Author: Alzo David-West The void around was velvet. Soldier 304TZ was carrying a thermion cannon. He trod through silent, rocky darkness. Shimmers of probe light from a chemical drone appeared above him. He looked up. His eyes narrowed. The sides of his face were ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer The roof is a tarpaulin, sheltering walls braced with lengths of burnt wood and fungus-like runs of building foam. The floor had been churned mud before a levelling blazer converted it to blackened glass. At the centre of the room a figure ...

Author: Glenn Leung The day Sola’s life fell apart started out mundane. His soul rang its usual reverie and played jazz as he brushed his teeth. Before leaving the apartment, it paid the rent and called for maid services. All this was done without Sola’s knowledge. He ...

Author: Don Nigroni I've been a junior assistant to Professor Tommy Kelp for the past five years. He's the mathematical physicist who's world-famous for the Kelp equation. It has something to do with converting dark energy into dark matter and vice versa, more or less, I ...

Author: William Kitcher Following the destruction of Earth by Rigelian battlecruisers, it was difficult to find a place to play the seventh game of the World Series between the New York Mets and the Yonkers Yankees. The Moon was ruled out because the lack of gravity meant ...

Author: John Chadwick The seats of the auditorium were behind plexiglass material reinforced with a metal honeycomb structure. While she should have felt like she was an animal in a wildlife park expected to perform, the truth was, all of the eyes in the room were fixated ...

Author: David Barber "Each generation the Enemy returns to our skies," the Morale Officer had told them. "This time, Earth looks to you." Hari remembered all the things wrong with that speech. The Enemy craft returned every 17.4 years, which was not a generation. And ...

Author: K. A. Williams "You've got to try this new restaurant called Next," my first mate Tim had said to me this morning. "I went there last night after we docked, while you were at that corporate captains' dinner. I'll meet you there for lunch." I read the menu in the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I used to watch the fireflies, seeing how they flitted and settled. They seemed to go everywhere, but never intruded on the air above the still waters of the mere. Just like the fireflies above that mere never strayed anywhere else. As ...

Author : Brenatevi Stuart was sitting on his couch, munching on orange-colored cheese-like puffs, and watching some horrible show on TV. No, wait; sitting didn't exactly describe what he was doing. Slouching was maybe halfway there, but even then it doesn't properly convey ...

Author : Christopher Edelen Elly was on her way home from work, anxious to arrive. The light rail had never seemed slower, but the week was finally over. She was excited to get home and play with her toys. It will be like looking through her mind! she thought, ...

Author : Canis Mortuus His dusted eyes ached while opening. Heavy clouds hung over the unfamiliar, monotonous grey wasteland which was surrounding him. He had no idea how he got there and couldn't even recall his own name... The dusty grey desert stretched flat as far as ...

Author: Rani Jayakumar Gizo and I were digging in the backyard when we hit it. She had hopped in the hole and whipped her tail around, and could sense the vibrations below. We dug it out - a metallic box, with a clasp that was locked tight. I hit it with the shovel and ...

Author: Susmita Ramani “It’s you,” I say, though we both know it’s not. Still… “It’s me,” she says; her voice, so on-the-nose, knifes my heart. She’s sitting in our living room, on our red sofa. I take a step toward her. “Do you...mind?” “That’s why I’m here.” She opens ...

Author: Ryan Hyatt Since Jenica broke up with Bobby, she noticed a change in mood. Getting rid of that creep, no matter how good the sex, should have been a cause for celebration. Instead, every day felt like being buried deeper from her feelings. “A split is difficult, ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I wake with a dagger in my hand. The other end of the dagger is in someone’s neck. Raising my gaze, I see the life fade from his eyes. The moment stretches as details sketch themselves in around the face of someone I don’t know. A ship’s ...

Author: John Albertson The dinner bell rings, and we line up in pairs. My pair today is Veronica. I don’t like her. I take a plate from the VendingLady - brown MEET, maybe synthbeef, with powdery mash and what they call gravy but my mum would have called dishwater. ...

Author: Stuart K Watson As I wake, I think: Today would be a great day to start the next world war. I look outside. The lawn is still there, with the neighbor’s scooter lying on its side in the middle of it. Unwarranted incursion. The trees are still standing. Birds still ...