Further: Beyond the Threshold Read Free Page A

have been able to determine, a micrometeorite impacted the craft early in its voyage, penetrating the self-healing hull and damaging the ship’s onboard navigation systems. Caught in a recursive loop, the primitive silicon proto-intelligence never initiated the command to wake the crew from their cryogenic slumber.”
    “Ha!” The chimpanzee clapped his hands together, hopping up and down. “I knew he was legitimate!”
    The woman scowled, unconvinced. “It is all too convenient, if you ask me. No gift this welcome should go unexamined.”
    The chimpanzee began to pace, waving his hands excitedly, his cravat coming all undone. “Let me clean him up, get him fitted with an interlink, and we can call a meeting. With him on our side, we’re sure to get the donors we need for the Further fund, and then we’ll be on our way.”
    The man-lion shook its enormous, hairless head. “As we have said, Maruti, Captain Stone should be given some time to acclimate to his new surroundings before being asked to make any decisions of lasting consequence.”
    “Very well.” The voice of the chimpanzee sounded impatient, but he shrugged casually. “Though, why anyone would object to basic medical treatments is beyond me.” The chimpanzee turned to the Amazon. “Now, Zel, about the donors…”
    The man-lion made a rumbling noise, interrupting.
    “Look,” I said, looking from one unlikely creature to another, “I want some answers…”
    The man-lion raised a paw in a casual gesture, one I instantly recognized as a request for me to wait.
    “Physician Maruti and Chief Executive Zel, we can see that you wish to discuss plans and strategies relating to your fund. If we might offer our services, the Plenum is prepared to take temporary charge of Captain Stone, until such time as he’s able to make informed decisions for himself.”
    The Amazon reached up and tapped the surface of her sapphire-colored eye patch thoughtfully. “I’m of a mind to keep him here, on the Pethesilean habitat, until I work out what to do with him.”
    “We’re certain that the chief executive of Pethesilea requires no lesson in Entelechy law,” the man-lion said gently, “but we’ll remind you that, unless it can be proven that Captain Stone is not, in fact, sentient, he has the same inalienable rights as any citizen of the Entelechy, including the ability to move freely. If he were to be detained against his will, when he has done nothing to invite reprisal, then you would be abridging his rights and would run the risk of inviting censure. Persist, and perhaps your entire culture might be put on probation, your threshold temporarily isolated by the Consensus.”
    The Amazon sighed deeply and regarded me warily with her one eye.
    “So what are you saying, Voice?” she said, turning to the man-lion. “Are we just to let the caveman go wandering alone through the worlds?”
    The man-lion inclined his enormous head for an instant, eyes lidded. “Anticipating this need,” he said, “we have spawned an agent to act as Captain Stone’s escort.”
    The Amazon was thoughtful for a long moment and then glanced at the chimpanzee, who only grinned and shrugged.
    “The Plenum will keep an eye on him, then?” she asked, turning back to the man-lion.
    “The escort will be the captain’s constant companion,” the man-lion answered.
    “He can go, in that case,” she said, “but we will likely need him back before too much time has passed.”
    The man-lion smiled, a somewhat unsettling sight, and nodded. “One is always free to ask.”
    “Look,” I said, growing agitated, “what about my crew?”
    The man-lion turned his eyes to me, a sad expression on his wide face. “We regret to inform you that all, sadly, are dead. You, Captain Stone, are the only survivor.”
    “But one of them is not yet fully decayed, correct?” The chimpanzee steepled his fingers, looking from the man-lion to the Amazon. “I wouldn’t mind taking a look at her