Author: Subhravanu Das Everyone mines for Conoptinium. I don’t mine. My tongue is phosphorescent; it can fill any room with light. If I were to open my mouth inside a mine, my tongue would fill the mine with light. But this is one ship that can never be launched, since I ...

Author: Russell Bert Waters "I'm a reliable courier," she whispers to herself while entering the lobby. After the Great Purging, the remaining Humans had been allowed to live, provided they remained useful to the Galactic Council. Trade was the most important function of ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Looks like it used to be a nice destination.” “It was. Had forests in more shades of green than you’d believe possible.” “The usual problems?” “Yes and no.” “Do tell. We’re here until we finish checking the place. Got to make sure ...

Author: Michael Anthony Dioguardi He who hungers for the past is bound to destroy the future. A whole generation of humans has been given the opportunity to time travel with no impact on the continuum. Any moment in history can now be watched as if you were sitting down ...

Author: G. Allen Wilbanks “Mama, why is that man so ugly?” “Hush, child,” the mother chastised her son. “That is rude, and quite a mean thing to say.” “But Mama,” the boy protested. “That man is a hero!” the woman proclaimed, loudly enough that if the man had heard her ...

Author: Beck Dacus Morris’s gun bobbed as he walked, a glint of moonlight catching his eye with each step. His progress was slow; leaves, sticks, and stones crunched under his feet, sucking the energy from his stride. He dared not use a flashlight this far from camp— it was ...

Author: Dr. Ross Clare The craft is the size of a small country, a monument to the colossal space-missiles of classic science fiction. The humans aboard hope that, as was always the case with those rockets of the imagination, this ship will achieve the impossible and leave ...

Author: Glenn Leung Veritum was founded before Earth went dark and like other human colonies, formed its own ideas on how society should function. Absolute truth was central to Veritumian life. It only took a few philosophers to take in-person interactions out of polite ...

Author: Mark Renney I once had the Anti-Bad. A petty criminal, a repeat offender I was deemed suitable. Someone who couldn’t help but help himself. They made me an offer and I didn’t refuse. The prospect of prison, of another chunk of my life diced and cubed behind bars, ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer When you were Josie and I was Serena, not J0513 and 53R3N4: silly affectations to make us ‘more robotic’. Back then you had hazel eyes and brownish-red hair. Now you’ve got blue optics and dreadlocks made from braided string. I’m still ...

Author: David Barber “What you mean, we can’t land?” The Captain looked about, bewildered. The flatscreens and yellowing presskeys of the Pilgrim’s bridge were from a bygone age. People stepped forward one at a time, shy, yet proud of their empty titles. Shaking hands ...

Author: Gwynne Weir We looked at each other; the native and the alien. She (‘it’ didn’t seem like a polite way to refer to the creature, even in my own head) kept her eyes locked on mine, her whole body taut. I didn’t blame her; I’d come crashing into her life – quite ...

Author: Moriah Geer-Hardwick It was early morning when the impact woke her. Although muted by distance, there was still enough force to send an ominous tremor through the center of her chest. She clutched at the spot, even before her eyes opened. Patiently, she waited for ...

Author: William Gray Look, we don’t have much time here, okay? Corporate really cut corners on these new spacesuits. That ripping sound is not reassuring...I’m pretty sure I’ll get a view of Earthrise before….well... This all began years ago. After earning an expensive, ...

Author: David Henson When earth passed through the Great Inter-dimensional Anomalous Wave, everything went blurry. After things cleared up 56 hours later, it was a different world. Great Grandpappy Goose was one of the last to remember when the world had three spatial ...

Author: Anthony Nguyen I woke up outside my body. My husband welcomed me onto a server called dasn.incorporealliving3.mw. Like normal, my mouth moved and words emerged,"Hi John, it's been a while." "Yeah babe, ya don't have to be so formal." "I feel like I'm ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I raise my hand above my head, knuckles to the rear, palm to the sky, fingers softly curled, thumb tight. As the weight tips the arm leftward, I let it drop and curve away to the right, knuckles uppermost until that extension stops like ...

Author: Jeff L Mauser The soft high-count sheets are cool against my skin. I’m greeting by soft spring sunshine, I smile. Throwing the curtains aside, the green fields of home flow from beneath my window as far as I can see. The aroma of coffee sashays in, overlaid with ...