Author: Leon Taylor “I am not going to live next to a mansion of six-foot cockroaches.” “It’s their right,” his wife said. “Since when did cockroaches have rights?” “Since the Alien Rights Act of 2037.” “I know. I wrote it.” The Senator watched the movers lug ...

Author: Rick Tobin Werewolf rage fell short at the cage’s impenetrable viewing glass, prevailing against the assault, aided by a low-gravity holding cell. The brief demonstration impelled Ensign Collier to fill his spacesuit diaper. “First time seeing one up close ...

Author: Tina Ruiz The beast screamed as she pushed her way through the dark underbrush. It had been chasing her for what seemed like an eternity, but tonight it was closer than usual. She stumbled but caught herself on a branch just above her head. Scrapes from the dense ...

Author: Tadayoshi Kohno “Hello. Welcome to your new Aurras Smarthome Assistant. I will listen to you when you say my wake-up word, ‘Aurras.’ Say, ‘Aurras, Configure,’ to configure me.” ### RECORDING, JANUARY 4, 2026, 3:01PM: “Aurras, Configure.” ### RECORDING, JUNE 27, ...

Author: Deanna Di Lello The RV began to slow despite Adam’s heavy foot on the gas. A loud beeping noise accompanied by a flashing light drew his attention to the fuel gage. It was past E. The RV came to a stop and Adam began to shake. He had spotted a group fifteen ...

Author: Barbora Bartova It was a late sunny afternoon. The freshly fallen snow was glowing bright. For a moment she wondered whether the glow was caused by the sun or the radiation of the nuclear fallout. After a while, she decided it was the sun, but still, she would ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer “Hey, Cherry. Who’s that freak you know? Reynard?” Constable Dalforth grins nastily. Inspector Cherry Fasslin of the Tactical Response Group grimaces. He knows she knows exactly who he’s insulting. She also knows he wouldn’t say word one ...

Author: Kevin Johnston Hello, sir, welcome to Cerebromax™. Please place your hand on the scanner for identification. For your convenience, this scan signs all waivers and release forms concerning our transaction today. Thank you for choosing the Cerebromax™ ...

Author: Jacob Bentzen The blonde beard iXi had commissioned dripped with dew as he flowed through the misty forests of New Norway. He leapt over the moss-covered rock and landed on the animal trail without breaking momentum, his naked body covered in sweat and thin lines of ...

Author: Steve Smith, Staff Writer I woke with a start before dawn, the sky outside was still dark and yet the room was bathed in a shimmering orange glow. For a moment I thought I was dreaming, but the room was my room, as I left it when I went to sleep, excepting of ...

Author: Robert Beech I do not recall when I first began to dream. Slipping silently from cell to cell, from host to host, I had no perception. Breath and blood, fever and delirium, these were the realms I inhabited, but I was no more conscious of them than you are of the ...

Author: Ken Carlson Early summer afternoon. The lunchtime crowd at Sal’s was thinning out. Tony the bartender called it the lushtime crowd. Anyone who stopped by Sal’s, a dark, two-bit joint, that early wasn’t there for lunch. Tony had taught over at Irving High. He got ...

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 ...