Encounter with Tiber by Aldrin Buzz & Barnes John

Author:Aldrin, Buzz & Barnes, John [Aldrin, Buzz]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781480421646
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2013-05-27T16:00:00+00:00

10

THE FUNERAL WAS THE first time since Poiparesis’s death that we had all been gathered together. Soikenn was chief mourner and sat closest to the body; she shuddered through the whole service. When her time came to give the first eulogy, she merely got up, stood behind his body, raised his hand between hers, and stammered that we had loved him and would remember him. Captain Osepok had enough composure to stand still; her eulogy was delivered in neat, crisp, military sentences, a brief summary of Poiparesis’s career, but as she gave it her face became wet with tears, and we could see that she clutched Poiparesis’s hand hard.

The funeral lots may choose wisely but never kindly. Tradition was that after the chief mourner and the captain, the rest of the order of speakers was determined by lot, and though we had no reason to maintain any particular tradition, we had no cause to change this one. The lots decreed that the other three children spoke, then me, then Kekox. Mejox, Priekahm, and Otuz said essentially the same thing: that we had always relied on Poiparesis and looked up to him, and we would miss him terribly.

I had spent most of the past day thinking about what I would say, and now, as I stood before the others, holding Poiparesis’s dead hand in both of mine, I had a sinking feeling that it was a terrible idea and a terrible speech, but it was too late to think of anything else to say. His hand was so cold, his dead face so empty … I swallowed hard and began. “This is our first parting. When they sent us, they assumed that if we were not directly linked by family ties, we would have none of the problems of a family. But they were wrong. … As we gather here to say good-bye to Poiparesis we discover that this is our family.” I worked from there to what I really wanted to say—that somehow we all needed to come back together again, even if it meant some of us would have to give in on any number of issues. I was really talking to Mejox and Kekox, of course, but I tried to address it to everyone. I finished by saying something that I knew was true—that Poiparesis would not have wanted us to quarrel.

Then I set the heavy weight of his arm down, looked at his face one more time—thought of ten thousand little things from childhood and my education—and sat down. Kekox rose and walked to the speaker’s position behind the body.

He looked down for a long time before picking up Poiparesis’s hand with his good one; the other, in its splint, reminded us all of what had happened. Then he looked out and said, “I had thought I had a speech. I had thought I had three speeches or so. And now I find I don’t want to deliver any of those.” Kekox seemed to stare at his face.

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