Meeting Vanya

Author : Viktor Kuprin

October 30, 1961 - Five aircraft rose into the arctic sky from the Olyena airbase, headed northeast over the Barents Sea, towards the frozen wastes of Novaya Zemlya Island. The largest plane, a roaring turboprop Bear bomber, carried Vanya. The most beautiful, ...

Butterfly Phoenix

Author : Lirael

"What's your name?"

"Butterfly. Butterfly Phoenix."

"Well, that's a stupid name."

Butterfly heard that a lot. Being only five years old, she took the insults rather well. She never even thought to change her name. She loved it. Her mother told ...

Post War Man

Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer I'm surprised you decided to come out here. No, no - I'm happy you did, just surprised. Your drink ok? Good. You must find me fascinating, kind of the poster boy for post war re-creation. I'm not the only one you know, there are a lot more soldiers ...

The Dream of Terraforming Venus

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer

Cody Starr, the seventy-fifth Director of The Venusian Terraforming Program, removed his foot-gear and waded into the warm Venusian Ocean on the western shore of New America. The sun very slowly inched its way above the western horizon to ...

Division of Labour

Author : Simon Petrie

There'd been big changes at Dave's workplace.

Dave, 43, had been offered retirement, but he'd opted to stay employed in the burgeoning industry that he, as a roboticist, had helped initiate.

The society-wide introduction of working robots (more ...

Clankers

Author : Grady Hendrix

There’s that clanking, again. There’s that ratcheting, sound. There’s that grinding of gears and that whining of servos. He’s gotten used to the way his guest bedroom sounds like a robot factory, ever since Grife Marauder showed up.

“Jim, you ...

Glittering Tumours

Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer

That’s the thing about silicates. They get cancer from radiation, just like us, except their tumors are jewels.

The silicate in front of me here has a head full of diamonds.

He’s looking up at me with his prism eyes. When ...

I've Got Mail

Author : James Smith

Sarah's eyes went dim for a second, and I figured she was getting mail. She squinted with one eye and said, "That's weird. I just... got... headmail from my... from Richard."

"What's he say?"

"'Wanna get dinner? Wear the red dress.'"

"Are ...

Uncommon Values

Author : Sam Clough aka "Hrekka", Staff Writer Kana took a deep breath and brought the butt of her father's rifle to her shoulder. She tilted her head, both eyes open and focused beyond the length of the barrel. The iron foresight that perched at the end of the weapon had been cast as ...

Second Childhood

Author : J.R.Blackwell, Staff Writer "How is the Krugar adjusting to his second childhood?" The Krugar's mother motioned to the reporter to sit. "We don't call him The Krugar here, in his will, he requested that we call him Uill, as he was called in his first childhood." The ...

Demeter

Author : Andrew Bolt

“Why is there no Zeus, Vale? Why am I the only one?”

Dee sits on a pile of aquamarine thermal pillows. Cushions of air, tinted and pressurized, hold her aloft, warming her blood and chlorophyll and making her glow red and green like ...

Everyone

Author : Chris McCormick

When we finally made contact it wasn't in the way that everyone expected. It wasn't like Star Trek, or Sagan, or Alien.

It should have been kind of obvious, looking at an atlas of the universe that there were so many of us. Tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny ...

LOLcats

Author : Joshua Reynolds

"Can I has cheeseburger?" the cat whined plaintively. It's voice was an electronic squeal that grated on Jim's nerves. Jim swatted the cat on the butt and pushed it off of the desk.

"No."

"Plz?" it mewled up at him, eyes unblinking. Jim shook ...

The Capellian Option

Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer

Captain Goff sat at the head of the conference table. “Well, we find ourselves in a rather precarious situation. The Capellians have seized our ship, as well as the flagship of the Rana. They claim that our war with the Rana has violated ...

Crossing The Lines

Author : Michael Varian Daly

Dawn's light angled off the blank brick walls of the narrow alley. The air shimmered, then expanded like a large soap bubble and softly popped. Iyo stood there for a moment to orientate herself. She glanced up and around. No windows. Bioforms reading ...

The Last Kremer Prize

Author : J. S. Kachelries

The Gossamer Comet hung motionless 10 meters beyond the Folkestone Colony’s outermost habitation “wheel.” The Gossamer Comet was a one-man “human-powered” spacecraft that was about to attempt to win the last unclaimed Kremer Prize, a £100,000 ...

Tommy Texas

Author : B.York, Staff Writer Tommy Texas was born in Sienna where his ma and his pa taught him to thank others for the luxuries they had. They thanked Peter for the ability to cook; they thanked Kimberly for the ride into town, and they thanked their grandpa Jeremiah for the ...

Social Service

Author : Kathy Kachelries, Staff Writer It was a no-call assignment, and Carson hated no-call assignments. Attempts to contact the McCaulty family through conventional mail had been unsuccessful, though he noted that the lever of the mailbox had been raised, indicating recent use. ...

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  • Close Enough

    Author: Abigail Hughes Sure, he’s not exactly the same. There …