December 3, 2008 – 10:07 pm
“Looking for this?” said Cynthia, behind him.
Startled, Philip whirled on her. With a jaw clench, he regained his dignity and held out a hand. Into his palm, she placed a dram of clear liquid in a stoppered glass vial. But, as he began to close his fingers, she closed hers first and grasped his hand, [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:06 pm
He remembered how he’d tossed a crust of sandwich to a lone seagull, one summer long ago.
The poor thing had just been on the losing end of a gang-fight with other seagulls, who’d chased and weaved and battered until it gave up the morsel of trash it had claimed. The new morsel he’d tossed seemed [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:06 pm
“You know those things over there are pretty much perverts, right?”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, for starters, that one on the left was hitting on you.”
“Uhm, is that why it kept poking me in the ear when we were at the counter?”
“That’s sort of the Z’arlgagh equivalent of a pickup line.”
“Oh God, I think my bagel’s [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:05 pm
The bridge shuttered and rocked, crew members clinging to their consoles. Behind the Weapons Officer, a conduit suddenly vented steam and showered sparks. Over the din, he cried, “Quantum reflectors down to 70 percent! Particle projectors offline!”
The Captain growled in frustration and pounded his armrest. “Hailing protocols! Get that thing on the horn!”
Another shock wave [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:05 pm
In anguish, he stared at the surface of the picnic table. Just the day before, this table had been far from perfect. Its surface had been a medley of crisscrossed scratches and flaked paint – a cacophony of glyphs and declarations made by a few decades’ worth of visitation by weather and human hands. But [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:03 pm
Mana from Heaven it was, almost literally.
We woke one day to a strange rain, flaming meteorites the size of cars streaking down to blast craters out of fields, streets, and houses. Thousands of them fell over the course of a month, and thousands died from the impacts.
About four weeks after it had started, it was [...]
December 3, 2008 – 10:00 pm
NEW ! The BooBooUndo Button, just $19949.99 from Cronotron Industries!
They said time travel was impossible, but they never met us! The BooBooUndo Button generates up to 15 closed timelike loops, each offering you a quick and easy way to violate causality and get a second crack at your day.
Just push the green button to drop [...]
December 3, 2008 – 9:59 pm
A trio of men cowered in a trench under the full moon and starry sky. Crickets and night-flying birds were the loudest sounds, drowning out the battle raging in the fields above them. They hoped not to let tell-tale clouds of vapor loose in the chilly midnight air.
Rounds of short, soft electric hums brought twitches [...]
December 3, 2008 – 9:59 pm
When the little toy robots started showing up, I thought they were just part of some urban art project. You know, like those LED signs flipping everyone off in Boston a few years ago? The bomb squad blew them up after they’d already been hanging around for two weeks, then made a show of hauling [...]
December 3, 2008 – 9:58 pm
“You know,” I said, once his scream had died down, “as bargains go, yours was pretty disappointing in its terms.”
“W-what?” Thunder boomed outside, and the raven on the car’s hood tapped on the windshield with its beak.
“You know, the usual demand for modest wealth and power.” I paused, lit a cigarette with a small flame [...]
