Category: Short stories
2-page stories (“flash fiction”) about modern espionage, ethics and the challenges facing young professionals.
(The artwork for the flash fiction is from Adobe stock.)
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Rage – an intimidation case
“Intimidation case.” Hans listened to the man in the red shirt. The man in the red shirt inspected Hans’s mobile then powered it off. “Secrecy first,” he said.
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Person Lurking – story of AI in intelligence analysis
Person lurking by Zone Sierra. Nervous movement, potential improvised explosive device. The automated intelligence analysis flashed on Tessa’s screen.
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Judicial oversight – a 2-page story of illegal intercepts
They arrived without warning in José’s office. A high court judge, a policewoman from Operational Security, and a clear implication of illegal intercepts.
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Wuhan and biological weapons capability – a story
The professor stared at the words Top Secret on the analysis report. She lifted it and read the title: Wuhan Biological Weapons and Covid-19. She shrugged.
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The assassination – a 2-page story of an ethical dilemma
‘Is he actually proposing a kill order? That we should become involved in an assassination?’ The intelligence researcher’s eyes widened.
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Paranoia – a 2-page story of work overload and OSINT
The paranoia was returning. Isabelle’s head throbbed with pain and her eyes were loosing their focus. She had too many types of intelligence feed to research.
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Forced confession – a 2-page story of an analyst’s dilema
The forced confession was in stilted Arabic with words that the suspect never used, and the recording from the interview had been replaced by a transcript.
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Suicide risk – a story of a failed intelligence officer
Death or the classroom. Mohammed planned to sit at the back of the room and contemplate the appropriate method of suicide for a failed intelligence officer.
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Presumed guilty – a story of intrusive surveillance
‘She’s a journalist, that makes her guilty,’ the intelligence officer declared. ‘Get me evidence for intrusive surveillance and we’ll find her dirty secrets.’
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The price of secrecy-first – a 2½-page story
Mikael’s secrecy-first speech was cut short by the minister. ‘Tell me more about this cyber-attack. Are they really intending to cripple our railway network?’