Author: Barbara Brennan Welcome to the terminal transit hub. No-one stays here; you go through and you leave. Papers please. . . . Thank you, that’s all in order. Once you pass through the turnstile, turn to your right, gate 95A. . . . Welcome to the transit ...

Author: Lance J. Mushung I dropped into the blue command chair of Kara. Her viewer showed countless glowing dots, with the two brightest being the suns of the binary system behind us. Natalia, the AI of Kara and my only crewmate, projected her holo next to me. She'd been ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The man sitting in the waiting room looks like a typical, middle-aged office worker. His suit might be his best rather than his daily wardrobe, but from freshly-shined shoes to carefully slicked-back hair, he’s a shining example of average ...

Author: Jonathan H. Smith The Earth Café was a new restaurant tucked away in a part of town where Calyx would have never gone -- had she not yearned to cheer up her grandfather. The tables were adorned with various oddities donated by the original settlers – the remaining ...

Author: Randall Andrews “You all know about the meteorite that fell near here last month,” said Ryan Dunne, recently tenured professor of geology. “I’ve been studying the two recovered fragments and have discovered something remarkable. As you can see.” With a flourish, ...

Author: David C. Nutt “Breaking in was easy- you’re way behind the times old man.” I nodded. “Could be. I never trusted all the high-tech solutions to everything. Only use that stuff when I have to.” My dogs growled. I hushed them. My captor chuckled and pet my dogs. ...

Author: J.D. Rice Fingers scraped against hard ground, seeking a handhold against the sulfuric winds that battered against the environmental suit. The sky rumbled with cold lightning, and hail battered the suit's graphene plating, begging for entry as if it needed to escape ...

Author: Brian C. Mahon It takes Zax only one external sponson rotation after crawling out the sleep sack to yell, “Du’! This is complete crap!” Jackass throws a wrench at Viewscreen One, which, lucky us, I put a shield over. “’Ey man, cut the gorbaj! We use that! I get ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer Space. I creep up vast multitudes of inky hills though they are not hills but rather mountains of soot and slowly I sink ever down into their glue. My face is a hollow thing that has two windows and out of them I can see wells with ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Colin claws his way through a ruined doorway, his sight near-obscured by the blood smeared across his face. Slumping to the floor, he wipes his vision clear with his sleeve, then surveys his surroundings. An ancient stone vault, lit by an ...

Author: William Kee Captain J. P. Koontz was locked in the munitions bay. It was freezing. Thank God, I brought the suit. Soon he would need to put the helmet on. The crew was outside banging on the door. “Give it up, Cap. We’ve turned off all life support except the ...

Author: Kaci Curtis You said that everything was going to change. I remember where we were sitting, sand clumped between our toes. I remember being afraid. Not of you; never of you. But of the picture of inevitability that you painted upon a rough and murky ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer There is a house that grows like a jar of cancer-rimmed razors from the very top of my head. I wear it like a hat and when it rains its central courtyard fills with water and makes my skull feel soggy with its burden and my neck hurts and ...

Author: J.D. Rice The end, it seems, is nigh. I stare at the billboard strapped over the old man's chest, telling me to repent of my sins before the apocalypse comes. Crudely written scripture verses surround big, bold letters saying "REPENT!" I haven't been to church ...

Author: Chana Kohl In the smallest nook of my consciousness, there is a tiny computer that tabulates risk vs. reward. It guides my decisions at any given moment. The ‘reward’ is clear, like a B-roll on a constant loop inside my mind. A split-level cabin built with my own ...

Author: Alan J Wahnefried Shurkarr was excited and little scared. He was waiting for the results of his driving test. Finally, the Examiner called his name. The Examiner offered Shurkarr a seat. Shurkarr could barely keep himself in the chair. “In cases like this I find ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer This will be my final blog post. I tried to come up with a proper treatise to leave for what little of posterity remains, but gave up. You’ll have to make do with this. Imagine, if you will, that you have the power to do any one thing. ...

Author: Dave Ludford Molly sat on the brow of the steep hill smiling expansively into the hazy distance as the light from the artificial sun gradually faded. “I wish these days could last forever. The view from here is just breathtakingly beautiful,” she said to the inert ...