Garry hates elevators. They are always cruel to him – making him wait before they do his bidding. But at an old hotel in an Eastern city Garry finds the evilest of all elevators!

Read They Wait online for free.

Two men at a Sci Fi convention notice a very strange man slinking around stealing stuff – but things get even stranger when security finally tries to arrest him!

Read Shoplifter In The Crowd online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Nat started a band – the first band for a new ultra high pitched music scene. But one small problem means that this kind of fame definitely won’t last for long.

Read A new note for Nat online for free.

One old man’s stealth suit helps keep him blissfully out of public awareness – that is until one small boy discovers a glaring problem.

Read Perchance to dream online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Usually when we think of aliens conquering our world we think of vicious, mean killers. But they could also be very diplomatic and genuinely interested in us – even to the point of being boring!

Read Copycats online for free.

Martin has a big problem: 15 minutes of air in his bounder suit but 30 minutes until he reaches the safety of the nearest settlement. He decides to take a big leap of faith (Ha! Pun intended!) but forgets one very important little fact. Whoops!

Read Look Before You Leap online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Sianni and Ariya knew their romance was meant to last after they exchanged vital information on The Sea of Tranquility, but how will they handle having children while living on Saturn’s rings?

Read Boom Baby Boom online for free.

Danny has decided to throw a wild party and has invited several people. The problem is that he is hosting it in his head via an unsecured public access port – and that means lots of unwanted guests!

Read There’s a Party in My Head and Everyone’s Invited online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Stephanie is a girl who works for a Chinese takeout restaurant, and she is about to get a lesson in why it is important to learn other languages – rather than just let the computer translate them.

Read Takeaway online for free.

A professor and a police detective have finally figured out the answer to the Fermi Paradox – and it is “dismayingly familiar!”

Read MAXO signals online for free. (The first half of this story is a little bit jargon heavy, but stick with it because the ending is quite funny!)

Have a great weekend!

Print Your Own Stuff

I saw my first 3D printer a few years ago, and I was quite impressed with what it could do. Here is a thought provoking little story about how future “intellectual property police” might react to people who print without permission.

Non-spoiler Summary in a Nutshell

Lanie’s father’s printer was smashed by cops when she was 8 – and her dad has been in prison ever since. But now that he is about to be released Lanie wonders if he learned anything while there.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 1
• Word Count: 732
• Did you know that Cory Doctorow kind of looks like Drew Carey? Yep. Check out the picture on his bio page.

Where You Can Find Printcrime:

• This story was originally published in the January 2006 issue of Nature.
• You can read “Printcrime” online for free, or download it in a variety of formats, at Cory Doctorow’s web site.
• If you would like to read this story in a real book, you can find it in Doctorow’s short story collection Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present.

When a man is cuffed to his acceleration couch (at the start of a very long space journey) he wonders if it is such a good idea – turns out it isn’t!

Read Insomnia online for free.

A couple of space farmers are harassed by hooligans! Those darn kids! (Commence fist shaking)

Read The Lonely Cutting Torch online for free.

Have a great weekend!

When one professor creates a tiny time machine he discovers that even small devices must obey the laws of the universe.

Read Experiment online for free.

A soldier 50,0000 light years from home discovers just how bad war can be – especially when fighting ghastly aliens!

Read Sentry online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Jean-Paul is about to make history on a first launch into space – but that sure is a strange spacecraft they’re using: all white, round and with a number 5 on its side. Oh well, you gotta take what you get right?

Read The Launch online for free.

What does an old woman, a teenage boy, a beautiful lady and a young girl have in common? Not their humanity, that’s for sure!

Read Never Trust A Stranger online for free.

Have a great weekend!

Captain Baird is tired of sending animals on test rockets – his men are getting restless you know! But when a similar alien rocket lands on Earth he suddenly becomes very nervous.

Read Test Rocket online for free.

It’s not abduction if someone volunteers to go with the aliens is it? Of course, after making the journey one may end up in a less desirable place!

Read A Random World Of Delta Capricorni Aa, Also Called Scheddi online for free.

Have a great weekend!