Category: Science Fiction

All Stories, Science Fiction

The Interlopers by Robert Buckalew

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I clung to her leg like a cowering koala. Crouched at her feet I was passive, self protective. The other woman talked to her only. She was proposing to me through my wife. She wanted me to become her betrothed. I listened as the women stood facing each other until the proposal was over. When they were through and in agreement my wife graciously looked down at me for any response I might have. I looked up at her and silently nodded, then nuzzled the apex of her jeans in appreciation, wishing I could do more through the heavy cloth material. I was ecstatic.

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All Stories, General Fiction, Science Fiction

Nostalgia Inc. by Dave Louden

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For seven-ninety-nine a month they’ll rent you back your memories so that you don’t have to struggle to make new ones.  I’d bought one of the first gen A.R. projectors. It ran interiors at four-K but had difficulty properly rendering weather.  For the most part, I overlooked its shortcomings.  It ran a maximum thirty minute nostalgic rendering so whether the clouds looked 2D up there in the big blue was of little concern.

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All Stories, Science Fiction

Third Closest to the Sun by Thomas Wadsworth

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Daniel crawls through a mixture of mud and clothes. The pungent smell of jet fuel and acrid smoke fills and burns his nostrils. There is something else in the air. Something he tastes as he breathes: a human smell. He spits, before he continues to crawl past open suitcases and broken, twisted pieces of metal. He hears the sound of a gas issuing from somewhere, the crackle of a fire, and then a woman’s moan. He looks over his shoulder at the fuselage. He hears another moan. He stands, turns, and staggers back to the wreck.

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All Stories, Science Fiction

Cosmic Girl by Erin O’Loughlin

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People are acting like this is a party. All dressed up like it’s Mardi Gras, in their kookiest outfits. The people who have home DNA splicing kits have been playing around, giving themselves leopard-print skin, rhinoceros horns sprouting from unexpected places, or chameleon eyes that dart off in different directions – one looking right at ya, one directed hopefully to the sky, waiting to catch the first glimpse of the aliens arriving. It’s pretty unconventional for a little outback town like Tanloch, but it’s like everyone wants to be more than just human, now that extra-terrestrials are arriving. Some are holding up signs, saying things like “Please Save Our Whales”, “ET take us home!” and “I, for one, welcome our new alien overlords.”

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All Stories, Science Fiction

Adam’s Nova by K. E. Farkash

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Nova reared up on his haunches and waddled after his prey. As big as an astronaut’s helmet, he had the tan, short-haired head and paws of a Boxer, but from nape to ankle he resembled an Apatosaurus; long in the neck and tail, hunchbacked, potbellied, and girthy in the lower extremities. He dropped to all fours, broke into a sprint, and gained on MR, the outpost’s Maintenance Robot.

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All Stories, Science Fiction

The Fly by Massimo Sartor

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Karl’s hand landed solidly onto Lola’s cheek.

She woke up abruptly.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. There was a fly on you. I wanted to get it before it bit you.” Lola sat up in her chair and rubbed her face.

“There aren’t any bugs in space, Karl. They can’t survive out here. Nothing can survive out here.”

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All Stories, Science Fiction

The Spectacularly Unspectacular Life of Alton J. Sputnitter by Jonathan DeCoteau

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1st Leap Year

“Happy 10th birthday, Alton,” Aloise Sputnitter said as she sat at Alton’s kitchen table.   “It must be fun to be born on Leap Year.”

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All Stories, Science Fiction

One Night in Club SexBot by David Henson

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The air inside the main barroom is thick with the smell of Jovian jelly. I look the place over real good. Dames, guys, and bots in every combination slip in and out of the pleasure cells. I see a few couples – probably there to spice up the home stew. But no sign of her.

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All Stories, Science Fiction

Cat Of Hanley by Doug Hawley

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I’ve been fairly happy since I re-animated Wendy.  She wanted to leave me to get back to her bad boys after the first time I brought her back to life.  I still believe that because she owed me her life, it was OK to conk her with my baseball bat for a second re-animation.  Her first death was in an accident of her own making.  It’s all turned out for the best, at least for me.  I had to make some sacrifices to keep the relationship going, like getting those ugly tattoos and settling for sex once a week on Wednesdays, but if you could see me, you would know that it is the best deal I could make.

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