There was also the matter of revenge, of course, said Hactar, with a sharpness which was new in his voice. Remember, he said, that I was pulverized, and then left in a crippled and semi-impotent state for billions of years. I honestly would rather wipe out the Universe. You would feel the same way, believe me. He paused again, as eddies swept through the Dust. But primarily, he said in his former, wistful tone, I was trying to fulfill my function. Ah well. Trillian said: Does it worry you that you have failed? Have I failed? whispered Hactar. The image of the computer on the psychiatrist’s couch began slowly to fade again. Ah well, ah well, the fading voice intoned again. No, failure doesn’t bother me now. You know what we have to do? said Trillian, her voice cold and businesslike. Yes, said Hactar, you’re going to disperse me. You are going to destroy my consciousness. Please be my guest after all these aeons, oblivion is all I crave. If I haven’t already fulfilled my function, then it’s too late now. Thank you and good night. The sofa vanished. The tea table vanished. The couch and the computer vanished. the walls were gone. Arthur and Trillian made their curious way back into the Heart of Gold. Well, that, said Arthur, would appear to be that. The flames danced higher in front of him and then subsided. A few last licks and they were gone, leaving him with just a pile of Ashes, where a few minutes previously there had been the Wooden Pillar of Nature and Spirituality. He scooped them off the hob of the Heart of Gold’s Gamma barbecue, put them in a paper bag, and walked back into the bridge. I think we should take them back, he said. I feel that very strongly. He had already had an argument with Slartibartfast on this matter, and eventually the old man had got annoyed and left. He had returned to his own ship the Bistromath, had a furious row with the waiter and disappeared off into an entirely subjective idea of what space was. The argument had arisen because Arthur’s idea of returning the Ashes to Lord’s Cricket Ground at the same moment that they were originally taken would involve travelling back in time a day or so, and this was precisely the sort of gratuitous and irresponsible mucking about that the Campaign for Real Time was trying to put a stop to. Yes, Arthur had said, but you try and explain that to the MCC, and he would hear no more against the idea. I think, he said again, and stopped. The reason he started to say it again was because no one had listened to him the first time, and the reason he stopped was because it looked fairly clear that no one was going to listen to him this time either. Ford, Zaphod and Trillian were watching the visiscreens intently as Hactar was dispersing under pressure from a vibration field which the Heart of Gold was pumping into it. What did it say? asked Ford. I thought I heard it say, said Trillian in a puzzle voice, “What’s done is done… I have fulfilled my function…” I think we should take these back, said Arthur holding up the bag containing the Ashes. I feel that very strongly. “當然，也有報復的成分。”黑克特的聲音裏竟然多了一分惡毒。 “別忘了，”他說，“我被他們弄得粉身碎骨。殘廢着、癱瘓着過了幾億萬年。我真心希望毀掉整個宇宙。相信我，要是你也會這麼想的。” 他停了一下。塵雲中捲起許多漩子。 “但是，首先……”黑克特又恢復了依依不捨的語調，“我是爲了完成任務。是啊。” 崔莉安說： “你失敗了，你難過嗎？” “我失敗了嗎？”黑克特輕聲道。精神治療椅上，那電腦的影象又開始慢慢消退了。 “是啊，是啊。”那虛弱的聲音又響了起來，“不會的。失敗已與我無關。” “你知道我們將要做什麼吧？”崔莉安的聲音理智而冷漠。 “是的。”黑克特說，“你們將逐散我。你們將摧毀我的意識。一切請便。經過漫長的歲月，如今我只求一死。如果說，我依然沒能完成任務，那也已經太遲了。謝謝你們。晚安。” 沙發消失了。 茶几消失了。 長椅和電腦消失了。牆壁不見了。阿瑟和崔莉安又神奇般地踏着真空向黃金之心走去。 “好啦。”阿瑟說，“就這樣了。” 他面前的火焰高高地騰起，隨後，倏然熄滅。幾條小火舌竄了竄，還是消失了。只剩下一堆灰燼。幾分鐘前，它還是自然與精神力的木柱。 阿瑟把灰燼從架子上弄下來——這是黃金之心飛船上的伽瑪射線燒烤架。他把灰燼放進紙袋，走回控制艙。 “我想我們應該把它送回去。”他說，“我有強烈的預感。” 剛纔，他和司拉提巴特法斯已經就此事進行了一番爭論。最後老人覺得很惱火就走了，回自己的意館數學飛船去了。他和侍者大吵了一架，然後帶着滿腦子的極端主義思想離開了。 爭論的導火索，是因爲阿瑟希望把這些灰燼帶回羅德板球場，而且要剛好在他們拿走的地點和時間。因此大家必須進行時間旅行。對於真實時間運動來說，這種事恰恰是最沒有理由、完全不負責任的行爲，必須予以制止。 “好啊，”阿瑟道，“那你去跟MCC①解釋啊。”然後就沒人答話了。 “我想”他又說道，然後又閉嘴了。他開口說“我想”是因爲沒人聽他說話。他閉嘴是因爲，顯然還是沒人聽他說話。 福特、贊福德和崔莉安，正專心盯着顯示屏。他們看見，在黃金之心發出的振動力場下，黑克特正在分散、解體。 “它說什麼？”福特問。 “我想我聽見的是，”崔莉安困惑地說，“‘過去的畢竟過去了……我已完成任務……’” “我想我們應該把它送回去，”阿瑟拿着那袋灰燼，“我有強烈的預感。”
