Special： These three（Part 5）

    ThefuneralceremonyofRitzPomanandJimmySternareallheldontheholodecktwoandholodeckthreewhichisnotaslargeasthefirstone.Thankstotheskillofthedoctors，theircorpsesareluckyenoughtoberepairedasitshouldbe.It’sreallyapitythatbothofthemareintheirtwentieth，buttheylosetheirpreciouslifehere.Once，theydevotethemselvestoexploringtheuniverse，but，finally，space，thefinalfrontier，willbetheirfinaldestination.

    Initially，allthecrewsplannedtoholdfuneralsforthetwopeopleinthehugeplaneoftheshuttlehangar，butduetodifferentcustoms，theirfinalfuneralswouldbeheldonthesamedeck，buenotthesameplace.Andeventually，tothesameends.Wheretheywillfinallymeettheirdestiny，thesamedestiiny.

    RitzPomancomefromLondon.Hishouse，isabigfamilywhichhavelastedforalmostsevenhundredyears.Thoughallhisfamilyhaven’tcometotheAndromedagalaxy，twoofhissistersandoneofhisbrothersarealltakingserviceontheUSSCHINNYUN，whoareworkingasjuniorofficers.Thistime，theychoosetoholdthefuneralbytheoldpastorLatuk，anelderlyBritishministeronboardthestarship，andthen“bury”himtohishometown.JimmyStern’sfamily，bycontrast，havenoreligiousbeliefs，buttheyinsistonaformalAmericanfuneral.Tothesacrificeoftwopeople，XieXuanfeelsguiltyandgrateful，accordingly，shepromisedtherequirementoftwofamilieswithoutdoubt.

    Wearingawhitefederationsuit，Cpt.Xuanstepintotheholodecktwo.Justafterthearchopened，whatblowagainstherfaceisatingeofspring.Walkinghere，shealsoseemstowalkintheearth‘swilderness，whereshecanbecompletelyrelaxedandhappy.Inthedistancestoodasmall，one-storychurch，surroundedbywhitepaintandlargeskylightsdecoratedwithstainedglass.Whenseeingthegiantarcroofandthosecolorfulwindowsdecoratedwithallkindsofpaintings，Cpt.Xuanrealisedsomethinghappensyearsbefore，duringherhappychildhood.Whenthethoughtsofthepastisintoxicatingher，thearchwhichhavejustclosedbeforesuddenlyopenedatanothersituation，severalmenarecarryingalargecubeofblackcoffinwhichismadebydarkmarble.Atthesurfaceofit，thereliesablueflatneatly，whichistheflatoftheUnitedFederationofPlanets.Throughthetransparentcrystalplane，shecanseethattheyoungcheekisstillruddyclusteredbyvariousflowers，justlikewhatitwasyesterday.Cpt.Xuanquickenhersteps，walkingtowardthesmallchurchnotfaraway.

    Allthosewhotookpartinthefuneral，nomatterheisaseniorofficerorascienceresearcher，arewearingawhitesuitwithablackbowtieinordertoshowthebestrespecttothedefunct(死者).Theyjuststandstillandwaited.Whenthecoffincomesclose，thecrowdscatteredtobeasmallroad，buttheonlyonestandingstillisthepastorLatuk.Asusual，heiswearingaplaincassock.Beingwithseveralbrothersandsomesisters，heisstandingby，untiltheyarrive.

    Thepastorgivethosewhoarecarryingthecoffinatiptoshowsomething.Then，allofthemslowtheirpaceandjustwalkedcarefullyintotheholygate.Cpt.Xuanandsomeotherseniorofficersarestandingatthefirstline.Theyfollowthemandthensitdownatthebench，holdingtheaweandveneration.

    “Foreverythingthereisaseason，andatimeforverypurposeunderheaven.”Thepastorlookaround，andsays:”Atimetobeborn，andatimetatimetoplant，andatimetopluckupthatwhichisplaatimetokill，andatimetoatimetobreakdown，andatimetobuiatimetoweep，andatimetolatimetomourn，andatimetodatimetocastawaystones，andatimetogatherstonestogeatimetoembrace，andatimetorefrainfromembraatimetoseek，andatimetoatimetokeep，andatimetocastatimetorend，andatimetatimetokeepsilence，andatimetosatimetolove，andatimetoatimeforwar，andatimeforpeace.WhatprofithathhethatworkethinthatwhereinhelaborethIhaveseenthetravailwhichGodhathgiventothesonsofmentobeexercisedtherewith.Hehathmadeeverythingbeautifulinitstime:alsohehathseteternityintheirheart，yetsothatmancannotfindouttheworkthatGodhathdonefromthebeginningeventotheend.(HolyBible，theOldTestament，theBookofEcclesiastes(Ecc)，Chapter3，Verse1-11)”

    Whenthewelcomingceremonywenttoanend，thepastorraisedhishand，switchedintoasmoothertone，toproclaimthedeathofthelieutenant.

    “Ibelieve，forallofthosewhoarehere，RitzPomanisreallyagoodfriend，nomatterwhen，nomatterwhere，thisistheabsolutelytruthwemustremember.Hedevotedhiswholelife，withhispersonalsacrifice，toachievehisvalueforeveryonehere.Perhaps，beforethissingleday，Ihavetoadmit，Ialmostknownothingabouthim.Butafterthiscrisis，Iknowthat，thecharacterofhimisbecominghigherandhigher.Now，hehasachievedasachrist.Althoughit’sreallyaregretthathecannolongerperformthetaskherewithus，buthesacrifisedhislifeforothers.Shouldn’tthiskindofactivityfilledwithcouragebecalledasasturdyfaith”

    “Weallcomefromthedust，andultimately，dustiswhereweshouasstarfleet，wearechasingtheinfinitysky，andnow，wewillbealwayssurroundedbythestars.MaytheLord‘slovealwaysbewithyou，thefather，theson，andtheholyspirit.Amen.”

    Whenthefuneralmusicfinallyplay，everyonelowertheirheads，tostandinsilenttributeforthedefunct.Inthelightofacandle，thestarfleetbadgeinlaidonthesquarecoffinstoodout.Whentheceremonywasoverandthepriestnodded，thesceneontheholodecksuddenlychanged，andtheywereallinagreenmeadow.Inthemiddleofthem，asquaretombhadrecentlybeendug.

    “Sorry，youngChristian.”Hesaidheavily:”Wecan‘tgetyoubacktowhereyoucamefrom，butwebelieveit‘sthebestplaceforyou.”Severalstarfleetofficerscameforward，raisedtheflagonthecoffinforhim，foldeditflat，andputitbackonthelidofthecoffin.

    “Restinpeace，amen.“Asthecoffinslowlydescended，alltheparticipantsstoodupandsanghymnstotheyoungdead.

    AmbassadorChu’TaHattendedthefuneral.TheUSSCHINNYUN’srescuehelpedclearapaththroughtheasteroidbelt.Afterallthehymnswereover，hestoodaloneandsangthehymnsofhisownnationforthedeceasedtoshowhisrespectforRitz’ssacrifice.Althougheveryoneknewthathisbodywouldflytothedistantstars，noonewoulddesecratethesanctityofthesacredceremony.Attheendoftheburial，wreathsofblessingshungfromthecrossonwhichthefleetinsigniawascarved.

    Beforesteppingoutoftheholodeckarch，Cpt.Xuanturnedherhead.Inthesettingsun，thecloudsonthehorizonshonebeautifully，asiftheywereguidingsoulstoheaven，towheretheyshouldbe.

    Next，aftersayinggoodbyetoallherrelativesatRitzPoman‘sfuneral，Cpt.Xuanwalkedaloneintoholodeckthree.Thearchopened，andshefoundherselfinanAmericanparishsurroundedbytwo-storyhousesofthesameshape.Followingthesigns，shewalkedintotheJimmySterns‘yard.Sheknocked，andaplacid-lookingwomanopenedthedoor.

    “I‘vecometoseeMr.JimmyStern.“Shesaid，bowingslightly.

    Jimmy‘sfamilyisnotreligious.HegraduatedfromthestarshipacademyinWashington，d.c.Hisolderfatherandolderbrotherweremembersofthestarfleet.Atthemoment，thefamilyofthreepeoplearesittingonaroundthecoffin(infact，thisisaphotontorpedoshell).Aroundthem，thephonographisplayingthescientificresearchersmostlikeclassicalmusic.Fromtimetotime，themotherwillbeontheedgeofthecoffininalowvoicetowhisper.Perhaps，thisisakindofhelplessexpectation.

    “JimmyStern‘sagoodboy，isn‘the“Mrs.SternclaspedCpt.Xuan‘shands.“he‘salwaysthebest.“

    “Yes，ma‘am.“Xiexuancansee，althoughtheothersideexpressioniscalm，seemunmoved，butinfact，herheartishidingagreatpain，whichhadneverbeenknownbyher.

    “Promiseme，captain.“Mrs.Sterncontinued，“youwillleadJimtodistantstars，ashewishes.“

    “Yes，ma‘am.“Cpt.Xuannodded.“Iwillliveuptohisexpectations.“

    “Thankyou，captain.”

    BythetimeCpt.Xuanwalkedintothestarship‘ssmallbarthenextday，thewakewasover，anddozensofJimmyStern‘sfriendshadlaidoutallthetablesandchairsandgatheredtoreminisseaboutthepastscientificresearcher

    “Heisoneofthemostdiligentstudentsinourclass.““Icanstillrememberhowhemanagedtogethisassignmentdonewhenwehidhistextbook，and，evenso，hewasstillrewardedbytheteacher，“recalledaclassmateofJim.“Althoughhefailedtorealizehisdreamofbecomingascientificofficerofastarship，Ithinkhehasrealizedvaluesfarbeyondthese，andithasrisentothelevelofaphilosophy，whichIdon‘tknowverywellandneedourdeepunderstanding，“hesaid.

    “Exactly.“XieXuannodded，infullview，shewentontothestage，althoughtwoyoungofficerssacrificedtheirlivesforthem，alltheship‘sstaffsexpressfullunderstandingandaffirmation.Theydon‘tblamethecaptain，andperhaps，withoutthem，theywouldn‘tevenbeabletoexplorethisregionsafely.“Jimmiesternwasagoodandconscientiousofficer，ashismotherbelieved，“shesaid，raisingherheadandlookingaround.“He‘sagoodboy.“Xiexuanbowedherhead.“Hesacrificedhislifetosaveus.Iwillalwaysrememberwhathedid，forever，forever...“

    Theburialwasattendedbyfewpeople，mostlyofficersandfamilymemberswithwhomtheyhadsomecontact.Bythistime，twoyoungofficers’bodieshadbeenloadedintotwoovalblackphotontorpedoes.Throughthetorpedotubes，theywouldfollowasetcoursetowardthegalaxy，towardtheirnativeland，atawarpspeedof9.9.

    Onceagain，thehonorguardcoveredthesurfacesofthetwophotontorpedoeswithablueunionflag.ThepriestLatukkissedthemonelasttime，andthenthetorpedoclosedthelidandtheirfacesdisappeared.Severalofficerssteppedforwardandfoldedtheflag，neatlyandsolemnlyaway.

    “Eyesahead.“Cpt.Xuanstoodatattention:“Perhaps，wewillneverseesomeonelikethat.“

    Asthetwotorpedoeswerepushedintothetorpedotube，sheraisedherheadandmadeastandardvulcangreetinggesture.

    “Livelong，andprosper.”

    Inthethruster‘sflame，twophotontorpedoesclearedthe100-metertube，oneinfrontoftheother，turningintotworedpointsoflightanddisappearingamongthestarsinthedistance.