Further: Beyond the Threshold (14 page)

With Maruti gone and my possessions safely stowed away in the sleeping quarters, it was time to address the rumblings of hunger in my belly.

Breakfast was toasted bread topped with some sort of sweet fruit spread, something like a thick soup consisting mostly of cooked oat-like grains, and two cups of buna. Stuffed and unable to eat another bite, it was time for the day to begin.

“Having seen something of Earth and its sister world Cronos yesterday, sir, I thought you might be interested in touring other worlds. I’m given to understand that a celebration is being planned in your honor this evening on the planet Ouroboros, more formal in tone than the gathering last night, but we should have ample opportunity to return and prepare this afternoon, if you are willing to attend.”

“Another party? Who’s throwing this one, then?”

“The invitations carry the identifying signature of Chief Executive Zel i’Cirea, who appears to speak on behalf of the
Further
fund.”

I had vague memories of someone mentioning something called the
Further
fund when I’d awoken on the Pethesilean habitat, but couldn’t place it. “What’s a
Further
fund?”

The escort waggled its head from side to side for a moment, thoughtfully, as though considering its answer. “Such groups are established when individuals or organizations wish to raise funds for joint ventures.”

“To raise capital, you mean?” I realized that I hadn’t seen anything like a commercial transaction since I’d arrived and had heard nothing referring to currency of any kind.

“Not in the exact sense you mean, sir,” the escort explained. “Most worlds of the Entelechy use power as a medium of exchange. Every inhabitant is given an equal share of the available energy produced by the planet or habitat, which, with the aid of fabricants, is used to fabricate materials, create housing, food, and so forth. Any surplus left over the individual can use as they see fit. Many individuals exchange surplus power for craft goods or services, not as payment, but as gratuity. Groups of individuals can opt to use their surplus power en masse, for such enterprises as terraforming and colonizing homeworlds or constructing sublight starships or fabricating habitats. A small minority of worlds use currency or credit or state ownership, but most have adopted the power-exchange model.”

“So to what use will this
Further
fund put their power?”

Again the head waggle, again the slight delay. “Perhaps it would be better to let them explain for themselves at the gathering this evening, sir. I fear that I might not do their goals and ambitions justice, given my relative inexperience.”

When
Wayfarer One
left Sol, the nations of Earth were enjoying an uneasy peace led by the United Nations, but there were always minor skirmishes and border wars on the ground, in the skies, and in space.

In the years following the Impact, and the attendant economic depression, the old United Nations nearly splintered. The United States of America withdrew from membership, followed shortly by the member states that subsequently formed the theocracy of Dar al-Islam. Authority was consolidated by the European Union, the Pan-African Commonwealth, India, MERCOSUR, and the Oceanic Trade Zone. When, in the late 21C, these economic trade federations and multinational confederations sought to unify in their mutual interests, there was some discussion of chartering a “United Earth” governmental body. It was pointed out that the United Nations still existed and that all of the nations participating in the talks were still member states. Having limped along as a largely forgotten extranational organization for decades, the United Nations was dusted off, reinvigorated with necessary capital and resources, and by the early days of the 22C, was in the process of rebuilding international—and interplanetary—authority.

The member states of the United Nations had all surrendered some degree of autonomy, naturally, in exchange for increased security and trade, but as the years passed and the UN became the dominant political force on Earth and on the colonies, still some nations refused all invitations to join—notably China, Dar al-Islam, and the balkanized nations of the former United States of America. Whether because there were elements of the revised UN charter their leaders refused to acknowledge, or rights they would be required to grant their citizens that offended their religious or cultural beliefs, or motivated by protectionist economic interests, or for a hundred other perceived shortcomings or sins of the UN, these rogues refused admittance and remained antagonistic to the rest of the world.

When the people of a single planet couldn’t overcome their differences of opinion and belief long enough to yoke themselves to a single plow, how could the thousands of worlds of the Entelechy ever agree on anything?

“While on the level of culture, individual worlds are free to govern themselves as they see fit,” the escort explained as I stepped through a threshold into a world of permanent night, a viridian moon glowing in the sky, “the Human Entelechy is governed by the Consensus for matters affecting the superculture as a whole. The Consensus is a kind of emergent collective consciousness, made up of any inhabitants of the Entelechy who choose to participate at any given moment. Anyone with real-time access to the infostructure, either through an interlink or through an external terminal, and the patience to participate is a potential element of the Consensus.”

We walked through a threshold onto a world of endless seas, the only land the floating barge upon which we stood, and as the escort beat its wings to chase migrating seabirds high overhead, its voice still echoed clean and clear in my left ear.

“Only when a decision is accepted by a majority without a minority objecting is it enacted. A majority in favor and a minority ambivalent is enacted. A majority objecting and a minority in favor is rejected. A majority ambivalent and minorities objecting or in favor is rejected. And a majority in favor and a minority objecting is rejected. Any rejected proposal is sent back for further deliberation.”

“That sounds like it could take
forever
,” I said to the wind, not expecting an answer, but either the earplug carried sound both directions or the escort’s hearing was better than I’d thought.

“How long does it take to change a mind,” came the voice of the escort in my ear, “in the face of overwhelming evidence? And with the size of the distributed consciousness, most decisions are reached in a matter of moments. But is it better to reach a decision quickly or to reach the correct decision?”

“What happens if someone refuses to abide by the Consensus’s decision?” I asked as we walked through a street fair that extended to the horizon in every direction, a whole world given over to the exchange of craft goods and services. Tents and stalls in blindingly bright colors jostled for space, artisans spread their wares on blankets that hovered in midair, and beings of every conceivable shape, size, and temperament crowded the walkways. “Do you have armies to enforce the decisions?”

“Again, individual cultures police their own, as they see fit,” said the silver eagle perched atop my shoulder. “It is only when the action or inaction of a culture impinges on other cultures is the Consensus involved. There are cultural variations among the different worlds and habitats of the Human Entelechy, of course, but some standards apply throughout. Anyone can travel from planet to planet—at least to those that do not restrict immigration—assured that whatever else happens they will be provided essential services: housing, food, clothing, medical treatment. Any planet that exhibits a persistent inability to recognize the inalienable rights of individuals to essential services, or exhibits aggression toward other worlds, will be isolated, their threshold temporarily isolated. The threshold itself is still active, but the hub-side gate is enclosed in fullerene-reinforced diamond. After a period of probation, the threshold is again opened. If the planet persists in its antisocial behavior, the threshold is permanently closed, the stabilizing arch dismantled, and the juncture allowed to evaporate. The permanently isolated are known as ‘lost cultures.’ One of the most notable of the lost cultures is the Iron Mass.”

I remembered the escort pointing out the threshold to the Iron Mass world in the Central Axis, and explaining about their views on what it meant to be human. “Just what did this Iron Mass
do
that was so terrible, anyway?”

The silver eagle on my shoulder seemed to vibrate slightly, and it took me a moment to realize it was a rough approximation of a shudder. “It is…unpleasant to contemplate, sir. Suffice it to say that they were not good neighbors.”

I stood in what appeared to be the base of an immense valley, whose walls curved up to the horizon on either side. Chariots and vessels like stepped pyramids—vimana—flew through the air, and creatures with multiple arms or blue skin or the heads of elephants or lightning in their eyes crowded around me.

The Veda of Thousand-petaled Lotus had gathered together to watch their most respected members reenact scenes from the Ramayana in my honor. Rama, prince of Ayodhya, accompanied by his loyal brother Lakshmana, strives to rescue his loving wife Sita from the clutches of Ravana, the demon king and ruler of three worlds. Hanuman, monkey son of the wind god, grows to immense size and harries the demon forces of Ravana, while Rama breaks the divine bow of Lord Shiva himself. But these were not simply human actors in ceremonial dress, as in the festival days of my childhood. These were beings who had resculpted their very bodies and minds until they actually became the beings they represented.