Author: Alfred C. Airone “How many times do you think this sort of thing has happened?” Using gloved hands, Lady Maerlin, the current Director-Chief, turned the startling piece of discolored, shaped metal over and over in her hands. “Who can say? Civilization has existed ...

Author: Tim Boiteau The language of the tablet fought him every step of the way, full of shifting sands and pitfalls. It was a brief text, the only example of its kind. Three hundred characters, only three of which repeated themselves. The orthography seemed to be composed ...

Author: David Barber 1 Officer Chen woke just as they fell from the sky. The woman sitting opposite cried out and braced herself for the crash. The engines screamed as the ground leapt upwards, then the dropship bounced and was still. They'd landed inside square ...

Author: Mina Hell, Gon-Zuu was in hell. The body shell they had inhabited was overcome, again, by a wave of disgusting nausea. Gon-Zuu would have to lie down soon, preferably on the floor. They fumbled in the pocket of the alien clothing for a tablet that they swallowed ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer As natural satellites go, it’s different. “Amy, that doesn’t look like a moon.” “No, it’s an asteroid that’s been captured in passing. I think.” Uh-huh. I punch ‘auto-evade’ and ‘auto-countermeasures’. My eyes are drawn back to that ...

Author: Riley Meachem After years of research, Delkor Bionics completed “the door of perception.” Not a literal door, but a maze of computers, electrodes, goggles, and wires attached to a chair, it allowed whoever sat in it to examine any choice they’d made in the past, ...

Author: Philip G Hostetler She was my dream girl before I laid myself to rest in the Dreamcell. Alright, that's a little dramatic, I didn't "lay myself to rest" as in six feet under. No, think of it like life insurance for your loved ones that pays out immediately. All you ...

Author: Heather R. Parker What a long trip. Gone for four years, studying at Nivoria University in the Sao X3D Galaxy, and another whole year to get back to Earth. I couldn’t exactly pop home on the weekends or on holidays. Now, as my ship touches down on Earth for the ...

Author: Joe Prosit I didn’t do much, really. Well, I learned some German. Sorry. Ich lerne Deutsch. See? And I learned some Karate too. Well, not Karate. Kendo. I kind of had to do that because of the Time Nazis. And I suppose you could say that’s why I learned German ...

Author: Alzo David-West The hyoum had left after his four-and-a half-year visitation. He had not been entirely satisfied, though in the beginning, he had a broadly favorable impression. Disembarking on the southwestern region of Otoa, he had appreciated its warmth and ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer Alex stood next to James and tried to make sense of what he was looking at. He had been annoyed at being called from his bed at this ungodly hour, but that feeling was slowly being replaced by curiosity. "It's a time machine, kind of," ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Is all she asks. Four bloody words. I stand there like an idiot. Meanwhile, buildings burn and people run about screaming. Alarms, sirens and explosions blend into a constant din. The news said it was a ‘massive layered drone swarm ...

Author: Amy Dusto Excerpts from the Times-Gazette daily puzzle, September 5, 2061 7 down, 5 letters -A writhing, flying group of insects or nanobots (Hint: together they're like a friendly cloud that eats carbon! Be assured they don't bite people, though.) 28 ...

Author: Michael Dempsey Peter, standing in the bathroom, heard a voice crackle over the intercom. “Mr. Walker, you have five minutes to leave your apartment. If you go on your own volition, you can remain free. If you do not, we will forcibly arrest you and take you to the ...

Author: Ryan Watson 853 is a rather unremarkable number. It is the approximate weight of a male grizzly bear in pounds. A sloth will travel at approximately 853 feet in an hour. It marked a central year of the Danish Viking raids of Europe, resulting in a Swedish Viking ...

Author: S.R Malone An officer with a square-set jaw greeted us at our front door. “Daddy, who is this man?” Myra asked. “Oh, this kind gentleman is from the army,” I crouched by her side, “He’s here to take you to space camp.” Liar. She stared at me with wide, ...

Author: Robert Beech The sun rises slowly over the horizon, its pale rays piercing the low-lying clouds to illuminate the circle of standing stones as they have done for millennia. The arc of time turns slowly, biting its own tail like the worm Ouroboros, spinning endlessly ...

Author: Alzo David-West Struik's heart was pacing. She went into Data-comM. “Keting, I have something to tell you,” she said. “What is it?” “The UDL–it's autonomous.” “But I thought it was autonomous,” Keting replied. “No, I mean it's really ...