Jared Millet

After years of exile, Kite finds her way home, where an ancient evil secretly waits to use her as a means of escape from its prison. Kite was abandoned at an early age, sent away from her home into the wilds of the galaxy. Fifteen years later, she returns to seek her family, longing for answers to who and what she is. The reason-Kite's brain works like no one else's. Her thoughts can peer across reaches of space, a skill she employs as a starship navigator. However, her divergent nervous system rejects the cybernetic implants she would need in order to use any computerized tech. In the vast web of galactic civilization, she can't so much as open a door without someone else's assistance. Kite can only fend for herself on low-tech planets such as her birthplace, New Bretagne-a lonely water world drifting in the shadow of a nebula known as Le Voile. Kite's brother Merlin has grown up in that shadow as a member of a cult that worships Le Voile as a god. Or rather, they worship the alien Mind imprisoned on the dead neutron star at its heart. Emil Bellat, the leader of the cult, has groomed Merlin from childhood to free their alien master, for whereas Kite can see through the vastness of space, Merlin can reach across great leagues of time. Bellat wants to use the power of Merlin's visions to slip the Mind of Le Voile from its prison. But Merlin has plans of his own. He's seen the future Bellat would bring about-one in which Le Voile destroys New Bretagne before raging across the stars. Merlin means to wrest control of the cult for himself, but his plans don't account for Kite's return or the fact that once Bellat knows who she is, he'll want to use her as a vessel for his god.

The Shadow Jubilee

In the ruins of a destroyed city, a scientist must solve the riddle of a house that moves backwards in time. During the last days of a dying planet, a celebrity daredevil races up a shimmering river. On a plantation run by clockwork automata, a lowly technician must pit his wits against an insane computer. Decades after the destruction of Earth, the crew of a lonely spacecraft fights to see that one beloved species does not become extinct. In a small town buffeted by storms, a young woman uncovers dark family secrets in a battle between the living and the dead.Step into the House and let these stories Unwind.

The Unwinding House and Other Stories

Tenea D. Johnson

Rachel Swirsky

Ken MacGregor

Jason Sanford

Joelle Wellington

Rose Keating

Maggie Slater

D. Thomas Minton

Yohanca Delgado

Maria Dong

Strange. Beautiful. Shocking. Surreal. APEX MAGAZINE is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy genre zine that features award-winning short fiction, essays, and interviews. Established in 2009, our fiction has won several Hugo and Nebula Awards. We publish every other month. Issue 125 contains the following: EDITORIAL Editorial by Jason Sizemore Words from the Honorary Special Editor by Jeffery Reynolds ORIGINAL FICTION COTTONMOUTH by Joelle Wellington Next to Cleanliness by Rose Keating Discontinuity by Jared Millet Candyland by Maggie Slater Gift for the Cutter Man by D. Thomas Minton Wake Up, I Miss You by Rachel Swirsky CLASSIC FICTION Deep Night by Tenea D. Johnson The Ever-Dreaming Verdict of Plagues by Jason Sanford The Rat by Yohanca Delgado INTERVIEWS Interview with Author Joelle Wellington by Andrea Johnson Interview with Author Rose Keating by Andrea Johnson Interview with Cover Artist Marcela Bolívar by Russell Dickerson NONFICTION Alone? Or, How a Survivalist Reality TV Show Defangs Publishing's Narrow Definition of Agency by Maria Dong Flesh Eggs by Ken MacGregor REVIEWS Review of Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest Review of Malefactor by Robert Repino Words for Thought: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Apex Magazine Issue 125

Jared Millet

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