Escape pod. Episode 912. The Redcon Man. By Cameron Fisher.

Hello and welcome to Escape pod, your weekly science fiction podcast. I'm Merlaferty and I am your host for this episode.

Our story this week is Redcon Man by Cameron Fisher. Cameron is a fantasy sci-fi author living in the Boston region where he spends his free time writing user manuals for technology that doesn't exist,

but the benefit of people who also don't exist. He finds this incredibly rewarding. You can find more of his work in the magazine Transluner Travelers Lounge and he's online at CameronFisher.com. It's F-I-S-C-H-E-R.

It's narrated by her own Dave Robinson. He's a storyteller who's been captivated by tales and legends his entire life. He's contributed vocal fabulosity to dozens of audio drama and fiction podcasts and productions,

for Escape pod, Sudapod, Cast of Wonders and Podcasts, as well as the Travel Cast, Starship Sofo, Tales to Terrify. He has narrated several audio books for Tantor Media and appeared in several audio dramas by J. Smith and Brian Lincoln.

This is an Escape pod original. So come in, sit anywhere you like. We already know they won't find you here. It's story time.

The Redcon Man by Cameron Fisher narrated by Dave Robinson.

Never look for evidence of your future self in the past. Doing so can close your mind to alternate plans if you think you see what your destined to do.

It's a hard rule for me to follow, especially when my client was a half hour late. It left me ample time to explore the storage facility, but apart from noting a security camera at the entrance, there wasn't much to see.

Five lanes of asphalt with plowed snowmounds melting in the corners. Along both sides were rows of bright green roll-up doors, matching the color of the city-store logo. Many were still embedded behind packed snow.

The keycard vending machine near the front had a listing of which storage pods were free. The crime scene pod was unavailable, but I was more interested in the pods surrounding it. They were already owned.

By who? By me? It was best that I couldn't tell. This was where the don't look for evidence rule came into play.

A single drifter car pulled into the row and parked in front of the crime scene pod. Her headlights glared on the green door like stage lights. I was surprised to see only the driver. I'd have thought she'd have a security detail in light of recent events.

She rolled down her car window. Mr. Roper? Mrs. Lynch? She climbed out.

Jeans. Every photo I'd seen of her showed her in pantsuits, but those photos were always alongside congressmen or admirals. It made sense that she would dress down when doing something illegal.

Her lined frown was the same as it was before her husband's death, probably fixed from her decades in national security.

It's a pleasure, ma'am. I said. I'm sure. She handed me a vanilla folder. It was thick. The woman certainly wasn't a corner cutter. It's this pod here. I own it now, but you can use it for whatever you need.

The key was a microchipped card on a retractable lanyard. The wall sensor beeped when she swiped it, and the door came up. Nothing was inside except for a clean cement floor, fresh white walls,

and the lingering smell of paint and cleaning chemicals. They already cleaned up, I asked. I had a team come through as soon as the police released the scene. I didn't want any reporters seeing it. I trust that won't be a problem.

Shouldn't be. Do you still have the key the kidnappers used? She handed me a second microchipped card from her gene pocket, identical to the first. The police said it's deactivated. That won't matter. What about the timeline? She nodded toward the folder. The top file is the one you asked for. The kidnapping lasted about ten hours. They pulled him from his car in the morning, tied him up here and left him.

Then they came back four hours later to take his finger. I expect you to rescue him before that point. I want my husband back whole. Why did they wait four hours for that? I asked. Don't they normally do that first to prove that they have the hostage? They were trying to shock me. The first time they called I told them to either kill him or let him go. He really said that.

...