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The Blessing

By submission | August 11, 2006
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 ...

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Staying Home

By submission | August 10, 2006
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 ...

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60 Seconds

By Stephen R. Smith | August 9, 2006
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 ...
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The Creature Under the Bridge

By J.R. Blackwell | August 8, 2006
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 ...
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Winged Victory

By submission | August 7, 2006
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, ...
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In Hindsight…

By submission | August 6, 2006
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 ...
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After the Bomb Fell

By submission | August 5, 2006
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 ...

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No One Knows

By submission | August 4, 2006
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 ...

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Fate of Our Future Past

By submission | August 3, 2006
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.”

Cartwright listened to the ...

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The Unequivocal

By submission | August 2, 2006
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 ...

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Made in Korea

By Stephen R. Smith | August 1, 2006
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 ...
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The Last Question

By Kathy Kachelries | July 31, 2006
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 ...
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The Pleasure Dome

By J.R. Blackwell | July 30, 2006
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.” Chinjin ...
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The End of All Things

By B. York | July 29, 2006
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 ...
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All in a Day's Work

By Kathy Kachelries | July 28, 2006
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 ...
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The Burden

By B. York | July 27, 2006
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 ...
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Clutter Mob

By J.R. Blackwell | July 26, 2006
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.” 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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Old-Fashioned Girl

By J. Loseth | July 25, 2006
"So Jeynce and Carr are getting married in three months." Ernest was projecting on the top of the decorative bridge, tossing tiny sticks into the flowing water. They'd chosen an ancient Japanese theme for this afternoon, and he hoped that Ilyah found it relaxing, because Ernest was bored by ...
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