Oh, I see. Next thing you know Ford Prefect will make an appearance. And, looking at the names we've given them now, Fokus is actually a cool name.
Well, here we go with the next move.
<Move>
The president of the United States picked up the phone. He had been listening to reports on the increasing fog with increasing concern. He had heard reports from states around Arizona about planes disappearing without a trace. They all had entered the Arizona borders.
“Mr. President, we have received information that this fog is increasing its diameter. You must authorize a wider evacuation areas.”
The president nodded to himself. *Better to do this quietly than cause a panic.* “All right, I authorize you to expand the evacuation area. Check on Dr. Hasburgh’s campsite. It was near the border of the fog originally, and we haven’t heard word from him or his assistant for some time. If you find them, bring them to a safety area for debriefing.”
“Will do, Mr. President.”
The president hung up the phone and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He realized that the doctor and his assistant might have disappeared in the fog as well, and any information they had disappeared with them. All he could do was wait.
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“Come on, Bill, quit pacing around, your making me go crazy,” said Pam.
“Counselor, I need to think. We need to tell Ralph about the two rubies, but we can’t because Babsy there and her green guy friends said we couldn’t go. Well, I’m not going to listen to them.”
Bill reached out and touched the door. He received a zap of static electricity that sent him head over heels. He landed in front of Pam, shaking his numb hand.
“Those guys weren’t kidding when they said we couldn’t go. How’s your hand Bill,” said Pam.
“I think it’ll be all right, though I must have received enough static electricity to restart an ENIAC computer.” Bill groused. “Well, Counselor, unless they let us go, which I doubt, we’re in here for the duration. At least I don’t have to let Carlisle beat me at checkers.”
The two sat back down on the floor, thinking about Ralph and wondering what he was doing.
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In the cabin, a half hour had passed, and Ralph was still staring at the rubies. He knew there was something about them that helped them out through the last tornado, but he didn’t know what it was.
HD brought over another mug of soup. He needed to talk to Ralph alone. Tatt was eating some soup as well. He had come round about an hour and a half prior, and though he had a mild concussion, seemed to be doing well. Jack was trying to cool down Mel’s temperature, but seemed to have little effect. He was now rocking her, trying to soothe her delirium-filled nightmares.
HD turned to Ralph and spoke quietly, “Ralph, have you found out anything about the rubies?”
“No, they look exactly the same save the color of the stars in them. I’m not even sure the one I remember had one, and these could both be bad rubies.” he said. “Right now, I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette with all but one chambers full. If I destroy the wrong one, everything will be destroyed, and I’ll be responsible.”
“Seems a man has to make a choice, Ralph. Every choice has consequences,” he said.
*‘Murphy’s law,’ huh? Seems fitting given our green enemy is named that,* Ralph mused. “If I could remember which one I saw originally, then it wouldn’t be a problem, I could crush the stone and be done with it. It’s just. …”
“HD, Ralph, Mel’s stopped breathing,” shouted Jack, placing Mel on the ground and patting her face in a futile attempt to get her to start breathing.
Ralph jumped up from the table and ran over to Mel. In his haste, he kept the ruby with the red aster in his hand and left the black one on the table. Noticing this and not wanting to make Jack mad on top of worried in this crisis, he put it down his tunic.
“Get out of the way, Jack, let me help her,” Ralph said. He began giving her artificial respiration.
“What the hell are you doing Ralph, have you gone mad?” Jack yelled and tried to shove him out of the way.
“Let me work, Jack,” Ralph responded, shoving Jack a little too hard. Jack slid back about ten feet into the wall. Tatt, still a bit dazed from the concussion, chuckled at the sight. Realizing this was serious, however, he sobered up quickly.
HD went over to Jack, putting a hand on his shoulder gently. “Look, let’s let Ralph try to save her, Jack. It seems he knows what he’s doing. Praying wouldn’t hurt either.” The two of them sat there and prayed for Mel, hoping Ralph knew what he was doing.
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Murphy and the other green guy, named Fred, turned to each other and smiled. “This couldn’t be better,” said Fred. “After throwing a 200-mile per hour rock at me, he should have to deal with what he’s dealing with. I still have a knot in my stomach.”
The two were listening to the group in the cabin argue about how to help save Mel. They heard the thud of Jack hitting the wall and Ralph desperately try to save Mel.
Murphy nodded his head. “As they say, paybacks a pill. I think we ought to stay here for a while and see Ralph fail. It’s so interesting to see humans disintegrate before your eyes,” he chuckled.
They both sat in the maple and waited for the moment they would hear Ralph cry out in anguish and defeat, their guess it‘d be within five minutes. Then, they could step in and wait for Ralph to disappear and take the rubies and the suit. It’d be so easy, after the grief Ralph had dealt them all this time.
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Three Jeeps traveled to Dr. Hasburgh’s campsite. “Men, go search the campsite for any sign of the doctor and his assistant,” shouted the general. He was a tough man, but even he couldn’t hide his fear about the increasing fog.
“There’s no one here,” said the lieutenant. “No sign of either person.”
“All right, we better get a move on, the fog is nearly here, in fact, it’s almost near the car. …” He realized that no one had searched the car. The fog was lapping at the edges of the frame. “Drake, go search the car.”
The lieutenant went toward the car, shielding his eyes from the increasing wind near the fog. Once he reached the car, he looked inside. “Sir, there’s a young boy in the car, asleep.”
“Well, get him out of there Drake, we’ll take him to one of the storm shelters,” said the general. He picked up a walkie-talkie and spoke. “All, there is no sign of Dr. Hasburgh nor Babs. They are missing and presumed dead. We have found one survivor near the fog, and will be taking him to the shelters. Return to quarters.”
Drake picked up Kevin and carried him to the Jeep. The group headed down the road toward the fog shelters, still glancing at the storm. It seemed to proceed at a slightly faster pace, but the group gained ground away from it and headed toward the shelter, knowing the fog was more than what it seemed.
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As he continued his lifesaving efforts, Ralph began to tire. He had been trying to get Mel to start breathing again for three minutes, but had little, if any, success.
HD and Jack had tears in their eyes. They didn’t want to tell Ralph he was doing no good, but also didn’t know who could break it to him. HD felt it’d be best if he’d get Ralph to stop, though he was ready to use force if Ralph refused and got belligerent. “Ralph, I’m sorry, it’s over son, she’s not going to breathe again,” he said.
“HD, let me keep trying. Mel’s not dead, not yet, she still has a chance. People have stopped breathing for a bit longer, and they’ve survived. Please,” nodding toward HD’s fisted hand. Though the suit gave him some protection even in this time frame, Ralph knew HD knew he could be knocked out and didn't want to raise the man's ire.
HD looked down and realized Ralph knew he would have punched him. “All right, if you think it’ll do good, but not much longer. We need to let her rest in peace.”
*If you only knew all the reasons why I’m doing this,* Ralph thought. As he placed his hand under Mel’s neck to tilt her head back again, he suddenly felt a little warm inside. He thought it odd since he had been feeling cold, as Mel was dying, his life was fading too. He glanced at his arms, and noticed the suit had changed to a slightly different, brighter shade of red, which traveled to the top of the collar of his tunic. Ralph bent down to breathe for Mel again, and after a few breaths, Mel gasped and started breathing again, fast at first, then slowed closer to normal. He went to check her pulse, and found it was a bit fast, but still there, and though still pale, her color returned somewhat.
Ralph turned to look at HD and Jack, who were staring incredulously at the sight before them. They had seen Ralph actually save Mel‘s life when it seemed hopeless. “You did it Ralph, by george, you did it,” shouted HD. Tatt sat near the fire, smiled and prayed a silent prayer of thanks.
Jack, at a loss for words, just hugged Ralph, but the expression meant enough. “Well, she’s not quite out of the woods yet, given what she's been through, but I think she‘ll be all right,” Ralph said smiling slightly.
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Fifteen minutes passed since Fred and Murphy heard Jack’s shout and Ralph trying to save Mel’s life. They knew there would have been some sign of Ralph’s failure, so they knew something was wrong.
“She must have survived, but how,” said Fred.
“Must have been the suit. Ralph doesn’t know every power in the suit, or we‘d been defeated. He must keep picking up the right ruby at the right time. I don’t think he knows yet, otherwise he would have crushed the black aster ruby. We’ll have to wait and see, he’ll mess up soon and it will be time to fight again. No one will be able to help him.” Their vigil continued.
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“Well, how did you do that,” Jack finally said after he could find his voice.
“I learned a technique that will save the lives of others who stopped breathing,” Ralph started.
“No, how did you get the long johns to glow? It looked normal at first, but then that last time, when you placed your hand under Mel’s neck, it changed color to a slightly brighter red and began to faintly glow.”
“I don’t know, Jack, but it’s something that the clothing does, I don’t know exactly what. It worked, and Mel is alive, but. ...” Suddenly he started feeling queasy, and turned away to throw up in a bucket near the fireplace. Jack and HD rubbed his back until he was finished, helped him clean up and offered him a glass of water and a bowl of soup.
“Are you all right, Ralph. I mean, whatever happened to Mel could have happened to you as well,” said HD.
“No, I’m all right. I think whatever the suit did to save Mel’s life could have given me the queasy stomach, or could have been an aftereffect of whatever it was that affected her. When the suit changed color, it must have taken out most, if not all the drug from Mel.…” he stopped, realizing what must have happened.
“What’s wrong, Ralph,” said HD.
“I know what happened. You know how Mel had a sip of the whiskey that was drugged? The green critters were trying to use it on me so I’d be senseless and not be able to protect you. But I didn‘t drink it, and wouldn‘t have because of some things that happened on the ride.”
“So, what’s that got to do with Mel?” prodded Jack.
“Well, when Mel took a sip of the whiskey, she took some of the drug. But I have the suit on, and while it might have only knocked me out, it might have been so strong that no one without the suit’s protection could survive. My being here nearly killed Mel.”
“No, Ralph, you’ve been trying to save us, that’s not your fault, it’s those ornery cusses',” HD said.
Ralph nodded. HD did have a point. “You’re right, HD. Right now, we need to keep an eye on Mel to make sure she doesn’t stop breathing again, though I think she‘ll be fine. I need to think of a way to stop those two green guys from attacking us again.”
As everybody got started on some task, Ralph walked toward the table again, and looked at the other ruby lying there. When he picked it up, he oddly felt a little weaker than he had the past few minutes after saving Mel’s life. *Must be the adrenaline rush fading out,* Ralph said as he untucked the other ruby from his sleeve. The red star shined faintly in the firelight. *There’s something about these rubies that’s helping me out,* Ralph thought.
Thinking back, he realized that’s he’d only had one ruby on his person each time they’ve been in a disastrous or near-fatal situation. *So that’s the reason why we’ve been protected and I was able to save Mel’s life. I'm not going crazy. They’re real, and must have some sort of energy in them that is powerful and helpful, or destructive as well. But, have I used them both or just one? Damn, I’m still in a stalemate on the choice, but at least I know it‘s something. These rubies are not a charade to get me here. They‘re important, but what is their importance?*
He turned to look at the other four. HD was back at storm lookout. Jack was tending to Mel, who hadn’t thrown up since Ralph helped save her life. Mel’s color was returning to near normal, but she hadn’t woken up yet. Tatt was walking around, trying to stay awake. He was afraid to sleep, given his head injury, and was trying to keep busy. Ralph sighed and tried to figure out what the rubies actually did to help Ralph all these times. He knew they were vital to all their existence, and the rogue green guys knew that if he destroyed the right one, they could never take over Earth. *They’ll stop at nothing to get these rubies and the suit,* Ralph mused. *I’ve got to figure out the secret soon, before they try to kill any of us again.*
</Move>
), and I'm not sure about Tatt, does anyone wanna guess where Fokus comes from? HINT: I didn't make up Dr Torus, but I did come up with Fokus. And I had planned to keep the running gag with all the aliens, but then the thread stalled out...
( 
</fake move>