Phoenix, Fallen By Rebecca Birch The Phoenix Corporation complex perches atop a volcanic ridge overlooking the Pacific. Its vari-copper cladding catches the rising sun, turning the buildings to flame. I used to love to watch the building burn like its namesake, but today can think of nothing but Kokua, plummeting through the atmosphere, his…
From Now Until Infinity By Karen Bovenmyer Everything on this world reminded her of him, though they’d never been here together. The air tasted like overripe oranges. Purple boulders leaned into each other, tied together with silver webs, crouching in pairs across the horizon as though waiting for some hidden signal to jump. Fine…
Memoirs of a One-Time Dragon-Slayer’s Apprentice By George Nikolopoulos The dragon slayer who arrived at our village on that windy Wheelsday looked nothing like the one who had come after the death of my mother. He‘d been a burly guy with a long black beard; this one was slight and beardless, almost feminine-looking, and…
Moon Man 13 By Brenda Kalt In his thirty-ninth sleepless hour on the Moon, Carlo Bonifacio shoved the last collection bag into place in the lander and felt the headache behind his eyes sharpen. The European Space Agency, in its low-budget return to the Moon, had sent one astronaut armed with stimulants to keep…
Bystanding By Jonathan Laidlow Dave sits on the roof of the old Ford out by the farm gate with a beer. It hasn’t been a working farm for nearly a decade, but the yard and outbuildings were why he bought the place, and they’re filled with the broken-down vehicles he collects and occasionally repairs….
She Glitters in the Dark By Matt Dovey Camila glanced over at the elevators, and her heart lurched when the shining doors opened. But it still wasn’t Hailey. Perhaps she wouldn’t come after all. Perhaps something had come up. Perhaps she’d put the phone down on Camila and immediately forgotten her, moving on as…
Do Not Go Gentle By Wendy Nikel The shadow was coming. When the settlers arrived in this valley, they calculated they’d have sixteen earth-years. Sixteen. Plenty of time, they’d thought, but years pass quickly in a place of continual sunlight, where the word “day” loses its meaning and there’s no night. “We knew the…
Aural Love By L.L. Madrid At the audiologist office, Warren Nettlebaum stuffs his pockets with complimentary Werther’s as his daughter fills out a tidy stack of forms. He wishes he didn’t need the help, but his once elegant cursive vanished years ago leaving behind a weaving of serrated lines. Now his trembling fingers battle…
How People Died When the World Was New By Natalia Theodoridou To understand the places you’ll see and the people you’ll meet on your journey, traveller, you need to know this: When the world was still new, there was no death among humans. But when people became too many for a place to carry,…
Presently Me By Krystal Claxton Future-Me was being a bitch again. “And what did you accomplish?” She stared at the ceiling from her spot on the tile floor, enveloped in a downy comforter. I didn’t stop pacing around the white, empty space. “Well, you just said we’re not late for work anymore.” Future-Me’s eyes…
