Personal Log 41: The Funeral Of Bekka (BX42)
22 Sep 2016Jemine Caesar
10th August, 3301The funeral, as I had forewarned Sam, was a small affair. A simple memorial gathering, really, presided over by an official flown in by grandpapa. I had prepared a eulogy for the little girl who was, and yet was not, my daughter. Grandpapa said a few well chosen words, which I suspected were at least in part borrowed from some holovid in which he had once appeared. My grandmama looked on, her face stained with tears. We all wore red, including the four-strong guard of honour.
One of the naval officers played a sombre, hauntingly beautiful tune on uilleann pipes. Sam, wearing full dress navy uniform, joined the guard of honour in firing a salute with their pulse carbines. Grandmama got the fright of her life! Presently the body was taken away to be cremated.
Then a reception buffet, with polite chat about nothing in particular. My grandmama, an incorrigible flirt, made a fuss of each of the navy officers, and of Sam in particular. Grandpapa was the perfect host, ensuring both the wine and the anecdotes flowed equally liberally. Suddenly I noticed that Sam had gone missing. I knew exactly where I would find him...
*****
"Well, hello there, Mr Hodkin! Fancy finding you here in my grandpapa's holovid library."
"Oh, Jemine! I could spend all day here given half the chance!"
"I couldn't tell you how many vids he has in his collection, but it must be in the thousands. All his own, of course, plus all the ones of any directors, actors and actresses he's ever worked with. Some classics, and some best forgotten. Take this one, for instance: 'I Was A Thargoid Sex Slave!'. Utter rubbish! This one, though, is wonderful... 'The Aldebaran Queen'. It was the only time my grandparents appeared together, oddly enough."
"I'm just stunned at the number of 20th century classics he has in the collection to be honest, and I mean the originals, lovingly restored to their former glory in holographic form."
"The funeral went well, didn't it? It was good of the guard of honour to fire a pulse carbine salute."
"Yes. It's been a while since I've fired a pulse carbine to be fair."
"I don't know how I got through giving the eulogy. Thank you for being by my side, Sam."
"Well, you know I had to be there, without any shadow of a doubt. I do hope you weren't too perturbed by me managing to insert a Navy uilleann pipe player in for the reflective music. It's an instrument that can bring me to tears without even trying."
"When the ashes come back, grandpapa is going to scatter them with my own Bekka's in the garden. Let's go back and join the others. I hope grandmama isn't being too embarrassing for you, Sam. I did tell you she's a terrible flirt!"