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Undoing Schrödinger

By Stephen R. Smith | August 22, 2006
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer The sign over the cathouse door reads simply "Preacher's". There will be liquor up front, and women for sale out back. Pulling a stool up to the empty bar, I know I'm here for neither. "What'll it be?" She studies the lines on my face, ...
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Loren's Triumph

By submission | August 21, 2006
Author : Adam Zabell

The now-empty desk stared back at Loren, equal parts accusation and despair. “So you’re really going to leave?”

“I don’t see as I have a choice, Bruce.” Loren had ignored the usual protocols and devised her own names for the AI appliances ...

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The Bedtime Story

By submission | August 20, 2006
Author : Jody Hart Lehrer

Jared begged his father for a bedtime story. Mr. Edgars sighed, and reached for the book that his precocious seven year old son was handing him.

Jared eagerly settled on his back on his bed.

“Immigrants from Another Galaxy” his father ...

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I Won't Let Her Kill Me!

By submission | August 19, 2006
Author : Michael "Freeman" Herbaugh

She was trying to KILL him! Well, he wasn’t going to stand for that. Sure he only existed on paper but that didn’t mean he had any less of a soul nor that he did not want to live same as everyone else. He had seen her kill off too many of his ...

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Rootkit

By submission | August 18, 2006
Author : Daniel Longwing

The jewelry tinkled like wind-chimes as it fell over the candlesticks and crystal. Gently, Momsdroid replaced the lid to the box with slender polymer fingers. It shouldered the shopping bag and walked out into the hall. It looked first left, than right, a ...

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Alienus Sapienpula

By submission | August 17, 2006
Author : J. S. Kachelries

The spaceship was shaped like a flattened football. It had no obvious external doors or windows. Although it appeared to be metallic, we couldn’t cut it, penetrate it with X-rays, or scratch it with a diamond. The only thing we had to evaluate was an ...

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Present Tense

By submission | August 16, 2006
Author : Ian Burke “Today” marks the end of history. Yesterday it was June 25th, 1995 AD (CE, if you prefer). “Today” can be marked in no such terms. Yesterday, “today” was the 26th of June, but “now,” none of that matters anymore. This “morning,” the Hole opened ...
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The Mythical Princess

By J.R. Blackwell | August 15, 2006
Author : J.R.Blackwell, Staff Writer The teacher, the senticyborg and the children sat in a circle on logs in the woods. In the beginning of the semester they had constructed their outdoor classroom as an assignment in team building. The canopy above them made patterns of yellow light ...
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The Damage Done

By Stephen R. Smith | August 14, 2006
Author : Steve Smith, Staff Writer Cyrus curled in the corner, hugging his aching legs to his chest as though they might crawl off without him were he to let them go. White hot grains of sand glassified in his retinas, and beads of sweat scraped down his flesh, each one making it's ...
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The Hero and the Man of Saiyen

By submission | August 13, 2006
Author : Hannah F. The man of Saiyen was small and nervous-looking, not nearly as mystical as I expected, wandering into these ancient strongholds; like a Peasant or maybe a half-blood Noble boy, the kind that spent the days with their faces in paper.

“Is that a crossbow? ...

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Recruitment Tactics

By submission | August 12, 2006
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. ...

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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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