The Hot Belt
It was two hundred miles to the temperate equator, across the frozen tundra of the planet Dera. At the start of the trip, in front of the mangled ship, the colonists had cursed the planet, cursed their dead pilot, cursed the persecution of the government that forced them from the center ...
Don’t Touch
"Simply put, I do not, under any circumstances, want your filthy fingers near me." Alison was near hysteria by the time Timmy called her. Both had been having a relationship for three years now and it was always the man who made things awkward. Nothing killed a relationship more than wanting ...
On The House
It was going to be a very, very slow night. Tuesdays usually were. Throw in the hellacious thunderstorm outside, and not even a desperate alcoholic would wander in. I had just decided to close the bar up early when the mother of all lightening bolts hit just outside the window, nearly blinding ...
Nether Lands
Amsterdam is still dry. The whole country is. It’s hard to believe, I know. But it’s true.
That’s how you can tell the tourists. Not a single Dutch person is amphibious. They don’t have to be. They’ve held back the waters, just like the little punk in the story.
Stories got to come ...
Sun Shield
Commander Xylm of the Red Bastards jumped when he heard Knthens voice in his head.
“Commander, please meet me in the docking bay.†Despite his powers, Knthen usually used the intercom, and there was nervous emotion in his projected voice. The use of Xylms title, Commander, made him ...
Bounty
Skitz was running as fast as an alley rat could run in the back streets of Terris 4. Even with six legs, he was having a hard time keeping ahead of the bounty hunter. His three nostrils flared and he stopped for a moment to catch some carbon dioxide before taking a glance around.
When he ...
The Electric Ant
“Okay everyone, you know the drill."
Alex's partner didn't break pace between the doorway and the register, and she swung her gun around with the precise grace of someone who had done this far too many times. Her features were hidden behind a fuzzmask, and the sharp tips of her black hair ...
Quitter
Tomorrow, Vivek Pratap will stop smoking.
He will stop smoking because it is bad for his gills, the luster of his new skin, and his sharpened teeth. The shark genes he had combined with his own were expensive; he'd hate to ruin those spent thousands with a five-dollar pack of smokes.
So ...
Dissolve
The bottles should have lined her shelf, all shapes of the pastel rainbow, a tally of her pasts. Their numbers would be such that they overwhelmed the tiny space, and even by resorting to clever stacking methods and ingenious pyramids she would never quite be able to fit them all. The shelf ...
Partners
Emeeki dove off the cliff, spreading her silver wings wide to catch the current of air, flying over the Sacred ground. This would put her quite a distance from her earth locked predator, whose yellow mane she could see moving in the grass on the golden plains.
The Sacred ground was a ...
City Girl
“’Scuse me, is this the sunbound dock?â€
Harrison started and nearly dropped the bouquet he was holding. He hadn’t heard the woman approach. “Uh… yeah, it should be.â€
“Thanks. Is this seat taken?â€
He shook his head mutely in response. Vibrant. It was the first adjective ...
On The Road
The road lay before me like the body of an overdosed hooker; all valleys and plains and nameless geography. My hand stroked the air from the window of the pickup as the wind smoked my cigarette and left me with ash. This could work, she'd said. We can make this work.
Behind us, the dome ...
Happily Ever After
“But why don’t you want to be Prince Charming? I just don’t understand.†Beryl worried a handkerchief nearly to the point of tearing with her plump little hands. Saske could see she was almost to the point of tears, but he wasn’t going to relent. A man had to draw the line ...
Bride
The van comes for me at the usual time. I imagine myself as the driver must see me, a doll with matching parts, standing in front of buildings that are coated with red sand. I pull my coat around me but the cold wind climbs under and up my bare legs. I am wearing the dress that my mother saved ...
The Pirate's Booty
The engineer stumbled into the cargo hold and dropped his bags like they were made of lead. At the moment, he couldn't think of any place in the galaxy where he'd rather be. Not that that was a surprise.
His pilot wandered into the hold wearing underwear, a bra, and a towel wrapped around her ...
Expiration Date
Seamus dipped the greasy piece of bread into the even greasier layer of oil in his plate. “Mm. It seems so much easier when you know your own sin, doesn’t it?â€
Carol hadn’t touched her food; her lust for love blinded her, but only to a point. She watched the buffoon in front of her as ...
Behave
"You really shouldn't write so much," the boy said. He perched on the edge of an orange subway chair and jumped off as the train screeched to a halt, catching himself on the handrail and spinning around.
"If I didn't write so much, you wouldn't be here," the woman said coolly.
"Well, yeah, ...
The Sharp and Terrible Morning
After a night of drinking, following the uncontrolled sleep of total blackness, there comes for humans a level of morning sobriety that is so clear it is painful. The white light of morning truth shines through to the black recesses of the human brain, and suddenly, the consequences of all ...
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