Lightspeed: Edited by John Joseph Adams

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Fiction

Science Fiction

Thief of Futures

“For a man who has stolen so many futures, you seem to have no future yourself.” He lets this painfully accurate assessment seize hold; then he says matter-of-factly, “Is this what you want for your daughter?”

Science Fiction

Bubbles

Serena still felt the heat of her passage through Kaluza space. That in­candescent journey via the bowels of a singu­larity had raised her temperature dangerously near the fatal point.

Science Fiction

Join

Ngoraich hadn’t slept that whole month we were in transit. She was a pupating larva, soft and pearly. The spacers didn’t know how to put her into stasis, and even if they could, she wouldn’t notice the difference.

Science Fiction

Nonstop to Portales

Every town’s got a claim to fame. No town is too little and dried out to have some kind of tourist attraction. Except, apparently, Portales, New Mexico.

Science Fiction

The Nearest Thing

We know you love your family. We know you worry about leaving them behind. And we know you’ve asked for more information about us, which means you’re thinking about giving your family the greatest gift of all: You.

Science Fiction

Just Another Perfect Day

I know how you’re feeling. You wake up alone in a strange room, you get up, you look around, you soon discover that both doors are locked from the outside. It’s enough to unsettle anybody.

Science Fiction

Defenders

The silence was shocking, the sense of isolation unnerving, partly because she knew it meant the jet had penetrated the Defenders’ cloak and entered Australian airspace.

Science Fiction

Face Value

When they had their backs to him he could see the symmetrical arrangement of dark spots which marked their wings in a pattern resembling a human face. A very sad face, very distinct.

Science Fiction

Sweet Sixteen

When it came time for her restructuring on her sixteenth birthday, she was going to walk into the room, and ask to be made a Tiffany.

Science Fiction

The Old Equations

I miss you already. But you know that. What you don’t know is just how proud I am of you. You were born for this, and no one could possibly be able to handle such a demanding job as well as you.

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