The funeral ceremony of Ritz Poman and Jimmy Stern are all held on the holodeck two and holodeck three which is not as large as the first one. Thanks to the skill of the doctors， their corpses are lucky enough to be repaired as it should be. It’s really a pity that both of them are in their twentieth， but they lose their life here. Once， they devote themselves to exploring the universe， but， finally， space， the final frontier， will be their final

　　Initially， all the crews to hold funerals for the two people in the huge of the shuttle hangar， but due to different customs， their final funerals would be held on the same deck， bue not the same And eventually， to the same ends. Where they will finally meet their destiny， the same destiiny.

　　Ritz Poman come from London. His house， is a big family which have lasted for almost seven hundred years. Though all his family haven’t come to the Andromeda ， two of his sisters and one of his brothers are all taking service on the USS CHINNYUN， who are working as officers. This time， they choose to hold the funeral by the old pastor Latuk， an elderly British minister on board the starship， and then “bury” him to his hometown. Jimmy Stern’s family， by contrast， have no beliefs， but they insist on a formal American funeral. To the sacrifice of two people，

Xie Xuan feels guilty and grateful， ， she promised the requirement of two families without doubt.　　Wearing a white suit， Cpt.Xuan step into the holodeck two. Just after the arch opened， what blow against her face is a tinge of spring. Walking here， she also seems to walk in the earth's wilderness， where she can be completely and happy. In the distance stood a small， one-story church， surrounded by white paint and large skylights with stained When seeing the giant arc roof and those colorful windows with all kinds of paintings， Cpt.Xuan realised something happens years before， during her happy childhood. When the thoughts of the past is intoxicating her， the arch which have just closed before suddenly opened at another ， several men are carrying a large cube of coffin which is made by dark marble. At the surface of it， there lies a blue neatly， which is the of the United of Through the transparent crystal ， she can see that the young cheek is still ruddy clustered by flowers， just like what it was yesterday. Cpt.Xuan quicken her steps，walking toward the small church not far away.

　　All those who took part in the funeral， no matter he is a officer or a science researcher， are wearing a white suit with a tie in order to show the best respect to the defunct(死者). They just stand still and waited. When the coffin comes close， the crowd scattered to be a small road， but the only one standing still is the pastor Latuk. As usual， he is wearing a cassock. Being with several brothers and some sisters， he is standing by， until they arrive.

　　The pastor give those whoare carrying the coffin a tip to show something. Then， all of them slow their pace and just walked carefully in to the holy gate. Cpt.Xuan and some other officers are standing at the first line. They follow them and then sit down at the bench， holding the awe and

　　“For everything there is a season， and a time for very purpose under heaven.” The pastor look around， and says:” A time to be born， and a time to die; a time to ， and a time to pluck up that which is ; a time to kill， and a time to heal; a time to break down， and a time to build up; a time to weep， and a time to laugh; a time to mourn， and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones， and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace， and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek， and a time to lose; a time to keep， and a time to cast away; a time to rend， and a time to sew; a time to keep silence， and a time to speak; a time to love， and a time to hate; a time for war， and a time for peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart， yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.( Holy Bible， the Old Testament， the Book of ()， Chapter 3， Verse 1-11)”

　　When the ceremony went to an end， the pastor raised his hand， switched into a smoother tone， to the death of the lieutenant.

　　“I believe， for all of those who are here， Ritz Poman is really a good friend， no matter when， no matter where， this is the absolutely truth we must remember. He devoted his whole life， with his personal sacrifice， to achieve his value for every one here. Perhaps， before this single day， I have to admit， I almost know nothing about him. But after this crisis， I know that， the character of him is higher and higher. Now， he has achieved as a christ. Although it’s really a regret that he can no longer perform the task here with us， but he sacrifised his life for others. Shouldn’t this kind of activity filled with courage be called as a sturdy faith?”

　　“We all come from the dust， and ultimately， dust is where we should be; as starfleet， we are chasing the infinity sky， and now， we will be always surrounded by the stars. May the Lord's love always be with you， the father， the son， and the holy spirit. Amen.”

　　When the funeral music finally ， everyone lower their heads， to stand in silent tribute for the defunct. In the light of a candle， the starfleet badge on the square coffin stood out. When the ceremony was over and the priest nodded， the scene on the holodeck suddenly changed， and they were all in a green meadow. In the middle of them， a square tomb had recently been dug.

　　“Sorry， young Christian.” He said heavily:” We can't get you back to where you came from， but we believe it's the best for you.” Several starfleet officers came forward， raised the on the coffin for him， folded it ， and put it back on the lid of the coffin.

　　“Rest in peace， amen.“ As the coffin slowly descended， all the participants stood up and sang hymns to the young dead.

　　Ambassador Chu’TaH attended the funeral. The USS CHINNYUN’s rescue helped clear a path through the asteroid belt. After all the hymns were over， he stood alone and sang the hymns of his own for the deceased to show his respect for Ritz’s sacrifice. Although everyone knew that his body would fly to the distant stars， no one would desecrate the sanctity of the sacred ceremony. At the end of the burial， wreaths of blessings hung from the cross on which the fleet insignia was carved.

　　Before stepping out of the holodeck arch， Cpt.Xuan turned her head. In the setting sun， the clouds on the horizon shone beautifully， as if they were guiding souls to heaven， to where they should be.

　　Next， after saying goodbye to all her at Ritz Poman's funeral， Cpt.Xuan walked alone into holodeck three. The arch opened， and she found herself in an American parish surrounded by two-story houses of the same shape. Following the signs， she walked into the Jimmy Sterns' yard. She knocked， and a - looking woman opened the door.

　　“I've come to see Mr. Jimmy Stern.“ She said， bowing slightly.

　　Jimmy's family is not He graduated from the starship academy in Washington， d.c. His older father and older brother were members of the starfleet. At the moment， the family of three people are sitting on a round the coffin (in fact， this is a photon torpedo shell). Around them， the phonograph is the scientific researchers most like music. From time to time， the mother will be on the edge of the coffin in a low voice to whisper. Perhaps， this is a kind of helpless

　　“Jimmy Stern's a good boy， isn't he?“ Mrs. Stern Cpt.Xuan's hands.“he's always the best.“

　　“Yes， ma 'am.“ Xie xuan can see， although the other side is calm， seem unmoved， but in fact， her heart is hiding a great pain， which had never been known by her.

　　“Promise me， captain.“ Mrs. Stern continued，“you will lead Jim to distant stars， as he wishes.“

　　“Yes， ma 'am.“ Cpt.Xuan nodded.“I will live up to his “

　　“Thank you， captain.”

　　By the time Cpt.Xuan walked into the starship's small bar the next day， the wake was over， and dozens of Jimmy Stern's friends had laid out all the tables and chairs and gathered to reminisse about the past scientific researcher

　　“He is one of the most diligent students in our ““I can still remember how he managed to get his assignment done when we hid his textbook， and， even so， he was still rewarded by the teacher，“ recalled a of Jim.“Although he failed to realize his dream of a scientific officer of a starship， I think he has realized values far beyond these， and it has risen to the level of a philosophy， which I don't know very well and need our deep understanding，“ he said.

　　“Exactly.“ Xie Xuan nodded， in full view， she went onto the stage， although two young officers sacrificed their livesfor them， all the ship's staffs express full understanding and They don't the captain， and perhaps， without them， they wouldn't even be able to explore this safely.“Jimmie stern was a good and officer， as his mother believed，“ she said， raising her head and looking around.“He's a good boy.“ Xie xuan bowed her head.“He sacrificed his life to save us. I will always remember what he did， forever， forever...“

　　The burial was attended by few people， mostly officers and family members with whom they had some contact. By this time， two young officers’ bodies had been loaded into two oval photon torpedoes. Through the torpedo tubes， they would follow a set course toward the ， toward their native land， at a warp speed of 9.9.

　　Once again， the honor guard covered the surfaces of the two photon torpedoes with a blue The priest Latuk kissed them one last time， and then the torpedo closed the lid and their faces disappeared. Several officers stepped forward and folded the ， neatly and solemnly away.

　　“Eyes ahead.“ Cpt.Xuan stood at :“Perhaps， we will never see some one like that.“

　　As the two torpedoes were pushed into the torpedo tube， she raised her head and made a standard vulcan greeting gesture.

　　“Live long， and prosper.”

　　In the thruster's ， two photon torpedoes cleared the 100-meter tube， one in front of the other， turning into two red points of light and disappearing among the stars in the distance.