Forge of the Elders, page 63
"Safety first!" The "corporal" hooked a thumb over his shoulder. "This probability broach is open on a small auxiliary vessel about the size of one of General Gutierrez's late lamented shuttlecraft. The ship you see out there beyond the windows is eight and a half miles in diameter, one of the Great Ships of the Galactic Confederacy.
"My real name is Owen Rogers, staff praxeologist aboard the Tom Paine Maru."
"Staff what?" Sam demanded.
"Look it up," replied Rogers, touching a sleeve of his filmsuit. Its surface clouded and resolved into a glaring plaid. "We have to be going, me and my war bride." He grinned at Toya who blushed and grinned back. "But I left most of the Predecessor stuff for Mister Thoggosh, and there's a message for him if you'll deliver it."
Eichra Oren nodded. "Of course."
"Tell him that we're friendly, but that he should be aware from now on that the Elders aren't the only ones watching all the alternative worlds of probability."
Within the aperture, a nonhuman—a chimpanzee, Eichra Oren thought—became visible, reaching through and grabbing boxes and bags. "Get a move on, Owen, we haven't got all day!"
Rogers shrugged, took Toya's arm, stepped through onto a carpeted deck, and flapped a hand in a gesture of farewell. Toya blew the debt assessor and his assistant a kiss.
The circle closed to a blinding dot and popped out of existence.
"Hmm."
"I'll see that, Boss, and raise you a whatthefuck. I wonder how the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-confused Elders missed that universe in their survey fifteen thousand years ago."
Eichra Oren shrugged. "They didn't. I think it must have diverged historically since then. Let's get back and deliver our message. And maybe Rosalind will have some free time."
"I certainly hope so, Boss."
Eichra Oren frowned down at the dog. "Why?"
"I wanted to thank her."
He sat on his haunches, held up a paw, and spread the toes. One toe on the outside spread further than the rest and turned to touch the tips of each of the others in turn.
"Thumbs!"
L. Neil Smith, Forge of the Elders
