Fiction

Northern Cross

Fiction
BY David Baker

There was no way to tell where it came from. Sometimes the pillars descended from above; sometimes they rose from beneath the earth. They rarely stayed in one place for long. “It isn’t the one,” said Joel.

Island of Misfit Toys

Fiction
BY C.R. Beideman

Inside a black pantry in the lab among dismal powdered food stuffs, lit only by a red warning light that might never turn green, squatted a trembling human child wrapped in frayed hex-pattern synthetic, oxygen mask covering her gaunt face, who tried not to breathe, which could at any moment force a fit of coughing and give her away.

From One, Many; From Many, One

Fiction
BY Matt Moore

In the beginning, when the Creator had flowed His lifeblood into the first Adams, He had decreed that a Victor could only be harmed to create a new Adam. Needlessly killing one wasted His bounty, and needlessly wounding one rendered it an abomination of His perfect image.

Memory and Faded Ink

Fiction
BY B. Morris Allen

“Their memories are their pride,” she said, and kissed me. “I am hoping they will teach that trick to me.” I remembered that later, as I looked around our little mokhoro with its concrete floor and mud walls and absence of Tseleng.

I’m Sorry I Couldn’t Make It True

Fiction
BY Wendy Nikel

The look on his face as he stared down at me left no doubt that he was thinking the same thing. His eyes pleaded with me to just flick the dial, just a tiny bit... so I could make things right. So that we could be together, somehow.

Reiteration

Fiction
BY Dirck de Lint

The blue centaur paused at the apex of a grassy knoll, intent upon a passing butterfly, the long iridescent plume of its mane sweeping out behind it in the still air. The season was late, and she hoped the insect might be a nondescript. After a moment of observation, she found the insect’s classification in the shared files. She did not need to, but she still sighed.

The Crack of the .bat

Fiction
BY Andrew Franklin

A quick thumb scan and I was talking with the closest thing to a person in the room. The only expensive thing in the building, the manager’s best friend, and our profiler: Bert.

Rare Specimen

Fiction
BY Scott Shank

It wasn't how the man clawed at empty air, or how he barrel-rolled once, taking in a final 360-degree view of earth and sky. The memory Johanna held onto was of the man's face, painted black as a new moon.

Scar Tissue

Fiction
BY Brad Preslar

Dee opens her eyes to a dark room. One cheek rests on the cool concrete floor. Inches from her face, a spider web extends from the concrete up to the ceiling. The web shakes.

The Trial of M Lazare

Fiction
BY Philip Brian Hall

If they’d been prepared to arrest me, I must be assessed as a potentially hostile witness at best; given that the judge had sent gendarmes rather than regular cops he might even suspect me of a major crime.

1
2
3
…
15
NEXT