"Captain ? I didn't expect to see you here !" Trooper 9178 said as she saw Shade standing in the open doorway.
"I'm sure you didn't seven-eight" Shade replied curtly. "May I enter ?" She continued, walking into the small dorm room before the trooper could answer.
"Erm, of course Captain" 9178 said, her voice betraying the sudden nervousness she felt as she pressed the button for the door to close behind Shade.
Shade took a couple of more steps into the cramped area and looked around. To her it seemed like a long time since she had her own near identical dorm room. Everything was as she remembered it to look; the neatly made up bed that took most of the left hand side of the room up was present, as was a work station and chair on the right hand side. She now faced the only part of the room that could be made to look and feel personal – the tall thin storage unit which ran from floor to ceiling.
"Is everything alright Captain?"
Shade heard the question that came from behind her, but she chose to ignore it. She continued to look up and down the shelves, pausing at one small item in particular, which she picked up and inspected.
She turned around to face 9178 and held the item out in front of her, the cuboid shape resting neatly in the open palm of her hand.
"I see you have a chance cube seven-eight" she said, her voice neutral.
The female trooper looked confused "sure Captain. Funny story, I stole that off an old junk trader on Tattooine whilst on a mission. Me and the others sometimes play..." 9178 replied hesitantly.
Shade closed her fingers around the cube and at the same time held her other hand up, a clear signal for silence.
"I'm not interested in that seven-eight." She said, her eyes narrowing. "What I am interested in is why you chose not to come to the mess hall as you were told to..."
The trooper ran her hand through her short cut hair. "Well, Captain. Something came up, I was told to go to Stores. And I thought I'd just come back up here afterwards. Maybe get some shut eye..."
"Who told you to go to Stores seven-eight? I am your superior !" Shade roared, her anger building.
9178 didn't reply.
"Seven-Eight. Do you know why I chose you for my squad ?" Shade asked, her voice suddenly very quiet.
"No Captain..."
"Because you reminded me of me. I thought you were hard working. I thought you were trust worthy. But I was clearly wrong..."
"You weren't wrong Captain !" 9178 shot back, her voice breaking as she spoke.
"Oh. I was seven-eight. I know you are lying to me. I can feel it. I can, and probably will, go over where I went wrong with you, but that's for another day. Right now there are only two questions that remain to be answered. One is important for me...the other is extremely important for you..."
Shade let the words hang in the air as she paced around the dorm, moving behind the younger trooper.
9178 turned around to face her again. "Listen, Captain...I'm not sure what this is about..."
Shade took a step forward, forcing the trooper to step backwards.
"Thing is. I wasn't sure about you, even when I walked in here, but something you just said has made my mind up about you..."
Shade regarded the silent trooper as she continued.
"You just said you got this on Tattooine." She said, holding up the chance cube. "You forget, I have seen your service record. You should have never been there. Which makes me wonder who you really are...Are you a spy...? Who are you really working for...? Summer..." The way she said the last word, Shade somehow made the name she had given the trooper seem like an insult.
"Captain...I really don't..." Summer tried to say.
"Silence. I really wouldn't believe you even if you told me anyway...that was the first question. The one that is important to me. One that I'm going to have to come back to later..."
"So what's the second question then... Captain Shade." 9178 stopped still where she stood, standing tall, suddenly full of confidence. The change of demeanour momentarily surprised Shade.
"Ah. Is this the real 9178 I'm finally seeing?"
"You have no idea...so come on then. What's your second question?" Summer answered forcefully.
"The second question is what I'm going to do about you, seven-eight" Shade stated ominously. "We will let the chance cube decide that shall we ?...Red you live...Blue...you don't."
Shade threw the cube up in the air without saying another word. It landed with a bounce and rolled along the floor, coming to rest near the closed door.
Neither of the women moved, their gaze locked on each other.
"Shall we see what the cube has given you seven-eight ?" Shade said darkly.
"You wouldn't dare Shade...He will..."
9178 didn't finish her sentence. She didn't even see Shade draw her blaster and pull the trigger.
She slumped to the floor.
Shade looked down at her lifeless body.
"Dare ? Oh. I would..."
She stepped over Summer and bent over to pick up the cube, looking at what it had landed on.
"Look at that. Blue. You are all out of luck seven-eight, but I could have told you that already..." she said into the silence.
She paused, and with a grin she put the chance cube into a pouch in her uniform belt. She pressed the button next to the door, and after checking to make sure the corridor was empty she quickly strode out and headed towards the lifts.
