Hey, he said, what do you do that for?
Trillian was tapping her fingers on a screenful of figures.
Ive just thought of something, she said.
Yeah? Worth interrupting a news bulletin about me for?
You hear enough about yourself as it is.
Im very insecure. We know that.
Can we drop your ego for a moment? This is important.
If theres anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now. Zaphod glared at her again, then laughed.
Listen, she said, we picked up those couple of guys
What couple of guys?
The couple of guys we picked up.
Oh, yeah, said Zaphod, those couple of guys.
We picked them up in sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha.
Yeah? said Zaphod and blinked.
Trillian said quietly, Does that mean anything to you?
Mmmmm, said Zaphod, ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha. ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha?
Well? said Trillian.
Er what does the Z mean? said Zaphod.
Which one?
Any one.
One of the major difficulties Trillian experienced in her relationship with Zaphod was learning to distinguish between him pretending to be stupid just to get people off their guard, pretending to be stupid because he couldnt be bothered to think and wanted someone else to do it for him, pretending to be outrageously stupid to hide the fact that he actually didnt understand what was going on, and really being genuinely stupid. He was renowned for being amazingly clever and quite clearly was sobut not all the time, which obviously worried him, hence the act. He proffered people to be puzzled rather than contemptuous. This above all appeared to Trillian to be genuinely stupid, but she could no longer be bothered to argue about it.
She sighed and punched
up a star map on the visiscreen so she could make it simple for him, whatever his reasons for wanting it to be that way.
There, she pointed, right there.
Hey Yeah! said Zaphod.
Well? she said.
Well what?
Parts of the inside of her head screamed at other parts of the inside of her head. She said, very calmly, Its the same sector you originally picked me up in.
He looked at her and then looked back at the screen.
Hey, yeah, he said, now that is wild. We should have zapped straight into the middle of the Horsehead Nebula. How did we come to be there? I mean thats nowhere.
She ignored this.
Improbability Drive, she said patiently. You explained it to me yourself. We pass through every point in the Universe, you know that.
Yeah, but thats one wild coincidence isnt it?
Yes.
Picking someone up at that point? Out of the whole of the Universe to choose from? Thats just too I want to work this out. Computer!
The Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Shipboard Computer which controlled and permeated every particle of the ship switched into communication mode.
Hi there! it said brightly and simultaneously spewed out a tiny ribbon of ticker tape just for the record. The ticker tape said, Hi there!
Oh God, said Zaphod. He hadnt worked with this computer for long but had already learned to loathe it.
The computer continued, brash and cheery as if it was selling detergent.
I want you to know that whatever your problem, I am here to help you solve it.
Yeah yeah, said Zaphod. Look, I think Ill just use a piece of paper.
Sure thing, said the computer, spilling out its message into a waste bin at the same time, I understand. If you ever want
Shut up! said Zaphod, and snatching up a pencil sat down next to Trillian at the console.
OK, OK said the computer in a hurt tone of voice and closed down its speech channel again.
Zaphod and Trillian pored over the figures that the Improbability flight path scanner flashed silently up in front of them.
Can we work out, said Zaphod, from their point of view what the Improbability of their rescue was?
Yes, thats a constant, said Trillian, two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand seven hundred and nine to one against.
Thats high. Theyre two lucky lucky guys.
Yes.
But relative to what we were doing when the ship picked them up
Trillian punched up the figures. They showed tow-to-the power-of-Infinity-minus-one (an irrational number that only has a conventional meaning in Improbability physics).
its pretty low, continued Zaphod with a slight whistle.
Yes, agreed Trillian, and looked at him quizzically.
Thats one big whack of Improbability to be accounted for. Something pretty improbable has got to show up on the balance sheet if its all going to add up into a pretty sum.
Zaphod scribbled a few sums, crossed them out and threw the pencil away.
Bats dots, I cant work it out.
Well?
Zaphod knocked his two heads together in irritation and gritted his teeth.
OK, he said. Computer!
The voice circuits sprang to life again.
Why hello there! they said (ticker tape, ticker tape). All I want to do is make your day nicer and nicer and nicer
Yeah well shut up and work something out for me.
Sure thing, chattered the computer, you want a probability forecast based on
Improbability data, yeah.
OK, the computer continued. Heres an interesting little notion. Did you realize that most peoples lives are governed by telephone numbers?