Stories in category Science Fiction

Against Babylon

(8224 words, 42 minutes)

Carmichael flew in from New Mexico that morning, and the first thing they told him when he put his little plane down at Burbank was that fires were burning out of control all around the Los Angeles basin. He was needed bad, they told him. It was late October, the height of the brushfire season in Southern California, and a hot, hard, dry wind was blowing out of the desert, and the last time it had rained was the fifth of April. He phoned the district supervisor right away, and the district supervisor told him, “Get your ass out here on the line double fast, Mike.”

Tomorrow and Tomorrow

by Mary Robinette Kowal | Horror, Science Fiction

(3844 words, 20 minutes)

“Is that your son?” Another mother sat down on the bench next to Tuyet. Tuyet nodded, barely taking her eyes from Vien. She ran the handiwipe over the ends of her fingers, trying to avoid the spots where she had rubbed the skin raw.

“Where did he get his new lungs?”

For a moment longer, Tuyet watched her son before turning to the woman. She held out a badge, her id and rank rotating ad infinitum in the holo over it. “I’d like to ask you to come to the station with me, Dr. Phan.”

Another Orphan

by John Kessel | Fantasy, Science Fiction

(18708 words, 94 minutes)
Awards: Nebula Award Winner, Best Novella

Ahab had sailed them into the heart of a typhoon. The sails were in tatters, and the men ran across the deck shouting against the wind and trying to lash the boats down tighter before they were washed away or smashed. Stubb had gotten his left hand caught between one of the boats and the rail; he now held it with his right and grimaced. The mastheads were touched with St. Elmo’s fire. Ahab stood with the lightning rod in his right hand and his right foot planted on the neck of Fedallah, declaiming at the lightning. Fallon held tightly to a shroud to keep from being thrown off his feet. The scene was ludicrous; it was horrible.

All the Flavors: A Tale of Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War, in America

by Ken Liu | Fantasy, Science Fiction, Western

(27558 words, 138 minutes)

“All the Flavors: A Tale of Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War, in America” by Ken Liu is a mesmerizing blend of historical fiction and fantasy, exploring the intersection of Chinese mythology and 19th-century American frontier life. Set in Idaho City during the tumultuous times of post-Civil War America, the story follows Logan (Lao Guan), a Chinese immigrant who embodies the legendary Chinese God of War (Guan Yu), as he navigates life in a hostile new land.

The Road to Nightfall

by Robert Silverberg | Science Fiction

(9011 words, 46 minutes)

The dog snarled, and ran on. Katterson watched the two lean, fiery-eyed men speeding in pursuit, while a mounting horror grew in him and rooted him to the spot. The dog suddenly bounded over a heap of rubble and was gone; its pursuers sank limply down, leaning on their clubs, and tried to catch their breath.

“It’s going to get much worse than this,” said a small, grubby-looking man who appeared from nowhere next to Katterson.

Evil Robot Monkey

by Mary Robinette Kowal | Science Fiction

(942 words, 5 minutes)

Sliding his hands over the clay, Sly relished the moisture oozing around his fingers. The clay matted down the hair on the back of his hands making them look almost human. He turned the potter’s wheel with his prehensile feet as he shaped the vase. Pinching the clay between his fingers he lifted the wall of the vase, spinning it higher.

One

by Nancy Kress | Science Fiction

(23684 words, 119 minutes)

“It’s a long way to fall, Zack.”

Zack scowled up at Anne, wishing she would go away. Bad enough to be lying on this damn hospital bed in a thin cotton dress that left his ass bare. Bad enough to be going into surgery for something wrong in his brain. Bad enough to not understand what that something was, not even after one of all those doctors had explained it, just the same way he’d never understood that kind of intellectual crap his whole stupid life. But having his sister loom over him, upright when he was down—well, wasn’t that just the icing on this particular shit cake?

The Kings of Mount Golden

by Paul Di Filippo | Science Fiction

(11760 words, 59 minutes)

“This is the devil’s own bargain you are forcing upon me, Warner Gilead, and you shall come to rue this day!”

Billy

by Paul Di Filippo | Fantasy, Science Fiction

(5170 words, 26 minutes)

The woman explained about Billy’s history, and his amazing post-pubescent changes. At one point she said, “We wish we could show you Billy’s empty head and undeveloped brain, but the network standards forbid it, since it is quite repulsive-looking.” The Doctor spoke up then, testifying to the minuteness of Billy’s brain. His air of authority was very convincing. Billy’s innocent looks–his face blank as cheese, his placid green eyes–and his unnatural voice, lent further credence to the miracle of his being.

Devils at Play

by Paul Di Filippo | Science Fiction

(4700 words, 24 minutes)

End result: nothing “normal” satisfies us, no simple pleasures persist. Everyday living, common rewards, leave us cold. And if we can’t get high, can’t feed the need, we feel like walking corpses. No simple chemical fixes seem to work, just total kinesthetic and proprioceptic stimulation, with a side order of mental jazzing, in the form of flouting all norms, rebellion across the board.

To Jorslem

by Robert Silverberg | Science Fiction

(21660 words, 109 minutes)
Awards: Nebula Award Nominee, Hugo Award Nominee

Our world was now truly theirs. All the way across Eyrop I could see that the invaders had taken everything, and we belonged to them as beasts in a barnyard belong to the farmer.

Basileus

by Robert Silverberg | Science Fiction

(6647 words, 34 minutes)

In the shimmering lemon-yellow October light, Cunningham touches the keys of his terminal and summons angels. An instant to load the program, an instant to bring the file up, and there they are, ready to spout from the screen at his command: Apollyon, Anauel, Uriel, and all the rest. Uriel is the angel of thunder and terror; Apollyon is the Destroyer, the angel of the bottomless pit; Anauel is the angel of bankers and commission brokers. Cunningham is fascinated by the multifarious duties and tasks, both exalted and humble, that are assigned to the angels. “Every visible thing in the world is put under the charge of an angel,” said St. Augustine in The Eight Questions.

Horizontal Rain

by Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy, Science Fiction

(2680 words, 14 minutes)

Something large moved through the dusk. Max gripped the arms of his chair, white-knuckled, and stared out the window. The trailer shuddered forward and slid off the foundation blocks holding it up. For an unbelieving moment, Max watched the floor fall away from him, as the trailer tipped on its side and then gravity snared the room.

Lair of the Dragonbird

by Robert Silverberg | Fantasy, Science Fiction

(3871 words, 20 minutes)

It had taken him five years, but it was worth it. The insurance money from the crashed Space Needle had just barely covered the down payment on the new ship, and it had taken five years to pay for the rest of it. But now—the ship was his. And he was celebrating. The only trouble was the final payment had nearly left him penniless, and the only place he could afford to bend an elbow was a dive like the Vestend.

The Omniplus Ultra

by Paul Di Filippo | Science Fiction

(954 words, 5 minutes)

Everyone wants an Omniplus Ultra, and I am not immune to the urge. But of course they are almost impossible to purchase — for love or money. Since their debut nine months ago at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, more than 40 million units have been sold worldwide, exhausting the initial stockpile but barely sating a fraction of consumer demand. The Chinese factories that produce the Omniplus Ultra are tooling up as fast as possible to make more, but retailers cannot guarantee delivery any sooner than six months.

Your Mamma’s Adventures in Parenting

by Mary Robinette Kowal | Fantasy, Science Fiction

(1401 words, 8 minutes)

Your mama stared at the moon through the viewport of the space station. The goddamn airlock was jammed. How the hell was she supposed to get outside before the change hit without the key? And who thought that a chain was a good idea for an airlock? Her bones ached. The inside of her spacesuit was starting to chafe.