Walking north he again passed a steel grey limousine parked by the kerbside, and from a nearby doorway he heard a soft voice saying: It’s OK, honey, it’s really OK, you got to learn to feel good about it. Look at the way the whole economy is structured…
Ford grinned, detoured round the next block which was now in flames, found a police helicopter which was standing unattended in the street, broke into it, strapped himself in, crossed his fingers and sent it hurtling inexpertly into the sky.
He weaved terrifyingly up through the canyoned walls of the city, and once clear of them, hurtled through the black and red pall of smoke which hung permanently above it.
Ten minutes later, with all the copter’s sirens blaring and its rapid-fire cannon blasting at random into the clouds, Ford Prefect brought it careering down among the gantries and landing lights at Han Dold spaceport, where it settled like a gigantic, startled and very noisy gnat.
Since he hadn’t damaged it too much he was able to trade it in for a first class ticket on the next ship leaving the system, and settled into one of its huge, voluptuous body-hugging seats.
This was going to be fun, he thought to himself, as the ship blinked silently across the insane distances of deep space and the cabin service got into its full extravagant swing.
Yes please, he said to the cabin attendants whenever they glided up to offer him anything at all.
He smiled with a curious kind of manic joy as he flipped again through the mysteriously re-instated entry on the planet Earth. He had a major piece of unfinished business that he would now be able to attend to, and was terribly pleased that life had suddenly furnished him with a serious goal to achieve.
It suddenly occurred to him to wonder where Arthur Dent was, and if he knew.
Arthur Dent was one thousand, four hundred and thirty-seven light years away in a Saab, and anxious.
Behind him in the backseat was a girl who had made him crack his head on the door as he climbed in. He didn’t know if it was just because she was the first female of his own species that he had laid eyes on in years, or what it was, but he felt stupefied with, with… This is absurd, he told himself. Calm down, he told himself. You are not, he continued to himself in the firmest internal voice he could muster, in a fit and rational state. You have just hitch-hiked over a hundred thousand light years across the galaxy, you are very tired, a little confused and extremely vulnerable. Relax, don’t panic, concentrate on breathing deeply.
He twisted round in his seat.
他一路向北，又经过了路边的那辆铁灰色豪华轿车，旁边的一个门洞里传来一个温柔的声音：“这是好事，乖，这真的是好事，你要学会为此感到高兴。看看这整个经济体系是如何建立起来的......”
福特咧开嘴笑了，绕过了火光冲天的临近街区，发现路上停着一架被抛弃的警用直升机。于是他闯进里面，系上安全带，交叉手指（注4），然后让直升机摇摇晃晃地冲上了天。
他在峡谷般的城墙间危险地迂回着，当面前豁然开朗时，他就迅速穿过了常年覆盖在城墙上空的黑红色烟幕。
十分钟后，直升机上警笛鸣响，速射机炮漫无目的地向云层扫射，福特在汉杜德空港的指示灯和火箭平台间降落了，就像一只巨大、震惊而又吵闹的飞虫。
由于他没把直升机毁得太厉害，他可以拿它换来一张下一次飞离本星系的头等舱船票，然后倒在那巨大奢华的环抱式座椅上。
这一定很好玩，他想。而此时飞船已无声地掠过了外层空间老长一段距离了，豪华的客舱服务正全力开动。
“好的，请，”无论何时，只要服务员走过来提供任何服务，福特只有这一句话要说。
他微笑着，带着一种强迫症般的好奇再次打开了那个神秘的被还原的地球条目。 他现在有个主要的历史遗留问题需要处理，他为生活突然给了他这么重大的人生目标而感到相当满意。
蓦然间，他开始想念起阿瑟.邓特在哪了，如果他知道的话。
阿瑟.邓特此时正在一千四百三十七光年以外的一辆萨博上，而且紧张兮兮的。
在阿瑟的后座上是个女孩，她让阿瑟在上车时由于分神而磕到了头。他不知道这是因为那个女孩是他多年来第一个看到的本种族的女性，或者是因为其它什么原因，总之他觉得被......被电到了......不要搞了，他对自己说着。冷静，他对自己说着。你不是，他继续用自己可以集聚的最坚定的内心声音，理性而又和谐地对自己说着。你只不过是个穿越了十万光年的银河系的一个搭便车的家伙，你很累了，你有些迷惘，你极端脆弱。放松，不要恐慌，再来个深呼吸。
他在座位上转过身去。