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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

54

Bjorn was lazily observing the orcas on their way across the fjord in the direction of the village when he suddenly became aware of the white van he had let in earlier heading back up towards the check point. He first caught eye of it down at the intersection which gave him plenty of time to finish his coffee, and even go out for a quick smoke before it arrived at the barrier.

The young man greeted Bjorn with a cheerful "Hi again!" while waving his passport at him.
"Not so quick, young man," Bjorn replied politely and in an equally cheerful voice. "I need to take a quick look in the back, just to see that you're not smuggling anyone out with you."
"Okay. That's fine with me," the man replied, putting his passport back into the inner pocket of his jacket.

He stepped out of his car and opened the back of his van, allowing Bjorn to have a good look at what he was taking with him out of the colony. And while this should not have come as any surprise to Bjorn, he was amazed by all the wine, beer, cigarettes, meat products and cheeses that were piled up inside.

"That's quite a catch you got there," Bjorn commented.
"It is indeed!" the young man replied shamelessly.
"But, is this legal?" Bjorn asked, immediately realizing how silly the question was, coming from him, the supposed expert.
"Well, you should know, shouldn't you?" The young man replied with a cheeky smile. "But yes, it is indeed legal."

Bjorn was tempted to call Frank to have him confirm what the young man was saying, but since this would make him look even more clueless he chose to fake detailed knowledge of the rules once again, just like he had done with a certain degree of success down at Ane's factory the day before.

"Of course it is," Bjorn replied with a smile. "But this is hardly the intention of the law, is it?"
"I guess not. But there is nothing in the rules that say anything against this."
"No, but that is just because no one had anticipated this kind of behaviour."
"Maybe so, but I'm just playing by the rules."

It was beyond obvious that the man was smuggling a cartload of products into Norway, but Bjorn had received no other instructions than to prevent asylum seekers from escaping the colony. The lawmakers in Oslo must have made the mistake of thinking of the colony as nothing more than an enormous asylum centre, and completely ignored the fact that all sorts of other businesses could and would be established down there too. Blinded by the prospect of having a problem solved for free, they had completely lost sight of the bigger picture. The colony had not developed into the gulag or prison camp that they must have imagined, but instead morphed into a strange mix of detention centre and tax haven.

Stunned by his sudden insight into the obvious, and filled with a sense of bewilderment regarding the failure of professional lawmakers to foresee this kind of thing happening, Bjorn hesitated. And the young man must have interpreted this as a growing reluctance on Bjorn's part to let him pass.

"Surely, you've bought some cigarettes down there yourself," he insisted, grabbing hold of a carton of cigarettes and holding them up to Bjorn.
"Well... no..." Bjorn answered bemused by the young man's sudden change of tone.
"You should! It can save you a small fortune."
"Yes?" Bjorn answered, still confused. "I know! I'll buy my next cigarettes down there."
"Good for you!" The man said with a smile. "What is your favourite brand?"
"Marlboro," Bjorn answered truthfully.
"Well that is my favourite brand too!"

The man tossed the carton of cigarettes he was holding back into the van, and pulled out a carton of Marlboro instead. The carton was already broken into, and the man held it up to Bjorn as to illustrate his point. "See! I've already broken into this one," he said proudly. Then he pulled out a pack and handed it to Bjorn.

"Why don't you keep this one, since we're smoking buddies and all?" The man insisted, tossing the carton back into his van before closing the back doors.
"Well, that's very generous of you," Bjorn replied. "But you really don't have to. I mean... You don't have to bribe me to get out, you know."
"Hey! Of course not!" the man retorted, pretending to be appalled by what Bjorn had just said. "If I wanted to bribe you, don't you think I would have given you something more than just a pack of cigarettes? Do I look like the kind of guy who would try to bribe people with pennies?"
"No, you don't," Bjorn admitted, not able to hide his amusement. "So, I can keep these?" he continued, feeling confident that the pack of cigarettes could hardly be classified as a bribe.
"Of course you can!" the young man replied. "We're buddies after all."
"Sure we are," Bjorn replied with a knowing smile.

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