Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There’s always warning. No matter how sneaky they are, they can’t help themselves. The urge to see our reaction means they telegraph every strike. If our side managed to spot that more often, it’d be hilarious. “Four o’clock low.” I ...

Author: Tim Goldstone I first met you at that stage where I couldn’t sleep because I needed to stretch and stretch and stretch but it’s never ever enough all night long, every night, and I know the only certain way to achieve relief is to stretch so far so violently that my ...

Author: Bill Cox Hi Ted, let me tell you my story. Some of it you’ll know, but some will be new. I fervently hope that it’ll become your story too. In 2006 the New Horizons probe was launched from Earth. Its goal was a flyby of Pluto, which it achieved on July 14th, ...

Author: Benjamin DeHaan The Delta 21’s hull creaks as she slows and comes into view of the alien space bubble, a pink translucent sack hovering in outer space. At its current rate of expansion, it will enter the stratosphere by nightfall. By next week all of Earth will be ...

Author: Anna Jackson I couldn't look at it, but it stood tall and imposing before me, like it was begging me to see. I knew it was time, I knew that I didn't have a choice, but that didn't make it any easier. The Gateway was open and it was my turn to step through it. ...

Author: Hillary Lyon “So we’re outside, drinking on the patio like we do sometimes after work, when Ellie looks up at the sky and goes—” “I said, ‘What is THAT?’” Ellie laughed awkwardly. From his seat next to the sofa, the interviewer, Mister Guest, leaned towards her, ...

Author: Reba Elliott The sun rises and sets, then the other sun rises and and sets, and then the planet rises and the sun rises and the planet sets and the other sun rises and the sun sets and the other sun sets. There is light everywhere. Leaves grow long and wild and in ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The city burns behind them. Long shadows stretch almost to the citadel of government. Late afternoon sunlight picks out moments in bright clarity: metallic reflections from the bent panels of a vandalised coupe, a discarded sheet spread ...

Author: Rainbow Heartshine We have enough feathers for a couple of mattresses now. I'm not such an awful person as to use so, but how are you supposed to dispose of angel down? Whether they count as the real thing is over my head, theologically. It shouldn't be. When ...

Author: James Moran In the days when Earth was small the other planets eyed it hungrily and argued over how they would split it up. Like a mother protecting her young, the Moon circled Earth, a wary eye on each of the planets. She visited the ears of Venus and Mercury ...

Author: David Barber Rumour had it that Mother would soon order them to quit the planet, so Six rose early, trying not to wake her sisters as she donned her mask and breather. Outside, dust swirled around remotes abandoned the previous day by her siblings, who gloved ...

Author: Tom Neuschafer William was not a man of science, which would make traveling through time far more difficult than if he were. But what he lacked in scientific genius, he made up for with practical knowledge and perseverance. And he was now a man of tremendous ...

Author: Majoki *It was obvious the indigenous creature was in an expiring condition,* wrdlgrp expressed matter-of-factly to the processing agent handling his arrival. *Not the issue, wrdlgrp-sln,* the processing agent xtsm shunted back reviewing wrdlgrp’s record of ...

Author: Joey Fazzone "Make it red, make it orange, make it purple, yellow, pink," he sang, twirled, and danced. "Make it brown, magenta, and any shade you think." He winked. His assistant was about to speak before he whirled again, proclaiming dramatically, "So don't ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Seventeen hours. My backside went numb so long ago it’s taken my legs with it. I’m going to be walking like a geriatric, which is ironic considering I’m unlikely to reach any age close to that if I keep pulling sessions like this. “Have ...

Author: Sasha Wolff See The Sea Jewel zip around the cosmos like a theater bus that know no bounds; see it pop up in the remote corners of this glittering universe like Mary Poppins’ stuffed purse of many surprises; like a magical, mischief-making lunch basket of lipstick, ...

Author: Ken Poyner The replicators have decided we should all eat peanut butter and crackers; for a month the machines have been spitting out endless batches of peanut butter and crackers. Not bad peanut butter, and truly delicate crackers. But it has been a month. Damn ...

Author: Victor Beigelman You get out of bed at the same time you always do: 7:45 a.m. Your alarm was actually set for 7:30, but it’s been years since you got up right when it goes off. You putter into the kitchen and fill the water boiler up to .5 liters with cold water ...