Analog Science Fiction & Fact

Grayson George is a digital art grad student who makes mediocre fractal art. Late one night, he discovers a computer program that created a masterpiece, entrancing everyone who sees it. Grayson claims the program's spectacular work, and all of its subsequent artworks, as his own. How long will Grayson continue living a lie? Find out in “Genius, Borrowed and Brief,” read and written by Julia Darcey.

For many years, Grace and John have maintained the Winding Woods Campground, where visitors are few but life is comfortable, quiet, and happy. Out of the blue, a robot shows up on mysterious business, testing infrastructure and examining solar generators. It demands that Grace and John leave the camp they’ve called home for thirty-two years. Discover the hidden motives of this robot in “The Robot and the Winding Woods” by Brenda Cooper.

Sirina is a house cleaner who’ll take care of your typical dust, cobwebs, and all other varieties of filth, but if you’re dealing with anything that’s spilling over transdimensionally, she’s the one you’ll want to call. When a local real estate agent asks Sirina to take on her latest project, Sirina happily obliges, but quickly finds herself in a sticky situation. Find out why Sirina is “Lady Ballistic: Fast and Accurate Cleaning,” read and written by Alex Jablokov.

Dr. Cara Blake is a retired engineer who’s been out of work for about two decades. She lives in the mountains, alone, well above the overflowing rivers that have ravaged human society, with an electric vehicle she hasn’t started in five years. During her last major project, she retrofitted an old, local dam to prevent it from collapsing under the effects of climate change. Now, the dam is on the verge of failure, and Dr. Blake is the only one who possesses the knowledge and experience to keep it intact. Will Dr. Blake find a way to step in? Find out in “Last Dam Standing,” read and written by Dawn Vogel 

Missing dogs, bushes growing metallic berries, and university researchers vanishing without a trace. These are but some of a few incidents surrounding a swamp in northern British Columbia, where a local man believes he might be able to solve the mystery behind these strange phenomena. This is “It Eats Metal,” read and written by Mark Ferguson

After Toya Smith is killed by police during a traffic stop, doctors at a unique facility manage to preserve her consciousness and transfer it to a new body that should resemble her old one. Only her new body isn’t the one she expected or wanted. How will Toya adjust to her new life in a body so different from the one she’d lived in her whole life? Find out in “Second Chance,” read and written by Sakinah Hofler, winner of Analog’s Emerging Black Voices Award.

When two South Philly cops walk into a Nepalese bakery, one starts grilling the owner, Missus Singh, about rogue robots that might be helping her, while the other can’t stop thinking about how good a bear claw would be right about now. Will this good cop/bad cop duo discover the secret behind Missus Singh’s scrumptious sweets? Tune in to hear the conclusion of this police encounter that is anything but ordinary in Ryan Hunke’s “Bad Cop, No Donut,” narrated by Glen Melin.

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 sanctuary workers. But an intrepid scientist decides to investigate for herself, and finally figure out if the elsp are sentient after all. Here is “Expert Witness,” read and written by Leonard Richardson.

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 McHugh. 

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, a Hive,” read and written by Benjamin C. Kinney.