Magic Time: Ghostlands (43 page)

“Love” was not a word that Ely Stern ever used, and he did not use it here.

But even so, looking down on them, on the ones he had brought to this unforgiving land, the ones he had safeguarded and endangered, confounded and inspired…he smiled.

Then he banked in a great wide arc until he caught the wind and was uplifted by it.

Soon, he was far away, heading east.

Acknowledgments

Books are big, ungainly beasts, and it’s a miracle they ever get written—and certainly they never do without the help of many.

First of all, as always, to my wife, Elaine, without whom none of this would have been possible. Then to Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, invaluable partner in crime.

Steven-Elliot Altman kept me writing when the darkness closed in, day by day, week by week. He made this book happen.

Harper Lee, Harlan Ellison, Ray Bradbury, George Clayton Johnson, Norman Corwin, Theodore Sturgeon, Richard Matheson, Barbara Kingsolver, Rod Serling and Ray Harry-hausen all provided inspiration and guidance in a multitude of ways.

Thanks to Armin Shimerman, Mau Barklay and Richard Tanner for lending their prodigious talents and giving voice to the rogue’s gallery of
Magic Time
and
Magic Time: Angelfire
. Diane Baker, Ken Mader, Jonathan Kaplan, David Simkins, Jim Cunningham, Dan Comins, Reece Michaelson, Merlin Stone, Allison Bingeman, Michael Reaves, Neal Romanek, Tony Tsou, Kelly Sumner, Angelina Swords, John Douglas, Jeff Larsen, Robert Cantrell, Dax Bauser, Robert Vaughan, Lamont Dixon, David Jansen, Henry Nagel, John Prendergast, the staff at Wolfgang Puck’s on Sunset and Insomnia Café all lent help and support that were
invaluable. Special thanks also to Mr. Kuriyama, my junior high school history teacher, who brought alive the travesty of the internment camps through his own first-person accounts.

A belated thanks to Marcy Ross, Ellie Hannibal and Sarah Timberman, who had enthusiasm for this project in the early days, and to Iain McCaig, as always, for lending his genius (and to his son Inigo, for lending his name).

Diana Gill has been my terrific editor throughout all three books, and Lisa Gallagher and Jack Womack have supplied wonderful assistance and encouragement along the way. Deb Dwyer did a splendid job of copyediting, and her kind words were much appreciated. I also wanted to personally thank Michael Morrison, publisher of HarperCollins, and also the many others in editing, publicity and sales at HarperCollins who have done so much to help this book, among them George D. Bick, Jennifer Brehl, Brian Grogan, Olga Nolan, Kerry Morris, May Chen, Will Hinton, Jerry Marasak, Jeanette Zwart, Ian Doherty, Kate McCune, Michael Morris, Karen Gudmundson, Eric Svenson, Elizabeth Kaplan, Kristin Bowers, Cathy Schornstein, Robin Smith, Gabriel R. Barillas, Jim Hankey, Seira Wilson, Cheri Hickman, John Zeck, Diane Jackson, Becky Keiper, Denise DePalma, Kerri Sikorski, Debra Evans, Pat Stanley, Eleanore Gaffney, Brian McSharry, Mike Spradlin, Seth Fleischman, David Youngstrom, Judy Madonia, Kristine Macrides, Rhonda Rose, Pete Soper, Dale Schmidt, Chadd Reese, Stefanie Friedman, Bruce Unck, Donna Waitkus, Nanci Andersen, Ralph D'Arienzo and Angela Leigh. Without these remarkable, hardworking souls, not to mention all the bookstore managers and employees across the country, this book would not be in your hands now.

My ever-valiant agent, Chris Lotts, provided heroic ef
forts often on my behalf. Dana Wellborn, my trusty Indian guide, provided invaluable assistance to me during my researches in South Dakota. My heartfelt gratitude as well to my other Badland “angels”—Patti Etem, Milt and Jamie Lee, Leatrice “Chick” Big Crow, Ann Cedarface, Ida-Rae Estes, Cameron Ducheneaux, Patricia Catches and Nellie Cuny.

Michael Tennesen and Timothy Gogan kept my head on straight and my feet on the ground, while Mel Raab and the rest of the staff at Automagic kept my Toshiba 4090 processing words in reasonably coherent fashion. Also providing vital information and encouragement were Jeff and Karin West, Lita Weissman, Deb Yearout, Alison Kempf, Craig Black, Paul Coughlin, Josh Stanton, Haila Williams, Chris Wyatt, Alene Dawson, Krystee Cott, Raf Dahlquist, Todd Koerner, Frank Staniszewski, the ever-erstwhile Theo Siegel, Rob Weaver, Lynne Weaver, Dennis Weaver, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, and Professor Walter Gekelman of the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Thanks also to Jesse Larner, whose fine book
Mount Rushmore—An Icon Reconsidered
provided marvelous historical and cultural perspective.

If I’ve left anyone out, e-mail me at
[email protected]
and we’ll rectify the situation.

Sincere gratitude to all for their patience, their example, their courage and their wisdom. I once said that I thought our purpose in this life was to be happy, to be kind and to be brave. I’m lucky to be surrounded by a bouquet of people who do just that.

—Marc Scott Zicree

About the Authors

MARC SCOTT ZICREE has created classic episodes of “Star Trek—The Next Generation,” “Deep Space Nine,” “Babylon Five,” “Sliders,” and many more. His work has been nominated for the American Book Award, the Diane Thomas Award, and the Humanitas Prize. He has appeared as a media consultant on hundreds of radio and TV shows and is the author of the bestselling
Twilight Zone Companion
. He lives in West Hollywood with his wonderful wife and vile little dog. You can visit his website at www.zicree.com.

ROBERT CHARLES WILSON is
the New York Times
Notable author of
The Chronoliths
and the winner of the Philip K. Dick and Aurora awards. A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards, he lives in Toronto, Canada.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

Praise
for
MAGIC TIME

“A fantastic new epic series. Vivid, imaginative, emotional—MAGIC TIME is a blockbuster summer movie pressed between book covers. I’d urge you to prepare yourself, but I fear there’s no way you can.”

Rockne S. O’Bannon, creator of “Farscape” and “Alien Nation”

“Marc Zicree is a superb writer.”

Ray Bradbury

“Taut writing, interesting characters, fascinating situations…
Magic Time
takes up where

The Stand
leaves off.”

Harry Turtledove

“Exceptionally well written and the ‘veracity’ is terrific.”

New York Times
bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson

“Even non-science fiction fans will find themselves caught up…This is fantasy with heart and soul. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Leonard Maltin

Magic Time
is everything its name promises and more…It finds new and inventive ways to examine the human condition…All this and a crackling good adventure as well.”

New York Times
bestselling author Michael Reaves

Other Magic Time Titles:

M
AGIC
T
IME
: G
HOSTLANDS

by Marc Scott Zicree and Robert Charles Wilson

M
AGIC
T
IME
: A
NGEL
F
IRE

by Marc Scott Zicree and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

M
AGIC
T
IME

by Marc Scott Zicree and Barbara Hambly

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are 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.

MAGIC TIME
: Ghostlands. Copyright © 2004 by Paper Route, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EPub Edition © JANUARY 2006 ISBN: 9780061806728

06 07 08 09 10