Read The Gilded Age, a Time Travel Online
Authors: Lisa Mason
The Gilded Age, a Time Travel
©
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
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
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
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
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.”