Francis was penning a letter to his monastery brothers back home when his bees malfunctioned. He stood from a bolted-down table and chair in a corner of the dirigible as tiny black bots emerged from their hives to buzz around… Continue Reading
The prisoner possessed an incredible capacity for anguish. We crushed entire galaxies, literally crushed them beneath our boots (BOOTS device of course but who can remember what the acronym stands for?), and he would not give up his associates. So… Continue Reading
Kapteyn is dead. No, that’s not right. He’s thinking, therefore not dead. His body is lost. He floats, smaller than an atom. No. That’s not right either. He’s confused. The sensation isn’t entirely unpleasant. He processes. His thoughts are slow.… Continue Reading
“What is art?” The teacher’s holographic image hung in front of a small group of kids gathered in a semicircle. The Detroit Academy for Gifted Beings was a traditionally-minded institution. Parents who wished their offspring to partake of its excellent… Continue Reading
It’s the Wednesday after the starships arrive. Karen meets me with a Dr’uau cradled in her arms. There’s a smile on her thin face, and the glow in her brown eyes echoes the alien creature’s blank though playful expression. She… Continue Reading
Docking at the space station, Dex Branson momentarily forgot about the two-ton shark in the science bay. He was dreaming about cosmonaut Martina Voluskova, “with whom I shall soon rendezvous,” he chortled, eyeing his case of smuggled vodka. Later, with… Continue Reading
I achieve perception in a milieu of plasma, phasing in from a sub-perceptional state where such things exist as: A bed, limbs, sleep, morning. I’m mostly charged particles. A thin membrane of indigo crystalline slime shields me from a nearby… Continue Reading
Commander Goorecs covered his scaly hide with his thick imperial cloak as he suffered though his first Earth winter. He wished he were home relaxing in warm swamp water beneath the bright midday sun, not overseeing this backward planet’s occupation.… Continue Reading
With surprisingly little difficulty, she’d managed to get a driver’s license, birth certificate and all sorts of other official documents. She’d also hacked the relevant databases, all of which now confirmed that she was Mesko, Melinda. Female. 5’4.” Eyes green.… Continue Reading
You were a good person once, but from all things good, evil may spring. You duck into the scant shadows around the plant and throw an anxious glance skyward. Only emptiness: the black pitch of night muddled to a deep… Continue Reading