Author: Victor Beigelman You get out of bed at the same time you always do: 7:45 a.m. Your alarm was actually set for 7:30, but it’s been years since you got up right when it goes off. You putter into the kitchen and fill the water boiler up to .5 liters with cold water ...

Author: Bill Cox ‘Welcome to HAVOC. Chaos is just next door.’ It’s a great line and Jacob uses it every time a new research team shows up. The newcomers all smile with polite amusement. They have arrived onboard the High-Altitude Venus Operational Concept; a massive ...

Author: John Arterbury I hereby affirm I am not making this statement under duress. This is an accurate account to the best of my knowledge regarding all details surrounding the Eruption Experience, for which, as owner and sole proprietor of Tempus Fugit Travels, I take ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer The man thought, and his ideas sieved through his orange stalked teeth and rode upon and into the shit swept place that was his brain. “If this is the end then it’s pretty bloody pathetic”, said this man. “If this is the end then I ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The door swings shut without a sound. “Axel. Music.” “Recommencing Greatest Hits of the Twentieth Century.” “Switch to Bad Day playlist. Stream to all rooms.” “‘Titan Walks’ have released a new song. Shall I commence with ...

Author: Majoki Currents have always pulled me. When I was a kid, I used to run endless circles inside our three-foot-high, above-ground pool. When I finally felt the tug of the current I'd created, I'd fall back and float in soothing circles. I could do that all day. As a ...

Author: Ruby Zehnder The last thing I see is her face. I don’t recall what she says at that instant, but I remember her shocked expression. I catch her in my arms as she falls forward. She tries to speak, but her mouth is filled with blood. I turn my head away. “’What’s ...

Author: JM Advent Water filled the crevice of tan soil left in the wake of PC749’s hand. The Planetary Cultivator’s visual receptors reeled in scan of the rich tan soil in its palm. It’s masculine lips widened to the test results. After a year of meticulous manipulation ...

Author: Arabella McClendon It's a sleepy, heavy kind of hot. The kind of hot that drives people inside to take their chances with box fans rather than face the sun. My bicycle is rattling in its usual concerning manner. The handlebars got knocked out of alignment years ago ...

Author: Majoki Akeisha could see her breath in little puffs against the pale dawn. Cold. Cold. It was definitely autumn now. The brittle brown leaves crunched beneath her feet as she took her place on the lip of the big grassy bowl where they gathered most ...

Author: Delight Ejiaka My green passport exposes me everytime. It is the deadly, poisonous hue of green. My hands have been infected from clutching it the entire plane ride. The customs officer was staring at my face, searching for signs of venom. Another vermin ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer It’s sort of shuffle-dancing down the muddy ruin that used to be a road. The evening light reflects from the parts of its frame revealed through holes in the hacked-up tarpaulin it wears like a poncho. The dancing progress stops. It ...

Author: Majoki They took a step forward. A warning siren sounded as sentry guns auto-targeted. Red lights flashed threateningly along the top of the border wall as a digital voice commanded, “Stop. Do not enter the barrier zone. The defense guns are programmed to fire at ...

Author: Sam Nikiski Hello friend! If you’re like me, the sudden transition from your simulated paradise to the titanium phone booth which are our sanitary facilities is both jarring and harsh. You roll out of bed in a virtual Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace, or Sistine Chapel ...

Author: Joseph Hurtgen Chaak had bright red hair and always wore a coat and tie, proud of his job at MIT teaching applied physics. He demonstrated the weapon--it almost looked like a toy--aiming at the snow on our front porch from fifteen feet away. "See how fast it melts? ...

Author: Rachel Sievers The sky was painted with the deep reds and dark purples that can only come when a storm is pushing its way over the snow peaked mountains. I let the heavy cloth fall backward and into place blocking out the view. I tip my mug back and swallow the rest ...

Author: Bill Cox There's no mistaking it now. The Professor’s advanced optics make it clear. A small blue orb, hanging in the void. I can see the Earth again. I can’t quite see England’s green and pleasant land yet, but soon, soon. Is it really seventy-five years since ...

Author: Phil Temples Kenny just finished making his sixth and final call for anyone to talk to on his ham radio. He wasn’t surprised at the lack of a response. There was no "skip" on the band at this time of the night. It was deader than a doornail. Kenny finished his ...