The elsp are a species of megafauna who have been driven to the brink of extinction by environmental threats and reluctance to reproduce. When a wave of petty crime takes over the elsp's sanctuary planet, law enforcement is quick to suspect san

Mariposa de Hierro - Matt McHugh

Mar 19th, 2024 37m 36s

Rosalina has just begun working at a migrant camp with her parents when before long a swarm of small, bee-like machines starts following her wherever she goes, sparking a media sensation. Here is “Mariposa de Hierro” read and written by Matt Mc

For Every Bee, a Hive - by Benjamin C. Kinney

Dec 21st, 2023 38m 15s

Tamar is on a mission to salvage usable technology from a space debris field. Her routine assignment turns dicey when her crew mates vanish, and a foreign AI appears on Tamar’s radar persistently trying to communicate. Here is “For Every Bee,

The Eiffel Tower of Trappist-1d by Jeff Reynolds

Nov 17th, 2023 47m 55s

With Earth long destroyed by war and ecological disaster, Ernie, Kate, and Harv are humans who have started new lives on a far-flung exoplanet. With scarce options for good food or money, the trio decides to embark on a project that may net the

Fly Straight and Don't Get Eaten - by Vera Brook

Sep 29th, 2023 44m 5s

Before he goes away to college, all Noah wants to do is relax, play video games with his friends, and practice for an upcoming tournament. His mother, however, has a different plan for her son: She’s asked his aunt Meg—whom he hasn’t seen in te

The Carina Nebula by Kelsey Hutton

Jul 31st, 2023 33m 39s

Meadow is a curious teenager who has spent her entire life on a large space ship. She thirsts for adventure, or at least a break from her overbearing mother.One day, she meets an artist who is desperately trying to clean-up a spill of small, co

Double Feature: A Place for Pax & Collateral Damage

May 17th, 2023 37m 32s

For our May/June issue, we have a special treat for our listeners—a double feature! First up is “A Place for Pax” read and written by Colin Mattson, followed by “Collateral Damage” by Jen Downes. Both stories feature spunky protagonists who are

What Women Want - Katherine Tunning

Mar 3rd, 2023 17m 24s

Laxi is an alien visitor from the noble house of vlarg who doesn’t like to conquer planets by force—at least not at first. Invasion and domination are boring, conventional, and these days even the elders on their home planet agree. Instead, Lax

The Area Under the Curve by Matt McHugh

Jan 17th, 2023 41m

In Matt McHugh’s newest tale, Emi and Zieka are elite candidates that fought as hard as they could for a spot on the generation ship. Could leaving a son behind be worth the privilege to travel with humanity’s future? Find out in our newest pod

Maximum Efficiency by Holly Schofield

Nov 23rd, 2022 23m 34s

K3RA is an android programmed to pursue efficiency in everything it does, from working factory floors to killing its designers’ enemies. When it encounters a sluggish soybean farmer just after suffering a wartime wound, K3RA comes to a realizat

Taking the Waters by Tim McDaniel

Oct 3rd, 2022 17m 17s

In Tim McDaniel’s “Taking the Waters,” a scientist must negotiate for our planet’s future. See how she does in our newest podcast from the September/October issue.

My Nascent Garden & Risky Harvest DOUBLE FEATURE

Jul 12th, 2022 21m 43s

Our July/August podcast is a special double feature: First, Melanie Harding-Shaw reads "My Nascent Garden," in which an AI navigates a complicated relationship; then Geoffrey Hart narrates his tale "Risky Harvest," telling the story of a harves

Bounty 1486 by Wendy Nikel

May 11th, 2022 26m 6s

Delia Serrano is a crack disposal engineer for the CosmoSweep Coropration. On a typical workday, she’s catching bits of space junk and sending them to a fiery demise in earth’s atmosphere. But when NASA needs her unique skills for a daring resc

Nirvana or Bust by Michael Swanwick

Mar 8th, 2022 21m 24s

Why are Huiling and her metal exoskeleton—and research partner—being hunted by the Feds? And the state? And where does a long-ago lover fit into the picture? Please enjoy “Nirvana or Bust” from our March/April 2022 issue read & written by Micha

Splitting a Dollar by Meghan Hyland

Jan 18th, 2022 34m 56s

"Amy" and "Brad" are two thieves who don’t see eye to eye. Amy wants to change the world, and Brad wants to start over, wealthy and isolated. What exactly are they looking for on the lunar surface, and can their spoils help achieve these goals?

Moon Unit by Bill Frank

Nov 24th, 2021 28m 48s

While life on Earth may not always be safe or easy, traveling the space ways comes with its own host of hazards. There’s space junk. Sub-zero temperatures. And not to mention a complete lack of oxygen. In this piece from our November/December i

Room to Live - Marie Vibbert

Oct 5th, 2021 24m

Everyone wants to talk to a human, not a chatbot. But when you are the human on the other end of the customer service phone number, with frustrating coworkers and an unbearable roommate situation, you realize that talking to humans is pretty co

Mandatory Arbitration by Leonard Richardson

Jun 23rd, 2021 16m 57s

Jer is the governor’s nestling and his Consortium colony’s legal administrator. When the judicant shows up and starts questioning how things are run around here, it becomes clear that Jer is something else too: a very dangerous lawyer. Find out

Pilgrimage by Michael Adam Robson

Apr 30th, 2021 27m 9s

Mal and the others must continue walking and following god, no matter how tired their claws and tentacles get. But how long must the pilgrims walk? And what will happen when they reach their destination? Journey with Mal in "Pilgrimage" by Mich

The Shadow of His Wings by Ray Nayler

Mar 10th, 2021 35m 5s

Separated from their group’s camp on his brother’s orders, a lonely Bashim lulls himself to sleep by practicing English with Top Hat Avatar, his holographic tutor. When he awakes in the middle of the night, there’s gunfire down at the camp, and

The Last Compact - Brian Rappatta

Jan 26th, 2021 23m 13s

The parent company is pulling its funding from the database of gods. All of the museum exhibits and their artificial intelligences will be shut down; all employees assigned to the project are relocating to Mars. For the child of two employees,

Ghost Strike by Brenda Kalt

Nov 24th, 2020 35m 7s

The assignment is straightforward: All Zu has to do is salvage some previously mined ore now lost in space, and the mountain of debt he owes to his employer will be canceled. But in “Ghost Strike,” Zu encounters greater risks—and greater reward

Where There's Life by John J. Vester

Aug 31st, 2020 57m 42s

For fourteen fourteens of cycles in the mostly dry tunnels of Mars, Eldest Split and Companion have spent all of their energy on just staying alive. Meanwhile, above them, Peter Churlith lives a life of boredom and fatigue, operating machinery

"On the Changing Roles of Dockworkers” by Marie Vibbert & “The Mad Cabbage” by Céline Malgen.

Jun 24th, 2020 39m 34s

For our July/August issue, we have a special double feature for you. First you’ll be hearing “On the Changing Roles of Dockworkers” read and written by Marie Vibbert. Before she can even sit down, Mary is sent to check on Unit 4—something is wr

Candida Eve by Dominica Phetteplace

Apr 27th, 2020 23m 43s

Susana never expected the first manned mission to Mars to begin the way it did: her crew gone, Earth in crisis, and she the sole engineer to see everyone’s hopes for a habitable Mars through. Will she, her rovers and robots, and NASA ground sup