Sapience and Maternal Instincts by Krystal Claxton She had my teeth. I hadn’t expected to recognize myself in her, but when she greeted me, her maroon lips parting into a crescent, there they were. My teeth. White, flat, …
The Scented Man by Eleanor R. Wood When he first returned, we flocked to him like gulls to a fishing trawler. Even after those of us nearest had grown used to his celebrity in our midst, people traveled …
Commemoration of the Faithful Departed by Steve Pease Ask any established businessman to list his chief bugbears. Chances, are he’ll include accounting, invoicing, and logistics. The devil, of course, is in the details. How do you calculate and …
Good Eatin’ by Gregg Chamberlain Hey there, folks! Mad Melford here with another steal of deal. I guarantee there’s lots of good eatin’ waiting here for you. Now Thanksgiving is just around the corner. And we all know …
Fog by Stephen Sottong The 6:00 a.m. traffic report blared from the clock radio. Yet another wreck at the intersection of the Harbor and San Diego Freeways. Jeff sat up in bed, and he squinted at the milky …
Manifest Error by Gary Cuba Diogenes rediscovered the wayward bio-stasis chamber while struggling with the ship’s balky cargo transfer lorry. The chamber, tucked inside a machinery plenum behind the lorry’s docking nest, evoked a distant memory that now …
When It Was Ripe by Evan Dicken Trina was listening to the radio when the stars disappeared. She was out of her cabin in a flash, the dew-covered grass cool on her bare feet as she sprinted past …
The Last Botnet by Vaughan Stanger Perhaps it was inevitable that our robotic proxies would start sending us spam. Even so, for the Interplanetary Internet to succumb to a virus just as civilization received a coup-de-grâce of the …
For Old Times’ Sake by Geoff Gander Sarah studied the balding, broad-shouldered man dipping a biscotti into his coffee and smiled. “Facebook didn’t lie. You don’t look bad after 30 years,” she said. Frank looked up and straightened. …
Nativity by Frances Silversmith “Meow.” Kris ignored the cat and continued to stare at her cup of Wassail. A tear dropped into the drink. Her divorce had gone through yesterday. After two years of separation, it shouldn’t hurt …
