The Gilded Age, a Time Travel

BOOK: The Gilded Age, a Time Travel
13.47Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

©

BAST

BOOKS

The
Gilded Age, A Time Travel

Lisa
Mason

This
is an ebook adaptation of Lisa Mason’s classic Bantam New York Times Notable Book,
The Golden Nineties
.

This
is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be
construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

A
Bast Book

Copyright © 2011 by
Lisa Mason.

Cover
art and logo © copyright 2011 by Tom Robinson.

All
rights reserved.

PUBLISHING
HISTORY

Bast
Books e-book edition published September 2011

No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage or retrieval, without permission in writing from the
publisher.

For information
address:

Bast Books

[email protected]

Thank you for your readership! Please
visit me at my
Official Web Site
for
more about my books, ebooks, screenplays, stories, and forthcoming works.
Enjoy!

Lisa Mason

Praise for
Books by
Lisa Mason

The Gilded Age, A Time Travel

A New York Times Notable Book

A New York Public Library Recommended
Book

Sequel to
Summer
of Love, A Time Travel

“A winning mixture of intelligence and
passion.”

--
New
York Times Book Review

“Should both leave the reader wanting
more and solidify Mason’s position as one of the most interesting writers in
science fiction.”

--
Publishers
Weekly

“Rollicking. . .Dazzling. . .Mason’s
characters are just as endearing as her world.”

--
Locus

“Graceful prose. . . A complex and
satisfying plot.”

--
Library
Journal

Summer of Love, A Time Travel

A San Francisco Chronicle Recommended
Book of the Year

A Philip K. Dick Award Finalist

Prequel to
The Gilded Age, a Time Travel

“Remarkable. . . .a whole array of
beautifully portrayed characters along the spectrum from outright heroism to
villainy. . . .not what you expected of a book with flowers in its hair. . .
the intellect on display within these psychedelically packaged pages is
clear-sighted, witty, and wise.”

--Locus

“A fine novel packed with vivid
detail, colorful characters, and genuine insight.”

--The
Washington Post Book World

“Captures the moment perfectly and
offers a tantalizing glimpse of its wonderful and terrible consequences.”

--San
Francisco Chronicle

“Brilliantly crafted. . . .An
engrossing tale spun round a very clever concept.”

--Katharine
Kerr, author of
Days of Air and Darkness

“Just imagine
The Terminator
in
love beads, set in the Haight-Ashbury ‘hood of 1967.”

--Entertainment
Weekly

“Mason has an astonishing gift. Her
characters almost walk off the page. And the story is as significant as anyone
could wish. This book will surely be on the prize ballots.”

--Analog

“A priority purchase.”

--Library
Journal

THE GARDEN OF ABRACADABRA

Lisa
Mason’s
urban
fantasy,
THE GARDEN OF ABRACADABRA
,
Volume 1 of the Abracadabra
Series
, is also available in affordable installments as
THE GARDEN OF
ABRACADABRA TRILOGY
:
Book
I: Life’s Journey
,
Book 2: In
Dark Woods
,
and
Book
3: The Right Road
.

“So refreshing! This is Stephanie Plum
in the world of Harry Potter.”

TENETS
OF THE GRANDMOTHER PRINCIPLE

[Developed for
tachyportation projects approved by

the
Luxon Institute for Superluminal Applications]

Tenet
One:
 
You cannot kill any of your lineal ancestors prior to his or her historical
death.

Tenet
Two:
 
You cannot prevent the death of any of your lineal ancestors.

Tenet
Three:
  You cannot affect any person in the past, including
aiding, abetting, coercing, deceiving, deterring, killing, or saving him or her
(except as authorized by the project directors).

Tenet
Four:
  You cannot affect the world in the past.

Tenet
Five:
  You cannot reveal your identity as a time traveler to
any person in the past, including yourself.

Tenet
Six:
 
You cannot reveal the future of any person in the past, including yourself.

Tenet
Seven:
  You cannot apply modern technologies to past events or
people, except when the result conforms to the Archives and, in that case, you
cannot leave evidence of modern technologies in the past.

The
CTL Peril:
  You are capable of dying in the past, including your
personal past. If this occurs, the project is transformed from an Open Time
Loop (OTL) to a Closed Time Loop (CTL).

You
cannot escape a CTL.

Contents

July 4, 1895    
Independence Day

1          Fortune
Cookies at the Japanese Tea Garden

2          A Toast to
the First and Last Chance Saloon

3          Miss
Malone’s Boardinghouse for Gentlemen

October 12, 1895    
Columbus Day

4          Up
and Down Dupont Street

A
Premonition

5          Strolling
Along the Cocktail Route

6          Absinthe
at the Poodle Dog

November 2, 1895    
El Dia De Los Muertos

7          Nine
Twenty Sacramento Street

8          A
Miraculous Cure at Dr. Mortimer’s Clinic

December 5, 1895    
The Artists’ Ball

9          Prayers
in the Joss House

A
Premonition is Just a Memory

10        A
Shindig on Snob Hill

February 22, 1896    
Chinese New Year

11        Kelly’s
Shanghai Special

June 21, 2495

A
Premonition is Just a Memory of the Future

February 22, 1896    
Tong Yan Sun Neen

12        Gung
Hay Fat Choy

March 17, 1896    
Saint Patrick’s Day

13        Woodward’s
Dancing Bears

14        High
Tea with Miss Anthony

July 14, 1896     Bastille
Day

15        The View
from the Cliff House

Out
In Frisco

There is lots of time
to burn

Out in Frisco;

Native customs you
will learn

Out in Frisco;

In the famous French
cafés,

With their naughty
little ways,

That’s the place
where Cupid plays,

Out in Frisco.

***

The red light is
contagious

Out in Frisco;

The ladies’ conduct
is outrageous

Out in Frisco;

When the bloodred
native wine,

Mixes up the clinging
vine,

She will call you
“Baby Mine,”

Out in Frisco.

***

When you finally cash
it in

Out in Frisco;

And you end this life
of sin

Out in Frisco;

They will gently toll
a bell,

Plant your carcass in
a dell,

There’s no need to go
to hell,

You’re in Frisco.

***

Anonymous

Circa 1895

July 4, 1895

Independence
Day

1

Fortune
Cookies at the Japanese Tea Garden

Out
of a tense and arid darkness she steps, her skirts sweeping across the macadam.
Her button boot wobbles on the bridge over the brook in the Japanese Tea
Garden. “Steady,” the technician whispers. The shuttle embraces the ancient
bridge in a half-moon of silver lattices. The air is susurrous, tinged with menthol,
cold. The shuttle hums. High overhead, the dome ripples in a fitful gust. Zhu
Wong listens for final instructions. None come. Dread quickens her pulse. She closes
her eyes and waits for the moment it takes to cross over.

And
then it’s happening--the Event sweeps her across six centuries.

Odd
staccato sounds pop in her ears. The Event transforms her into pure energy,
suspends her in nothingness, then flings her back into her own flesh and blood.
And she stands, unsteadily, her button boot poised on the bridge over the brook
in the Japanese Tea Garden. A brand-new bridge. The scent of fresh-cut wood
fills her senses.

“Muse?”
she whispers to the monitor. Fear stains her tongue. Tension gathers behind her
eyes. Her skin feels fragile. Her heart batters her ribcage, her lungs clench.
Now
she feels the Event just like they said she would. Again, “Muse?”

“I’m
here, Z. Wong,” the monitor whispers. Muse nestles behind Zhu’s left ear
between scalp and skull. “We’re here.” Muse automatically checks for points of
reference. Alphanumerics dance behind her eyelids. Coordinates are confirmed.
“We’re fine.”

Other books

Mistaken Identity by Montgomery, Alyssa J.
Love Her Madly by M. Elizabeth Lee
Solaria - S1 by Heckrotte, Fran
Down and Dirty by Christine Bell
The Warrior Sheep Down Under by Christopher Russell
We All Fall Down by Peter Barry