PowerPC :: Dead IBook - Gray Screen Goes On And On?

I signed up here to ask a life or death question for my iBook G3 While transferring through an airport last week on one of those moveable walkways, I got clipped off by another passenger who was running through the terminal to catch his flight. Unfortunately, he somehow managed to send my briefcase- with the iBook- sailing ten feet accross the terminal, landing onto the floor with a sickening thud. Although the iBook was fortunately in a protective notebook cover, and there were no cracks to be seen when I retreived it, my attempts to fire up the iBook have failed. That is, when turning the machine on, everything seems to lead me on that its going to run normally- the OS9 to OS10.3 transfer clicks in, I get the grey apple symbol on the grey background with the running circle below- and then nothing. The grey screen goes on, and on, and on. I tried it again this morning and it stayed like this for an hour. Worse, I cannot simply turn the machine off without hitting the reset button, and all attempts to reinstall the programs or do a hardware test lead to nothing. If I had more time, I'd probably search high and low through the forums to see if there was anything I could do to bring the iBook back to life. Unfortunately, I have to leave in two days again, and wanted to bring the laptop with me. is there some way that I can get this dear old beast running again, or is it curtains for my beloved iBook?