They watched for a moment in silence, but Zaphod was fidgety with excitement.
"We are now traversing the night side ..." he said in a hushed voice. The planet rolled on.
"The surface of the planet is now three hundred miles beneath us ..." he continued. He was trying to restore a sense of occasion to what he felt should have been a great moment. Magrathea! He was piqued by Ford's sceptical reaction. Magrathea!
"In a few seconds," he continued, "we should see ... there!"
The moment carried itself. Even the most seasoned star tramp can't help but shiver at the spectacular drama of a sunrise seen from space, but a binary sunrise is one of the marvels of the Galaxy.
Out of the utter blackness stabbed a sudden point of blinding light. It crept up by slight degrees and spread sideways in a thin crescent blade, and within seconds two suns were visible, furnaces of light, searing the black edge of the horizon with white fire. Fierce shafts of colour streaked through the thin atmosphere beneath them.
"The fires of dawn ... !" breathed Zaphod. "The twin suns of Soulianis and Rahm ... !"
"Or whatever," said Ford quietly.
"Soulianis and Rahm!" insisted Zaphod.