Ford and Arthur have been captured on board one of the Vogon Constructor Ships, and are forced to listen to the Captain's poetry (Vogon poetry is the worst in the universe) before being thrown out of an airlock. However, they are miraculously rescued by the starship Heart of Gold, where they meet Marvin the Paranoid Android, Zaphod Beeblebrox (the President of the Galaxy) and Trillian, another Earth escapee!