“Only one conclusion is possible: Swen's Squad allowed itself to get hired to test Sandro, and you decided that this was the perfect opportunity to do a live fire exercise for the Conners.”
Albert stood and made his way to the bar. The other Conners did the same. With their backs to their parents, they gave the older ones a chance to communicate. Finally, Albert tapped his glass with a spoon on the rim, and they all returned to their seats.
“We're going to have to get more furniture in here,” said Hans. “Those chairs are not made for drinking.”
“Keep going, Hans, or I will,” said Eileen.
“Now, now. I am trying to be gracious.” Hans stood, leaving his drink behind. He walked to the bar and turned, facing everyone.
“I've said it a long time ago. Albert cannot be fooled. Your analysis is correct in every particular. The Contrioles did hire us, it is true, but only one did so. The patriarch, Mario. Giovanna and Aldo, Sandro's parents on Aphrodite, were kept in the dark. Mario pulled all the strings. Sure, cubic was available. Mario told the parents that the 'angel investor' was really his cutout, so the Contrioles really did own the Stables. He lied to his own children, just to see if Sandro could make the grade.”
“And how much did you ease the way for us?” asked Maria. The Connors had discussed this possibility on the long ride back from Venus. Maria, Carow, and Eddie, touchingly, believed that their parents would never do something underhanded like this without telling them. Albert knew better. Even so, it was disconcerting to find your worst fears realized.
“The test for you four was fundamentally different. In your case, the way to maximize your profits was to adhere to the plan. The test was in your ability to rein in your 'youthful exuberance' and get the job done. You were being watched and reported on, and not by the Contrioles. I am pleased to say that you passed the test with flying colors. In fact, I am doubtful the Squad could have done The Wire any better.”
“Thank you, fathers and mother, for the confidence you have placed in us,” said Albert. “I assume that since the test is over, we need to discuss our independence.”
“Yes,” began Cole, but Albert interrupted.
“Before we get into that, though, I have one lingering question remaining.”
“Yes?” said Hans.
“When do we get our five million dollars, Mr. Swenson?” asked Albert with a growl.
STEP 12 - Graduation
“Five million?” asked Hans. “Where did you come up with that figure?”
“Forty million in diamonds divided by eight,” said Albert. “We carried the diamonds back, turned them over to you, since you offered to fence them. We want our payout.”
Cole chuckled, breaking the tension. “He's got you, Hans. Better pay up.”
Eileen, the nominal banker for the Squad, perked up. “Yes, Hans, tell them where the forty million is, or the diamonds. Either way, they did the work, they deserve the payout.”
Hans shifted uncomfortably.
“Nobody's going to get forty million dollars, are they?” said Albert.
“Of course not!” said Hans. “Think about it from Mario's point of view. He wanted a limited test of his grandson, not some massive con that would hold everyone up for ridicule. He had no idea how much Sandro would risk, either. The quickest way for knowledge of The Wire to get out would be the sudden appearance of large quantities of Green Diamonds on the open market, when everyone knows what a stranglehold the Contrioles have on the supply. People would ask questions. No, Mario had to give us a fixed price contract. Expenses were on us, though. The old man is a tightwad.”
Albert nodded. “You sold the diamonds back to Mario. How much?”
Eileen said “One million, cash. Minus expenses, it comes to an even two hundred thousand for the Connors. Since the Squad had only incidental involvement, we get nothing.”
Eddie stirred. “What about all that massive conning that went on before The Wire? Don't tell me that haul was spent on expenses! That had to be a quarter million, easy!”
“Living the grifter life cannot be reduced to green eyeshades and ledgers,” said Eileen. “About eighty percent of that did go to expenses. Tickets to Venus and bills to Aphrodite Station weren't cheap. That engineer on Mercury had us over a barrel, too. Do you want to see an itemized bill?”
“Six months of work, working alone, no backup, no Plan B, and even dangling in space twice waiting to get fried by the Sun, all for a lousy two hundred thou.” Carow turned to Albert. “Looks like you called it perfectly.”
Hans looked over to Albert. The young man certainly had reason to be smug, even cocky. What Hans saw was a smile with a tinge of sadness. He realized suddenly that he was looking at the future. Swen's Squad would hold their own for a while, true, but Coffey's Connors would displace them as the top long-con crew within the decade. He couldn’t be prouder, of all of them.
“Remember all that scrip that blew into the cargo space behind the cashier’s cage? Carow here used it to buy the cargo on the Dawn Bringer.”
“What were they hauling?” asked Cole.
“High-end graphene manifolds, square meter sheets and larger,” said Albert. “Carow cleared two million at Highport.” Albert held up a chip. “Want to take care of this, Mrs. Tarloff?”
“Call me Eileen,” she said, her large green eyes twinkling. “And find your own Banker, Albert. Always keep your money inside your own crew.”
Hans was on his feet, holding his drink in the air. “Here's to Coffey's Connors. The best new crew in the System!”
They clinked glasses, then got down to partying in earnest.
Thank you for buying THE LONGEST CON.
Please post a review, I am interested in your reaction to the story. Good or bad, do let me know. If you don’t want to say anything in public, please let me know via Facebook.
* * *
Want more of my work?
Want to know when I am publishing another tale? Subscribe to Bill Patterson's Worlds newsletter. Spam free, and nobody gets my mailing list. (http://smarturl.it/BillsWorlds)
Want to see what I have out now? My Amazon Author Page has it all. (http://SmartURL.it/BillsAmazon)
* * *
* * *
Want to know the SCIENCE behind The Longest Con?
Then you definitely want my FREE download Sciencing The Longest Con. Here’s a taste:
* * *
The main science fact that makes TLC possible is the relative positions of Mars and Mercury to Earth and Venus. Both Mars and Mercury can see Venus, while Earth can't, on Kentucky Derby Day, May 2, 2144.
* * *
Want more Family of Grifters?
Check out my blog, particularly the “Bills Worlds” page.
I set aside President’s Weekend, 2017, to write “Ownership”, another FoG tale. It currently stands around 23.8k words, and, frankly I love it as much as I love The Longest Con. You should see it towards the last week of April, 2017.
* * *
* * *
Want more about Bill the Author?
I blog, but it’s all about writing. You won’t get pictures of my food, or my cat, and it’s politics free. (http://smarturl.it/BillsBlog)
Social Media: I write, ya know? I do wander social media, but most of my time I communicate with my readership via blog. But if you want to see what I do read and comment about, here are the sites I haunt occasionally.
Facebook (http://smarturl.it/BillsFacebook)
Twitter (http://smarturl.it/BillsTwitter)
Acknowledgements
To Jessica West, Editor Extraordinaire, who put up with some weird verbiage and name changes to get this manuscript into shape. If you find yourself hankering to get some editing, you can check out her website here.
To Christian Bentulan, for a fantastic cover. I’m probably not his easiest customer. The man’s got some mad instincts when it comes to putting out a great cover. Here’s where he hangs out.
No Acknowledgements sectio
n would be complete without acknowledging the extreme debt I owe to Felix R. Savage. Without Felix’s faith in me, and various kicks in the tail, this work would not exist.
About Family of Grifters
The Family of Grifters sprang from a thought I had back in spring of 2014: There’s really very few criminals in the far future for whom the reader want to succeed. I was in the middle of watching the BBC series Hustle, and had been reading Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat series. The 2014 edition of The International 3 Day Novel Contest was coming up, and I had to discover a good novella-sized idea before, oh, about August or so.
Then I happened to flip past a replay of The Sting on peasantTV (yeah, I get my TV via old-style antenna). And it hit me—take a great long-con story and recast it in spaaaace. I knew that I needed an editor, and some beta readers, so I hired Jessica West to pound the tale into shape. She strongly recommended that I write more about Swen’s Squad, as well as Coffey’s Conners. Quite without meaning to, I have another series on my hands.
Family of Grifters (FoG) will not be a linear series. That is, you can read them in any order. I promise never to ‘cliffhanger’ you, so that you have to buy the next tale to find out how things work out. You see, even long-cons have to end at some point. The longer they go on, the more likely it is that our crews will be discovered. So, I promise you an ending to each tale. Warning: they will not always work out in our crew’s favor. Hmmm--how would I con myself out of jail on Mars? There has to be a way....
About The Longest Con
I wrote The Longest Con for the 2014 edition of The International 3 Day Novel Contest. Not only didn’t I win, I didn’t even get Honorable Mention. After about two years of searching for a traditional market for it, I decided that TLC would never get published unless I did it independantly. I announced my intention to my friends in the 3DN community, and got to work.
I wrestled with the editing. Should I edit the manuscript to remove obvious glitches and preserve the hammering intensity of that 72 hour burst of creativity? Or should I try to perfect what I had, even if that meant sacrificing the flavor of 3-Day? In the end, I looked at the majority of novellas out on Amazon, and their price point. If I was going to ask you, O Reader, to fork over that much coin for a work of mine, then I should give you the absolute best I had.
So, I engaged the inestimable Jessica West as editor, and Christian Bentulan as cover artist. The result you hold in your hands. Thank you for choosing this work. I hope you liked it.
About The International 3 Day Novel Contest
During the Labor Day Weekend (US Holiday), about 600+ writers buckle down to a short novel (about 100 pages) in 72 hours. I have participated in this contest every year since 2010, and most of the results of those events will eventually be published. If you are a writer, I highly recommend this contest. If you’re leery of it, follow along in the community--we welcome everyone!
About the Author
Bill Patterson is the author of a computer-aided design software book, and a former magazine columnist. His fiction has been published 90 Minutes to Live (JournalStone, 2011), and his nonfiction in Rocket Science (Mutation Press, 2012), where his piece "A Ray of Sunshine" was nominated for the British Science Fiction Association's Award for Non-Fiction.
He is also one of two Municipal Liaisons for the Central NJ Region of the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) challenge. Bill also serves as an Event Host for the Princeton Writing Group.
He and his wife of 33 years, Barbara, live in Central New Jersey.
The Longest Con: A Family of Grifters Tale Page 8
