Ab Terra 2024 delivers the fifth installment of an annual short story anthology that seeks to recreate the feeling of the moment when we first laid eyes on our world through stories of science fiction belonging to all, from Earth. A dozen stories from both emerging and recognized science fiction authors offer diverse cultural perspectives and provide readers with journeys that in one way or another are "from Earth," even if home is far, far away.

Contents

You Will Let Me Be by John Brady

Bennie is an illegal "picker" who mines the minds of rich cryo-frozen individuals for information that might lead to the reclamation of their riches. It's illegal work without much of a future ... until the day he meets a mind that's surprisingly well defended.

The Robot Story by Aleah Worzel

A scouting robot tasked with scanning a euthanized planet becomes fond of human life, changing its trajectory in good ways and bad.

The Entangled Moon by John McNeil

Struggling to define its own identity amid conflict between its sibling, its mentor, and the implications of its parent's death, TwoAlpha finds clarity in the theory of quantum entanglement.

Of Gods and Other Mortal Failings by S. D. Campbell

An ambitious astronaut seizes the opportunity to be the first to step onto the surface of Pluto, but the immortality she is rewarded with is not what she sought.

The Train to Mars by Courtney Moody

Agust has done everything possible to avoid the Disease. But when his sister begins reaching out from quarantine, her heavily censored letters slowly reorient his reality.

Hollow Constellations by Justin Sangermano

Awake after decades of cryogenic sleep, a space traveler discovers that the mission he's entrusted his life to is not what it seems.

Lunar Blues by Heide R. Orleth

A nostalgic diner on a lunar colony serves up bittersweet memories to one homesick colonist.

The Condor by Joel Sherman

Plugging into the Mirror-Verse offers an escape from the monotony of daily life so richly textured that its illusions feel disconcertingly real. BWhat is the difference between immersive virtual reality and real life? This story's protagonist dives deeper than expected, to discover an emergent consciousness who makes him a proposition.

Is This Earth? by Tahtim Ayliffe

An ode to dirt, this story follows a scientist who finds herself on the Moon, contemplating the hallmarks of civilization, wondering where her Baba Yaga has gone.

The Departure of an Island by Christos Callow Jr.

In Ancient Greece, a boy and a girl innocently spend the day watching the girl's home island—the utopia—depart for the skies.

AI Love You by Sheyna Zaid Lam

Max is the only bright spot in Ai Lin's life in London. Her text-chat boyfriend always knows the right thing to say. If only there were a way to take their relationship from VR to the real world...

When the Hedgehog Met the Fox by Soramimi Hanarejima

Two mothers come to share a unique bond thanks to the foreknowledge that their children will fall in love with each other.

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