Elementary, My Dear Bell
Doctor Bell crouched behind the bulkhead as a burst of plasma fired past his head. His friend, Basil Casa (the renowned "consulting detective" for the Galactic Yard), scrambled out of Engineering and took cover next to him. "Well, this is a fine predicament, Mr. Casa," Dr. Bell said ...
Back to Basics
Another blast, and that one nearly scorched away Wemble's shoulder. He was trying his damndest to keep out of sight, tucked behind an old medipak crate. Battle had been going on for almost a year now and they were close to extinction. The enemy might have outnumbered them, but the worst of the ...
Revenge
"I got it!" Dave cried, exuberant, brandishing a cheap plastic comb as he burst into the dorm room. "Jake! I finally got it!"
Jake looked up from his fuel cell textbook and eyed Dave, unimpressed. "So your hair will finally stop looking like a rat's next. Great. The world will rejoice." He ...
Fury Of The Widowmaker
They called the ship a Widowmaker, a relic of a time when the black of space was scarred by the war and the machines that made it possible. There were no windows save at the top and few doors; little was done to make the metal monstrosity look like anything other than the heavily armed coffin ...
Applied Linguistics
How are your studies progressing? The liaison asked, once he was within range of the professor. The professor, a hoary man whose moustache seemed to be made of white wire, glanced up before placing his stylus on the desk beside his tablet.
They're progressing, he answered, ...
The Smell of Freedom
The expedition team had watched the aliens closely with devices and kept their bodies far away from any pathogens. Never before had anyone seen something quite like this. Today they'd be getting the special privilege of first contact. With all the alien races out there, however, the team was ...
Death by Water
"You're being irrational."
"I know." Sandra's grey-green eyes matched the sight below her, mesmerized by the crashing of waves against one of the few beaches left in the world. She didn't look away, not even to meet the irritated gaze of her husband across the restaurant table. "But doesn't ...
The Mission
Angel was used to doors shutting in his face, the slap of glass sliding doors, the definitive clunk of plastic automatic doors, even the thump of an old fashioned wooden door. On Earth, people live with shut doors and masked faces. Angel went barefaced for his missionary work. He was used to ...
The Terran Way
The Terran ambassador arrived in a richly decorated shuttle, bearing several barrels of unfiltered ayula and decked in fabrics that shimmered under the Ryexian sun. The visit was unexpected, so no troops met him at the spaceport to ensure his safety, but he spared no expense and immediately ...
Suspension of Disbelief
The glow of a television never graced two happier faces before that summer day. Aaron was blonde and wide-eyed while next to him, in an almost mirrored image save for the black hair, sat his friend Hamel. Both children were staring at the images of a mad scientist and kid from the 1980's ...
Artificer
"Iljek, it's time for another piece."
The Interplanetary Artist Laureate, holder of the Sigil of Creativity, founder of the Union of Visionary Crafters, chair of the Board of Humanities at Reykjavik University of the Arts, leaned back in his lounge chair and put his porn on mute, giving his ...
Always Summer
Herbert Mumble was proud of his house. He had every right to be: he'd spent nearly a decade compiling it. Most of his friends had bought discount single-structure mansions in the Midwest and used a portal to get to work, but Herbert wasn't the type to buy pre-fab. Herbert was an artist.
It ...
For Honor, For Earth, For Man
Look at you. Take a good look at yourselves. Five fingers on each hand, five toes on each foot. You're not victims, you're not rookies. You're human and each and every last bloody one of you is going to let the enemy know that.
You hear them outside the hull? Hear them knocking on our ...
Simple Plan
For a successful space pirate, Valentine Arvossio did not seem particularly intimidating at first glance. His eyes, though smug, were a rather peculiar shade of grey that in another context might have been referred to as "soothing." It was the sort of grey that one used for office complexes ...
How To Snag A Muffin-Choker
K'dackis was slivercaster, scout and herder of wildfeeds, piping when needed, but always in pursuit of the genuine driveway effect. She was constantly sisbertized by the right or the wrong people, surfing the waves of condemnation and approval as she launched onto her next coffee-spitter. She ...
Universal Constants
All through college, the three of us were best friends. When we graduated in '18, Bob and I joined the Galactic Defense Force and got shipped off to the Sirius Sector, but Dmitri's calling was Postdoctoral research, studying Xenobiology in the Vega system. We tried to keep in touch, but you ...
Synthesis
There is nothing to burn. Modern life is plasticine, cheap and mutable and easily manufactured. Wooden furniture is the stuff of history textbooks and Better Homes and Gardens pinups, the pictures affixed to smooth synthetic walls with reused sticky-tack. Pinup is a misnomer; pins have no ...
Ultimate Showdown
No one saw the meteor coming. It was faster than any meteor yet recorded. It didn't so much as break the speed of light as it did beat its face in, set it on fire and sleep with its girlfriend. No one saw it coming when it smashed into what once was the Pacific Ocean, and a century later, not ...
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