AntipodeanSF

By Ashley Cracknell

News is filtering through from the outer edge of the System that the Teleporter’s Union has voted to strike. The news comes as millions of families travel across the System for the Earth New Year holiday. 

Speaking on behalf of AI system KeepMoving, which operates the transport network, Franco Waterman said that, “too many sites across the

By Laurie Bell

Each day I examine the “pictures” that come back from the new space-located telescope. It’s larger and has far greater range than the old James Webb. Though “picture” is a generous, rather simplistic term for what I spend my days examining. In reality, it is just numbers. Numbers that cascade across and down my computer screen. Ever changing, always moving. Endless

By Mel Ifield

Struggling with the knot, I tried to skip after my team. Damn it, each time! I’d tie the damned boot laces because they undid and swear I’d undo it at the end of shift, and each time I was exhausted, so I just toed them off.  Each. Damned. Time.

Finally, the knot succumbed to my fiddling fingers and I pulled the standard issue shit-kicker boot on. My team

By Toshiya Kamei

Shafts of sunlight dance as I swim down along the peach-coloured coral and through a school of colourful fish. In the distance, I spot a cluster of beehive-like structures. Houses pile up on top of one another. I gasp at the sight. Merfolk dwellings? A lost civilisation? It’ll be the biggest discovery of the century! In my mind’s eye, I’m greeted by a swarm of

By Andrew Dunn

I know who killed Natalie Roane. She told me, and begged me never to mention his name to another living soul. At first, I didn’t understand why a woman that had been murdered before I was born told me who killed her, and pleaded that I keep it secret. I learned why later.   

***

Mercury Community College let

By Keech Ballard

The Goddess Empress died from toxic shock fumes. The neurotoxin found in her blood was not delivered orally. The food, wine, and dessert tasters were free of infection and therefore executed.

A large colony of oversized mice living in the palace walls gained access to the Imperial bedchamber through a narrow crack. The duty architect was therefore

By Harris Tobias

There are two dawns on Morton — they are called Red Dawn and Blue Dawn. Morton’s red sun is a red giant star and it fills the sky with a ruddy glow. The red sun distorts the colours making the sky look like blood and the grass a sickly brown. The red sun fills the sky like a malevolent bloodshot eye.

The blue sun rises exactly an hour and twenty two minutes

By Dave Arbogast

Bill Colby had his service weapon levelled at Bryce, who was across the room with his own gun pointing back at Colby. Wanda stood near the entrance; Mrs. Schroedinger had her hand on the closet door, frantically calling to her cat. I was frozen between Colby and Bryce. One wrong move might mean disaster, and everyone made the wrong move. 

Wanda reached

By Erin Brookins

“Get to the chopper!” she said.

“Stop,” I said. “This is serious.”

“No it’s not,” she said. “You’re serious. But this isn’t.”

“There is a very large, very pissed alien in the garage,” I said. “How is that not serious?”

“Hearing it out loud just makes it more ridiculous,” she said. “Ridiculous is the opposite of

By Nicholas Schroeder

Jason arrived at the restaurant to meet his friends. The waiter greeted him at the door. “Yes, I’m at that table in the corner with those two — ” 

The waiter scowled, “That filth, you mean.” 

“They have names.”

 The waiter forcefully handed Jason a menu. “Seat yourself. I won’t be near pollution like