Here’s a snippet from my story, “Collaborator” in the new Lost Signals anthology of tales from Chuck Gannon’s Terran Republic:
Agent Conrad shared her credentials, though it took a moment to figure
out how to get them to the mayor’s primitive comp. The mayor looked at
his screen, which was now flashing at him. “Hmm, your ID is quite
literally demanding my attention. So please, have a seat. You were
saying that you’re lookin’ for someone?”
“Yes. Professor James Marlow.” She sat
in the cubicle’s guest chair. The wood of the cubicle was fragrant,
like sandalwood, masking any less pleasant odors. Conrad showed the
mayor a picture on her pad: a pale, ginger-haired, clean-shaven man.
“Why are you lookin’ for him?” he said.
“He betrayed the human race.”
“During the invasion of Earth?” The mayor took off his glasses and
rubbed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Unfortunately, not
that uncommon a crime. We have folks here who are probably former
CoDevCo, and we have likely deserters from both sides, and so forth, but
I have no fricken idea what their real backgrounds are. Frankly, as
long as they keep the peace here, I don’t wanna know.”
“This man’s betrayal was at a higher, more public level. And we have reason to believe he may be betraying us again.”
“I see.” The mayor glanced again at the photo. “I haven’t seen anyone here who looks like that.”
“He doesn’t have that name and face anymore,” said Conrad.
“Huh. Then how will you be able to ID him? Going to check everyone’s DNA?”
“Better,” said Agent Conrad. “I have his story.” And with that, she began the collaborator’s tale.
