Promotion: A Chess Drawing

by Luke Anderson

Railroad Worm

by Nicholas W. Plummer in Issue 2

“On the last evening before our departure for the Brownsville launch complex, Joey insists on going outside to say goodbye to the ants. I sweat as I lever up slate pavers that I placed in a curving path to the back door during a brief spasm of landscaping shortly after I bought the house . . .” [read more]

The Adventure of the Red Leech

by Fraser Sherman in Issue 2

“Dear Doyle,

My good fellow, have you no faith in me? You cannot doubt I appreciate your work as my literary agent; none of my stories about Holmes would have seen publication without your advice. Nevertheless, my decision to keep some of my most memorable accounts locked away was not made from caprice . . .” [read more]

The Story Department

by Michael Coombs in Issue 2

“Today was collection day for the Story Department. Iris spent all morning knocking on doors and exchanging niceties, and if she was lucky, leaving the customer with a product in hand. Today had not been a lucky day. Mr. Neyland was one of her last chances to make a good post-story pitch, so as he began to speak, she listened . . .” [read more]

Devil's Dance

by Amber Lee in Issue 2

“It was at this time of year, when the leaves were thin upon the trees and a smoky trace from a distant fire seemed to drift between the humble, thatch-roofed cottages of Alte Quelle, that she missed him the most. How his leonine face haunted her still, even after so many seasons! She could almost see the faintest golden glint within his brown eyes and hear the cheer in his laugh from when he held her beneath the glow of the great wan moon overhead . . .” [read more]

Crystalsong

by Amal Rodriguez in Issue 1

“It wasn’t completely her fault, Mara reflected, strapping into her seat frantically. She punched in the coordinates to her guild base with one hand, the other clutching the softly padded pouch containing her prize. The tip from her guild leader Ryne had been right on the money. Siarnaqian moon gems, the largest she’d ever seen in her years as a trader . . .” [read more]

For Love of the Metal

by Jay Diamant in Issue 1

“People can call it what they will—a bond, a debt, a curse—but at heart a geas is just an agreement. An agreement not reliant on easily discarded words but instead on a magical force, pure and immutable, which binds both parties to their obligations. That was how it was sold to me, at least, but . . .” [read more]

The Martian Krummholz Barrier

by Donald B. Tiver in Issue 1

“Argun Montane was part of a burgeoning movement of sexual fetishists calling themselves “Realists.” In a day where computer simulation was indistinguishable from the absolute real thing, Realists were those that received a special, inexplicable feeling knowing that the person they were watching had actually once been alive.

This salient desire to bond with another human consciousness . . .” [read more]

Escape from Elusia

by Stephen Farmer in Issue 1

“The heat of summer weaved its way through hazy smoke, and loud voices climbed over each other in the crowded inn. The city of Elusia was busy this time of year, with traders, romantics, and criminals alike making their way to the city in hopes of fulfillment.

All the more reason for Beau Landry to . . .” [read more]

The Spear of God

by A. J. Schalk in Issue 1

“Caroline downed the last sip of red wine from her glass and stared at the tiny crystals sparkling in the dregs at the bottom. She frowned; she knew almost nothing about wine but had read somewhere that the tannins can crystalize with years of aging. It must be a perk of drinking a bottle with a two-thousand-dollar price tag, she thought . . .” [read more]

Popular Myths of the Makallo Island Peoples

by Adrian Bryer in Issue 1

“The ridgeback sand fly can be found in the greatest numbers along the eastern shore of Makallo Island. In the still heat of summer, when the wind shifts directions and is buffered by the pines, the ridgeback can amass in swarms nearly half-a-mile long . . .” [read more]