h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Remind me what the ending was going to be?

I knew you were going to ask that!


Daltmooreby steals the turquoise Moon and travels on the rcket into space with X and Arthur in Hot pursuit.

Sreka escapes on a train from Antarctica with Ody and Jamila crashing into a hitherto unknown station underneath the library of congress.

Daltmooreby intends to use the laser to destroy the agency that ruined his life. (He doesn't realise the turquoise moon is a fake.)

H fires the laser, but the beam goes wildly out of control, it fires directly down the volcano hideout of the cult rupturing the magma chamber and causing an eruption.

Arthur and Daltmoorby square of on the laser platform, cu slow-mo 0 g fight sequence, with the alser fireing off willy -nilly and taking out areas of significance in a humorously capricious way.

Daltmoorby "dies" questionably.

Arthur and X flee the platform in an escape pod. Make it back to earth.

Arthur fakes his own death to escape the revenge of Daltmooreby Jr and retires with Anna

X returns to the agency with news of his partner's 'demise.'

*boggles*

Sorry to ask this, but don't suppose you could tell me where we last left off... it's all kind of mixed up in my head!

I'd need to look myself....

Post: 1656
Post: 1666 (except for the part of Ody etc which is replaced by Post 1678)
Post: 1668
Post: 1670
Post: 1672
Post: 1685
&
Post: 1703 (Where I muse of the final battle)

That's everything that was current.

So Annabel and Mary Square off.

The shuttle has to reach the space platform.

and Ody and Jamilla on the train have to escape by Sreka comes along for the ride.

Right... *crams brain* ... I'll try and process that lot, and come back to this, before... THE GREAT DEUS-EX MACHINA ENDING

NEW MATERIAL!!!

--------------------
It had taken a little over 10 minutes of intense shaking to reach outer-space.

Arthur's first clue was when X floated past him inverted frantically trying to gain purchase on the walls to right himself.

Arthur looked down and realised his feet were no longer touching the floor.

Even considering how much recent events had tested him, this was testament to Arthur's studied unflappability, he was steady as a rock even in zero gravity.

"X, get down!" instructed Arthur.


"Trying." X wailed as he tried to redirect his trajectory by strategically pivoting on his face in the corner recess.

Arthur let his partner struggle with weightlessness for a few further seconds before deciding this spectacle couldn't go on any further and decided to intervene.

X was now suspended vertically in the cupboard his foot caught in light.

Arthur considered the problem. "I'm going to have to pull you out."

"Be gentle."

Arthur took hld of both of X's ears and said: "It'll be painless and quick."

Just then a metallic voice trilled: MAGNETIC LOCK ACTIVATED. GRAVITY INITIALISED!

Arthur thudded to the ground. He looked into X's platitudinous face who gave a wobbly-upside down grin. A worried wrinkle crossed his brow causing him to look up into the descending silhouette of his partner.

They collapsed with a thump, into what looked like a pile of old space suits.

Which was fortunate as at that precise moment Sean Daltmooreby walked by the open door, carrying the suitcase.

An automatic airlock opened ahead of him and Daltmooreby exited the rocket.

Arthur extracted X's boot from his nose. "He didn't see us."

"That's good." X said prising his face from the grating and running a mental inventory of teeth.

"We have to follow him and stop him."

Thinking about BPM's idea in 1702-3, just a quick addendum.

------------------


"First, just connect your air supply." Arthur indicated the valve and pipe to X.

X blanched and then did so as Arthur did the same. In tandem two little displays counted up five bars, turned green and went 'ping!'

"Let's go."

"It had taken a little over 10 minutes of intense shaking to reach outer-space."

Glossing over detail - moi?

One another forum - someone asked 'had I ever thought about writing stories?'

Figured I should probably get over my writer's block and finish this.
---------------------------------


Daltmooreby entered the air lock.

Inside the little bubble of atmosphere inside his helmet he was cocooned from the deadly vacuum of space. Out there was as dead as he felt in side.

Something subconscious threw up a literary allusion - a half-living white golem - out for blood, driven not by the word under his tongue but a vow of vengeance etched into his heart.

All the scheming, all the lies and the killing had brought him here far out above the earth, finally alone and there was nothing anyone could do now that could stop him.

The last whisp of breathable air was inhaled into a vent, the air-lock equalised, a little light changed colour, it might also have gone 'ping' or 'clunk' but in a vacuum only silence.

The door slid open and Daltmooreby initiated the magnetic boot lock and stepped out onto the platform. It was dark in the hanger, an illuminated panel button was pressed by a gloved hand - and above the great doors slowly peeled open exposing the planet Earth above his head.

He heaved the Turquoise Moon into view, and gazed into it trough his visor; through it, far below him the misty grey-blue of oceans and clouds and occasional continents refracted and distorted plaintively. He secured it once more

He licked his lips in anticipation. 'Just need to insert this into the focussing chamber, and power her up.'

Moving with the the swimming-through-treacle-like-slowness of all space walks Daltmooreby began to ascend the ladder in the side of the wall. He tethered himself to the wall and then pushed off floating across the gap to another ladder on the laser gantry itself.

The access panel was removed revealing the empty focussing chamber; he placed the turquoise moon into the cradle where it would focus the beam, then replaced the cover sealing it in place.

Seated in the target chair he activated the control panel and the laser began to rise up on the delivery arm of the shuttle.

As he emerged out of the belly of the shuttle Daltmooreby was staggered by the size of the planet before him - it was so bright you couldn't see the stars it were as though it were set against black velvet.


The cult had built the laser to melt the ice-caps early "get it over and done with" they'd said; a new flood - they secure in their volcanic hide-away would outlast the civilisation that had scorned them; but Daltmooreby had other ideas.


"So much innocent life." Daltmooreby hummed as he tapped in some co-ordinates. "Too bad." He licked his lips and pressed the green button, the laser rose up and swivel right to point up at some target over head.

This brought him face to face with Arthur.

Daltmooreby let out a small gasp of surprise.

The intercom spluttered into life: "Sean. Stop. Please."

Daltmooreby pressed a button on the laser controls.

"Come to stop me Robinson?"

"You know I can't let you."

"You have no idea what I'm trying to do."

"You'll kill everyone."

"No I'm trying to save us."

"No partner?"

"X? He's -"

It was all the distraction Daltmooreby needed.

He snatched the side-arm laser from the side of the chair, shot past Arthur a pulse of shimmering purple, which partially melted one of the oxygen cylinders on the side of the shuttle which exploded in a cloud of frozen gas.

This obscured Arthur view for a moment, until Daltmooreby came roaring out of it the ice crystals peppering his visor and he launched a slow motion kick into Arthur's ribs.

The physics of this fight were all wrong, everyone moved far to graciously and the magnetic boots meant Arthur took a few moments to full detached from the deck. He nearly sailed off the shuttle and out into space, but at the last possible moment he grabbed hold of a ruined support pole that used to attach to the oxygen cannister and swung around and re-magnetised his boots onto the wall of the shuttle bay.

Daltmooreby was already heading back over to the laser.

Arthur kicked off as hard as he could, sailing painfully slowly across the space he collided with Daltmooreby in an awkward shoulder barge driving Daltmooreby into the control panel.

The Laser fired.....

How near are we now to the end???? The BBC site is nearly at an end, we have to finish this!!!

*even if it's just you and me left Clive *

jumpin jehosaphat's - you startled me! :P


Um lemme see. I think I last left it with Arthur and Daltmooreby fighting with space lasers on the orbital platform but by then I felt I was talking to my self and lets face facts probably was so sort of left it.

so finale stuff wrap it up conclusion roll credits.

What is the time limit on the Beeb hosting us?

Umm not sure I've not heard one yet... Possibly a few months? Longer perhaps depending on what stage they're at already

Right best get cracking then....

The laser fired....



Somewhere down below, underneath an ocean of air was a plateau, high and grey and thankfully devoid of people.

The purple arc of light filled the sky with a flash and immediately began carving through rock with surprising speed, throwing up a curtain of fragmented rock and dust and a sound like thunder.

The line of energy was erratic and fractured and wandered about the ground this way and that. If anyone with the background in the refraction properties of rare turquoise diamonds, they might have worn a look of study concern, but since there wasn't this potentially disastrous feature of the laser went unnoticed.

-----


Daltmooreby kicked Arthur in the shins and lurcing forward pushed him away, taking his hand off the firing pad.

-----


The light show ceased abruptly and the rocks blasted back into the air fell back to the earth with a series of thuds and bumps.

Days later, a Specialist detachment from UNESCO would discover that the Nazca Lines had been terribly defaced, but none worse than the monkey had been terribly defaced and he appeared to be now holding a banana and was weeing onto the astronaut who had themselves had a smiley face and what appeared to be a Fedora and a boquet of flowers.

Inspiration, has there been any?

I am devoid presently - except to post that I'm not entirely devoid.

Erm... what kind of suggestions would you be looking for?

Need to have some development in the slo-mo fight and scuffle with daltmooreby punctuated by random firings of the laser.

Legion wrote one scene ages back where Bob and Jill (remember them?) get separated by the purple beam of light in Polynesian islands.

So can stick that in probably next, but I've had a busy week, applying for jobs, falling head over heels , with the latter being the most fun I've had in ages. ST3 is sitting in my brain and I was hoping for a nudge, so if you can do any more of the slo-mo fight with the strange gravity ballet , that'd be great!