Issue #1
June 14, 2013


Contents
   This week in SHOWCASE
  
Featured Stories
   The Vending Machine by Sarah L. Byrne
   Smart Money by Samuel Marzioli
   Caught by A. G. Carpenter
   Seek Vista by Gary Cuba
  
Columns, Cruft, and Filler
   Badger & Vole Review:
   Star Trek Into Darkness
  
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“CAUGHT”

by A. G. Carpenter

 

The machine on the table hummed softly, accompanied by the gentle ticking of a clock. “Imagine,” Thomas said, “if one could wind and rewind time like a spool of tape.” He smoothed his upper lip with slender fingers in a bad attempt to hide his excitement.

Abigail frowned slightly and moved her queen. “Check.” Sunlight crept across the carpet, broken into shards by the summer leaves outside the window, and warmed the air in the study.

Thomas moved his king. “Well?”

“It sounds dangerous to me,” she said mildly.

He shrugged and studied the pieces, but an irritated knot tightened between his brows. Years spent researching and building and testing the machine, and she made it sound commonplace. Boring. “Typical,” he muttered.

With an easy flick of her wrist she moved her knight. “That’s what you’ve been working on, right?”

“Huh.” He moved his rook a couple of squares. “Yes. That's what I've been working on.”

“Does it work?” There was a shiver of uncertainty in her voice.

“I don’t know yet.” He glanced toward the table. “It's still in the testing phase.”

 She sighed and tapped her fingers on the edge of the board, impatient.

“To be able to travel back and forth through time,” he murmured. “We would be the first.”

She frowned. “What if we became trapped?”

He shook his head, confident in his skills. “An unlikely outcome.”

“Ah.” After a moment of silence she moved her bishop. “Checkmate.” The machine on the table hummed softly, accompanied by the gentle ticking of a clock.

He shook his head. “An unlikely outcome.”

“What if we became trapped?”

“To be able to travel back and forth through time,” he murmured.

She sighed, impatient.

“Huh.” He moved his rook a couple of squares. “Yes.”

She moved her knight. “That’s what you’ve been working on, right?”

He shrugged, but an irritated knot tightened between his brows. Years spent on the machine, and she made it sound commonplace.

Thomas moved his king. “Well?”

Abigail frowned slightly and moved her queen. “Check.” Sunlight, broken into shards by the summer leaves outside the window, warmed the air.

He smoothed his upper lip with slender fingers to hide his excitement. “Imagine,” Thomas said, “if one could wind and rewind time like a spool of tape.” The machine on the table hummed softly, accompanied by the gentle ticking of a clock.

“Imagine,” Thomas said, “if one could wind and rewind time.”

“That's what you've been working on, right?”

He moved his rook a couple of squares. “Yes.”

She sighed.

“To be able to travel through time,” he murmured.

The machine on the table hummed softly, accompanied by the gentle ticking of a clock.

“Imagine,” Thomas said.

The machine on the table hummed…

 

 

 

By day A.G. Carpenter is a mild-mannered, stay-at-home mother. By night she writes fiction of (and for) all sorts. She likes movies where things explode, rainy days, and strong tea with lots of milk and sugar. Her short fiction has been published at Daily Science Fiction ("Insomnia") and Goldfish Grimm’s Spicy Fiction Sushi ("Happy After All"), and is forthcoming at Abyss & Apex (“In the Cool of the Day” - July) and The Beast Within 4: Gears and Growls – Graveside Tales (“Legacy” - Fall 2013). She blogs at agcarpenter.blogspot.com and Tweets @Aggy_C