Funeral for a Friend

The senior officers onboard the USS Leviathan had all gathered in torpedo room 1 to bid farewell to their former first officer Grant Harris. Senior officers such as Captain Marcus Devore and new first officer Toran Soliel were there along with others such as Chu Barker, Sierra Devore and other department heads. Major Jon Phanan, being the leading Marine onboard was asked to attend. Upon entering the torpedo room, Jon felt completely out of place.

All of the Starfleet officers wore their white dress uniforms. Jon, on the other hand, wore his Marine dress uniform. His dress was a black jacket with silver buttons. On his right breast was the medals and ribbons he had been awarded. On his right arm, the Marine dress communicator armband. Under his black jacket was the olive green turtleneck shirt with his Major's leaves on each side. The black pants with red stripes went with the jacket, while his patent leather boots were shined to perfection. He even decided to wear the ceremonial sabre of the FMC

The ship's computer announced that the time had come to 16:00 hours. Captain Devore made his way up to the torpedo casing and stared at it. The casing was ironically a weapon of mass destruction, now an instrument of ceremony which now was loaded on the launch ramp ready to bring Commander Harris into the great beyond. Devore called for the group's attention. Everyone dropped what they were doing, and turned to face the Captain

"We've come here today to bid our final farewells to one of our own." Marc paused to gather his thoughts. The torpedo bay was deathly silent while he thought. Quiet enough to hear a pin drop. "I've known Grant for a long time. Both he and I didn't always have the same ideas and principles at times, however, we always respected each others decisions, and we both worked together to get the job done. Now, with him gone, a void has been opened, which I don't know if I'll be able to fill. Not in the position of Executive Officer, but of the position as counterpart and friend. At this time, if anyone has anything to say about Commander Harris, please, feel free to make your way to the front." Devore quietly made his way off the small platform that the torpedo loading ramp was on.

Jon looked around at the crowd, and made his way to the front. He then turned around to face the rest of the congregation. "Well, I haven't been on the ship as long as most of you here. I also don't like speaking in front of large crowds, so I'll be brief." Jon cleared his throat. "I've seen a lot of people die in my time. Too many actually. One thing that always gets me, though, is that people always become to caught up in a person's death that they can't get themselves back to what they were doing before. Do I miss Commander Harris ? Of course I do. Who wouldn't ? He was a damn fine Executive Officer, and a friend to all of us. However, I'm sure that Grant would want us to get on with our lives and to continue doing what we do best. Exploring, making alliances and getting rid of the bad guy."

Jon paused again and looked into the eyes of the many people watching him to see what types of reactions they had. "So I say this. Commander Harris is one of the best people that I have served under. I would be damn proud to do it again. He's gone now, though, and I won't be able to. However, I can go on with the knowledge that Grant is watching me somewhere, saying 'Damn good work Jon. Keep it up.' I hope you all see that as well." Jon stepped down from the platform, and left the torpedo bay, saying his peace. a secret.