by submission | Jun 27, 2010 | Story
Author : James Boone Dryden
In the world beyond tomorrow, Dr. Gregor Lustovicz would be remembered for his greatness, his ingenuity, his wit. There were things that the doctor would invent that were beyond the imaginations of the people of St. Rustof. They would wonder how they had never noticed him.
The great stacks will belch out their black, soot-laced smoke and in the belly of his laboratory the great doctor will work tirelessly. His work desk, his table, his floor will be littered with tools and scraps of metal and half-finished projects. In the center of the room – the very core of his operation – will be the greatest of his inventions.
One time, it will be a great, iron automaton, defending the countryside from the marauding army of the vile Duke Ivanovski. The people will be grateful (indebted beyond reparation) to the doctor’s great invention and his genius.
The countryside around the town of St. Rustof is rich and fertile, and there is much to desire in its green pastures: the sheep that graze its fields are full and healthy, and the cloth that comes from the town is sought after. It is a quiet place, and the people enjoy their solitude. It is no small wonder that Dr. Lustovicz is a strange sight with his tall, lanky gait; his moustache moderne; his long, trim, street coat with trousers and leather loafers. The rustic cottages and glorified hovels would look strange alongside the looming brick and stone laboratory with its towering smoke stack and wide, metal doors.
Another time, the great center invention will be a ball made of pure brass, the size of a man’s head, and inside with be a collection of fantastically-worked cogs and wheels and whirligigs that drive the contraption. Its purpose: to sit inside a ship and act as a balance, to give it stability, and make certain that it never sinks in a storm. The fishermen and admirals will want them in great quantities, and the great doctor will provide.
What really goes on behind the doors of the great doctor’s lab? Why does he come out so infrequently? The rumors that abound about him would be quiet and harmless. He has done great things, they would say. Don’t bother him; don’t anger him. The people would be skeptical, but they would be proud to have him. He has done much for us.
One time, an unfortunate time, there would be a death. In the greatest of times, there is death. Inventors are great people, but they are not perfect – they are not god-like – and their mistakes can be costly, though the reward will be great. And when there is a death, the people will become enraged; they will question Doctor Lustovicz’s motives, his abilities, his greatness. His invention, while great, will be rejected.
The great doctor – Gregor Lustovicz – will be looked upon with fear. How can such a person craft such marvelous contraptions without some contract with the devil? What is the price that people have to pay for such greatness? Who has to die in order for such things to be successful?
They will force him from the town; they will burn his laboratory; they will delight at the sight and cheer. The great doctor will watch from afar and weep for his loss. Their fear was too great, and he sacrificed his work for his own life.
When they read of him in the papers – the newest communication marvel produced by the last great Lustovicz machine – they will nod resolutely about his institutionalization. It was no wonder. He was mad the whole time.
by submission | Jun 26, 2010 | Story
Author : Jeromy Henry
Before the day ended, Tam knew someone would die.
He dug his claws into the tree branch and chattered to himself. Nearby, other squirrels scampered along the twisty highway made by branches of the great oak. Tails twitched, beady black eyes darted as they looked for nuts. A warm breeze blew, and leaves rustled all around him.
A lady passed below the branch. A gust of wind pressed her yellow daisy-print sundress against a slim figure, and she used tanned fingers to brush shoulder-length, auburn curls out of her face. A wide-brimmed straw hat with a pale blue ribbon wound around the top dangled from the other hand.
If she’d looked up, she might notice that Tam looked a bit different from the other squirrels. She might notice the odd bulge of his brain case, or his air of still watchful waiting. If she’d carried a Geiger counter instead of a hat, she might notice the needle lurch upward, and the ticks come faster and faster. But none of the brightly-clothed people in the park, laughing in the Spring sunshine, carried Geiger counters. No one looked up.
Tam balanced an acorn against a rough knot in the branch, and used one paw to scratch the loose skin on his side. He twitched his bushy tail. Unlike the other squirrels, his cheeks did not bulge with nuts. Though his stomach rumbled, he left these acorns for his brothers. His arms and legs hurt a bit from arthritis lately, and his fur was a bit patchy. He wondered when he could retire.
He thought of the comforts of his city apartment, with its closely drawn black drapes, and the specially designed windows that let him come and go. None of the neighbors guessed that the wealthy recluse next door did not belong to the human race. Tam hired and paid human minions over the internet. They stopped by the apartment in the guise of doctors every now and then, and told the neighbors that the poor old man inside had a skin condition that kept him out of direct sunlight. But even these paid helpers did not know the truth. He required a lot of money to hire human hands, human voices so that he could live a decent life.
There, below him, Tam saw the target! He tensed. A portly man in a tweed suit passed below. His smiling, reddish face beamed genially at the flowers and trees. A shock of white hair floated off from his head, gently tugged by the breeze, as if trying to join the like-colored clouds. That face matched the photo e-mailed to Tam’s computer the day before, along with a time and a place.
As the man passed underneath, Tam pushed the acorn.
An explosion rocked the tree. Red splattered. The woman in the yellow sundress screamed. Tam dug his claws in the branch and crouched. When the branch stopped shaking, he clambered face-first down the trunk. Grey-furred squirrels shrieked and sprinted in all directions, and he blended in perfectly as he ran for the edge of the park.
The most feared assassin on the planet got away once again.
by Patricia Stewart | Jun 25, 2010 | Story
Author : Patricia Stewart, Staff Writer
A solitary streetlamp flickered above the gloomy urban street. Few people would venture into this neighborhood at night, but Simon Bodhan strode unsuspectingly down the dilapidated sidewalk, lead by his 50-pound extraterrestrial “pet”. The creature was known as an Uccisore, an indigenous life form from a planet called Ripa, a semi-tropical world in the Dhruva Tara System. The Uccisore was a beautiful animal with long black and silver streaked fur, and piercing phosphorescent blue eyes. It glided gracefully on its six slender legs, head up, surveying the surroundings as it escorted its master through the cesspool known as Ghetar. Suddenly, the creature froze as a half dozen hooded men emerged from the shadows and surrounded the pair. Bodhan quickly moved next to the Uccisore, and placed a reassuring hand on its shoulder. He spoke calmly to the man standing directly in his path. “Is there something I can do for you, ah, gentlemen?”
“Sure can,” replied the man. “We’ll take your asset chip, for starters.”
Bodhan handed over his chip, and started to move forwarded.
“Not so fast, old man,” ordered the thief as he scanned the asset chip. “There’s only five credits on this thing. That ain’t enough to buy your way past us.”
“Well, that’s all I carry on our walks. It’ll have to do.”
Undeterred, the thief pulled a knife and held it in plain sight. He pointed it toward the Uccisore and said, “That sure is an expensive looking dog,” as he estimated its value. “I’ll bet you’d pay a thousand credits to get it back. Roi, take the leash.”
“It’s a tether,” corrected Bodhan. “And I wouldn’t recommend that you take Sandro from me. Uccisores don’t like to be separated from their owners.”
“All the more incentive for you to come up with a thousand credits. You wouldn’t want him to be sad, now would you?” He motioned with the knife for Roi to take the Uccisore.
Roi snatched the tether from the old man’s hand and dragged the reluctant creature into the alley. “You’ve got 24 hours to come up with a thousand credits, or the dog dies. Bring it here tomorrow night, and no tricks.” Then, the remaining five men dashed into the darkness.
Bodhan sat down on a partially collapsed stone wall and opened his link. “Hey, Dora, it’s me. Looks like I’ll be a little late. No, nothing serious. Six hoodlums just kidnapped Sandro. Yeah, I tried to tell them, but I guess they don’t watch a lot of holovision. Their loss. Hey, can you do me a favor, and call the vet? Tell him we’ll be there in about thirty minutes. Thanks, I’ll be home as soon as I can. Love you.”
Bodhan broke the link and waited. A few minutes later, Sandro came scurrying from the alley, and placed his blood soaked muzzle in Bodhan’s lap, his bright phosphorescent eyes projecting sheer joy as his striped prehensile tail coiled and uncoiled rapidly. Bodhan cupped his hands behind Sandro’s horns and scratched him affectionately. “What took you so long, Sandro? Decided to play with your food, eh?” A deep rumble reverberated from Sandro’s mid-section. “Oh my. Sounds like you’ve got an upset stomach too? C’mon boy. We need to get you some shots. There’s no telling what diseases those scumbags were carrying.”
by Duncan Shields | Jun 24, 2010 | Story
Author : Duncan Shields, Staff Writer
To be a CEO of a company that’s grown as large and as fast as this one has, a person needs a mind that deals quickly with high pressure situations and possesses a natural talent for leadership. One needs to be charming, ruthless, and efficient. There’s a reason I have no wife or children. I am all of these things. People will follow me into corporate battle on the slimmest of reasons. I have resolved conflicts between bitter rivals and competitive holdouts with one personal meeting. People trust me and want to follow me.
It’s standard practice to have oneself cloned when one is the CEO of such an important company. Last year, the old me was kidnapped by Red Tears Terrorists. The kidnapping itself was kept quiet. We didn’t respond to their demands. They threatened to kill the hostage.
We said, “Go ahead.” and woke up one of the clones. That clone is me. Maybe a day of memory missing but other than that, there was no lull in business.
That was a year ago to the day.
He’s sitting in the center of my living room when I get home. My security is disabled. He has a gun. One of his eyes has been replaced and there’s a scar across the cruel smile underneath the tattooed red tear on his cheek. One. That marks him out as one of the terrorists responsible for the kidnapping and it means that he’s been with the organization for a year.
I have no doubt that he must have had a difficult and interesting time talking them out of executing him and taking control during the last twelve months.
It’s the old me.
“Hello, Nathan.” My clone says to me. “How’s life?”
He looks at me with the tube-grown eye that’s a mismatched brilliant green and a little too large. It takes effort to stretch the eyelid over it to blink. It must be tricked out because it flashes red for a second and I find that I have trouble breathing. Some sort of neural disruptor. My knees go weak and I kneel. My vision starts to swim.
He walks over and kneels beside me, cradling my chin in his hands.
When he nudges the tip of the knife up against my eye and looks at me, I realize what’s going to happen. He’s going to take one of my eyes to replace the one he lost and then he’s going to take my place. He’s also going to keep me alive here for as long as he can to show me what real pain is. He’s going to show me what he’s learned over the last year with those soulless men. He’s going to show me what he has become used to.
I realize that in his eyes, I’m the copy. I realize that to him, I’m the betrayer.
I think of what I would become capable of if pushed in that direction and I feel my bladder let go, staining the expensive rug like an untrained puppy.
by Roi R. Czechvala | Jun 23, 2010 | Story
Author : Roi R. Czechvala, Staff Writer
“umm… Skipper? You’ll want to take a look at this.”
Immediately, the bridge dissolved into a holographic display of the space around the Crimson Sky. Her Captain, Iulia, pushed an errant wisp of flaming red hair from her eye as she regarded the freighter that appeared to be floating just above her helmsman’s left shoulder.
“She’s adrift Captain. No response to hails. No emergency beacon.”
“There wouldn’t be. She poked a careless finger through the aft end of the projection. See there? Blaster damage. Took out all power before they could react.”
She continued to survey the freighters virtual image as it slowly rotated before her. “And look here,” she continued, stabbing at a scorch mark towards the bow. “This was the second shot. Anybody not suited would have died from asphyxiation in seconds.” She grimaced. “Not a pleasant way to go.”
“Still, we should take a look and see what they left us. Boarding party to the shuttle. Let’s go people,” she barked to the bridge crew.
The shuttle was dwarfed by the sheer bulk of the ore freighter. It contained an automated refinery for smelting the iron and nickel from asteroid mines. In brilliant red and gold, the Rising Sun above a Hammer and Sickle of the Asiatic Alliance was boldly emblazoned across the ships bow.
A thorough search of the ship yielded nothing. Whoever had attacked had cleaned out the factory freighter’s hold, leaving behind nothing but the desiccated corpses of her crew.
Iulia assembled her crew on the devastated ship’s bridge. A metre wide gap in the overhead looked out into dead space. “Report” Casually, she pushed aside a motionless carcass as it floated by.
“Sir,” Master Sergeant Shania Gatsby snapped, “the drives have been removed, and the refinery has been damaged beyond repair. There is nothing of value left.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that.” She smiled widely, revealing two vicious rows of teeth filed to needle points. Casually plucking a floating body from above she asked, “Anyone for Chinese?”
Twenty toothy grins winked back at her.
