Eulogy by E. Straker with Amelia S. Rodgers(c) 2011 all rights reserved not meant to infringe on copyright


It went well, didn't it, Alec?

It was a little too short for my taste.
 
Life has to move on. War has to move on.

We just buried two of our finest people, Commander.
I delivered their eulogy, I'm aware of that.
I just don't understand you. Morale is a big factor in all of this. You could have-
Colonel, I suggest you get back to work.
Will you listen to me for once in your life?
Considering that you're yelling at me, you don't leave me much choice. All right, all right. Have at me.
Didn't you have any feelings for those two men we just buried?
I have a job to do, Colonel. You have yours. We've lost countless people, good and decent people, and civilians. In a war there will always be casualities.
Casualities. So we just write them off. Is that it?
The Commander's blue eyes blazed at the second-in-command.
You have a better idea?
What happens when those casualities are people you know?
Colonel, although you may think so, you aren't my conscience, the Commander snapped coldly.
You're sitting at that desk, at that desk, for Christ's sake. You're telling me you have no feelings, after sprinking dirt over the coffins of officers we both knew?
What is it you really want, Colonel? You want me to break down, shed tears, so I look human? I am this organization. You know perfectly well I have to maintain a facade, I have to project a personality that will assure my people that we can do what we can do. I'm aware you don't appreciate my choices in these matters.
The Colonel moved to the bar, poured a whisky, drank most of it down. Coughed a little.
The SHADO Commander watched it, with a trace of amusement around the mouth.
Still can't quite manage to measure up, Colonel?
The Australian stared at his Commander.
Oh, shut up. You could have gone in a hundred directions, a million. Instead, you do this.
And you do that. This is an old argument, Alec. If you believed I was half the ogre some people make me out to be, you wouldn't still be standing in my office, drinking from that bar.
You never considered removing it?
I'm not changing a single thing in here. I'll put a bullet through the head of anyone who changes this office in any way.
So you are hurting.
God damn you, yes, all right? YES! The Commander swept the pile of folders off the desk in rage.
I feel it too, you know.
I suppose I should be grateful they died together, the Commander muttered.
We got the UFO that did it, Commander.
The UFO that blew their bodies to bits. I threw dirt on their remains. A coffin without a body. Flesh torn to shreds. I couldn't even kiss his cheek. My God, Alec, how do I go on without my father? I wasn't able to tell him I loved him.
  He knew, Eve. He knew. The second-in-command went up to the desk and took Ed Straker's adopted daughter in his strong arms.
It isn't fair, Alec. What's even more maddening is that he remained as aloof and as unyielding-
And as good looking? My Dad always complained that Uncle Ed still looked like a man of forty,  while with age he looked like something his cat had spit out, Alec Freeman chuckled.
Eve Straker chuckled through her tears.
Alec Freeman is - was your foster father, and you still can't even empty a shot glass without choking. Have I told you lately how much I love you?
  I'll never get tired of hearing it, Commander.

The End