Moore's Law
Sometimes I wake in cyberspace and remember the wizened words of the old man, ‘When I was a one year old we didn’t have self-evolving tutorial programs, we had to learn by listening’. I try to picture what he looked like but all I get are a series of ...
They call it a Fable
When we are young we are told a story of a ship.
As the story goes, the ship is damaged beyond repair and is set to crash into its destination planet. The crew on board consists of one android, one clone and one pure born. There is only one escape pod ...
Childhood's End
Even after nine years, people still stare at us. We're used to it.
The plague that suddenly made all of humanity sterile wasn't easy on society. There was panic, rioting, doomsday cults. But eventually people adjusted and things calmed down, and scientists ...
The Gambler
Nardo sat in his broker's office, running his "impatience" script. He occupied himself with the U.N. Secretarial bout running on hologram in the corner. One American candidate had just tagged out and his partner climbed to the top rope, towering above the ...
Project Starshot
It was late after hours at SETI headquarters. Still, two men hunched over a computer, it's light bathing them in a blue glow.
“I can't believe it, Jim.â€
“There's no doubt. Arecibo is picking up an artificial signal from an intelligent ...
Spider
Susan crept downstairs slowly, curious about the noises she was hearing from the kitchen. The lights weren’t on. It was Christmas morning so it was still dark out at five in the morning. Her parents slept far away from the kitchen all the way ...
The Upgrade
Rumors
There were rumors of course, most were squashed, but on a ship full of soldiers with nothing to do but watch the stars go by, rumors happened. It was like getting cleaning detail, no use trying to prevent it, just grab a space suit and scrub.
The ...
Last Letter
Dear John,
How are you? Such a stupid way to start a letter like this. You’ll probably never get it anyway, and even if you do I’ll never know your answer. But I hope you’re well. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. You were right. But I don’t ...
Raining Cellos
Anton set the hypernav coords to just beyond the rim of debris.
"Aren't we cutting it a bit close, Captain?" a thick gravelly voice came from behind him. Silverlo, whose face was a mess of scars, wrinkles and facial hair, frowned at him. ...
Smoke 'em if you got 'em, Gene
Jack pulled a SimStik out of its small plastic container and placed it between his lips. Alice cleared her throat and looked at him through drunk eyes and a patch of blonde, wind blown hair.
“Sorry,†he mumbled, the SimStik bobbing up and down as he ...
Liberty
The Shore Patrol has to ring three times before she comes to.
“Ma’am, we would prefer to not break down the door,†one is saying. “Please open it now, ma’am.â€
Groggy and maybe still drunk, she paws at the suite’s ...
Stealth
Finnegan Sue
Finnegan Sue was a pit fighter.
She wrapped leather around her knuckles, mindful of her nails, and ran her sharpened tongue around her poisonous needled mouth. She sung a tune while she prepped. Her horrible lisp made a mockery of the ...
Arrivals Lounge
The finest moment of my whole life was when I stepped off that ship. When we finally found each other in the arrivals lounge, her utterly uncomplicated joy was mirrored by my own. Two friends since forever, separated by years of space travel. There was no ...
Jupiter's Lightning
Nothing but killers. They came screaming soundlessly out of the Oort and Mercury Station was gone. My wife swallowed a handful of pills when the remains of Venus fell across the Moon.
The Dyson sphere lays empty, reconfigured into an enormous laser. I ...
Adoption
The first thing Vinka noticed were the trees, (Bula was late…why was she always late?) the ground was dirty too; some places nothing but bare earth or a covering of ragged grass. That couldn’t be healthy, could it? These pathetic people.
Vinka ...
Systema Metropolis
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