The Ultra-Mega-Über-Hyper-Quasi-Death Bomb floated through space at a speed that was definitely faster than floating towards the Heart of Gold.
"If you even think about saying," Zaphod began angrily at Arthur, "'So this is it; we're going to die.' I will hit you so hard you'll use Vogon poetry to recover from it!"
"Is Zaphod always this angry?" Fenchurch inquired, "And what are we going to do about that bomb?"
Arthur was still in a bit of shock from Zaphod's ranting about his pessimistic attitude, so had nothing to say on the matter.
A hollow dirge floated through the bridge that originated from Marvin; it was his way of saying he was minutely less miserable.
"Do you want me to sing you a song?" Eddie asked cheerfully.
"No," Zaphod replied through gritted teeth, "I do not want you to sing a song. I do want you to go to the other side of that quasar though."
"I can't do that, but I could fix you some cake! Would that make you feel better?"
"Why can't you do that?"
"My readings say it's impossible."
"You readings can go and whistle."
The bomb drew closer to the ship.
"We could always go with inconsistent consistency." Fenchurch said quietly.
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked.
"She means," Marvin said woefully, "You could activate that horrid Improbability Drive again and see what miserable thing happens that could never happen otherwise. Maybe you'll turn the bomb into fruitcake. Maybe you'll kill Oolon Colluphid with a concussion from an Encyclopedia Galactica that unexpectedly fell from the sky. Maybe we will all just die. It would be rather horrid any way you put it."
"Somebody needs an attitude adjustment." Zaphod said out of the corner of his mouth. If Marvin heard, he made it clear that he didn't care by switching himself off.
"Computer!" Arthur called out, suddenly feeling that he should assert himself some more.
"Hiya!" Eddie said.
"Activate the Infinite Improbability Drive!"
"But I need to-"
"I know! I know! You need to set it first! Here's a number to set it to: six hundred and sixty-six!"
Like the people from the Betelgeuse system, artificial intelligence systems had no sense of sarcasm. Like most of the universe, they also did not know what that number meant to certain cults on the possibly destroyed planet/supercomputer Earth.
Binary poured across one of the readout screens. An infinity sign appeared as numbers coalesced next to it. Suddenly the screen read "Infinity minus one." A large gold button materialized on the control panel.
"Here we go!" Arthur yelled and pressed a little harder than he probably should have; he just got caught up in the moment.
Unbeknownst to the crew of the Heart of Gold, "caught up in the moment" is exactly how Trillian felt at the same time while pleading her case to the recently-reopened Argabuthon Justice Center that she was not guilty for murdering Oolon Colluphid by dropping a copy of the Encyclopedia Galactica on his head.