Finally at peace after decades of war, the telepathic people of Gaant and the people of Enith can coexist, including a Gaantish military officer and an Enithi nurse. The two had become unlikely friends after being one another's prisoners during the war; they'd bonded over chess, and can now finish their game in peace.

Set in ancient Asia, two lovers conspire against their powerful leaders to avert a sure-to-be devastating war by mistranslating their correspondences.

As per tradition in her country, a young girl of a mysterious Order is chosen to bear the launch codes of sere missiles embedded in her heart. To activate the missiles, the president of her country must personally cut open her chest to extract the code capsule.

When a retired Jordanian visits Europe for the first time on invitation from his best friend, a chance encounter lends new significance to the time he buried a body during his adolescence.

While on a near-future mission in Afghanistan, a soldier must scrounge up a quorum and receive enough upvotes from the American public before he can execute an important kill.

Two men on opposites sides of a civil war wonder what they are fighting for as the flames of destruction spread across the country and alien forces are exposed.

A schoolboard debates the merits of history—and how to remember it.

Assuming that they were here to invade, mankind massacred the aliens whose ships landed on Earth. Now, the aliens and humans have an uneasy peace together. The aliens who landed on earth love to fly kites. One kite-maker sells them despite harassment from skinheads who hate the aliens and anyone who does business with them.

Is it better to have a human civilization devoid of art and culture than to have none at all? Three Earth ambassadors must whether to annihilate a space colony that has traded away human consciousness for a hive mind that feels nothing but the need for survival. In the distant future, three humans in possession of nuclear warheads must decide whether to allow a remarkable human variant species without consciousness to dominate the galaxy or destroy them forever.

A doctor and a dying patient on a boat during WWI discuss why the enemy is winning the war.