Author: Michael Hopkins The root scurried across the garden and stopped. I had just dug and chopped it free from the ground, ripped it up with my bare hands, and threw it to the side. I was clearing some new space behind the old barn for potatoes, garlic, onions and other ...

Author: R. J. Erbacher Joe Shit (that’s what everyone called him, inevitable when you have an unfortunate last name) was a ragman. Not ragman in a good sense either. Not a Scottish legate who compiled records in the 1200’s and he was unlike the catch phrase for early ...

Author: Julian Miles, Staff Writer We were battling the Roekuld, part of humanity’s last stand against an overwhelming foe. We fought for hours. I wonder how it ended? Our heavily armoured assault cruiser, Thunderer, got well and truly stuck in. We reaped the rewards: cut ...

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 ...