Author: Alastair Millar “C’mon, Jack, the fans will just eat this up! You know they will” “That’s kind of the issue, Morty.” “It’s totally ethical, don’t worry about it.” “But is it tasteful? There’s going to be people that hate it.” “Then they can choke on it! This is ...

Author: Yueyang Wang No.365: assigned as Breeder for Stem Cell No. 173. I saw my number on the screen. This was my first time breeding. The surgery started immediately. Mechanical arms extended a catheter into my body, warm fluid surged in, and then instruments moved ...

Author: Srdjan Budisavljevic ..Finally, he opened his eyes. The feeling was strange, like the feeling of rebirth. Faint images of his former existence sporadically surfaced in his consciousness, but he was unable to recognize those memories as integral parts of his ...

Author: Jas Howson Xero had been scouring the planet for scrap parts for half the day. When she and her partner crashed, their comms device, along with the rest of the important equipment on their ship – and their ship – had scattered across the planet. Frequent sandstorms ...

Author: David Barber Over the centuries it had become a tradition for the Immortal Emperor to wash away His guilt in ceremonies at the Schwarzschild radius. Since nothing escaped the event horizon of a black hole, awful secrets could be whispered there, cruelties, ...

Author: Majoki “It was the most beautiful thing ever crafted.” “I’m sure it was, Akharini. But how can we steal it if it was destroyed almost seventy years ago?” Akharini stared at Nur. Though the hour was late and time was short, he wanted to tell him so much about ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The wind’s picking up, keening between the stacks. If it gets any stronger, we’ll have to retreat. “Alpha Seven, your favourite scout’s offline.” “How long?” “Nearly ten minutes.” Switching myself to wide-hail, I call out. “Team ...

Author: Alastair Millar The Government Men arrived in the early morning, before Papa had even left for work. Mama, crying, sat in the kitchen listening to the voices in the living room; it was only her restraining hand that prevented her daughter Cassie, home for college ...

Author: Don Nigroni Yesterday on Christmas Day, I was at my filthy rich, albeit eccentric, uncle's house. And that's when and where everything went awry. After dinner, he took me aside to his library to enjoy a cigar and a tawny port. "We know our current materialistic ...

Author: Nell Carlson The girl died. Normally, that would have been the end of it. Thousands of people died every day and millions had died in The Culling and nothing especially unusual happened afterwards. But the girl had died on the black river at the same time millions ...

Author: Beck Dacus Each time the floor shuddered, all our chains rang like windchimes. The shackles around my ankles were linked to the wrists of the “inmate” behind me, on and on in a long line of us marching forward. As I stumbled I pulled on that man’s wrists, nearly ...

Author: Mark Renney The changeover hasn’t ever been subtle, but long ago, centuries ago, it wasn’t so difficult, so intense and all consuming. I think it’s fair to say that, back then, I rode roughshod, moving quickly from host to host. I would like to say I selected ...

Author: Majoki Most folks can pretty easily picture an amount doubling, and even envisioning something ten or a hundred times its current size or intensity. But our imaginations often fail miserably when faced with exponential growth. Unfortunately, this inability (or ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Sources always emphasised the utility of wind-up devices after any sort of catastrophe. I used to be sceptical, but having now spent a couple of years surviving in the ruined urban wonderlands of southern England, I admit I was mostly ...

Author: M D Smith IV The synthetics of New World Robotics had reached a level of perfection so far past the clunky years that they cost the average middle-class family the equivalent of six years’ salary. Those who could afford one bought them on time, like a house after a down payment, and ...

Author: Melissa Kobrin Claire looked nervously at the coffin-shaped vat of green goo in front of her and tried to remember that this was one of the best days of her life. Her bachelorette party was going to be beyond her wildest dreams. And fantasies. The only reason Caleb ...

Author: Lynne M Curry I’m your Chatbot Partner. Do you know I exist? Don’t get upset—I know you’re not oblivious. But you never say anything. Not once, not even a passing, “Oh, I hadn’t thought of that” or “thanks.” Do you know I picked you? Maybe you think you just ...

Author: Alastair Millar Prosperina Station’s marketing slogan, “No sun means more fun!”, didn’t do it justice: circling the wandering gas giant PSO J318.5-22, better known as Dis, it was the ultimate in literally non-stop nightlife, seasoned with a flexible approach to ...