Knowing human nature, he fears what the desperate lottery losers might do. As a precaution, he has stockpiled weapons. His fears prove accurate. His much-abused assistant, F, tries to get himself included in the crew at gunpoint, only to be shot dead. During the final night, the selected passengers and animals are quietly moved to the launch pad to protect them from any more violence.
Shortly before takeoff, many of the lottery losers riot, taking up weapons to try and force their way aboard. H stays behind at the last moment, forcibly keeping S from boarding as well in order to lighten the spaceship. With an effort born of desperation, Stanton stands up and starts walking in a futile attempt to board the ship before it takes off.
From space, the ship's television monitor shows Earth's collision with B. H's sacrifice proves to be crucial, as the fuel runs out too soon and R glides the ship to an unpowered rough landing on Z. The passengers debark and find the planet to be hospitable. Remains of an alien civilization are also visible in the distance.
9 comments:
When Worlds Collide?
Could be ...
I thought of When Worlds Collide at first as well, but it doesn't quite fit. in the novel there was no launch pad, and nobody killed another crewperson.
I vaguely remember some novel with a name like "seven seats to Saturn", about getting a ticket to a rocket escaping a doomed Earth.
Of course there was also Martin Cadin's EXIT EARTH
I always did enjoy When Worlds Collide.
Maybe it's the movie version, Nyrath? You know what movie makers are like with original stories - adding scenes to enliven the action.
You're just all too good for me and quite, correct. It's When Worlds Collide, the movie version synopsis on Wikipedia. Well done!
Are there any other Earth evacuation stories or films?
Not quite the same, but isn't there a Twilight Zone episode (or perhaps Outer Limits) where a family appear to escape a dying Earth, but it is actually a dying Mars, and they are travelling to Earth?
I'll try to get the details later, if no one else comes up with the title in the meantime.
Forgot to mention how interesting this idea is, Woodsy. You are always coming up with something new and imaginative!
In the same vein as a back-story for SWORD, my take on SPACEX is akin to Salvage One: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_1 ]
ie, I see it as private individuals and companies venturing into space by converting already available technology into space-going vehicles.
Ah, it was Twilight Zone, but it isn't quite as I recalled. Apologies for the false call. Toad has defective memory :(
In case anyone is interested though, this was the one I had in mind:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_from_the_Sun
Thanks for the kind words Toady. It's the banter that keeps me going.
Never seen that Twilight Zone episode, but sounds great. One of the best episodes I saw was when a well-meaning fellow freed a persuasive prisoner from his cell. Unfortunately the prisoner was the Devil! Yikes!
I saw a disaster movie last year at the Flicks, which involved biulding Arks but the name has gone already! I remember distinctly the chaos outside the Arks as the unfortunate masses tried to jump on board. Very SWORD and obviously a deep-seated human fear of being left behind. Wonder when we first felt that fear?
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