The gathered crew of The USS Mackenzie sat quietly and together.  They had each lost a piece of themselves with the death of Captain Harris.  Some had served with him on the Raven Class Erigone, while others had become a part of something greater on the Edinburgh…and all had found their place on the Mack.  The opening invocation was underway, given by Woodward, the Chief Counselor.  The various departments sat together, and the senior staff scattered throughout the room to comfort their officers and friends.  Juliet finished her speech and yielded the stage to a looming Cardassian figure.

“I am in shock, as most of you are.  The Federation has never asked me to speak at a funeral.  I consider it a high honor to stand here among you.”  He glanced at his notes, “I met Captain Harris when he was a Commander – he came to my colony in search of information.  He approached me not as an enemy or antagonist…but as a possible ally in whatever events had brought us together.  I will remember how he spoke to me…in that, he was wholly dedicated to understanding and relating to me as no Federation officer had before.”  He paused, his emotions surging in his memories.  He began, “I met him again as Captain Harris, and his grace and warmth were no less diminished.  In some ways, he had grown brighter in that regard.”  He gestured to the gathered crew, “He made sure you accepted me in the ways you could.  I do not recall a caste glance or a whispered muttering among you as I walked your hallways and worked in your world.  It is a credit to your captain that you are the way you are – there is no greater honor to see the efforts of a captain help mold his crew.”  He shuffled his notes, “Thank you, Captain Harris.  You have given me hope for a future yet to come.”  He stepped down and found his seat.

Prentice shakily stood and walked to the lecture, his PADD in hand.  He grasped the wooden podium as if it was a life raft in the rolling waves of his feelings.  He cleared his throat and took a slow sip of water.  He started, “I’m the only officer to have known Cap…Ambrose the longest, besides Dr. Reid.  He chose me to be his flight officer when he had no good reason to – I had several black spots on my record and was in a bad place.  He took me on with the Erigone, kept me around when we moved to the Edinburgh…and even brought me along to the Mackenzie.”  Prentice breathed deeply, “He was there for me when I needed him.  He made a house call to my quarters after a challenging day.”  He glanced into the audience and caught the eye of his assistant chief, who gave him an encouraging nod.  He returned to his notes, “He believed in me each step of the way.  He called me out when I wasn’t flying right and gently put me back on track.  In the short time under…Ambrose’s command made me understand what being a Starfleet officer meant the more I worked with him.  I found I wanted to get better at being a great flight officer because I was finding joy and satisfaction there…and my old ways weren’t bringing me that same thing.  Captain Harris gave me a chance to be who I needed to be…not what I wanted to be.  On the way, those two things… kind of became the same thing.”  He paused and looked out into the crowd, his eyes filling with tears, “Thank you, Captain Harris.”  He gathered his heart and returned to his seat.

The Voth vaunted the stage carefully without much skill and scampered to the podium.  He looked around the room, feeling the pressure of the gathering.  He tapped gently at the PADD before him and began, “Friend.  It is what he started as when he came upon me in the Delta Quadrant.  In time, I became a part of his family.  His mother welcomed me and taught me how to drive.”  There was scattered laughter in the crowd, and he chuckled, “So you have heard my driving story. I am getting better, but that, as the humans say, is currently a sliding scale.”  More chuckles in the audience, and Cardamon gave a bow.  He continued, “I did not expect him to help me or give me a chance when I asked to join him.  I imagined he, like most of the tales about the Federation, would brush me aside and curse my family or me or both.”  More scattered chuckles.  “But that is not how this story ended.  I found friendship in Captain Harris and his crew.  I found…community and warmth I had not felt in many years.  I found…my home.”  He held his emotions in check, but his voice noticeably quivered as he spoke, “He stood up for me when he could have just sent me home where I would have been…the human word is miserable, but it fails to capture the Vol experience.”  He thought momentarily, “The word was ‘nightmare’ – a waking nightmare.  But he didn’t.  He saved me and brought me to his home…, and it is a place I have found the things I have been seeking all my life.  The Captain did this for me.  I wish I could tell him all of this….but they tell me this is part of the process of loss.  I must find a way to tell him to help…get through this process.”  He looked into the audience, “I know you must feel something similar.  I suppose the more we tell others about him…the more we share the good he brought to us… the more good may come from his memory and life.”  There were noticeable sniffles as tissues were passed around.  He looked out amongst the crowd, “I give my thanks to Captain Ambrose Harris of the Federation.  Without him, I would not be here today.  I will not give up sharing you with the universe, Captain.”  He slowly returned to his seat, dabbing at his eyes.

Okada made her way to the podium and cleared her throat, “Most of the senior staff chose not to speak today.  I volunteered to speak for them, but I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to hold it together.  It is…such a hard thing to lose a captain like we lost Captain Harris.”  She took a sip of water and pushed forward, “Each of us has our story of how we came to be a part of his crew.  Reid came to him as the second member of the Erigone crew, and Prentice followed.  Most of us joined on the Edinburgh, with the rest on Mackenzie.  I was a lost engineering officer when he found me.  I’d passed promotions up and decided I would live the rest of my life on Starbase Bravo.”  She smiled, feeling the bright memories pulling at the dark curtain across her mind’s stage, “He conspired with my supervisor to get my application in the door…and turning down Captain Harris was hard.”  Her smile held as she continued, “Serving with him…was something unique.  You were seen…you were known…you were almost…loved.  He cared to know your favorite drink and meal…he would surprise you with a dinner with friends or drinks in the lounge on your birthday. As busy as he was…he never forgot you or those under you.”  She turned the page in her notes, “The senior staff wanted to say that we thought we’d get to serve with him forever – as it felt like there was no end to the journeys we could have with him on whatever ship he commanded.  That it hurts more than words can express to attempt to accept that that dream will never become a reality.  You each have memories of him.  You hoped what might become of this crew, this ship, and the future.”  She took another sip, holding her heart just below her throat, “We all hurt today.  We are gathered in grief, sadness, mourning, and loss.  Everybody hurts today.  None of us are alone .”  A last pause, “We’re wounded, but not beaten.  It will take time to heal, and we will find the strength to move forward.  Yet, we will never forget our first captain, Ambrose Harris.”  

She closed the PADD and looked out among the crew, “To absent friends.  To those we knew, to those we loved, to those we remember, to those we watch over, and to those we will never forget…may their memory be a blessing…and may their legacy live on in us with each new day.  To absent friends.”

The gathered group replied soundly, “To absent friends.”