Sliver
They say it’s the blackness that gets to you. Facing away, all you see is black. The stars are fiction. Continue Reading
sci-fi
Stories in which the transformation or immobilization is based in science such as a laser device.
The Glowing Garden
The humming fluorescence of the artificial sun faded, and with it faded Cyril’s motivation to finish his work. Despite the whirring air circulation systems, a stasis suppressed the room in which he stood, surveying rows and rows of growth pods. Continue Reading
Devil Ray at the Doorway
I’d braced myself for take-off more tightly than usual; her cursory pre-flight checks, the way she flicked switches and tapped dials unnerved me. The ancient Piper Cub bounced across the grass, revving too hard, its skittishness mirroring her mania to see the wave. Continue Reading
Plasticized
I grab a thick “Build-a-bod” pamphlet from the coffee table and mindlessly flip through, rereading material that I have been internalizing for the last few months. I mindlessly run my thumb over a before and after picture collage. Continue Reading
Song of the White Trout
Captain Roone Cong flipped through the contract. A bundle of papers—old school—easier to destroy than electronic files. Roone stopped at a recent picture of a girl-almost-woman with lank black hair. She took after her mother. Still frail and lily-white, like a snowdrop after a late May frost. Continue Reading
Rest, So We Can Be Friends
I never meshed with the crew. That’s why they asked me to be the one to stay awake for the last leg of our journey. Continue Reading
The Library
The men shuffle along under my watchful gaze, resigned to their fate. These are the worst criminals in the galaxy: murderers, human traffickers, etc. The machine does not care about their histories. It cares only about its appointed task: carbon freezing. Continue Reading
Six Weeks to Eternity
Though she knew in advance what to expect, nothing could prepare Helena for actually seeing them in the flesh.
“So, what do you think?” asked the curator.
“Wow,” she replied. An unimpressive response, but it was all Helena could come up with. Her brain was too busy processing what she saw. Continue Reading
Paige Against the Machine
I raise my hand against my better judgment and a well-honed sense of self-preservation. The team turns and looks at me expectantly.
“You have an idea for what we should test it on next, Paige?” asks Brad.
“Yes, I do,” I reply. “We should test it on me.”
Three jaws drop in unison as six eyes gaze at me in disbelief. Continue Reading
Immortality Awaits
The line of hopefuls is moving faster than expected. Alkem’s reputation as an efficient operation is well-deserved. Winding like a river around brass poles and velvet ropes, the flow of people draws me steadily forward. Within a few minutes, I’ve reached the head of the line. Continue Reading