Space Ghost

Radiation Levels: Acceptable. "Okay, lads, we're good. Let's not mosh this up, right?" Lars, encased in a plastisteel suit, stepped his near-weightless form through the breached opening of the hull. The three stripes indicative of a mission commander on his right bicep stood out against the ...

The Spindle

They are not awake. They have been asleep for days, years. They lie sprawled across train platforms, clutching cellphones, notebooks, and mp3 players. Their hearts barely beat, drowsy with decreased metabolism. Their fingernails have grown long, curling under. They are pristine white from ...

Ambrosia

“Oh my God. Peter, you didn’t.” Peter smirked at his wife’s gaping stare. “You bet I did,” he told her smugly. “Nothing’s too good for our anniversary.” “It looks fabulous.” Beatrice’s eyes shone as she ran a finger over the plastic wrap, feeling the smooth depression ...

Built To Last

Her hands were starting to look like lobster claws. She said she wasn’t going to go all the way, and wiggled the smaller claw to show it was still opposable. She said she liked the little teeth, though, and squeezed my arm too hard. She laughed at the little indentions in my arm. She almost ...

Sex & The Superheroes

No one really found out how. In 2009 there were no more than twenty super-powered heroes trying their best to save the world, spread out thin as they were. They were always so busy. The Blaster stayed in the US, fighting off organized crime, while Sister Scion dug into corruption of Scotland ...

Dust In The Wind

Day 192 Passed by that star today. The charts say it’s called Erigo, but it might as well be Antarctica. Nothing. No inhabited planets, no probes, no satellites. No sign of life. No useful supplies, either—most of its planets are gas giants, and there’s no way I could get enough oxygen ...

Nexus

I was a Nexus then, regulating and regurgitating information into packets that were fed to the meat files of mainstream media. I was constantly hooked in, floating in nutrient-gel, eyes covered, fingers locked, steering, loading and filtering information so that people engaged in other ...

Aida

It isn't about the air. Everyone thinks it is, but it's not. The air is beautiful and salty sweet, but it's meaningless after the comedown. It's about the dreaming. That's all there really is. My first time was a girl. Her name was Aida and her skin was blued out with cyanospore, eyes black ...

The Water's Fine

Uchenna watched his eight-year-old daughter Nat charge into the surf. She let out a piercing cry that was one part scream and three parts laugh as soon as the water hit her bare skin. "It's so cold!" she said, adjusting her bright red and yellow goggles. Nat grabbed her arms and gave herself ...

Flat Tooth

"Everyone in the room wants to eat you, kid." U-Tee shrugged. "Whatever." He hated it, but the Verba was right. When U-Tee stumbled into the bar, he immediately knew he had walked into the wrong place. The diamond eyes and lizard-like movements in the shadows betrayed the presence of Yunni ...

The Nine Billion Names Of God

After three hours, the old man in front of me had worked his way through six beers, in addition to every help desk joke I'd already heard. The cupholder. The any key. The write click. These are the stories people tell, now. These are the fish that got away. "Let me ask you something," the ...

Eye For An Eye

“Arthur Lewis Jacobson of Earth. You are here and in the presence of these Justicars found guilty of engaging in sexual conduct with Ilexya Eiin Dephryn without her consent. By treaty #84753 between Earth and Ungöthein, you are hereby relinquished to the Justicars for sentencing and ...

The Old High

Gavin stood before the mirror, dragging soft-tipped fingers over his face. He felt like he experiencing something for the first time—or was it the last? He caught a glimpse of his own broken will deep in his sunken eyes, lost in the years of self-abuse and emotional mutilation. He was coming ...

The Merry Husband

To Larah Lowell, Commander, SLT, Brigade 34, The Air Cruiser Canton Beloved Lady, Commander Wife, I shall respect your recent instruction and exclude from my letter all my hearts sorrows. The lives and souls of your crew must weigh heavy on your shoulders and if I have in my power the ability ...

The Vanishing

The nurse held Jeremy’s left arm with a practiced gentility that would have been motherly if it wasn’t so detached. His real mother was in the waiting room, wearing the kind of plastic smile that adults paste on when they’re the most upset. Jeremy was used to that smile. People did it a ...

Rosetta Stone

Harold adjusted his tie, and gritted his teeth at the futility of the situation. "This is preposterous. I can't be the embassy envoy to this--have you heard them talk?" Harold's short, somewhat fastidious companion, Maud, was reading a magazine as they both walked down the aquatic corridor. ...

Welcome To The Hotel Kraken

Carmina Claypool didn't look much like a madam. She looked more like a fishmonger, which, Allie had to admit, was awfully appropriate. She was a powerfully large woman - soft and muscular simultaneously - and her clothing seemed to make her even larger. The gargantuan galoshes, the voluminous ...

Mzee

There was a young lady at the door. They were always sending young ladies. She rang the doorbell again. Mzee looked at the screen for a few more minutes. She was very pretty, well groomed, her hair black and shiny, like India ink. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, a wildflower bouquet. ...

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