Impostor by Phillip K Dick

First published in June 1953, Impostor tells the story of Spence Olham, a scientist working on a weapon of mass destruction to fight back against alien invaders. Earth has been at war with Alpha Centauri for some time, and Spence is doing his part for the war effort. You can read Impostor here. On his way to work one morning, Spence is intercepted by a security officer and accused of being an android spy sent by Alpha Centauri to kill the real Spence Olham and replace him. His final mission is supposedly to infiltrate the Project where he works, and detonate a U-bomb hidden inside his chest. Needless to say, Spence is distraught. He knows he isn't an android, so he escapes and sets out to prove his innocence. It's a very short read, but one that pays off in the end. It's yet another example of Philip K. Dick's approach to storytelling, where the protagonist is forced to question his own reality. We see similar ideas pop up in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and, to a lesser…