Blink 542

Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer We stole the blinkpacks from the research facilities at Ceti Alpha. Stable displacement technology, suitable for individual use. We sealed the holes in our assault armour and slapped on the packs: suddenly we could step through walls and down ...

Stars Fall At His Command

Author : Benjamin Fischer “I want to talk to the shaman.” Borhani’s words drew blank looks from the Lakota braves. A few raised their eyebrows and the surliest of the lot paused his cigarette long enough to spit. “The medicine man,” said Borhani. “What the hell are you ...

Unity Dome

Author : Dr. Alexanders Hundreds of years of exploration, trillions of dollars into research on space travel, all culminating in the single most astounding and miraculous discovery in all of human history, and the only tangible result of that effort was the Unity Dome. Gerald ...

At Night We Slept

Author : Ken McGrath The days were beyond hot. The unforgiving, bitter red sun dominated the sky, pulsing waves of heat flowed downwards onto the battered, scorched earth. We walked, trying to keep in the thin shadows cast by withered, torched trees. Their branches, like ...

Larva

Author : Matthew Banks “It's starting to hurt again,” said Kevin. Myrna stood in the doorway watching him with red-rimmed eyes. She pressed her lips together. “It's probably moving around.” Kevin clutched his stomach. “It's getting worse! Jesus!” He let out a long, low ...

Disconnect Before Removing Device

Author : Douglas Woods :::Hash total error:::Download failed::: Panic. The floor sloped away to a dark abyss, rolling me inexorably forward. Oblivion. Heads around me turned, slow, dumb, cow-like eyes passing over me without recognition. Dull orbs blinked in unison. ...

Fifteen

Author : Scott Alexander Rader I wake with gunk in my eyes. Not sleep, or whatever the scientific term is. This is worse. Shoot. Pink eye, I think to myself. Damn kids. But this is thicker and gummier than the mucous created during pink eye. It’s more like, well, gum. Damn ...

Caesar's Secret Weapon

Author : Greg R. Fishbone Three Roman legions swept into the valley from the south. The defenders launched a flight of arrows while a line of pikemen prepared for an onslaught of armored men. The battle raged through the afternoon, but the outcome was never in doubt. The ...

Zipper Night

Author : Dave Johnson I have become a zipper. The fad started out harmless enough. A person scheduled a visit to the zipper specialists. A few hours later the same person (for the true insides cannot be zipped) walked out a different gender. Some time later it got easier: a ...

Serial Redundancy

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Detective Staind waited in the darkness of an empty doorway. He watched as the man, head down, hands stuffed deep in his pockets, crossed the street fifty meters away. Waiting until the man turned down an alley, he unholstered his weapon ...

The SS Indomitable

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer I was heading toward the Bridge along Deck 12 just aft of the Station 114 Bulkhead when I heard, sorry, felt, the explosion. The shock wave knocked me into the starboard hullplate, but I managed to remain standing. I felt a rush of ...

Sentence

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer This is the opposite of solitary confinement. It’s called ‘tearing down the firewalls’. They’ve removed my filters. I am plugged into the raw datafeed now for the entire world. The receivers in our heads are tuned to accept the ...

Company

Author : Rob Burton There’s that tapping again. I’ve been listening to peeling bass music, as loud as my ears can stand it, but it doesn’t shut out that quiet, metallic tap. Perhaps this capsule is resonating, magnifying the tapping. Perhaps it’s just my mind, feeding the ...

I Bet You Say That To All The Girls

Author : Ian Rennie I give Annabeth one last lingering kiss at the door. "I'll see you next week?" I say, a slight quaver in my voice. "Count on it." she says grinning. I close the door as she turns, my heart fluttering. This is it. The big one, complete with ...

Dreams of Conceptua

Author : Ryan Somma As I lie in bed at night, I practice going from a waking state directly into REM sleep. It's a meditative practice. You simply stare into the afterimages dancing in the darkness behind your eyelids, and suddenly your brain makes something solid out of ...

Tome of Edicts

Author : Jeff McGaha “Who’s there?” Brother Peter questioned. “Answer me. I demand to be let go. Do you know who I am? You’re in some serious trouble. The whole planet is going to be looking for me.” The bag covering Brother Peter’s head was quickly removed, pulling a ...

The Slaver

Author : Benjamin Fischer “You have a very pretty family,” said the offworlder. Pulliam McDermott was a very powerful man, so it took him a moment to register that he’d actually been threatened. High over Lake Michigan in his Zepellin-borne corporate offices, the stranger ...

Never Enough

Author : Mark Mance I’m in my old car again. These things happen. You’re wondering what’s for lunch, and then--Bam! You're already under, and cruising about. I’m gunning it down Sunset Boulevard, and doing fishtails. I sure miss that car. Cars aren’t made like this ...

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