Autumn 2020

The dog’s name is Roan. He doesn’t know how long he’s been running. Maybe it’s been hours, or days, or maybe it’s only been fifteen minutes since he slipped out of the backyard through the open gate, but however long it’s been, he hasn’t stopped running since.

“Portrait of a Pinup Boy at the End of the World” by Andrea Tang

I’d successfully dodged missing persons contracts for four glorious years, until the morning Q dumped OneWorld’s sweetheart—or rather, his case file—on my doorstep, along with a bouquet of bona fide, Earth-grown roses.

“Theory to Bring You Home” by Phoenix Alexander

No one appeared before him at the moment of passing: no pantheon of spirits, his grandparents, ancestors with arms wide open, dead pets, or anything like that.

“Comrades, Beloved” by Heather Clitheroe

Draald Kane, Officer of the Order of the Bells, and Anellen Mirren, Dame Commander and Wardress of the Seventh Circle of Artifice, were in town to talk about their book.

“Human Abstracts” by B. Pladek

I cannot make you understand what the Shapes were. You will never know: that’s why Cue did it. But I can tell you a little of what they were like. And perhaps, knowing, you may decide for yourselves—no matter what the Colleges say—whether they had to die.

“News from Space Station Daius-Beta: Update on ‘The Children'” by Bruce McAllister

Twelve standard years ago today, a woman on Level 27, undergoing fertility treatments and showing no sign of psi ability herself, gave birth to a rare set of triplet empaths, two girls and one boy, all with high psi-reliability ratings.

“No Duty Farther Than Her Own Heartbeat” by Aimee Ogden

Letty drinks down the descriptions of her destruction as they roll out of the tinny wall speakers. There is only one newschannel, of course, whose presenter parrots the predictable response from the Angelic Assembly.

“The Hungry Void” by David Kopaska-Merkel

“Drug Awareness Day” by David Barber

“when you get your daughter back” by Mary Chhabra

“Moonrise” by Lora Gray