Malorchia was content, savoring the newness of her first birthling on Pollis as Iron Feather steered his craft out of the Equuid system. Now that the most important and personal matters had been attended to properly, it was time to police the quadrant for the Confederation. The first order of business was for Iron Feather … Continue reading “The Tremors of Squirm (part of The Langford Joh Saga)” by William Alan Rieser →

Thurman stood and walked over to Jeffries, eyes wide, mouth convoluted in a warped smile. "I am reality!" he screamed into Jeffries' indifferent face. "I am being!" Richard cowered behind Barker, the largest of the bunch. The three men looked over at their ranting comrade with growing unrest. "I must find an outlet," Thurman said, … Continue reading “Entity” by James I. Wasserman →

"Don’t pay the ferryman Don’t even fix a price Don’t pay the ferryman Until he gets you to the other side" - popular song, Second Millennium * I was climbing the mountain to be closer to the stars. It was nearly dark when I came upon the hidden cabin and the old woman. She said … Continue reading “Searching for the Ferryman” by Derek Smith →

My code name is Iron Feather, and I am writing this to honor an old request from my father, the former Earth Ambassador to the Confederation, the recently departed and much-admired Langford Joh. I refer to a conversation we had once in which he chided me on my poor ability to select a proper mate. … Continue reading “Malorchia (part of The Langford Joh Saga)” by William Alan Rieser →

JOURNAL ENTRY #3138 Date: 11/04/2199 Time: 1046 This is Cory Dealth, captain and pilot of the cargo freighter, Alexa. I’ve just chartered the final leg of our course for Delta Centauri, but I’m certain that I won’t reach journey’s end alive. I am in the grip of “the Sorrow”, “the Loneliness”, “the Pilot’s Despair”; it … Continue reading “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Star Pilot” by Lee Moan →

"No longer are laser guns the stuff of Hollywood and Strategic Defense Initiative fantasy. The Pentagon inside of a decade could be armed with such a beam weapon...." -- Oakland Tribune, October 19, 2003 "You are the one, Neo." -- The Matrix 1. Professor Paula J. Lynch plopped her duffel bag on the steel deck … Continue reading “Light Source” (a Prof. Paula J. Lynch story) by E.S. Strout →

I sensed no movement in the air and heard no sounds except my bare feet slowly padding along. I felt exposed walking down the deserted long hallway, so I kept as much to the side of the corridor as I could, though diffuse white light from the ceiling lit the ash-white walls and made hiding … Continue reading “Expetais” by Jeff Hemsley →