Recruitment Tactics
Author : Kenyon Applebee & Bridget Webb
The stark woman set the blue incandescent lamp on a nearby crate and turned off her flashlight. “…Erin, would you like to sleep in a real bed again?†She wore black – military cut. The figures behind her were similarly dressed. ...
The Blessing
Author : Viktor Kuprin
The priest’s pointed helmet hung at his side. His vac suit was completely black.
Engineer Beketov didn’t get it. It was too strange, too … medieval. The holy man waved the crucifix over the salt package and recited a prayer. Beketov had been told ...
Staying Home
Author : Eric Willey
The Colony Ship New Eden moved closer to the world that was her destination as the last pilot opened the door to a murderer.
"You can't kill me. No one else to fly this crate." He turned and walked over to his personal kitchenette, poured two cups of coffee and ...
60 Seconds
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
Levon regarded the timepiece in his hand carefully, balanced on an open palm as if weighing it, he frowned, then spoke. "Sixty seconds," his words brought nods and murmurs of agreement from the small crowd gathered around him, the sounds rolling away ...
The Creature Under the Bridge
Author : JR Blackwell, Staff Writer
"I don't want to go to the United States." Wilkin slumped, his head falling into the cradle of his arms. His lawyer, the Silver Cyborg, as he liked to be called, put a heavy sympathetic hand on Wilkin's shoulder.
"Sorry Willi, I wish I could appeal ...
Winged Victory
Author : Clifford Hebner
They met at the Imperial Academy, her slight and boyish, the youngest woman ever admitted, and he old, with the face and toothy grin of an ape. They were outcast, too young or old to be useful to anyone, but by the time she accepted her first commission, ...
In Hindsight…
Author : Patricia Stewart
March 26, 2167. It was the best of days; it was the worst of days (if you permit me to paraphrase Charles Dickens). At 8:00 EMT (Earth mean time), I accepted delivery of the Galaxy-Clipper. Although named for the nineteenth century sailing ship, it was not ...
After the Bomb Fell
Author : Adam Zabell
In one of those rare moments of unity, the nation sits in stunned silence at the scene laid out before them. A few short seconds from now three different wild howls of exclamation will be broadcast from two billion different voices.
A third of those voices will ...
No One Knows
Author : Gabrielle Kinsman
The transport completed its descent and settled onto the ground. The landing gear clamped to the landing pad, like a bug latching onto a leaf. The hatch opened and people started filing out almost before it touched ground. There were scores of people; many ...
Fate of Our Future Past
Author : Michael "Freeman" Herbaugh
“This skull has been carbon dated at being 3 million years old. Yet, clearly it is the skull of a 20th century homo-sapiens. You’ve been trained for the last five years because of the discovery of THIS skull.â€
Cartwright listened to the ...
The Unequivocal
Author : S.Clough
You've heard of the Unequivocal, right?
Okay, then. I'll assume you've been living under a rock since before you were born. The Unequivocal was the very first flagship of the Earth fleet. One of the early-pattern destroyers: It was lost in its fourth ...
Made in Korea
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer
"Man - this is awesome!" John was in a state of constant verbal barrage, his voice unnaturally loud above the diner chatter as he overcompensated for the music playing in his head. "I'm telling you, these Koreans know how to make ...
The Last Question
The Sears catalogue offers dozens of models of BlogBots, but it claims that its most popular is the X451, used to conduct remote interviews. During an average three years of service, the X451 BlogBot will recite hundreds of questions posted to its forum and transcribe the answers of over 50 ...
The Pleasure Dome
Brody looked at the puppies frolicking in the flower garden and beyond them, to where a professional cuteologist, complete with a lab coat and kitten ears, was giving children rides on a friendly lion. Brody shuddered, shoving his hands into his trench coat. “I hate this place.â€
Chinjin ...
The End of All Things
We have given you so much.
We have, for your entire lifetime, watched over you and found you to be needing of our help. In the end, however, you became what you were designed to become. We never made you but we knew your purpose.
When you were born of cells we gave you dense matter with ...
All in a Day's Work
When I found her she was seated at the entrance to the 8th street NR station, looking like Huckleberry Finn in faded overalls with a wooden fishing pole resting over her shoulder. She’d been waiting for me, of course, because I was the one with the BB gun, and she damn well wasn’t going ...
The Burden
Yvette stood at the brink of discovery in the next model-Z line. Countless researchers and developers could not dream of the level she had achieved, nor could the social allure of actual interaction hope to compete with the revolution she would create. One could never believe, however, that ...
Clutter Mob
Inigo struggled against the duct tape, trying to work his hands loose. John Kennedy backhanded him.
“I told you to knock that off. You sit still till we’re done.â€
Inigo felt fluid running down from his nose over the silver tape on his lips. Blood ran into his throat and Inigo tried not ...
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