Scratching out a Living

[Not Espi]

‘Well, Clarence ... You seem to be too - happy. Taking the fact that you are in prison into consideration. That makes me kinda nervous. What’s up with that?’- Dave asked after letting go of Clarence’s hand.

He slowly backed up towards his bulk and sat down while Clarence was replying: ‘I got a good deal with the company. They offered me a single pack of 5.000.000 credits if I stay on the job, or ten million monthly for if I take the fall and have a prolonged vacation here.’ - he chuckled again - ‘Guess which one did I pick. An accountant doesn’t make much, and I want my kids to go to good schools. I got three little brats at home. By the time I get back to them, I’ll have 240 million credits at my disposal. Matter of fact - I’m happy because the bank sent me transaction records for this month.’ - he pulled out a sheet of beige-ish paper with a bank logo watermark, and then he put a finger to his mouth and whispered, barely holding his excitement under the lid - ‘Plus Ten Million Sirius Credits!’ - he pointed at the paper. His finger showing an 8 digit number. It was kinda hard to miss even from Dave’s bulk.

‘So why you? Why not someone else?’ - Dave probed a bit deeper.

‘It was my idea and my manager just overheard it. Simply put, we hired some shady organisation to ‘ambush and pirate’ a few of our transports and drop the cargo on a specific spot. We would then collect it and sell it as a new shipment later on. Unfortunately the insurance company found the bank connections between the mercenaries and our company and the company’s good name was endangered if nobody responsible was found. I got to choose if I want to head here and make a fortune while doing nothing or keep the job and accept a small reward - the 5million I mentioned before. The thing is that before the insurance company managed to find out what we did, the profit was slowly added up as interest in the company’s investment fund. We made billions on just that, and they decided to be very generous to me. Heck, I'll be able to buy a small island on Curacao by the time I get out.’ - he finished talking, and Dave could hear Clarence's excited breath all the way to the other side of the cell.