Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer He woke from a deep sleep, the room still dark. Had there been a noise? It was quiet now. He reached in the darkness and lifted his phone, the display coming to life just as the alarm sounded, the unexpected noise startling him fully ...

Author: Michael Cavalli The coffee was already on. They could hear the pot gurgling, could smell the process. His lips were curled slightly inward, hers were pursed as they waited. A dismal stillness emanated from them both. White sheet pulled up nearly to his chest, he ...

Author: Gus Doiron I lift a shovelful from the conveyor belt and heave it into the furnace. Same as the one before, and will be after. I spill nothing on the dirt floor. There, it is much harder to scoop and my burden has time to build up. The belt, loose and drooping on ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer They’re sitting in the middle of the road, a bearded older gentleman facing a young girl in a saffron tutu. He’s sitting cross-legged, she’s kneeling. His hands move as he talks, face a picture of concern. She’s gazing at the ground, head ...

Author: Josie Gowler “Snip, snip,” mutters Clarke. “That makes a change from ‘guidance system deployed’”, I mutter, gazing down my microscope. “Sarcasm, Matt? From you?” he replies. “Breaks the tedium,” I shoot back. “How can you get bored? We’re doing ...

Author: Kevin Criscione We built fires for warmth, shelter from the elements, crude wooden tools to continue building, among other necessities, more crude wooden tools. We found our rhythm, working in simple motions out in the open air. Eventually, we had huts, fire pits, ...

Author: Rick Tobin “Not one of your better ideas Inky.” My yelling echoed against the reinforced beams and lines of ready ships stored in launch five. I shook my head as Enrique Chacon selected and boarded a starcraft alone from the space station’s shuttle bay, or should ...

Author: Alzo David-West Ubn Kal-Zar, sovereign prince of Neo Ara, was extremely pleased with his family's accomplishments and his kingdom—a vast, atmospherically controlled, self-sustaining network city encircling the equator of Mars. That Ubn's line and nation would be the ...

Author: Kathryn Smith I see them at night the most, the cogs turning in her head. She thinks I don’t know that she’s awake, going over thoughts again and again and again. She’s always been too open, maybe that’s what drew me to her in the first place. I tried to persuade ...

Author: David Henson Frank leans back in the recliner and loosens his belt. “Reginald, dinner was superb.” “Of course,” the household android says. “Anything else?” “Take the rest of the evening off, Reginald. I’ll get Gwenn and me some dessert in a bit.” Reginald ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer There we are, minding our own business, watching our quarters, when some maniac breaks cover and sprint towards us. Charlie Four - John - knocks him down and sits on him. “Heads up!” A mob of ragged soldiers burst from the trees. Not a ...

Author: Joe Graves “With this top-of-the-line casket, you have unlimited destination opportunities,” explained the funeral director, tapping the back where the propulsion sat, “these boosters will send your husband to the nearest asteroid belt, planet or for a few credits ...

Author: Anna Hamilton After the seas rose and the Earth caked, after the crops withered and died, after you launched spacecraft into the upper atmosphere, silently watching from above as the greens faded and the browns grew and, too miniscule now to see, your buildings ...

Author: Shannon O'Connor We met at a Star Trek convention in New York. I was dressed as Worf; she wasn’t dressed up, but she was wearing a Quark T-shirt, and she looked out of place. “Have you ever been to a convention before?” I asked her. “No English,” she said. “What ...

Author: Alzo David-West Unlike what most people were used to seeing, the “Squirmers” were nothing like us. To begin with, though about our size, they were horizontal, flexible, and a deep murky grey, with tufts of neon green fur. They had twelve eyes and a mouth like a ...

Author: Peter Tittle It was understandable, really. By far, most of the crime— 97% in fact—was committed by men. Prisons are expensive to build and maintain. Prisoners are also expensive—they don’t work while they’re in prison, so we have to support them. Then there’s the ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer He'd spent forty years running rescue and salvage operations in deep space, had hundreds of engagements, many responding to distress beacons, but he had never experienced anything like this. His entire ship resonated at some experiential ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I can hear his controller yelling at him to shoot. His eyes flick left and right, then he stares at the woman with the kid a short distance behind me. That shouting must be deafening. It’s certainly not helping him do anything ...