"People of Earth, your attention please," a voice  said,  and  it
was   wonderful.   Wonderful   perfect  quadrophonic  sound  with
distortion levels so low as to make a brave man weep.
 
"This is  Prostetnic  Vogon  Jeltz  of  the  Galactic  Hyperspace
Planning  Council," the voice continued. "As you will no doubt be
aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions  of  the
Galaxy  require  the  building  of  a  hyperspatial express route
through your star system, and regrettably your planet is  one  of
those  scheduled  for  demolition. The process will take slightly
less that two of your Earth minutes. Thank you."
 
The PA died away.
 
Uncomprehending terror settled on the watching people  of  Earth.
The  terror  moved  slowly through the gathered crowds as if they
were iron fillings on a sheet of board and a  magnet  was  moving
beneath  them. Panic sprouted again, desperate fleeing panic, but
there was nowhere to flee to.
 
Observing this, the Vogons turned on their PA again. It said:
 
"There's no point in acting  all  surprised  about  it.  All  the
planning  charts  and  demolition  orders have been on display in
your local planning department on Alpha  Centauri  for  fifty  of
your  Earth  years,  so  you've  had  plenty of time to lodge any
formal complaint and it's far too late to  start  making  a  fuss
about it now."
 
The PA fell silent again and its  echo  drifted  off  across  the
land. The huge ships turned slowly in the sky with easy power. On
the underside of each a hatchway opened, an empty black space.
 
By  this  time  somebody  somewhere  must  have  manned  a  radio
transmitter,  located a wavelength and broadcasted a message back
to the Vogon ships, to plead on behalf of the planet. Nobody ever
heard  what  they said, they only heard the reply. The PA slammed
back into life again. The voice was annoyed. It said:
 
"What do you mean  you've  never  been  to  Alpha  Centauri?  For
heaven's  sake mankind, it's only four light years away you know.
I'm sorry, but if you can't be bothered to take  an  interest  in
local affairs that's your own lookout.
 
"Energize the demolition beams."
 
Light poured out into the hatchways.
 
"I don't know," said the  voice  on  the  PA,  "apathetic  bloody
planet, I've no sympathy at all." It cut off.
 
There was a terrible ghastly silence.
 
There was a terrible ghastly noise.
 
There was a terrible ghastly silence.
 
The Vogon Constructor fleet coasted away  into  the  inky  starry
void.

--
H2G2: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
.