“I’d like to make a collect call to a solo register.” “Name, please.” “Samizdat Kellner.” “Passphrase?” “Asta la vista, baby.” It was her eighth attempt to guess Semmi’s new passphrase—assuming he hadn’t deleted his account […]
Tag: fiction
(Fiction) Anything Other Than a Spy
T Minus: 051 Days 21 Hours 03 Minutes 43 Seconds That was odd. The door was already open. Dr. Amarta Zabora removed the key to her office and pushed the door with her […]
(Fiction) The Bleeder
The bus pulled onto the shoulder to report the bleeder on the side of the highway. At some point, a car had clipped the man’s leg, which was bent awkwardly to one side. His hands […]
(Fiction) Love Call
The video conference device droned. “Show time.” Quinn hit the button and the screen split into six boxes. The first was the conference room at the FBI office in New York. Seven agents, […]
(Fiction) The da Vinci Project
—nothing if not ambitious. Like its namesake, it sought to answer some of the biggest and most persistent questions in science—particularly, how much of who we are is determined by our genes and how much […]
(Fiction) Signs
An alarm blared in short, piercing tones. Nio sat stirring the lukewarm coffee and peering out the windows of the dim office for the stout Agent Quinn, who was no doubt rushing to her location. […]
(Fiction) Bargains
The charges included assault of a minor (firing a gun at 17-year-old Guillermo Aquino); arson (of the house at 421 Asher St.); fraud (profiting under pretenses, namely, that Nio was a false expert); practicing medicine […]
(Fiction) Ruptures
Nio awoke in a box amid a tangle of limbs. Wide-eyed, she screamed and kicked and pushed them away—only to feel silk-smooth synthetic skin. A hairless sex doll stared serenely in the dark, inches from […]
(Fiction) Rules
The technician at her feet looked up. “How does that feel?” Nio lifted her left foot to examine the wide bracelet around her ankle. Tungsten slivers had been woven into the Kevlar to prevent tampering. […]
(Fiction) Killing Machines
17:42:22 Number please? 17:42:24 I’d like to make a collect call to a solo register. 17:42:27 What’s the name? 17:42:28 Samizdat Zellner. 17:42:30 Pass phrase, please. 17:42:31 I’ll be back. [frantic typing] 17:42:35 Hold please. […]
