Set Me Free

Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer Peter sat on the harbour wall, coat high around his neck in an effort to keep out the spray of water in the air. The freezing mist had a way of insinuating itself between layers of clothing. The sea roared defiance to sky, and at the horizon ...

The Zimmerman List

Author : JT Heyman Joe Zimmerman was walking down Main Street when the Cken Confederation teleported him aboard their ship. He found himself standing on a small dais in the ship’s central chamber, surrounded by the staring eyes of several dozen Cken council members. A Cken ...

Rainmakers

Author : Aaron Springer

Papa said that they had to give us gifts. I like gifts.

The big dirty man gave Papa a basket of plants and Papa smiled.

Papa promised to go back to the sky and make it rain for them. I liked watching Papa make it rain. All the colors on the ...

Homecoming

Author : Roi R. Czechvala The orbiter hung inverted over the blue and white sphere of Earth. Three suited figures darted around her, checking for damage from the launch. “How’s it looking Alexi,” came a disembodied voice over the suits com-link. “There are a few small chips ...

Good Evening, Mr. Staden

Author : Phillip English

Deep in the centre of the replanted and repopulated Amazon jungle, it was nearing midnight. Chieftan Sral Kunk was completing the final adjustments to his tribal attire, making sure that each bloody line he had painted on his body was curved just so, lest he ...

Deliquesce

Brachyuran Shifter ships poured themselves though the Dreen wormhole; in seconds they would deliquesce to reform light years away. Then the skies above the bulbous undulating Freddyan busker hive would darken and collapse into a million blood red shards…

Mech Cloud

Author : Chris McCormick

Crouching slightly, she trod softly towards the small brick hut. Her cloud poured through the door ahead of her, flooding the small room, and through it she felt into each corner. She brushed over each surface, carefully checking for anomalies. There were ...

Dreaming

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer

My arms are long and my skin is blue. I’m thin. I can feel long-forgotten muscles flex all over my scalp as my head tentacles wave. I have four huge orange eyes on the corners of my square face. Slowly, I get used to four viewpoints of vision ...

Chass

Author : Brian Armitage

Murray grunted, straining against the bars of the cage, willing his arm to stretch further. Finally, his fingers closed on his prize. He plucked the knight from the board and dropped it carefully into place, one move away from Hjdarrrr's ...

My Troubled Relationship with Robert

Author : Robert Gilmore

I woke up in the middle of the night. I'd been poked. Ugh. Robert again.

He's become more tolerable since school began (he's not around so often), but his requests are now far more demanding.

Moaning a bit, I stirred and blinked trying to rouse ...

Little Renoir

Author : Guy Wade

The little robot on the laboratory table had a smooth plastic face and expressionless coal-bead eyes. Professor Trunk flipped the switch in its back. It stood up and bowed.

"Greetings, I am Renoir.”

"Amazing!" said Trunk's supervisor. This made the ...

The Pilgrimage

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer The taxicab bobbed gently on its agrav field after gliding to a stop at the threshold of the Mauchly Hotel in New Philadelphia. The dampers quickly stopped the rocking motion, and the iris to the passenger compartment rotated open. ...

Winter

Author : Dana Sullivan Sometimes on her way to work, Hannah thought of the days when nuclear weapons were left in the hands of humans like her, fickle, emotional humans, and shuddered. How had they survived without blowing themselves up before the Coordinator robots were ...

Mathspacing

Author : Sam Clough, Staff Writer Oreska saw the world in numbers. He saw, below the fabric of existence, the harsh grid of mathematics with which everything could be described. He had shown an aptitude for manipulating numbers at an early age, so it had been decided that his atypical neurotype should be encouraged. Through an intensive training regime, Oreska's facility for numbers was turned into an obsession, and from there, into an neurological imperative.

Book Burner

Author : Benjamin Fischer “You’re a hard man to find.” Victor’s eyes were hazed with blood. His own blood--the cop had put a baton across his forehead. His ears still rang. “Nothing to say, huh?” said the black coat. His cudgel flashed. Victor doubled over and fell to his ...

Charon's Rest

Author : Luke Chmelik

The Eldest coughs, hoarse and frail from the vagaries of stasis. Dull orange light from the isotope heater gives a glow of health to a man who has cheated death for many, many lifetimes. He has awakened for the first time in centuries, and the young ones ...

The Jump

Author : Viktor Kuprin Jump drive, hyper drive, quantum drive, there were many names for the exotic-vacuum engine that propelled our ships to the stars. In the CIS Space Force, we called it the Super-Space Drive, the S-Drive. Thirty of us lined up outside the training ...

Repossessed

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer David closed the door and slid the deadbolt, tossing his keys on the hall stand. He crossed the small parlor to the sideboard, and as he reached for a tumbler and the bottle of Jamesons, he was startled by a voice from the corner. "I'd prefer you ...

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