Hard targets

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 46647

Of course, the Champions' luck cannot hold indefinitely, and when they approach the badly damaged palace of the Jed they come under fire from some of the palace guard.

Andrea 2a

Well, if I didn't have time before to chat with Trillian, I sure as shooting don't NOW!

I had been hesitant in speaking with her, even though of all of those from the HHG universe she looks the most disoriented by recent events. One might think she'd NOT be, considering that of all these . . . characters she's the one with the most sense. Definitely the most sensible of the bunch from that funhouse version of a reality. However, there is a small problem here and that problem is with her worldview. Feel that she will recover, but it's her worldview that's tripping her up. Preventing her from having a more swift recovery than she's having.

She is having the same problem that so many Military scientists and Star Trek Federation scientist types had when faced with when faced with actual magic. Not something that is super science (ala Asimov’s old saying on the matter) but honest to God magic. Something straight out of their early childhood (if that). Stuff out of fairy tales. Decidely NOT logical, magic. Or so they believe . . .

Well . . .we'll get to that, now. We had tried to avoid it, to avoid the eventual headaches of explaining it all (which would be a BIG task of doing, given some of this bunch).

Anyway, we’d been going to great lengths to avoid this. The few times we actually had used magical spells (namely to get Marvin to shut up before he prematurely revealed the question to the mice) it could have been explained away as psychic in nature (which is found more in science fiction). Questions about Artizza and Fertal with them being what they are? Well, not a problem. Big universe and bound to have creatures that could be mistaken for an extraterrestrial race who just LOOKS like something from myth (or who had visited Earth in the past and served as the basis for myth).

Fear that a flying carpet is just too "out there" to be explained away with scientific technobabble. Can’t exactly say we have some kind of super miniaturized anti-gravity device woven INTO the carpet threads, eh? Not realistically.

. . .

Irony here is that "magic" in realities like Terra Prime is due to a still little understood form of radiation we call "manna". It's totally part of nature, and thus can be explained. If either the Military or the Star Trek Federation had, when "growing up", had known of it's existence they could have woven it into their philosophies. However, they had gone on the assumption that magic wasn't real and now are having a heck of a time trying to account for it now. It's understandable why they'd overlooked it, since manna levels in their universe is so drastically low as to have been undetectable if they hadn't known to look for it. No "mystical" forces, just science and it was good.

. . .

Oh, in the Star Trek universe it was high for those with psionic powers (like what Vulcans have), but that's different.

Until they'd learned of Terra Prime (and manna) they'd had no real clue at how psioncis worked . . .

. . .

With worlds like mine, while we had scientists and the art of science but we magic user types had figured that this science stuff (and the philosophies behind it) was . . . .cute but felt that at the end of the day magic (the school of magic) was where it "was at". Science was seen as . . . a weak sister perhaps would be the best way of explaining it. Good enough for the peasants (who couldn't afford the more effective magic). Magic was seen as one of the fundamental anchors of the universe, in the end and it was good.

When Terra Prime met the Military it was a REAL eye opener for BOTH sides. The Military (and later on the Star Trekkers) had to acknowledge magic acually existed. Both sides scratching their heads (and pulling their hair out) trying to reconcile the differences between the two schools (science and magic) until Dr. Vincent came along and did it for them, but honestly . . .

Honestly I do not look forward trying to explain Dr. Vincents Grande Unified Theorem to Trillian (who looks to be the "feet firmly on the ground" type), especially when I would have to take into account the fact that her reality's physics are . . .

Oh frell it!!

Rigth now I'm more interested in DODGING the incoming fire than to have a deep, philosophical discussion with Trillian! Besides, she's more interested in hanging on for dear life as I and the others weave and bob throughout the air!


The palace guards have never seen anything like flying carpets before, but are familiar enough with flying vessels. So they're up to pointing their rayguns up into the sky and taking popshots at the UFC (Unidentified Flying Carpet), though they're not up to hitting such a small vessel (Air Navy ships being a much smaller affair). That and then there is the fact that the air ships of this world move (or moved) more like . . . blimps than the airplanes WE Earthers are familiar with. Targets in the air that swoop and dive, jink and jank are something new!!

Add in to the mix a little bit of magic illusion that multiplies the targets (apparently) to dozens and dozens of mirror images can give some . . . pause. When some illusions dip and dive, appearing to land in dozens of spots all over the city? All over the palace grounds?!

  1. Well, it leaves fewer guards to investigate the REAL carpets when they land near what is left of the dungeon entrance . . .

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10/31/2004 8:24:04 PM

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