Chapter 4 Chapter Four

Ten light-years away, Gag Halflander used the dimples on his face to hold up a smile.He was looking at the screen, which was broadcast from the bridge of the Vogon ship through the sub-ether.He watched as the last fragments of the protective shield peeled off the surface of the Heart of Gold, while the ship itself disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Great, he thought. The last survivors of the devastation he had ordered against Earth were doomed, he thought. That dangerous (for the profession of psychiatry) and subversive (for the profession of psychiatry as well) experiment in trying to find out what that exact question is - about the ultimate end of life, the universe, and everything. The problem, too, is finally over, he thought.

Going to have a little celebration with my co-workers tonight.Tomorrow morning, they're back with their morose, overwhelmed, but very profitable patients.They can rest assured that the meaning of life will never be revealed now, he thought. "It's always the hardest at home, isn't it?" Ford said to Zaphod as the smoke began to clear. He paused and looked around. "Where's Zaphod?" he said. Arthur and Trillian also looked around blankly.They were pale and trembling, and they didn't know where Zaphod was either. "Marvin?" asked Ford. "Where's Zaphod?"

After a while, he asked again, "Where is Marvin?" The corner where the robot was is now empty. There was a dead silence in the spaceship.It floats in the blackness of space, shaking occasionally.All instruments failed, and all screens went off.They ask about computers.The computer replied: "I'm sorry, I was temporarily isolated from all interactive systems just now. However, I have some light music here." They turned off the soft music. They searched every corner of the spaceship, becoming more and more confused and panicked.Everywhere was lifeless and silent.There was no sign of Zaphod or Marvin anywhere.

One of the last areas they inspected was the small room that housed the automatic nutrition machines. The output of the automatic nutritional drink synthesizer was a small tray with three sets of bone china cups and saucers, a small bone china pitcher for milk, and a silver teapot filled with the The best tea with a small typed note on the side saying "Wait a minute".