Part 3 (1/2)

'What about the rest of us?'

'Mistress Dent included her parents and their chinless, dim-witted friend in her thoughts.'

Ford was wounded. 'Chinless? She thought that?'

'Oh, yes,' said the bird with obvious relish. 'Several times.'

Something occurred to Ford. 'Secondary master? Who is the primary?'

'You are not ent.i.tled to interrogate me,' snapped Mk II.

Ford borrowed a tactic from the Sesefras Magna gas dragons. 'I know that. Of course a wondrous being like yourself doesn't have to answer to a lowly Betelgeusean like myself. But it would be a lovely treat for me to understand the complexities of your plan.'

The bird c.o.c.ked its head. 'I know what you're doing.'

'Obviously.'

'I experience every moment simultaneously.'

'No point in arguing then, is there? You already know what you're going to do.'

'Good point. Very well. The Vogons created me so that I could cajole you back to Earth before the Grebulons destroyed it.'

'Which is happening now now.'

'Now, as you know it. Yes.'

'Will we be rescued?'

'Probably not.'

'So you gave us the lives we wanted?'

'No. I gave you free will and a construct. You followed your own paths under my supervision.'

Ford winked at the bird. 'I get it. I see now. You wanted to experience real time.'

Mk II dropped its beak slowly, crossing its wings across its breast. 'I lived your lives with you, never knowing what was coming next. It was exhilaratingly... random.'

'And now?'

'Now? Now I know exactly exactly what happens. A hundred years of maintaining four Universes has depleted my power source. I only lasted this long because I periodically combined two constructs for the past virtual twenty years. Perhaps I should have thought of that sooner, but linear time is so immediate. In five virtual minutes this room will disappear, and you will be left on Earth facing the planet-killer beams of the Grebulons.' what happens. A hundred years of maintaining four Universes has depleted my power source. I only lasted this long because I periodically combined two constructs for the past virtual twenty years. Perhaps I should have thought of that sooner, but linear time is so immediate. In five virtual minutes this room will disappear, and you will be left on Earth facing the planet-killer beams of the Grebulons.'

Ford's throat was suddenly too dry and his thoughts too cohesive. How he missed c.o.c.ktail hour.

'Five minutes?'

'And counting,' said Mk II, fading from view. In the places where the bird had been there appeared several digital readouts, which said 4.57, then 4.56. You get the picture.

'Humans think digital watches are pretty neat,' murmured Ford absently, then turned to face the three humans who were busy doing their utmost to avoid being the least bit civil to each other.

The old man wasn't as ancient as he had been barely a moment before. He could tell this by the tautness of the skin on his hands and the renewed sharpness of his hearing.

I can hear every word these two women shriek at me. Oh joy.

'Arthur!' yelled the elder of the two, actually yelled. He hadn't been yelled at in... decades. 'Are you even listening to me?'

Trying not to, thought Arthur, keeping his head down.

'I hate her,' screamed the teenager. 'She abandoned me and now she wants to control me. How does that make sense?'

'Arthur?'

'Daddy?

'I am speaking to you, Arthur Dent.'

Arthur Dent. It fit him. It was him.

'Arthur Dent,' mumbled Arthur Dent, and he wasn't happy to hear it.

'Is that all you have to say? After all these years.'

'I'm an old man,' said Arthur hopefully. 'Leave me alone.'

'Old?' said the woman. 'What are you talking about, old? You look exactly the same as you did the last time I saw you. Exactly Exactly. How did you do that?'

It was as Arthur feared. All those years alone on his beach and now he was back in the Universe with people shouting at him and no idea what was going on.

'How did I do what?'

'Stay so young. I'm younger younger than you and I look like a silicon implant after a night in the toaster. Oh, why did I bother with all these refits. I should have retired. Or brought Random along with me. Other parents do it.' than you and I look like a silicon implant after a night in the toaster. Oh, why did I bother with all these refits. I should have retired. Or brought Random along with me. Other parents do it.'

Arthur resigned himself to the fact that there was no wis.h.i.+ng himself back to the beach and made eye contact. He saw a slim, darkish, young woman, with shoulder-length curling black hair and chocolate eyes, wearing a dark, s.h.i.+mmering trouser suit.

Memories poked through to his consciousness.

'Trillian. You look beautiful.'

The brown eyes blinked. 'Screw you, Arthur. I didn't come here to be patronized.'

'Sorry. You look beautiful, Miss.'

'Arthur. I chose Zaphod at the party, so live with it and drop that torch you're carrying. You need to see me as I am. My foot buzzes, for heaven's sake.'

'Does it really? I didn't notice, and I would would notice, because my hearing has become pretty sharp just recently.' notice, because my hearing has become pretty sharp just recently.'

Trillian placed two fingers on her left tibia, searching for the vibration that generally thrummed along her s.h.i.+nbone, keeping her awake at night.