Chapter 3

"So they just want you to go like that!" Trillian exclaimed snapping her fingers.

"Calm down, Trllian!" Arthur hissed.

Trillian paused and took a moment of thought.

"What about the twins?" She suggested.

Arthur took in a deep breath and said, "Tell them I'm on vacation, better than that I'll be home before dinnertime."

Now, before the reader thinks, What the hell is this writer thinking", consider this:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy bluntly explains that eachEarth day is equivalent to a Belteguese hour. So one week on Earth is equal to seven hours on Belteguese, making Arthur's life conveniently easier at least at the moment, however he did not know what was on his hands, much like Archie Belknap.

Archie was walking from the bus-stop after a hard day at school then a silver electronic device that said: Don't Panic on the back in big friendly letters caught his eye. He started guffawing and running quickly back home. He couldn't wait for his older brother Charlie to see what he had found.

"Charlie, Charlie!" shouted Archie as he burst through the not- sighing-but-banging-doors.

"What is it, Arch?" asked Charlie. He was fair-haired, tall, and square-built, whereas Archie was lanky blonde, and certainly clever for someone in his condition.

"Do you think God answered my prayers by sending me a Nintendo DS?" asked Archie.

Charlie examined the unknown electronic device and replied, "Maybe."

Archie started to laugh excitedly and threw about a million thank-you's to the sky.

"Hey, Arch," Charlie said, "do you mind if I take a look at it?"

"Go ahead," replied Archie.

Charlie took the device into his room and started randomly pressing buttons. The device did the most unbelievable thing: it started to talk.

"Vogons are most repulsive beings, not evil, but bad-tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous. They wouldn't even raise a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal with out orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in a soft peat for three months, and then recycled as firelighters."

"The best way to get a drink out of a Vogon is to stick your finger down his throat , and the best way to irritate him is by feeding his grandmother to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal."

"On no account, allow a Vogon to read poetry to you."

"What the hell?" Charlie rasped.

Archie suddenly poked his head in the door and asked, "Does it work?"

"Yeah," Charlie lied, "We just need to get a game before you can play it."

"Okay," said Archie compliantly, and with that he left to watch his favorite television show.

Charlie examined the device one more time. He opened once more and it said, "Welcome to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, pick a task."

Charlie closed and said, "Whatever The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is, I gotta find a way to get rid of it."