The canon quote is;
Nevertheless, Ford Prefect began to use his Sub-Etha Sens-O-Matic more
often again. Only once did he pick up a signal, but that was so faint
and from such enormous distance that it depressed him more than the
silence that had otherwise continued unbroken.
Ford is trapped on the Golgafrincham's new colony world (AKA Earth) and is very keen to get back to the more civilised parts of the galaxy. The distant signal he detects could be anything but from a writer's standpoint it serves to emphasise how far Earth is from the 'shipping lanes' and how remote his chances of being rescued using his "electric thumb".
Don't forget, it took him over 15 years to get rescued the last time and it was only due to a Vogon fleet turning up in his lap.
No comments:
Post a Comment