Ever wondered where the aliens are? Bill is sure they don't exist, but after centuries searching the galaxy for any sign of intelligent life, I'm not about to give up yet. I've just received this hot tip from a gang of Luddites out near M15. Hot enough that even Bill has chosen to join me to for my final attempt to prove him wrong... A 4,000 word science fiction short story.

No-one expects to find alien life in NGC 2419. But when the first probes encounter a dirty, industrial planet somewhere no human has gone, the race is on to be the first to welcome its inhabitants into the galactic community. Will it be two poker-playing starships, or The Future, for whom pretension is a vocation, not just a way of life? A 5,500 word science fiction short story.

Tired of treating wounded soldiers on the borders of the British Empire, Silas Cane returns to the heartlands of Victorian England as a rural doctor. The quiet Oxfordshire village is a welcome break from the chaos of war, until a smiling madman dies of a disease never seen before. After watching so many men die, Cane will do whatever it takes to keep the villagers alive. If they don't kill him first. A 14,000 word science fiction horror novelette, of Victorian fungus zombies.

How do you repair a dead planet? Maintenance Bot M-3 was always proud of the smooth and reliable operation of the starships it maintained as they travelled the galaxy searching for life on unexplored worlds. It lived for the desperate struggle against the forces of chaos and decay, fighting against time to complete repairs before disaster struck. But this job may be beyond even its capabilities. A 15,000 word science fiction novelette set in The Future’s universe.

A stripper, a hitman, his target, and a monk with a severed head in his bag. It's a typical passenger manifest for the crew of the space freighter Big Momma. Russ is hiding from 'Nam flashbacks. Alex may have met her dream guy. Max is tempted to throw them all out the airlock. They only have to survive a three week flight from the Heavenly Retreat habitat--The Sleaziest Place In The Solar System(tm)--to the remote asteroid, 482 Petrina. But someone doesn't want them to get there.

Vicious, congenitally bureaucratic, and proud of their resplendent flame-red uniforms which give them a five minute life expectancy in combat, the Flaming Space Weasels wiped out most of Dirk Beretta's fellow space marines at the battle of Din Bin Foo... then served them for lunch with a nice Merlot. In the aftermath, Dirk quits his job as poster boy for the Space Marines, to drown his sorrow in cheap booze and cheaper women. But when a gang of pirate Weasels come hunting fresh meat for the kibble factories, his brand of pig-headed determination and excessive violence may offer the chance for redemption... and revenge. A 7,000 word science fiction short story.

Guardians are defenders, carers and guides. Some look after individual people, others whole planets or universes, but all share a strong belief in their responsibility to protect their charges. The Guardian is an anthology of eleven science fiction short stories by writers from across the globe. It is part of the Newcomer series of scifi anthologies. The stories are:- Awakening - Alasdair Shaw The Lattice - Jeff Tanyard Biting Shadow - C Gold Gate of Dreams - Rick Partlow The Following Star - Elizabeth Baxter The Renewal - Zen DiPietro Stowaway - Benjamin Douglas Baptism of Fire - Cora Buhlert Sleeping Giant - Andrew Vaillencourt We Have the Stars - JJ Green Warning Signs - Edward M Grant

Werewolves hunt the dark places of the North of England. Preying on those society has left behind. Like Elektra, living rough on the streets after her mother kicked her out. And Luke, ex-paratrooper turned demon-killer. He fought for Queen and Country in the Falklands. Now he fights for God. Tonight is the full moon. The wolves are coming. And their prey will have to work together to survive.

What if every supernatural or conspiracy story you ever heard happened to be true? In 1952, when Ron Durston is called up into the army for National Service, all he wants is to be posted somewhere sunny like Tahiti or Weymouth where he can fraternise with the native girls and bring home a medal or two to impress his mates. Instead he finds himself standing guard at an army camp in Ass-End, Yorkshire, which is of far more interest to Nazis in flying saucers than it is to him.