Death by Water
“Will this wailing ever stop?” I tried to scream over the noise. Lester just looked blankly at me, both hands firmly wedged against his ears. It was no good of…
Desperate Times Call For...
It was time to go. Garth’s suspicions were definitely raised, and in another month he’d know everything. How did I let it go this far? Well, anonymity was…
New Beginnings
By the time she’d reached Frankie’s (the only bar in Totaris so dingy the police leave it to itself), Camile’s combat state had almost warn off, and fear was…
Loaner
“Mister Mazzello?” Tom jerked from his stupor. He blinked a few times, then shut off the book he had been trying to read. “Yes?” The face of a young mechanic…
Check Brain
Just before taking a bite of his burger made with whatever mystery meat the cooks were growing in the vats this week, Nainick sat up straight and stated…
The last laugh. No, Really!
The Big Crunch Church of The Final Deliverance (BCCOTFD) was on the final countdown. Long ago, it was thought there was not enough matter in the Universe to…
Number of the Beast
Captain James Tiberius Kirk of the Federation starship ‘Enterprise’ materialized on the surface of the planet ‘51 Pegasi d’ and was immediately arrested…
Prisoners of a Summer Sun
With our yachts destroyed, the fishers ignored us. What threat could we ever be to them with rafts lashed of wheat stalks? Those few of us who remained decided…
North
“Damn those sailors!” The vizier cursed as a gust flapped at him, still angry that the crew refused to come any closer, forcing them to take the creaky…
To The Editor
Following the letters from Messrs Lyle and Trisin, I feel obliged to defend Mrs. Khaster’s production of Guardian Front. While it certainly featured…
Goo Storm
The sandstorm hit the wind breaks at Yuma in the afternoon. The town’s children were safe underground, ancient air units nursed into life to filter out any goo…
After a few more Hours
Still muttering about unannounced telekinesis, Voln stepped over the thug in the water, leaving him to gurgle a trail of agonised bubbles into the muddy…
After Hours
He grabbed the arm and twisted. The man yelped, and Voln pulled him down into the fetid water, leaving him crumpled and soaking at the cyborg’s feet. The last…
Preparing in the Staff Room
“Don’t be that guy.” Cruest’s confident, happy, ever-so-slightly smug expression began to sag. “What do you mean?” “Your glass. Don’t do that during your…
Hard Radiation
Solar flares are an astronaut’s worst nightmare. I mean, there’s other stuff to worry about, as you hurtle through space in the tin can you’re calling home…
The Goo Prospector
Otis the goo prospector digs his hole in the rubbery gray muck that used to be part of California. He wants to be rich. Just a simple speck, a molecule of…
Saturn is missing
“That’s a big ol’ wtf”, she said, pronouncing each letter individually. Me, I say ‘m all together, wift, and yeah I know they’re out of order but that’s how…
Heisinger Geometry
“...and that causes position and momentum to decouple which increases Planck’s constant locally.” “But what does that do to the Uncertainty Principle?” asked…
An Ark, perforce
It’s dark now, here in back, but I like it that way. You can see the entire Galaxy sprawled across the sky, now that they’ve shut the engines off. We’re…
In the loop
tail in its mouth.” “Ourobouros,” I said. “At least I think that’s its name.” “Whatever,” she said. “Anyway, you punch in the numbers here, and then push this…