Author: Bill Cox “They’re spraying again out there.” I look out the window. On the horizon I can see a sickly yellow fog, with small black dots flying languidly overhead. Behind that there is an orange haze, otherworldly, not quite right. “Do you think we’ll have to ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Sally peers from under the racking, checks both ways, then hisses at me. “You think they’ve gone?” I shake my head, then put a finger to my lips. Clichéd it may be, but our unwanted visitors are attracted to sound. But how did they get ...

Author: Dave Ludford “Lin Chi, it is the time of your twentieth solar cycle. You are no doubt aware of the significance of that fact.” Xemon’s words, spoken to all citizens upon reaching this age, sent a shiver through my body even though I’d heard them spoken many times ...

Author: Dean Ward Prisons take up so much room, that's the problem. We're not denying the need for them, but we would like to see the space used for something... more beneficial. Like a park. Or a school. Or a community centre. Or a library. or, well, you get the idea. ...

Author: Anndria Smuk The field does not sit within the bounds of time. It is eternal while at the same time deceased. Do not try to search for a deeper meaning in this field. The only other way one could put it is as a meadow but not much more. A meadow with overgrown ...

Author: Michael Anthony Dioguardi Leonard slid his finger too quickly across the creases of the library’s map, snagging a thread of the papyrus beneath his fingernail. He fiddled with his mistake, trying in vain to reattach the ancient fibers. Leonard was the world’s ...

Author: Majoki “I’d like to believe you, but you can see very clearly that you don’t exist.” “I’m not on your fucking map, but I’m right here, right damn now.” “Not as verifiable data.” “You’ve got eyes. You’ve got ears. You can fucking punch me to verify my ...

Author: Alastair Millar It’s the same whenever I wake up – floating free for those first few seconds of consciousness, aware of sounds but nothing else before the light coalesces into something meaningful. This morning, it’s the noises floating up from the street and ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The panoramic window that occupies the longest wall of the executive office at the top of the Vimentane Tower shows a breathtaking view of the nighttime traffic in LEO over London. Against the curved inner wall, a buffet has been laid out ...

Author: T.A. Gruver The rolling thunder of pulse cannons fell silent as the setting sun hid behind the clouds dancing over Eleos Basin. Not a sound could be heard from the firing lines as a crying Orion trooper grasped his leg with one hand and pulled himself up with the ...

Author: Brian C. Mahon "How hopes and dreams vanish when the Maker decides to lower the curtain," Clarissa Dochenal, Countess of the Third Tier, chided herself. Even the confines of a Zakiche war-corsair failed to guarantee safety when the gods warred. The Maker, the False ...

Author: Majoki The toy soldier guarded the corner of the commander’s makeshift field desk. The faded tin sentry with chipped red jacket, high peaked cap and bent bayonet stood upon the order. Especially in the age of cyberwar, such an order was on paper. Hand written. ...

Author: Philip G Hostetler The project began as deep space exploration. All that was found was uninhabitable, far flung planetoids and asteroids, space, and more space. And finally, the edge of space, that was the most salient discovery we made and a puzzling phenomena. We ...

Author: Bryan Pastor Sitting there in a car waiting for my date to come out, it had caught my eye, standing still like the sail of a ship in a dead calm sea, trying to blend with a hedgerow in the dying light of dusk. My eyes were fixed on it, made out the details, like how ...

Author: E. S. Foster The weeds along the pathway clung to my IMRA uniform. The High Witch glared at me as I stumbled over diamond-patterned sticks. “We have no cause for your people here,” she repeated. Her staff—a branch braided with moss and who knew what else—swung ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The room used to be part of a well-appointed apartment. Under the ravages of damp and neglect, it looks like it was abandoned hurriedly. If you peer through the grimy windows and look down, you’ll see waves breaking against ruined ...

Author: Don Nigroni I was in my study writing verse when this big fellow with a long grey beard and shaggy grey hair inexplicably appeared in front of me. He handed me a sheet of paper. The paper read: *** This morning, I was sitting in my living room reading Moby Dick ...

Author: Pete Smith I come to with a start. There’s a bell ringing. That’s not good. That’s never good. Raising my head from the bar, I try to focus. Oh yes – it’s the… landlord chap. Land. Lord. I giggle like a child. He’s ringing time. I look at the clock, and indeed, ...