Fiction

Science Fiction

Ona watched her Teacher turn around. The helmetless Ms. Coron wore a dress that exposed the skin of her arms and legs in a way that she had taught the children was beautiful and natural. Intellectually, Ona understood that the frigid air in the classroom, cold enough to give her and the other children hypothermia even with brief exposure, was perfectly suited to the Teachers. But she couldn’t help shivering at the sight. The airtight heat-suit scraped over Ona’s scales, and the rustling noise reverberated loudly in her helmet.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

The Master Conjurer

by Charlie Jane Anders

Author spotlight

Peter did a magic spell, and it worked fine. With no unintended consequences, and no weird side effects. Two days later, he was on the front page of the local newspaper: “The Miracle Conjurer.” Some blogs picked it up, and soon enough he was getting visits from CNN and MSNBC, and his local NPR station kept wanting to put him on. News crews were standing and talking in front of his house.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Science Fiction

Trouble Leaves a Scent Trail

by Constance Cooper

Author spotlight

Peacekeeper Gimel 300254 CitrusPeel was doing routine crowd control down at the shellfish market when a Tav Messenger scuttled up to her. “Urgent, urgent!” the Messenger blasted, enveloping Peel in the scent. “Your boss wants you back at the station right away. Hope you’re not in trouble!”

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

The Five Deaths of Marvin Dimitri

by Dylan Otto Krider

Author spotlight

I first met Marvin several years ago, but you don’t have to know Marvin to know his story. That’s the sort of thing that’s just understood, that comes from living in Beaumont, Texas, where Marvin lived most all of his lives.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Science Fiction

Enyo-Enyo

by Kameron Hurley

Author spotlight

Enyo meditated at mealtimes within the internod, huffing liquor vapors from a dead comrade’s shattered skull. This deep within the satellite, ostensibly safe beneath the puckered skein of the peridium, she went over the lists of the dead. She recited her own name first.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Science Fiction

HELP FUND MY ROBOT ARMY!!!

by Keffy R. M. Kehrli

Author spotlight

As late as ten years ago, a mad scientist with a dream could expect to turn a decent profit with his lesser inventions and build enough capital to put his (or her!) real plans into play. Those days are sadly over, although my father, fool that he was, claimed that they never existed.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

Augusta Prima

by Karin Tidbeck

Author spotlight

Augusta stood in the middle of the lawn with the croquet club in a two-handed grasp. She had been offered the honor of opening the game. Mnemosyne’s prized croquet balls were carved from bone, with inlaid enamel and gold. The ball at Augusta’s feet stared up at her with eyes of bright blue porcelain.

In Oct. 2013 (Issue 41)

Fantasy

And Then Some

by Matthew Hughes

Author spotlight

Erm Kaslo came to Cheddle on the Adelaine, a tramp freighter that didn’t mind taking passengers who didn’t mind the quality of the accommodations. He could have come on a liner, but he preferred, when working, to make his entrances unnoticed.

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Science Fiction

Dry Bite

by Will McIntosh

Author spotlight

Josephine had been up all night, her heart pounding, thinking about this day, about whether she would survive it. Now, out on the road and exposed on all sides, she was so scared she could barely breathe.

Illustrated by Galen Dara

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)

Fantasy

Bellweather

by Marc Laidlaw

Author spotlight

They had struggled for days through a wasteland of broken rock, high in the mountains, on their way through a pass that maps had indicated would take them to a country of promise. The first of the rocks were chipped and quarried, and showed signs of having been worked by artisans as much as by nature. But after a time, the unfashioned stone gave way to broken figures. The general impression was that a nation of statues, its entire populace, had been carried to the heavens and then dropped, so that all were shattered. Fractured heads and torsos, truncated limbs, toes and fingers of every size, from gnomic to gigantic, lay strewn from peak to peak, as if spread across the high mountain valleys by glacial action.

In Sep. 2013 (Issue 40)