Author: G. J. Poirier ”Is that your dependent?” The woman with the too-close eyes leaned in, her breath hitting Elma like a wall of rancid fog. Elma suppressed a gag and nodded. “Yes. The one with the red cap.” She shifted down the bench a few inches. “Mine isn’t ...

Author: Alastair Millar I'm trying to ignore the shaking; they warned us that the final approach was going to be bumpy, and thank all that's holy for the motion sickness shot. Head against the bulkhead, I’m remembering why I'm here. I can see that kid's face in front of ...

Author: Robert Beech Edward Soul-Keeper, seventh of that name (or Corpse-Eater as he was called outside of what people thought was his range of hearing), sat at the head of the long table, surrounded by his seventeen living children and grandchildren. It was an intimate ...

Author: Jenna Hanan Moore They say a kind word never broke anyone’s mouth, but that’s not true. A kind word broke my mouth. Strictly speaking, I don’t have a mouth. That is, I don’t have a physical opening in my face from which to project my voice. But I do have a language ...

Author: Oliver Hunt It had been five years since the Consortium AI left to face the alien threat. Five years since humanity's brightest minds came together and built a machine to fight amongst the stars whilst we defended our home. Little did we know we were creating the ...

Author: Hari Navarro, Staff Writer There was once a moon that orbited nothing. A shale-strewn grey sphere hung wedged in the sticky primordial trap of a very particular gravitational crossroads. A lifeless nothing that became a fertile canal. A moistened fingertip with ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Is your head deformed in some way?” I spin left, taking the still-habitual extra step to back off a bit while doing so. It’s an Uglonos herder, complete with brow spines painted blue. The contrast with his lime green hide is striking, ...

Author: Majoki “You wrong. Dead wrong, O’Bob. The slowpo didn’t do this.” Mikal nodded absently around him at the decay, the gloom, the malaise, the rotting bones of the city they scavenged everyday. “You did.” “You mean we all did. All of us.” Old Bob sighed. His ...

Author: Ross Field “You are ready to hear the story of our people my son” With their backs to the blinding light and whipping sand they descended down the wide tunnel worn smooth from time, through the carcasses of toppled skyscrapers, museums, and churches compacted ...

Author: David Barber One of the aliens was strolling through the city centre as easy as you please. As if the war had not happened. For an instant the Pilot saw worlds burning, air spilling from nests, the sparkle of detonations amongst their swarming craft. He'd ...

Author: CL Farley Light turns the insides of my eyelids red. A strange smell, burning and sharply sweet, sticks in my nostrils and the back of my throat. This is not my cool backyard, where the damp breeze chilled my skin and sunset painted the looming clouds purple and ...

Author: Rachel Sievers Throwing shadows in the black of night and moving quickly under the heavy cloud cover we move over the rocky terrain. Fear of darkness is not an option anymore. A crevasse springs up and catches my shoe tip and I stumble. The ground comes up to meet ...

Author: Hillary Lyon “So, ponder this,” Drew began, “Thomas Jefferson was a Deist—he subscribed to the idea of the Clock-Maker. Remember?” “Yes,” Brady nodded. “I recall.” He loved thought experiments. “The belief was, a cosmic clock-maker—God—created this perfect, ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The advantages bestowed by the digitally-enhanced lifestyle are many. On the other hand, I’ve never found it… Warm. There’s an intimacy to tactile media, an emotional connection with the turn of a page, the smell of a second-hand bookshop ...

Author: Shannon O'Connor I wait in line to get on the space shuttle, ready to leave Earth. I carry a bag with my belongings I think I might need. I didn’t know what to pack; I tried to only bring essentials. My kind are being sent away, since we are no longer needed. We ...

Author: Steven French “You’re kidding me!” Roberts exclaimed, “You mean they make their spaceships out of wood?!” Alari’s eyebrow tentacles waved in affirmation but then they added, “Well, it’s a kind of plant found on the Travok homeworld but a tree would be the closest ...

Author: Deborah Shrimplin "Dr. Bessot, welcome to Planet Chaldea. I hope your journey from Earth was a pleasant one. Please, do have a seat," President Seints said as he gestured toward the chair next to him. He searched Dr. Bessot's face for physical signs of the brilliant ...

Author: Bill Cox Bardumel floated in zero gravity on the ship’s bridge, watching the final descent. The asteroid, the Horned Skull of the Great Herd, crashed through the atmosphere, causing the white clouds to part like the petals of a Soona flower. Two seconds later the ...