The Money Problem (Short Story)

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Lachlan Calder woke to his son crying in its cot. Eyes burning from sleep deprivation he groaned, muscles tight, and ears ringing from the screaming.

At the same time as he shuffled to the cot, his wife, Jetta, also woke up. The look on her face said that she felt the same as him. "Come on little guy, give us a break." He softly whispered as he reached down to pick him up. He was getting heavier by the day but was still so small.

"I'll make us something to drink, I doubt we'll be going back to sleep anytime soon." She said softly while leaving the room, as Lachlan rocked the baby in his arms, hoping that the red squealing face might quieten down, and drift off back to sleep.

I thought a passing cargo hauler was loud. It was, a cargo hauler was loud enough to rattle the roof of their home, and sometimes they passed so close that the rumble would knock items from their shelves; to the point that they barely bothered to put the items back in their place anymore.

Someone might call their house 'humble.' That was a far nicer way of putting it, the truth was, the place was a bit of a dump, made worse now that they found little time to clean. Lachlan worked part-time in a shop, the money wasn't good, but it did afford him time to do his fair share of looking after the child, and the boss was understanding when it came to his circumstances. Oftentimes, Jetta and he would speak of moving away, emigrating; to find a better place to raise a child, with better work prospects. Life got in the way of those plans, and now he knew it was too late to uproot and leave.

After a few hours, the noise settled down, and while in the sitting room flicking through his datapad, he noticed a notification from his finance app. "A Deposit Has Been Made To Your Account." It read, along with the usual, automated jargon that would follow those kinds of messages. Most likely my wages. It's nice of him to send them early.

He opened it up, and couldn't believe his eyes. There were more zeros than he ever thought he would see. "This has to be a mistake." He said out loud. "What is it?" Jetta asked, barely pulling herself away from the holo-vid she was watching. Lachlan was speechless, he could only stare at his datapad. "What? What's going on?" Jetta asked, standing up to look at the device. "That's not real." She gasped.

"100,000 Free Space Tokens have been deposited to your account by VP-10927LL"

The message on the screen read, and instantly Lachlan felt like everything in his life was about to change. "This. This. This is." "Life changing." Jetta finished to save him from speaking the words that caught in his throat.

"We can leave." He said, staring into her eyes. She stood up straight holding the back of her head, walking around the room in utter shock. "That's enough to leave!" Lachlan shouted as he stood up to follow her. "We can get out of here, sell up, we don't have to be around for the sale." He continued. "Leave that in the hands of an agent and go."

"Where?" She asked, her eyes tearing up from the shock. "Anywhere, you, me, and Erom, we can just go. You pick, we'll leave today!" "No, we can't, or can we? What if it wasn't meant for you, you don't know, that could be a glitch." "Let's go shopping, and we'll find out!"

The two of them laughed, hugged and after getting ready, they were gone.

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Back in the house, they were both overjoyed, after a well-needed shopping spree. The money was in fact, real. They spent a few hours out, eating, buying clothes, and the luxuries that were slightly out of reach for them before today.

"I'm going to make us something to eat," Jetta said as she walked to the kitchen with Erom. Lachlan was grinning like a fool as he placed all of the heavy bags in their sitting room.

He stared at their haul, as he heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Lachlan said as he went to answer it.

"Lachlan Calder?" A peacekeeper asked, who was accompanied by a middle-aged man, and a younger-looking version of the older man. "Yes? Who?" Lachlan asked. "I am Brom Malik, behind me are Viktor Parkell and his son, Tephua Parkell." The peacekeeper said, with an introductory wave of his hand to the two men accompanying him. "May we come inside?"

"Yes, of course, come in." Lachlan stepped aside and led them into his home, and to the sitting room. "Please, excuse the mess." "Hah, you think this is messy, you should see my house," Brom replied happily, Lachlan caught a glimpse of the other two, who didn't look the slightest bit impressed. The older of the two sat down, while the younger one Tephua just stood, staring at some of the mess.

"Sit down son," Viktor said, but his son whispered something under his breath. No doubt, he was refusing to sit, but a short stare by Viktor made him reconsider.

With everyone seated in the room, the peacekeeper took in a deep breath. "I assume you understand why we're here." Lachlan nodded. "It's about the money." "My money, which was intended for my son here. He's been hounding me for a ship, and as a birthday gift, I decided to cave. In my haste to do so, I input the wrong digit. Typically, the money would be contained in a holding account until being refunded, this time though, the credentials I put in, were yours." The Peacekeeper nodded as Viktor finished and opened his mouth. "On finance apps, all information is accessible, through our data banks, which led us here. Now, if it is okay with you, Mr. Parkell would like the money to be transferred back to him."

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Lachlan looked at the Peacekeeper's worried expression, then to Viktor's stone-faced expression, then to Tephua, who wore a face of disgust; as if a fetid stench had wafted up his nose.

"You got sent 100,000 FSTs as a birthday gift? Well for some. I wish I had that kind of money to send my son." Lachlan said. He wasn't usually confrontational, more often than naught, he would go above and beyond to avoid conflict. "What my father decides to give me is none of your concern." The young Parkell boy said, to which his father grimaced slightly. "I can appreciate how difficult it is, to be given so much, and to have to hand it back, but, it is the right thing to do," Viktor said.

"You know? Excuse me if I'm being rude, but I don't think you truly know how hard of a decision that is. That money found its way to my account through your own carelessness. If I was sending that kind of money to someone, I would make damn sure that everything was correct before hitting transfer." Viktor nodded to that. "I understand, I truly do. It's not a small amount of money." "No, it's a life-changing amount of money. That you were willing to send into the void without a care in the world. Clearly, you have more than enough money, why are you worried about what you sent me?"

"Because it's my money." "Well, no, technically, it's my money." The son said while glancing at his father.

"You can surely afford to send your son another 100,000 FSTs." "One, how much I have is none of your business. Two, no, because then I am spending double my intended amount. I can't just give money away to people." "You're the head of Parkell Industries, am I right in saying that?" "Yes?" Viktor asked, with an inquisitive look on his face. "One of the highest-grossing companies in the city." "Which is completely down to me. I built that company with my bare hands." He emphasised the point by waving his hands gently.

"Completely down to you? So, you worked a dead-end job to earn enough to start it, or were you handed down assets by your parents?" Lachlan asked and Viktor scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Jetta then entered the room, holding the baby. "What's going on?" "I'll tell you what's going on! This man is in possession of money that doesn't belong to him and is refusing to give it back. Peacekeeper, detain him." Tephua said, pointing a finger at the Peacekeeper, who could only shake his head.

"There's nothing I can legally do. I can only ask that Mr. Calder gives it back, but I can't detain him over it, as he said. It wasn't stolen, it was falsely given to him." Brom said, taken aback by the situation. "Well, then I'll take it back because it's my money." Tephua threatened while standing up. As he did, the baby started to cry, prompting Jetta to leave the room with a look of disappointment and concern.

"Well, actually, you taking it back would be considered theft, in the eyes of the law, which is a detainable offense." "Are you joking!?" The young man shouted. "My father's company, not only has countless employees, but all of those wages pay a hell of a lot more tax than this man ever could." "That may be so, but that doesn't make you, or your father above the law." Brom took a deep breath. "Look, what about a compromise, what if Mr. Calder was to give back, I don't know, half of the money? Would that be acceptable?"

Lachlan opened his mouth, but before he could speak Viktor cleared his throat. "No, that would not be acceptable. All of the money is mine and was intended for my son, I am not a charity." The Peacekeeper rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't see much of way out of this then, as I said, all we can do is ask Mr. Calder to return the money, other than that, there's nothing else that can be done."

Tephua looked at Brom and then threw a glare at Lachlan. "We'll see what happens if he decides to keep it." He said in a tone of pure venom. Viktor instantly elbowed Tephua. "Shut your mouth." "Excuse me?" The Peacekeeper asked while turning around. "Nothing, the boy is just being stupid and doesn't know what he's saying." "The 'boy' is a fully grown man and knows better, I could have him taken in over comments like that." "It won't happen again. Will it?" Viktor asked. "No," Tephua replied, but something in his eyes said that the money wasn't worth the risk.

"I'll give it back," Lachlan said. "Minus the money which I have already spent."

"Really?" The Peacekeeper wore a look of shock. "Good, I'm glad we could sort this mess out amicably," Viktor said as he stood up.

"No, I want it all back!" Tephua said. "Shut it, you're lucky to get any of it back with that mouth of yours," Viktor replied, then looked at Lachlan. "So, I should see the money returned within the next day?"

"Yes, you will. I have a few things to do, but will get down to my local branch this afternoon to process the transfer." Tephua shook his head. "No, you'll do it now." "No, I'll do it when I'm ready, my first priority is my son, who's crying thanks to your outburst. Now, if that'll be all." Lachlan stood up, extending a hand to the sitting room door, which prompted everyone to leave the room.

The first out of the house was Viktor, followed by Tephua. Last to leave was Brom, who stalled for a few seconds, to gain some distance. "I don't know what I'd do in your position, but I want you to know that you're not obligated to do anything you don't want to do." "I'm worried about what'll come of it if I decide not to transfer the money. To be honest, if I didn't have a son and wife, I would most likely keep it."

The Peacekeeper nodded to that and shrugged. "The choice is yours, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Anyway, have a nice day, and sorry for disturbing you."

Lachlan closed the door behind them, and couldn't help but think about the situation and what he should do.

He was worried but wondered if heading off-world would free them from repercussions, on the off chance that he decided to keep it.