[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “Lab Rat” © 2005 by Patrick Stacy, has been lost.] Michael Delaney was in his cubicle at Consoldyne Aerospace Industries, rotating a view of a new jet engine design on his workstation, when his telephone rang. He released the computer mouse and picked up the … Continue reading “Lab Mice” by George J. Condon
[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “Blueface” © 2005 by Zac Lowing, has been lost.] Einstein’s theory of relativity is not just conjecture, Mulder. - Dana Scully Friday, July 11th, 2008: Message encoded 0923 hours EDT this date. Top Secret. NASA/Hubble Telescope complex reports unusual configuration of bogeys approaching solar system … Continue reading “Tunguska Retro” by E.S. Strout
[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “Darfang” © 2005 by Patrick Stacy, has been lost.] Peter Beckin was positive he’d never been so cold in his life. Or this scared. The tunnel stretched for half a kilometer through the dark reddish rock, curving in a downward slope to disappear in a … Continue reading “Darfang” by John Cowan
"We used his soul to mend the hole bound the fabric of time..." When he first came to us, his mind was contorted by conflicting ripples of thought. His tiny body arrived packaged carefully in amniotic fluid, the limbs curled and foetus-like, the head grossly expanded. A genetic defect had caused the cranium to develop … Continue reading “Elevator to Eternity” by Greg Guerin
[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “War Machine” © 2005 by Robert Sorensen, has been lost.] U, Robot sat in a room. (As will be learned later, it is here that U stopped reading) It was a big room, not that size was important, which it wasn’t. After all, the size … Continue reading “U, Robot, and The Totally Unremarkable Paper” by NoMan (A.L. Schuhart)
[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “ET Kid Gets Rocket” © 2005 by Steve Cartwright, has been lost.] When the Solinarians asked me to save their planet, I told them it would cost at least $10,000,000,000,000 credits. “Plus expenses,” I added. We’d met for lunch at Hammerhead Hank’s Intergalactic Multi-Ethnic Bar … Continue reading “If You Don’t Help Us, We’re Doomed” by Cole Haddon
[Illustration: New illustration created for the archive; the original artwork, “Parent” © 2005 by Robert Sorensen, has been lost.] Cursing the Guardian, Jerrine glanced at the digits counting down the release cycle for airlock CX2. It served no purpose. Nothing she could do would speed up the replacement of argon with nothingness. The other transcendentals … Continue reading “Virtual Parenting” by Tim C. Taylor
That's right, you saw me on "Oprah" and "Donahue." And I'll betcha my last beer you're wondering what kind of chucklehead would've done it. Well, let me explain by telling you that only one word describes the Ultimate Joyride: totally awesome. And that's what it was, a joyride. If it wasn't, you think I'd be … Continue reading 10 Years Ago in Planet… “Stealth” by Andrew G. McCann
The boy settled down on the bench under the skydome. The long night was drawing to a close as his father began the story. “Well son, it all started with SKALO, the Society for Kindness to All Living Organisms. SKALO was a group that made your garden-variety vegetarian look positively carnivorous. Not only did its … Continue reading “Going Green” by Rachel Dunstan Muller
Just before midnight on a Saturday, a young astronomer in Puerto Rico became the first to spot the small object sputtering toward the sun. It came in past Pluto, riding a spark that moved clearly against the millions of hard, bright stars behind it. Within two hours of e-mailing his colleagues at various universities and … Continue reading 10 Years Ago in Planet… “Astrobeast” by Andrew G. McCann
