latest system weather update. Solar activity is very low in the ecliptic plane facing Earth. No solar flares occurred during the past 24 hours. The solar disk ...

Freakshow

Author : Rob Burton I watch Kamille comb her beautiful dark hair, and I can’t help but wonder what horror now grows inside her. She’s from a fine family, well respected travelling merchants, with enough money to have selected the best from amongst many possible children, with ...

The Light Between

Author : J.R. Blackwell, Staff Writer Rae woke up strapped to a table, which was hardly out of the ordinary, but always came as a surprise. She had a headache, but that was to be expected, since she had a metal bar through her forehead. Her fingers were smoking. "Bergh." ...

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    Author : Nathan Martin Jev killed a cop. Technically, he …