The Lost Years - What Do You Think Happened After the Plane Left the Island?

Are you sure Hurley never killed anyone? I agree that he never shot a gun. But he did run over like three people with the Dharma van. Didn't he kill a couple of "Others" in that attack?

Ahhhh … creative thinking time … I love it! Don’t sell yourself short my friend; I have faith that you are as imaginative and creative as Carlton and Damon.

I like to think that island life, under the guardianship of Hurley and Ben, was one big fiesta! Hurley did like to take care of people … make them comfortable and happy … remember when he gave Claire the extra tray of food the first night on the island? And he didn’t want anyone to be hurt unnecessarily if at all possible – he bought up all the seats on Ajira 316 to minimize the amount of people who could potentially be affected by a return to the Island. Hurley was most definitely to me the “heart” of the island … its moralistic center. In my Hurley/Ben island scenario there is lots of food, lots of golf, lots of hugs and laughter. The people who came to the island would end up there accidentally rather than be brought there as they were under Jacob’s rule. And if they wanted to leave, Hurley would help them find the way back home. Hurley will remain the protector until someone wants the job and will be willing to continue in his footsteps of offering comfort, acceptance and goodwill. There will inevitably be conflict between he and Ben since their personalities are completely opposite of each other. And while Ben has evolved as a person since we first met him, there will probably always be a small part of him that still desires power. We saw evidence of this in the sideways world when he had to choose between Alex’s dreams of college and his desire to be in charge at the school. He wanted to be the principal and manipulated Artz into hacking the school computer, and even went so far as blackmailing the principal. But in that world, we saw that he eventually chose Alex’s happiness over his own aspirations. Ben’s change of his typical behavior in the original timeline is in its beginning stages and will take some time to reach its ideal potential, hence the initial conflicts I see occurring between Hurley and himself. However, over time (and time is what they have), Ben will eventually see that not everyone is out to hurt him, that he and his talents can be appreciated and welcomed, and that he is genuinely liked for the person he is. Of all the sad lives we were shown throughout this series, Ben’s story was the one I felt to be the most piteous. Even during his most dastardly deeds, there was always that shadow of the little boy who most desperately wanted to be loved. Hurley and Ben. I see them as a nice balance of yin and yang … emotion vs. logic, feeling vs. sensibility. They will be good for each other.

Those six people leaving the island are going to have an interesting go of things, now aren’t they? Frank and Miles will have the easiest time explaining things I would think. Frank’s only been missing for a couple of weeks … and he returned on the same plane he was piloting when he left LA. Miles has no one … and more than likely no one knew he had even left on the freighter three years ago. But the rest of them? Kate … she has to explain how she was lucky enough to survive two plane disasters. And she’s now returning with two people from the Oceanic 815 flight who she’s already publicly claimed were killed in that crash. And Richard … oh Richard … where did you come from? You’re only about 200 years old. Have no birth certificate. For all intents and purposes, you don’t even exist! Yes … I believe some big, big lies will have to be told. And there is the potential that this could turn into a comedy of errors.

Actually, I envision this ragtag group of survivors, once they clear the island airspace but before they run out of fuel or the duct tape comes loose, working together to hatch a plan of “what’s next.” Sawyer will take the lead … after his stint as a respected member of Dharma this role will come naturally to him. Perhaps they will ditch the plane (ala the plane landing on the Hudson River … I believe Frank is talented enough to do this) far enough from some island to not be noticed, but close enough to float a raft to shore … similar to the way the Oceanic 6 did a few seasons back. If they are lucky, they will arrive under cover of the night and will be able to contact the ever resourceful Penny Widmore Hume. She’s helped them before and she will be more than willing to help them again … especially so she can be in the vicinity of the island when Desmond leaves with Hurley’s blessing and assistance. I foresee another tear-inducing reunion between these two people who have loved each other throughout space and time. They will live happily ever after.

With Penny’s vast resources, which will now be abundant due to the death of Charles, she will work with our six new survivors to assimilate them back into the “real” world without the unnecessary complications and questions that would normally occur in such a strange situation. They will all assume new identities. Other than Claire who can finally return to Aaron and her mother, the rest of them really don’t have anyone to return to anyway so, unlike the Oceanic 6, they will cling to each other. And they will keep the secret of the island safe to protect Hurley from coming to any harm in the future.

Both Kate and Claire will take care of Aaron. Mostly Kate at first because she is the only mother that Aaron knows up to this point. Claire will have to deal with her island issues but she will eventually work through them and become the primary caregiver to Aaron. Kate had essentially stopped running when she returned to the real world as part of the Oceanic 6. Being a mother to Aaron grounded her, and I think she will continue along that same path and remain a part of both Claire and Aaron’s lives. She gained a sense of peace during her struggles on the island and that peace, coupled with the freedom that will come from anonymity will allow her to stay in one place. Sawyer will be a big part in Kate’s life, not as a romantic partner, but as a touchstone … that person who knows who you were, who knows who you’ve become and who will always be there when you need them. Since Clementine’s mother already knows the truth of the island events, things will be easy to explain to her … and she will permit Sawyer to become a father to his daughter. Sawyer, too, has achieved a sense of peace because of events on the island … and he will now have a blank slate … a real world tabula rasa … to begin a new life. He and Miles very well could begin their own detective agency – they were both involved with security in Dharmaville – and what with both of their “con artist” backgrounds, what other two people would be perfect to track down “bad guys” and make the world a safer place in which to live?

And good old Frank. Frank will move to Hawaii and fly tourists over the volcanoes in a helicopter. He’s finished with those flights across the Pacific, and with his Burt Reynolds looks and charm, he’s a shoe-in to work with the public.

And Richard. Although a career as a guyliner spokesperson is always an option, I think I prefer to see him go with Frank to Hawaii. Richard’s lived most of his life on an island, I think that’s where he will feel most comfortable. And after the long, strange life that he’s lived, Richard deserves a nice long retirement without having to worry about a smoke monster around every tree. I see a salt ‘n pepper-haired Richard relaxing with his toes in the sand. And a coconut drink in his hand. Maybe listening to a little Geronimo Jackson on an I-Pod.

Odd and sad that in the sideways world Kate was still at odds with the law after she had been cleared by the courts after returning with the O6. Great ideas for conclusions. Hope others add their suggestions.

Good idea about Penny. Did Miles bring the diamonds? If so, then even without Penny, with the diamonds and Sawyer's, Miles's, and Kate's ability to con and deceive they could have gotten Richard a good identity. And made up a new one for Claire, as far as that goes. Sawyer might look up Juliet's family.

Hi Pinkcap,

Way late as usual these last 2 months, but I really agreed with BlackWidow and thought she said it all, but did want to diagree regarding one specific character, in addition to your Kate comment (which I agree with you)....No one had commented or seemed surprised after The End, that once we knew for sure what the "sideways dimension" was...there had been a notable character that never appeared in sideways....Richard! Even though he had been a "regular" since early season 3 and obviously was a key character in the End, he wasn't in our Lostie's sideways...even though many very minor characters like Keamy were, as were all the Kahana "science team" from season 4.....Why?

He really tried to fit into the modern world but couldn't make the transition (and didn't like his looks with greying hair), and as Ben would say: 'the island wasn't done with him yet'! After almost 150 years there, Richard missed the island and realized that with MIB gone, it really was a "magical place" and critical to preserve. So, with Eloise's help to identify the coordinates, he sailed back to the island; Hugo blessed him with his immortality again, and Richard is who replaced Hugo (& Ben) as the island Protector...and is probably still there now!

Hi Pinkcap, great that you saw/found my post; great minds do think alike...

...but what happens if you die in the sideways world? Maybe they died because they were never supposed to move on to the next world - they are only there to help someone in the sideways work out what they need to in order to move on.

That was exactly my take and thoughts on those specific characters as well...they had to die in the sideways because they were "evil" mean-spirited folks who were truly lost souls; hardly deserving and perhaps never to be able to "move on" to the other side and the light!

As to Richard, what got me going on him being the "next candidate" to be the Protector was actually what you stated best, especially after his nearly 150 yrs. of island living:

I'm not sure if Richard would go back to the island to live there as the protector. I do see him going back there to live out the rest of his days. He's used to a simple existence, I don't know how he would cope with the real world.

~ Hi All ~

Just checking in... Wheee.... What fun! Imagining and 'What if's' can be so much fun! 'Specially when you have so many great imaginations all packed into the same room together!

~ As for BW1 ~

You, my dear, ARE destined to write a great book some day soon! I hope I will be aware of it and get the chance to read it! When you take the bridle off that imagination of yours, it is a real sight to see. If it is at all possible to let us know when your book is published, PLEASE DO!

As for 'Imagineering' the lives of the surviving characters of 'LOST'... I am reminded of a website I stumbled upon years ago where the idea was that the readers/authors would write scenes that would continue the story line and build upon what previous readers/authors had written... It didn't seem to go too well... because the readers/authors seemed to be too much in competition with the others, rather than trying to work together in a positive manner to advance the story line. One thing that caused dissension in the ranks and destroyed the story was that competition had authors creating new characters whose mission seemed to always be destroying other authors' characters... It soon dissolved into disaster and I quit trying to read/create and I just quit going there. It is easy to imagine the story's self destruction.

That concept MIGHT work here... as long as we had a set cast of characters (our surviving Losties) and all contributors wanted to move the story forward in a positive manner... Just a thought... thoughts, comments and suggestions appreciated! ... Maybe between us, we could write something interesting to read....?

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“Terrific” Hugh thought to himself, if I am in charge of the island, why can’t I control the weather. He chuckled knowing full well that being protector of the island did mean protecting it from rain. He arrived at Ben’s cottage; shook of the rain; and knocked on Ben’s door. Ben appeared almost immediately and greeted him with a “Hello, Hugo come in out of the rain, I just put on a pot of tea”. “Thanks Dude” came his reply. After taking a sip of his tea, which by the way was a little too hot for his taste he asked Ben if he had given any thought on how they would keep their promise to Desmond and get him reunited with Penny. Ben just smiled and said “Well, I suppose we could contact her from the radio or even the internet”. Hugo responded “Dude, we have a radio and internet capability?” “Hugo, how do you think we learned about all of you when you arrive by consulting a Ouija board”. Hugo asked why they were told that there was no way to contact the outside world; whereby Ben replied that it was one of Jacob’s rules. But since now he is in charge the rules can change.

~ Apologies about the above use of "BOLD" in some of the characters names ~

I stole them off the "Lostpedia" page and forgot to break the links before I posted... ={8-/ ... oh well...

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~ story continues ~

After blowing on his tea for awhile to cool it off, Hugo said “I remember when we were burying Jack and all those unfortunate souls who survived the Ajira landing that we agreed that we would never discuss anything that had happened to us that related to this island... with anyone off the island... but after giving it considerable thought, it occurred to me that there are six live people who left here without a plan about what they were planning to do after they got that plane into the air. Where were they going to go and what were they going to do when they got there?” “They know that you and I plan to spend the rest of our lives here, to do whatever we need to do to protect the island from anyone and anything that might want to use the island and the power that is stored here for their own ends. I think that the six who left here on that plane will do whatever they can that is necessary to protect the island, but there are still others alive who know about the island and it’s power and there are surely people who are ‘in the know’ who will want to exploit the island for their own greedy reasons. We have no way of knowing yet, what... if anything... the rest of the world thinks about or has done about the disappearance of Ajira flight 316 and all of the people aboard the plane who thought they were headed for Guam.” “Surely, there must have been some kind of search and investigation about what happened to the plane and the people”

Ben seemed momentarily lost in thought... then he cleared his throat and said...”Well, it has been a little more than a month since they flew out of here and Desmond is getting very anxious about getting back to Penny and little Charlie.” “After all, she knows nothing at all about what happened to Desmond after he told her that her father was sending him to LA to ‘handle a project’ for him.” “I’m sure that after losing contact with Desmond, she must have tried to get a hold of Widmore and run up against a wall of ‘security silence’” “It seems to me that the first step ought to be to find a way to get one of the radios working and have Desmond contact her in some manner and calm her fears and have her brief us about what the rest of the world that doesn’t have any idea that the island exists... is doing.” “Have her let us in on what is happening in the world, advise her of her father’s death, in case Eloise Hawking hasn’t already done so... and have her send a boat to pick up Desmond and bring us some supplies”... “Desmond is still working to get the ‘Elizabeth’ ship-shape for a dangerous voyage, but I’m sure this idea will get his approval because Penny will surely get here sooner than he could sail to her.”

At that moment there was a knock at the door, and even before Ben could rise to open it, the door opened to reveal a sodden Desmond... "'Ello brothas! "Whew.. is it wet out there!... he said, as he shook his body all over like Vincent does to shake off some of the rain. He set his lantern down on the counter, scrolled the wick down, and said "Is that hot tea I smell?" ...

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~ JohnBoy ~

Please don't worry about messing up my story line! All I had to do was a little re-sequencing and I think it turned out better after... I'm not sure I agree with the 'placeholder' concept... for me or anyone else. One of the most important parts of this project is spontaneity and everyone should have a blank piece of paper in the rollers and should not have to concern themselves with 'messing up' someone else's ideas. If you've got something in mind, stay with it until you are done adding it to the story or rewrite it later (that goes for me too!) If you want to guide the story to some important turning point or activity... plant a seed and see if someone else helps it grow.... then go from there... or add to your seed yourself when opportunity presents... (I'm hoping my last contribution is a good example of that concept.) 'Radio Penny'

Besides that, because of the way Newsvine works, I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to compile the story and remove the comments (like this one) so that at some place and time we can devote a post to "OUR STORY UP UNTIL THIS POINT" where we will put all "STORY" pieces together in one post without the comments that have appeared up until that point and any further "STORY" pieces will be "replies" to that post and any new comments will be "NEW" posts. Hopefully, I have explained that well enough... if not, please say so and I will try to explain it better. I may try that at the start of page 2 (posting #26) and then all additions to THE STORY from then on will be "replies" to #26... (26.1, 26.2, 26.3, etc) and "comments will be #27. #28, etc.. onward..

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That feeling you get when the plane is just starting to leave the ground - it's kind of shaky and you're not sure you want to go with it - that had always been the worst part of flying for James. But somehow this time, it wasn't just the physical feeling - there was that gaping hole opening again in his heart, and the pain that came with it was real. He shook his head to stop the thoughts from getting in, gripped the armrests harder, and shut his eyes tight - no way he wanted to see that rock ever again. If he looked, he might see something to go back for. But he did look, the thoughts forced their way in, and he let the tears fall, even though it made it harder to see as it faded away under the cloud cover.

The plane's shaking had Kate gripping the armrest too, with one hand. Clare had what felt like a death grip on the other. "If only I could get my hand free," she thought, "if Clare would just let me go." Kate wanted to run. The panic was real. But there was no place to run. Could she jump? Could she swim back to save Jack? She'd made a mistake, she thought. Jack had become again the man she loved - strong, decisive, sure of himself and his purpose - Jack at peace with himself and his destiny. "How could I leave him now?"

She opened her eyes wide, first looking at Clare, then quickly across the aisle over at James. His face was wet with tears - he never looked over at her.

She looked again at Clare, almost to clear her head and heart from the sight of the rawness of James' grief, but also because the grip on Kate's hand was becoming painful. The girl was terrified - she was making small noises in the back of her throat and her breathing was very rapid. Kate tried to pull her hand away - Clare looked pleadingly at her and held on saying "No no no", but Kate managed to get her hand back, and she put her arm around Clare's shoulders. "Shhhh, Clare. Now listen to me. Listen. I remember once being so scared that I thought the fear was going to eat me up. I thought I was going to be swallowed up by it - the fear was that powerful." Clare had stopped making those noises but she was still shuddering. Kate couldn't tell if it was Clare or the plane. "Listen to me now. I was so scared. Then I remembered what someone told me about controlling the fear, and now I'm going to tell you. Shhh. Shhh now baby."

~ Susanaree ~

WoW! ~ ={8-D

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Hello y'all, and I hope all are well.

"Wow" is right! This is like an unknown stand-up following Jerry Seinfeld, but here goes . . . .

Kate pressed on as she laid her free hand over Claire’s. “When I was very, very young, my mother divorced my father . . . or the man I thought was my father. She remarried a dreadful, hateful man that drank whiskey and beat the crap out of her. But she so loved him. Most times I lay in my bed pretending to be asleep and when it would be too much, I’d cover my head with a pillow. One night I remember hearing my stepfather yell my name and then I heard his boots coming down the hall. The closer the footsteps, the scareder I got. By the time he was outside my door, I almost peed my pants. I couldn’t stand it any longer, so I started to open a window. I’m not sure what happened next—the door began to open, I heard my mother’s voice, and I was slithering out the window. The walls shuddered and the door slammed . . . I don’t think he ever actually entered my room, but I never looked back.”

Instead of the glaze, Kate noticed that Claire’s eyes were fixed on her. Kate wasn’t sure when Claire started to settle down as she was caught up in her own recollections.

“I found myself walking along a creek near my house where I ran into a boy that I barely knew. His name was Tom. It was near dusk so it took a second for him to recognize me, but when he did he smiled and waved. For some reason, when I saw him wave, I stopped, dropped to my knees and began to cry. He put his arms around me and I started blubbering something. I don’t know how much he understood.” Kate was looking past Claire into a distant past.

“He hushed me until I was too tired to cry anymore and then he started to tell me about a movie he saw about a strange land, a girl from Kansas, and the Cowardly Lion. He said it meant that no one can make me afraid unless I let them make me afraid. He gave me a phrase from the movie to repeat to remind myself about courage. Since then whenever I felt afraid, I would say, lions, tigers and bears, oh my.” Kate turned back to Claire with a half-hearted smile. Looking down, she realized that Claire’s hand was no longer grasping her arm but clasping her hand instead.

An abrupt, quizzical laugh escaped from Claire, “Lions, tigers and bears—are you joking?”

~ Inchiki ~ And All... ~

~ Inchinki ~ Great input! Keep up the good work!

~ ALL ~ I have been able to send out only 38 invitations so far... (List available and Invitation verbiage available by clicking on my screen name [above], then click on "Contact This Author" and request. I will send you the info) But Inchiki is the first person to come aboard since I started sending out invitations (not sure if due to an invitation or not)

Besides that, I was doing some research today for a scene I am writing and had to check some info in the end of "The End"... so I got to watch "The End" again... teared and choked up again... But while I was on the ABC Website doing my research, I stumbled into the Fan Forum (which I have not seen previously) and I read quite a few Fan reviews about "The End" (and the series in general also)... I thought "ALL" might find it an interesting read, if you haven't been there before. Here is the ABC Fan Forum link ->

http://abc.go.com/shows/lost/finale-forum/ThemeGallery/450540

BTW... The invitations have been going out rather slowly due to medical things I have needed to tend to and if someone could help me a little on sending out invitations, I would surely appreciate the help. Just contact me by the above mentioned method. Many Thanks in advance!

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~ story continues ~

After staring blankly out the window for about 5 minutes, James brought his eyes back into focus... and realizing that the plane was going to continue to fly... for the next few minutes at least.... he began to check out what was going on in the cabin around him. There were only the five of them in the cabin... Richard, sitting across the aisle from him, was just sitting there... looking all out of breath and with a look of disbelief and maybe a little panic on his face and staring straight ahead, not making a sound. In the row just ahead of Richard, he saw that Kate and Claire were huddled together over the center seat in a very animated conversation. He could not make out what was being said, but Claire seemed a little panicked herself. He could just see the top of miles’ head, sitting there quietly, a couple rows in front of him. He couldn’t see any sign of Frank in the pilot’s seat because of the partition, but since the plane was making a power on, climbing left turn, he presumed that Frank had the aircraft under control and that they were all safe... for the moment at least.

Turning his attention back to Richard, he noticed that he had been able to get his seatbelt fastened, but was sitting there gripping the armrests as though his life depended on holding on to them. “How ya’ doing there, Richard?” he said. Richard appeared not to hear him or notice that Sawyer was speaking to him, so James unbuckled his seat belt, stood up, crossed the aisle and sat down next to Richard. He repeated his question. “How ya’ doing there, Richard?” Richard jerked... as though he had been stabbed by James’ words, and then he slowly turned his head to face Jim and said, in a panicked voice, “Are we OK?” “Are we going to fall?” It took a couple of seconds before James remembered that Richard had never been IN an airplane before and prior to now, his only experience with airplanes had been seeing them broken and burning on the island. “We’re going to be OK Richard, these machines have been designed to fly like this and it is only very rarely that they break apart and fall to the ground.” “Hundreds and thousands of them fly from place to place every day without anybody getting hurt or killed or injured,” he said, keeping his fingers crossed and hoping that today was not the day that this particular airplane would be one of the rare examples. “Where are we going?”, Richard said in a quaking voice. At this moment, James became aware again of the animated discussion going on between Claire and Kate in front of Richard and himself. “Actually Richard”, I don’t know.” “and actually, as long as it is off that rock, I don’t care...” “Where we headed, freckles?” James said, interrupting the conversation between Claire and Kate. “that’s a pretty good question , James.” Kate said, breaking the stranglehold Claire had on her hand and turning to face James in the space between the seats. “I’d buzz for the stewardess, but I don’t think she made it to the gate in time.”

At that moment, the intercom crackles to life with the voice of Frank Lapidus saying "Good Afternoon ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot Frank Lapidus speaking and I'd like to welcome you aboard Ajira Airlines Flight 316... which... after a small delay, is continuing to it's original destination of Guam... or maybe not..." A knowing look of surprise passes between Kate and James as Lapidus continues... "For real folks... we are going to need to find a place to set this bird down safely and try to figure out what we are going to do and where we are heading next"

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~ Story will continue after a moment with our sponsor ~ I'm working on a scenario where the boys on the island will need to be able to communicate with the six aboard the airplane... Since JohnBoy mentioned "The Radio and the internet" previously... perhaps he... or anyone else for that matter... can get "The Radio and the internet" fired up? ... I have a feeling that the plane is headed back your way... ~

~ Story continues ~

James glanced back at Richard and said... “You’re going to be alright Richard, just lean back and enjoy the ride”... “move over to the window seat and take a look outside” ... “I’m sure you’ll see many things you have never seen before... and don’t worry... we’re not going to fall” Then, speaking to everyone in the small group, he said “I’m going up front to have a little chat with Frank”... at this, he stood and started moving towards the cockpit. He paused momentarily to check how Miles was doing... He said “Hey Miles, I’m gonna head up for a pow-wow with Frank about where we’re headed, wanna come along?” Miles begs off with a little...”at the moment, I’d rather catch my breath... both physically and mentally... let me know what he says.” “Will do”... James says... then adds... twitching his head in Richards direction... “I’m sure he’s going to be OK, but keep a little bit of an eye on Richard will ya?" “This is the first time he’s been IN an airplane... and the only time that he’s ever seen another one, it was all broken and burning on his beach and it was full of dead people” Miles mumbles “Will do.” Just as James started turning to head into the cockpit, the plane is filled with light and jerked violently, throwing James to the floor of the cabin. The plane started pointing nose down and gaining speed quite rapidly. James crawled forward towards the cockpit and as he was doing so, he noticed that Frank was fighting the stick violently while pulling back on it to bring the plane out of it’s dive. James continued crawling into the cockpit and, bracing himself, mumbled to himself, ”Maybe I spoke too soon”, as he stood up and dropped heavily into the copilots seat. After what seemed like an eternity, Frank and Jim together pull the stick back far enough to bring the plane back to level flight “Hi Jim”, Frank said... “how’s everybody doing back there?” Jim exhausts a long, slow breath that, it seems to him, he has been holding for a week and says “before this last little bit of excitement, everybody seemed OK... Richard has the ‘First Flight’ jitters, but seemed to be conquering his fears because everyone else is showing no concern about flying through the sky with nothing holding them up.” “he’ll be asking for a ‘barf bag’ and his ‘Toy Pilots Wings’ before the flight is over” “The girls seem to be having some sort of a ‘confab’ about something, but I didn’t listen in” “I’m sure we’ll know ‘what’ as soon as it’s important for us to know.” "But first, I’m more than just a little concerned about the ‘time travel’ flash and our near crash into the ocean." Frank responds “I don’t know what is what with the light... I was just flying along, clean and level, when all of a sudden, the whole place lights up and the yoke was snatched from my hands and was slammed into the wall.” Jim interjected “That light looked just exactly like the flashes we were getting when the island was jumping around in time. I am thinking that the island just might be surrounded with some sort of field that keeps it on a clock that differs from the clock that guides the rest of the world. Perhaps everything inside the barrier is running on a faster clock or a slower clock than what the rest of the world is running on...”

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where I'm heading, the plane and the island are going to have to communicate... (help?) just get it running... maybe broadcasting a new message like Rousseau had?

Aloha, fellow Posters. Hope this helps keeps the momentum . . . .

Story continues --

“I don’t know what you mean by the clocks, but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions,” the voice behind Sawyer and Lapidus startled them. It was Richard looking completely calm as he stepped into the cockpit area.

Kate’s “What the hell happened?” struggled with Claire’s “Are we going to be alright?” in the space behind Richard. And behind them, Miles was vainly trying to peer into the cockpit.

Frank regained some of his professional demeanor and surveyed the panel before him. “It appears that we’re still on our original course. All indicators are green, so I think we’re still a “go” to hightail it back to civilization. As to what happened, James and I were just speculating on that. From my limited experience on the freighter and this here fine piece of machinery,” Frank patted the flap controls as he says this, “I was expecting sudden severe weather, but what happened is beyond me.”

“As I was saying before the interruption,” Richard turned to face as many of his fellow travelers as possible, “I don’t know anything ‘bout time travel, but I do know that a flash like that usually signifies that the Island had moved. Take a look out the window; you’ll see it’s gone.”

“Moved? What are you talkin’ about, doc?” James was clearly confused about the Island’s disappearance. It took a few seconds before the others confirmed the Island’s disappearance.

“At times, seemingly at random, the Island changes its location, which is part of the reason why it’s so hard to find. But the Island could also be moved on purpose. There is a device in a well, and if Ben survived as you’ve indicated, then he can use this device. Or the Island could have decided that it was time to go.” There was the ghost of a smirk when Richard finished. It was unclear whether this last comment was a joke for they had never heard Richard tell one. Hearing of the Island moving reminded Kate of the strange old woman and the Dharma station. Light, lamp, what was the name of that station? But she remembered the pendulum and the several coordinates that were meant to be places where the Island had been.

Richard continued before the others fully processed what he had just said. “It’s not the Island that we need to worry about now, but what happens when we return to the rest of the world. For a member of the Oceanic Six to have disappeared again in a plane and then reappear with two more members of the original Oceanic flight is far too outlandish to explain.“ He was looking at Kate as he spoke. “Though my mission to protect the Island is over, I understand that the Island still needs assistance. Kate, your return would raise too many questions. Those still with the Dharma Initiative, among others, will strive even harder to find it.”

“We need to establish new identities. “ Richard turned to Sawyer, “I believe your skills can help tremendously. Don’t look surprised; remember I’ve read your file. We can use the Other’s network—you call us Others, right—that’s still operational to help us until our new identities are finalized. If Ben Linus is truly helping Hurley, they can reach us through the network, as well.”

“Well, that’s a real strong argument there, Lazarus, but how do we get back without raising any alarms?” Sawyer leaned back with a skeptical look.

Richard said, “We’ll have to ditch the plane.” As the looks of shock and disbelief descended upon everyone, Richard went on, “We’ll ditch the plane near commercial lanes or well-traveled waters, transports or cruise ships, and man a lifeboat until rescued. We can explain our rental boat went down with all of our belongings.”

Miles cracked, “Oh this just gets better and better. Does anybody have any other ideas?”

“Hold on,” Lapidus started to put on his headset. ”If there’s any sort of time irregularity, we’ll need to know that immediately before making any plans. But that should be easily verified if I can catch some radio chatter.”

-- end of this narrative

~ Inchiki ~

Nice add! I would go for the 'Methusela' edit in preference to dropping the scene entirely... (Swayer's nicknames aren't always perfect!) even without a change, the scene works for me and my train of thought just fine. Bringing Richard in as 'A Player' is a good thing! He should be able to provide a lot of information.

-=M=-

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~ ALL ~

Research does have it's advantages... and it's drawbacks... I was doing some research on Eloise Hawking and her relationship with Daniel Faraday (Her son, fathered by Charles Widmore). During the time jumps initiated by the island, she interacted with Daniel in 1977, when she killed him and then again in 1996 when she visited him at Oxford, where he was a professor. So much for "Dead is Dead"!!

-=M=-

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~ Scene switches to a back view of Eloise Hawking standing in front of the display that pinpoints the location of the Island... as the numbers seem to be going crazy and the ratcheting noise fills the room.. ~.

“Damn thing has moved again!” she shouts at no one in particular. “Does anyone have an idea as to why?” ... “Or WHERE??”

~ Our point of view draws back to reveal that we are in “The Lamp Post” – the only DHARMA Initiative station located off the island. We are located in the basement of the church in L.A., surrounded by computer mainframes with spinning reels of tape and flashing lights and the ‘Longitude-Latitude’ display that Eloise is standing and looking at, but in the wider view, we see that there are desks squeezed in here and there, each one populated by a man or a woman... each one wearing a white lab coat with a miniature “Dharma – Lamp post” badge sewn to the chest pocket.

None of the faces are familiar and almost all of them are giving Eloise their rapt attention at this moment... except for one... Who, as she diverts her attention from the computer flat screen in front of herself and speaks, causes us to realize that she is Penny Hume, wife of Desmond... and mother of little Charlie Hume. “What could have caused the move?” she asks Eloise in particular, but anybody in general... A young man, nearly obscured by his computer screen says questioningly, “Someone moved the donkey wheel?” “Good thought, Jordan” Eloise said with great urgency in her voice. “Get someone on the phone in Tunisia and have someone go out to the landing zone to see if someone showed up out there.” “Tell them to do it NOW!” Speaking to herself in particular, but everyone in general, she continued. “With not one word from Charles or anyone else in the expedition since they docked at the island weeks ago, I know I’m not the only one that needs to find out what’s going on!” “Of course, the island could have moved on it’s own again, with absolutely no influence from any of us at all” she said to no one in particular. Jordan speaks up again... saying “Tunisia is on alert, Mrs. Hawking, they’re mobilizing a patrol right now.” Eloise spins around to face Jordan and says, “Tell them to be very careful not to hurt anyone that might be there but also to be ready to shoot to kill if necessary.” “Yes Ma’am.’ replies Jordan and continues to talk on the phone. Eloise returns her attention to Penny and asks... “Penny, what is the latest information from the air patrol and the ships?” Glancing back at her computer monitor, Penny says “There is nothing new since the last report.” “Both the helicopters and the ships are continuing their patrols as scheduled and neither has reported anything new concerning this new event.” Noticing that the location display was still creating a racket with it’s spinning and the mainframes were creating just as much visual noise with their spinning tapes and flashing lights, she asked Eloise “Any way to know how long it will take for the computers to relocate the island?” Eloise got a look of exasperation on her face and shrugged her shoulders as she replied... "Really no way of telling, my dear, even with these new computer upgrades and the ships and helicopters feeding them information, we are still not sure.” “Sometimes it takes weeks... sometimes it takes months” “Perhaps there will be someone in Tunisia that can give us some information.” She got that exasperated look again and mumbled, “perhaps not.”

Noticing the pendulum, they both realized that it had slowed to the point where it was barely moving at all... swinging back and forth in a small arc above where the island was last known to be.

-=M=-

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~ Our saga Continues, as we switch back to Ajira Flight 315-B ~

“What’s the plan Frank?” James continued, turning back towards Lapidus... “If there is one”... Frank says “Well, I haven’t been able to make much of one yet, Jim... been pretty busy getting this bird into the sky and trimmed out for level flight in a westerly direction.” “After I got that much running smoothly, I figured it was about time for us all to put our heads together, discuss what options are available to us and decide together where to go from here. That’s when I got on the intercom.” Looking at the rest of the group he says, “ Why don’t all the rest of you quit trying to make a can of sardines out of my cockpit and take some seats in the front row there?” “That way, we can all have a voice in what we decide to do.” Richard and Miles, Kate and Claire all sit down in the seats in the front row. Frank says, “Fasten your seat belts”... “Just in case we have another incident like that last one, I don’t want to have to be cleaning pieces of any of you off of the overhead.” “The way I see it” Frank continued, “we’ve got one or two major choices to begin with”... “first... we can fly the plane until it runs out of gas... we should have enough gas to get back to L.A. or we could probably make it to Guam with what we have left”... “Normally, the flights from L. A. to Guam are scheduled to stop for fuel in Hawaii”. “They load these trans-pacific flights with lots of gas but since we are flying very light with only six souls aboard, I’m fairly certain we are not going to run out of gas unless we do it intentionally..” “Basically, everything is going to hinge upon how we are going to explain ourselves to the rest of the world”. "With all due respect to what Richard just said, we MAY just have to ditch in the ocean"... “And if we do that, we will all do everything within our power to make sure we all survive in excellent shape." “As far as the rest of the world is concerned, Ajira flight 316 and all the folks aboard her have been missing for God only knows how long.” “You can rest assured that they have given up the search for the wreckage and the bodies long ago.” “If we intend to show up somewhere alive, we’re going to have to have one hell-of-an explanation for where we’ve been for all that time and how we got to wherever it is that we decide so show up again.” “And we MAY also have to quit being who we have been all our lives and become someone new, as Richard suggests, but I’m not jumping to that conclusion just yet.” Claire, looking a little confused and bedraggled, spoke up, saying “What about Aaron?”, “I want to see my son!” Kate, sitting right beside Claire, says to her, “Don’t worry... “Whatever else we do, we will figure out a way to get you and Aaron back together as soon as possible.” “I didn’t go to all this trouble to save you for your son, just to drop the ball and walk away.” “ We may have to do a few things we hadn’t planned on ahead of time, and we may have to tell a few lies and do a little ‘play-acting’ to succeed, But that was my reason for coming back to the island and I’m not about to let it go to hell just because the road gets a little rough along the way!” After a few seconds, Jim spoke to Frank...”With the radios aboard this plane, is it possible for us to reach Penny, wherever she is, to determine what has transpired in the world since you so masterfully plopped this plane down on Hydra, or is it possible to attempt to find the island’s new location and see if there is enough of the island left to land on again and use the Dharma radio to contact her?” After appearing to get a flash of inspiration, James continued, speaking directly to Frank “How about contacting the people who sent you and the Army out here to find the island in the first place?” “Contacting them directly?” “Frank thoughtfully replied, appearing to be thinking of something other than what he was talking about “I never knew just exactly who was masterminding that operation, but after all that we have been thru over the past few years, and the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that it must have been Widmore running the show. “I had no reason to contact him directly, mind you, because my orders came from Keamy, but I did take notice once of the frequency setting on the transmitter Keamy had been using to contact home. “I think I just may have that info somewhere in my briefcase.” After appearing to think for a minute and visually scanning the dashboard, Frank says “This plane is a ‘Boeing 737’... equipped with an XM Satellite receiver and we should be able to tune in a ’News & talk’ satellite broadcast... MSNBC or CNN for example, and if we listen long enough, we should hear something about Ajira Airways Flight 316”. Continuing, he said, “Once we have some idea of what the world is doing ... and has already done... about us, we should be able to cobble together some sort of a plan about what to do next.” I will see if I can find that frequency note, and we should be able to tune some of this equipment to either listen to or speak to whoever Keamy was speaking to”... “Hopefully, they are still seeking contact with Widmore and we might be able to touch base there... and get some help from that direction.” “Unless we get some help from someone, we may just have to follow some version of Richard’s suggestion and MAGICALLY show up somewhere with one hell of a story!” Under his breath, Frank said to himself “(I guess it is a good thing we have Merlin on the writing staff for this segment ~ with his magic, he’ll save our ‘short and curlies’!)” “It is going to be a story to surpass all the lies ever told and we may have to use the Ajira passenger manifest to create identities for Claire, who died in the Oceanic crash and for Kate, who... is probably still WANTED..... for something”... “Depending on wherever we are able to land... or ditch the plane... the rest of us will probably have to create personas for ourselves using the info available to us from the Ajira passenger list. This is not going to be an easy task.” “And we are going to need quite a bit of help to pull it off quietly without attracting too much attention.” There were no nonstop flights from L. A., so we were scheduled to top off at Hawaii before going on to Guam. We didn’t even get near Hawaii before we did the ‘Twilight Zone/Dharma Island’ detour, so I’m going to have to check the GPS info and plot out where we are before I can figure out where we can go from here. Rather than waste fuel, why don’t I set her on a big circular flight plan while I find out where we are and you check the XM to see what you can find on the news?” James says, “will do... and meanwhile, instead of circling, how about you circle her in an ever-expanding circle while you figure out where we are with the GPS and possibly locate the nearest land?” “And if we’re real lucky today, maybe the island moved to someplace close and we’ll just stumble upon its location.” “Maybe if there is anything left of the island.” “If nothing else, maybe the runway is still there.” Continuing, he said... The last place in the world I wanna be is on that island, but I’ve got to admit, in the rush of the moment, we sure didn’t do much planning about where we would be heading to.” Frank says, “good enough”... and pointing to a small panel in the dashboard in front of Jim, says “This is the sat radio”... flipping a switch on the panel and then pointing to another switch closer to Jim, he continues... “Flip that switch far right to feed it to just your earphones, middle is both of us and far left is just me... then tune with the ‘scan’ arrows pointing left and right. Jim puts on his earphones and starts fiddling with the controls on the radio as Frank reaches behind his seat for his briefcase containing manuals for all of the equipment installed in the cockpit. As he is reaching for the briefcase, he notices the ‘walkie’ he had been using to communicate with Jim when they were separated on the island. A Dharma ‘walkie’. He picks it up from the floor and tucks it into the corner of his seat. He thinks to himself, “never know when that might come in handy!” Sawyer yanks his earphones off again and says... to nobody in particular... “Could somebody check to see if there is a beer to be had on this flight, please?” Puts on his headset again and starts pushing buttons and flipping switches... and continues... “Preferably a COLD one?”

-=M=-

‹(•¿•)

Life as a Dharma dude wasn't all bad, Hugo thought to himself. "At least they figured out a better way to get around the island than this." "This" was another long steamy trek through the jungle on what might just be a wild goose chase. "Good times," he said aloud. Desmond, ahead of him, turned his head back to Hugo as he kept walking. "You say somethin'?" "Nah, just remembering stuff." Desmond looked at him quizzically and turned back around. Hugo missed that van.

Desmond shouted ahead "How much longer?" Ben, not turning his head, answered "About 30 minutes." He stopped abruptly and turned to face Desmond. Hugo nearly ran into Desmond, and was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Don't misunderstand me," Ben said to Desmond. "I want to help you get off this island as much as you want to leave, but as I've explained to you before, Desmond, the chances that anything useful survived the blast are remote. At best." He turned back around, and started walking again. "But a promise is a promise, and I promised we'd at least look. So let's look."

From a distance, it appeared the three were coming upon a clearing. With every step, Hugo could see more and more of what now was strange to him - pieces of civilization, tossed out like trash - Dharma trash. He shouted up ahead. "Uh, Ben, I thought that Dharma dudes were like, cool with the environment and everything. What's with the garbage dump in the middle of the jungle?"

Ben didn't answer. He and Desmond waited for Hugo to catch up, in the middle of what he now could see was not a natural clearing. Desmond was rubbing his head, looking unbelievably at the devastation all around them. Ben flipped over a mangled keyboard with his shoe, and said, looking around, "Well, we're here." Hugo saw scorched earth and man-made debris, and peered over the edge into the crater. "Where exactly is 'here'?"

"Hugo, Desmond - welcome to the Flame."

"Dude."

~ ALL ~

OK... If anybody remembers my original plan... After every 25 numbered messages, (not counting "sub-numbered" messages, Newsvine moves to a new page, starting the messages with the next number in line..(#26...# 51...#76, etc) and my original plan was to compile the story (Minus all the comments, questions, congratulations, and chit-chat up until that point, to add speedier access to "Our Story Up Until This Point" which will begin first with message #26... and then, start the process again at message #51. The idea I am testing and trying to make work, is that all STORY SEGMENTS should be "replies" to message #26 and will become connected by sub-numbers to #26...i.e.... #26.1, #26.2, #26.3, #26.4... and so on, etc. This can be done by making every STORY SEGMENT a "Reply" to message #26. Anything that is NOT a STORY SEGMENT would qualify as a new message... i.e. #27, #28, #29 etc... This SHOULD work if everyone remembers to make NEW STORY SEGMENTS as a "REPLY" to #26... AND compliments, suggestions, chit-chat, 'atta-boy's! & 'atta-girls' and general chat becomes a new # and not a reply, unless it is a reply to another comment. I know this is tricky and Mistakes will be made, so do not worry about it! I am only trying to make "Our Story Up Until This Point" easily accessible at the top of each new page and if it doesn't work, I will either abandon the idea or correct any error at the top of the next page...(where I will consolidate the "STORY SEGMENTS" again. I am inserting this as message #25, and as far as I know, when I post it, the next message will be #26 and it will be at the top of page '2'... and will be "Our Story Up Until This Point"... If this doesn't work the way I've planned.... then Never Mind! ={8-((

-=M=-

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