The doors made a violent “SWISH” sound. Opening and closing behind him as he moved through the corridors. Bob, sporting his best no-nonsense yet relaxed stride, headed towards his captain’s office. He was a little nervous. Rumors were coming down through the ranks that changes were going to be made. Could this meeting might have something to do with that? The last time The Emperor made changes, he wiped out an entire civilization along with Ted. Ted had been middle management, like himself. It was Teds misfortune though, to have bumped into The Emperor that day… Literally.
Bob arrived at his destination. Standing outside, he took a deep breath and walked in “SWISH-WOOSH BANG”. Mister Parks, The Captains Adjutant, sitting at his desk, looked up at Bob.
“Please have a seat sir, Captain Harris will be with you shortly.”
Bob sat down on the mildly uncomfortable single chair in the room, back straight, palms on his knees. Like the rest of the space station, the room had a very sterile feel to it. The diffused white lighting managed to make every smudge or smattering of dust on the glossy black walls stand out like a Pulsar. Mister Parks continued his work silently as Bob waited. His hands floating over the desk as electronic files danced on the technical readout display. Bob watched as the silent symphony played out.
*crackle* “Mister Parks, send him in!” *crackle-pop*
Mister Parks, looking at Bob, gave a nod towards the door. Bob stood and walked in “SWISH-WOOSH BANG”. As Bob walked up to Captain Harris’ desk, he noted the room was slightly warmer, with grey walls and black trim. Various decorations of past deeds mounted on the walls. A single, small chair gracing the space in front of the desk. What Bob found most striking though, was the enormous painting of Darth Vader on the wall behind the Captain. He stood at attention, saluting Captain Harris.
“BOB!” Captain Harris greeted loudly with a big smile, jutting out his hand from behind the desk. Bob looked down at Captain Harris’ empty hand. Immediately he reached out and shook the Captains hand. The Captain shook his hand vigorously then gestured toward the chair. “Have a seat Bob.”
Bob sat down in the vacant chair in front of the desk. Captain Harris walked from behind his desk and leaned upon his desk. “It’s been a while Bob, how’s it going?”
With a concerned look on his face, Bob answered “Fine sir.”
“How are the kids?”
“Doing well, Jenny will be starting school this year.” At this point Bob was feeling a bit more uncomfortable the chair can offer.
With an earnest look, Harris leaned forward, “Bob. How is Melony? Is she doing ok?”
“Captain, Melony and I have been divorced for a year now.”
A little too cheerfully, Harris said, “Oh, that’s too bad. Sorry to hear that. But Bob, that’s not why I called you in here.” Harris stood up and with a distant stare, took two strides towards the far side of the room and turned on his heal, facing towards Bob. “Bob, the empire needs personnel! Men and Women to carry on the will of The Emperor! The needs of the Empire are growing at an exponential rate and will need sacrifice, submission and blind loyalty to meet those needs!” Harris stepped close and leaned in at Bob. “Bob, I need to know I can count on you. Can I count on you Bob?”
Feeling sure that the sacrifice Captain Harris was looking for was going to come from Bob, with a dry mouth he managed to squeak out “Yes sir.”
Harris gave him two strong slaps on the back “EXCELLENT! Glad you’re on board!” Harris walked back over to his chair, sat down and began hammering away at his desk console.
Bob leaned forward and asked, “Sir, may I speak freely?”
Harris looked up from his console, “Sure bob, what’s on your mind?”
“Sir, I’m just curious, what exactly do you need of me?”
“I’m glad you asked Bob”, Harris said as he got up from his chair to return to the front of his desk. Leaning back he said, “Bob, I need to tell you,” Harris looked at him earnestly, “The Emperor has been watching you.” Bob got a sudden chill. This is it, he thought. Ted got off easy. “He told me himself, he likes what he sees.” Bob almost fainted. “That’s why he asked me personally to oversee his new initiative and he wants your team taking point.” He said with a proud smile. Bob was overwhelmed. The Emperor really asked for him specifically!? He felt a wave of pride and relief.
“Thank you sir, I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will Bob. That’s why I’ll be sending the first candidate to you first thing tomorrow?”
Bob looked at Harris questioningly, “Candidate sir?”
“Yes Bob. You see, the top brass has had an efficiency expert working on several issues with the troops.”
“Issues sir?” Bob questioned.
“Yeah. We’ve been getting reports that many of the new batches of recruits suffer from poor eyesight. Statistics show that only One out of Twentynine troops hit their mark with blasters. While Seven out of Nine seem to expire early. Quite frankly the cost of maintenance is just getting out of hand.” Harris, standing abruptly, waves his hand in the air declaring “SITHSPIT! We’ve found that if you just point in their general direction, three out of eight Troopers will just fall over and expire!” He turns towards Bob quietly, “And Bob, have you noticed when we bring people in on the management level, everyone suddenly develops a pompous, stuck up accent? It’s really creeping me out.” Harris straightens up, pulls his tunic down, tightening up his professional air. “So, Bob,” Harris said as he walked back behind his desk. “The Emperor has declared a new program of diversity in the work place. And he needs you to make it succeed.” Harris sat back down behind his desk.
“Yes sir.” Bob stated boldly. Then, with a less than sure tone he asked, “If I may ask sir, in what way does the Emperor foresee this change unfolding?”
“Excellent question.” Harris said with a grin. “Simply, he wants me to start a recruitment program for Storm Troopers. Gradually, clone production will be phased out.”
“I see. And this first recruit, I presume he has top qualifications?”
“Well…” Harris hesitated. “Not exactly. He’s my sisters’ kid, and unfortunately, he’s not too sharp. So, he should fit in just fine with the average Storm Trooper.”
“I see.” Bob said.
“Here are his records, I’m sure he’ll be in good hands with you.”
Bob took the folder from Harris’ outstretched hand, saluted, turned, and left his office. Harris sat down and sighed deeply. He knew that Bob would do what he could to keep his ‘new recruit’ from getting in any trouble. He leaned over to his desktop console, pressed a button queuing up a microphone.
Bob stood patiently as Mister Parks completed his paperwork.
*crackle* “Mister Parks” *crackle-pop*
He leaned over to his Desktop Console, “Yes sir.”
*crackle* “The soldier that was just in my office, find his personnel records and get me the contact info for a civilian named Melony” *crackle-pop*
The End