Kage Baker was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She is best known for the Company series, which combines historical fiction with time travel.
Kage Baker
The Graveyard Game
2001. Tor Trade Paperback, 2003.
The trees were still there, and so was Queen Mary's Garden; but its lawns hadn't been mown in years, so most of the park was hip-high weedy wilderness and young woodland. There were stories that tigers had been released into it when the London Zoo was closed down, and lurked in the tall grass even now, leaping out to eat the occasional homeless person...One could still stand in the middle of the footbridge and watch the swans gliding to and fro where there was open water, and this is what Joseph and Lewis were doing as they waited for Victor.
The three men are cyborgs employed by Dr. Zeus Inc., a 24th century research and development firm that has invented a means of time travel. As a result 'the past could now be looted to increase corporate earnings', but at present Joseph is more concerned with personal matters. What he learns is disconcerting, and his informant is anxious to get away.
He strode off in the direction of Chester Road. Joseph stood staring after him, openmouthed. Finally he shivered and looked around him at the abandoned pavilion and the high weeds, uncertain whether he heard a low staccato growl, caught a glimpse of striped flank. He set off for the Outer Circle, making his way along the overgrown path in some haste.
The Life of the World to Come
Tor/Tom Doherty Associates, 2004.
Folding up his map, Chatterji peered at the red words on the screen. Rutherford looked too. Their lips moved as they sounded them out. "Reg - " "Regent's Park," said Rutherford...They came round a corner and there was Regent's Park: acres of green and sunlight and birdsong, visible in glimpses between the tour transports that came and went. Staggering like cripples they approached it, uttering little cries of eagerness. "It's Olde England at last," gasped Rutherford, holding out his arms as though to embrace it all. Before him an industrial mower whirred busily along, shearing the grass to one precise height the full length of a long stripe exactly one metre wide. "Primeval Albion. The green and pleasant land".
Three time-travelling agents of Dr. Zeus Inc. have arrived in the London of 2350 with the task of creating a new kind of Immortal. Feeling the need for 'a bit more inspiration,' Rutherford has suggested that they emulate the sages of the past, who would go off on 'walking tours...stride out through the hedgerows, and meadows and animals and things. It'd give them lots of ideas'.
Haltingly they moved along the sandy path...that took them to a real bridge over a real lake and beyond. They stood spellbound on the bridge a while, watching the waterfowl that paddled and fought. Rutherford quoted reverently from The Wind in the Willows. Drawn by the spell of wilderness they went on, and presently found a snack bar on the greensward. It wasn't exactly a cosy country tavern; it featured various treats manufactured from algae, and four varieties of distilled water...There was only a chilly outdoor seating area enclosed behind Plexiglas panels in which to sit, no snug nook beside a sea-coal fire. Imagination plastered over disappointment, however, and they enjoyed their meal.