Author: Geoff Nelder Xiq curses her commander’s recklessness as the escape pod is buffeted in the atmosphere of the blue planet below. Tempted to go to manual, she turns off the alarms, tries not to breathe in the increasingly smoky air and wriggles to mitigate against the ...

Author: Coleman Bomar Push. She clenched teeth, winced, her toes curling against the black sand of Tennessee nuclear wasteland. A home birth, on ...

Author: Ken Carlson Ensign McDonald, a young officer and recent addition to the spaceship SS Artillery’s crew, stood across from Doc in the galley. Doc suggested they meet there, late, away from prying eyes to take pressure off the kid. Doc poured some coffee. “It was ...

Author: David C. Nutt It had been a thousand days of bliss. I rocked him. Cradled him. Carried him. Fed him, made love to him, protected him. It has been so much more than I could have ever hoped for. “Status report.” “So formal Mikey?” He laughed. Oh how I loved that ...

Author: Katlina Sommerberg Empty walkways and closed souvenir shops surrounded Lady Stone on all sides. Today’s overcast summer day, the warmest of the century, should’ve coaxed tourists to visit the park. Their absence indicated humanity hadn’t yet recovered. Her ...

Author: David C. Nutt The young man burst into his grandfather’s study. “Gramps we gotta fight! Corporate is going to kick us off the station!” The old man sighed. “So you know better than our enclave council? They’ve got things well in hand so don’t worry- the ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer I used to lie awake, listening to the wind blowing through the old telegraph wires that criss-crossed our street. That eerie, ephemeral howling could wake me from the deepest sleep. On nights when the rain turned fine, I would wait for the ...

Author: Rex Caleval “You have to run. Every day for the rest of your life, you have to keep running. Nothing else we can try will work. I’m sorry.” “But I haven’t done anything wrong,” replied a sweating, red-faced man. “I haven’t broken any rules. I’ve done what you ...

Author: Logan Smith Yavik initiated the firing sequence. A small change in the audible cadence of his warsuit’s power cycling was, at first, the only indication that Yavik had done anything at all. He was already on the move, the angular mass of his suit pirouetting away ...

Author: John Affleck Last thing I remember, before sitting up and screaming, was being pinned down in The Handless Clock while some Viking-looking dude toyed with a hardwood mallet and eyed my leg. My left knee, specifically. Away from us, I could hear a drunken argument ...

Author: Shannon O'Connor Which one do I want? Which one is best for me? How about the former astrophysicist? That would be a smart one. Maybe too high-end for me? But a nice change. How about the woman who climbed Mount Everest? An endurance brain! One that’s been to the ...

Author: Thomas Desrochers There is a disturbance on Deck Four. The Pilot can see it plain as day in the readout, magnified by his attention, an atmospheric ammonia reading eighty times normal. It was pure luck that he saw it at all, one readout among thousands. He calls ...

Author: R.D. Harris A young lady stood in front of me, waiting to vote like I was. Her glances in my direction were not rude but certainly repeated. "You've never seen an android at the polls?" I asked. "No, ma'am," she replied in a thick twang. Others in the library ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer Massive wings beat the ground as it tears chunks from Devon’s body, the blue glow of its eyes turned purple by smeared blood. We’re all using laryngophone comms so as not to attract it’s attention. “That’s not my vulture.” I glance ...

Author: Jennifer Breslin He awoke on the pavement, lifted his head, and felt warm liquid pool in his eye. Must be blood. Six months of chemo and six months of radiotherapy had taken their toll. The blood-clots in his legs meant it was a slow, tortuous walk to the shop to get ...

Author: Tom Prentice I shuffle onward, clutching my side. Blood splatters the snow and the ice. Red, white and blue. They’ll be coming. They could follow a blood trail blindfolded if they had to. It’s how they were made. It was Russia that made them, to fight their ...

Author: Ben Fitzgerald Right on cue, Morgalith’s robotic guards escorted in the tax agent. The king was sitting on the other side of the throne room, and he bellowed to them as they entered: “Approach!” The tax agent complied. He could see the king more clearly now, the ...

Author: Travis Gregg Jeff had to crank the handwheel for ages till the bolt reluctantly slid back and the 3" thick steel door finally swung free. His stores were empty, the larder was bare. He'd been saving the one last meal and had made a little feast of it last night. ...