Escape Pod 49: Union Dues: Off White Lies
Show Notes
Rated R. Contains graphic violence, mature themes, and some profanity.
Referenced sites:
Viable Paradise
Escape Pod Feedback
Update:
The first Union Dues story (thanks, Aaron!)
Union Dues: Off White Lies
by Jeffrey R. DeRego
“Leave,” she said calmly, “just go. A recruiting visit was here just three weeks ago and they had no success. The people here don’t much like the Union. Hell, it took me almost a year before any of them would even speak to me, and I didn’t try to razzle-dazzle them.” She quickly scanned the list and produced folders matching each name. “Here,” she said and slid them across the desk, “but they won’t go with you.”
The Union tries very hard to get all Supers to sign on and become active members, but some simply won’t. This is the first Village, and already The Union is constructing others. Either the mutation rate is rising among the Normals, or we’re getting better at ferreting them out. Either way, we need more space.
About the Author
Jeffrey R. DeRego
Jeffrey R. DeRego is the author of the Escape Pod fan-favorite Union Dues stories, and other things, as well.
About the Narrator
Scott Sigler
Scott Sigler is the New York Times best-selling author of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. His works are available from Crown Publishing and Del Rey Books.
In 2005, Scott built a large online following by releasing his audiobooks as serialized podcasts. A decade later, he still gives his stories away — for free — every Sunday at scottsigler.com. His loyal fans, who named themselves “Junkies,” have downloaded over thirty-five million individual episodes.
He has been covered in Time Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher’s Weekly, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chicago Tribune, io9, Wired, The Huffington Post, Business Week and Fangoria.
Scott is the co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League YA series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wee little dog Reesie. They’re both diehard Detroit Lions fans.
Sigler has been a runner up in both the 2006 and 2007 Parsec Awards. In 2006 Sigler was a runner up for his short story Hero in the Best Fiction (Short) category and for Infected in the Best Fiction (Long) category. In 2007 Sigler was a runner up for The Rookie in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novel Form) category. In 2008 Sigler’s Contagious, the sequel to Infected was listed at 33 on the New York Times best sellers list.
In 2008 Sigler broke through and won the Parsec Award for Red Man in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form) category. He followed up with another win in 2009 for Eusocial Networking in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form) category. 2010 saw him continue to win in the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Short Form) category with his podcast, The Tank, and in 2011 he again took out the Best Speculative Fiction Story (Novella Form) category with Kissyman & the Gentleman.
On July 31, 2015, Scott was inducted into the inaugural class of the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame along with other luminaries like Mur Lafferty at a ceremony in Fort Worth, Texas.
