Espionage, time travel, and affairs gone terribly wrong define this final collection of Kage Baker’s stories in the Company series. The employees of Dr. Zeus Incorporated have discovered a nearly foolproof recipe for success: combining time travel and immortals. The Company, a powerful corporate entity in the 24th century, specializes in retrieving extraordinary treasures out of the past, gathered by cybernetically enhanced workers who pass as ordinary humans. Whether a client wants a jewel worn by Cleopatra, an original Shakespeare folio, or to make a baby with the genes of Socrates and Marilyn Monroe, Dr. Zeus can make dreams come true. The one rule that cannot be broken is that the recorded particulars of history cannot be changed. Functioning with extreme stealth and caution, the Company strives to avoid the curiosity and greed of everyday people, which proves to be more difficult than anyone could have foreseen. Included in this exciting collection are four previously uncollected stories, “Mother Aegypt”—a classic tale of Transylvanian intrigue, and "Hollywood Ikons," a brand-new story from a collaboration with Kage’s sister, Kathleen Bartholomew.

Contents

"The Carpet Beds of Sutro Park"
"The Unfortunate Gytt"
"The Women of Nell Gwynne’s"
"Mother Ægypt"
"Hollywood Ikons"
"Rude Mechanicals"

Espionage, time travel, and affairs gone terribly wrong define this final collection of Kage Baker’s stories in the Company series. The employees of Dr. Zeus Incorporated have discovered a nearly foolproof recipe for success: combining time travel and immortals. The Company, a powerful corporate entity in the 24th century, specializes in retrieving extraordinary treasures out of the past, gathered by cybernetically enhanced workers who pass as ordinary humans. Whether a client wants a jewel worn by Cleopatra, an original Shakespeare folio, or to make a baby with the genes of Socrates and Marilyn Monroe, Dr. Zeus can make dreams come true. The one rule that cannot be broken is that the recorded particulars of history cannot be changed. Functioning with extreme stealth and caution, the Company strives to avoid the curiosity and greed of everyday people, which proves to be more difficult than anyone could have foreseen. Included in this exciting collection are four previously uncollected stories, “Mother Aegypt”—a classic tale of Transylvanian intrigue, and "Hollywood Ikons," a brand-new story from a collaboration with Kage’s sister, Kathleen Bartholomew.

Contents

"The Carpet Beds of Sutro Park"
"The Unfortunate Gytt"
"The Women of Nell Gwynne’s"
"Mother Ægypt"
"Hollywood Ikons"
"Rude Mechanicals"