TRAITOR’S CHOICE
Episode #541 · Written by Paul W. Fairman · Narrated by Scott Miller
Reed Kendall lives inside a world where secrets decide survival, and hesitation can cost millions of lives. He has been trained to think clearly under pressure, to trust procedure, and to place the safety of Terra above everything else. That certainty begins to unravel when a masked stranger proves he can reach past every safeguard and threaten the one person Kendall cannot replace.
The demand is direct and merciless. Deliver the plans to a weapon still unfinished, or watch his wife die in a place he cannot reach. Kendall moves through his days with a calm that feels almost unreal, securing access, gathering information, and preparing to leave everything behind. To anyone watching, his actions point to a single conclusion. He is giving the enemy exactly what they want.
But the deeper Kendall moves into the trap, the less certain his motives become. His choices grow sharper, more deliberate, and more dangerous. He steps onto an enemy world knowing that once events begin, there will be no time to explain and no chance to correct a mistake. What he carries with him may decide the outcome before anyone realizes what he has done.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul W. Fairman published extensively in pulp-era science fiction magazines including Amazing Stories, Fantastic Adventures, and Imagination. He produced a large volume of short fiction during the 1940s and 1950s, often working within tightly structured magazine formats that emphasized fast pacing and decisive action.
His stories frequently place characters in high-pressure situations where a single decision must be made without certainty of the outcome. “Traitor’s Choice” fits squarely within that body of work, using espionage, interplanetary conflict, and personal leverage to drive a story built on timing and risk rather than prolonged exposition.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Traitor’s Choice by Paul W. Fairman — a classic science fiction story where one man risks everything as betrayal may be the only way to fight back.LOST SCI-FI PREMIUM
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LOST VOICES OF VINTAGE SCI-FI
Not every science fiction writer built a long career in the field or became a widely recognized name. Some published only a handful of stories before disappearing from the magazines, leaving behind little biographical record and few surviving details. Others may be remembered for work in different genres, while their contribution to science fiction was brief.
Yet these writers helped shape the texture of the pulp era and beyond. Their stories experimented with bold ideas, filled the pages between the famous names, and added depth to the ever-expanding landscape of vintage science fiction.
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast exists in part to rediscover these voices. The stories below were written by authors who published briefly, sparingly, or whose science fiction output was small - but whose work still deserves to be heard.
- The Ultimate Paradox by Thorp McClusky
- The Ultimate Wish by E. M. Hull
- Welcome to Paradise by Allyn Donnelson
- Day of Reckoning by Morton Klass
- Zeritskys Law by Ann Griffith
- Up For Renewal by Lucius Daniel
- Patch by William Shedenhelm
- Rabbits Have Long Ears by Lawrence F. Willard
- Electronic Landslide by Clyde Hostetter
- They Reached for the Moon by William Oberfield
- Death Walks on Mars by Alan J. Ramm
- When the Moon Fell by Morrison Colladay
- Know They Neighbor by Elisabeth R. Lewis
- The Other One by A. H. Gibson
- No Evidence by Victoria Lincoln
- The Man Who Liked Lions by John Bernard Daley
- Willies Planet by Mike Ellis
- The Short Snorter by Charles Einstein
- Your Servant Sir by Sol Boren
- The Fugitives by Malcolm B. Morehart Jr
- Leave Earthmen or Die by John Massie Davis
- And All the Girls Were Nude by Richard Magruder
- Rabbits Have Long Ears by Lawrence F. Willard
- Dust Unto Dust by Lyman D. Hinckley
- Cosmic Tragedy by Thomas S. Gardiner
- Day of Wrath by Bjarne Kirchhoff
- You Are Forbidden by Jerry Shelton
- Thirty Degrees Cattywonkus by James Bell
- The Small Bears by Gene L. Henderson
- The First Spaceman by Gene L. Henderson
ABOUT THE LOST SCI-FI PODCAST
The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast is the most listened-to vintage science fiction podcast in the world. Ranked the #1 Science Fiction Podcast in 38 countries and heard in more than 190 countries, the show has surpassed 4.2 million listens.
Each episode features carefully selected stories from the Golden Age of science fiction, professionally narrated. Timeless storytelling the way it was meant to be heard.What listeners are saying:
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“Hi Scott! I’ve been loving the stories, and this is my second listen through the whole library. I love listening to the Bud Gregory stories in order because they are hilarious. All the stories really are a glimpse of what the people in the past thought the future would be, and so many are still relevant today. You are a great narrator, and I love when you give us a glimpse of the authors as well. This has quickly become my most favourite podcast. I listen to you daily.”
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Vintage science fiction. Professionally narrated. Carefully curated.
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