The Time Heiress Read Online Free Page A

briny odor making her think of the humans who had lived on that same island for millennia, experiencing the same smell.
    It was ten o’clock. Cassandra knocked on the glass door of the portal lab, which was covered up with paper from the inside. It was the future site of an ice-cream shop the team had rented for two months. As she waited, she looked up at a patch of blue and enjoyed the feeling of vertigo that comes from watching clouds race over tall buildings. The two that sandwiched the tiny shop also dwarfed the spire of the ancient Grace Church nearby at the corner of Tenth Street and Broadway. She thought of the holographic images she’d seen with Nick, and tried to shake off the unpleasant sensation he’d left her with.
    Instead, she reminded herself of the stories her parents used to tell her, about when they were young and living in New York as newlyweds, when the area was mostly low-rise buildings. They liked to point out to her the locations of long, lost “mom and pop” shops, like a bookstore that was once on a nearby corner, a place they would wander into and get lost for hours in the moldering texts. Once, her mom had pointed out the spot a few blocks away where a favorite dive of a diner had been, and spoke fondly of the nights spent there, arguing the merits of socialism in a society where the foundations of capitalism were crumbling. They would stumble in after a night of drinking, Cassandra’s mother confessed, and soothe themselves with a buttery omelet stuffed with fresh vegetables and imported cheeses (and maybe a Bloody Mary for the hair of the dog). They’d find themselves caught up in discussions with local activists and artists, the neighborhood legends, and would discuss art and literature for hours. It was her dad who had shown her the spot where his favorite music shop had been nearby on Bleecker Street, a place he would always find some treasure—perhaps a bit of bootleg vinyl to add to his collection of archaic formats. Now, it seemed progress had taken its toll on the area, and those quaint experiences had mostly gone.
    A black car with dark windows glided up and stopped at the curb. Evie stepped out wearing a skirt that barely covered her rear, a top that formed to every curve of her torso, and five inch stiletto heels, all in silver tones that caught the light and glistened as she moved. Cassandra watched her speak to her chauffer, then step away from the door while it silently slid shut. As the car slipped away into traffic, Cassandra glanced down at the gray sweater she was wearing over a slim fitting black skirt, and flat patent leather shoes. Earlier, she’d thought she looked sophisticated; now she suddenly felt frumpy.
    At that moment, a young scientist named Yoshi opened the door of the lab, flanked by his colleague, Jake. Cassandra exchanged warm hugs with them both. The two men then shook hands with Evie. Jake stood up straighter in her presence, making the most of his five feet, eight inches and Yoshi, lanky and habitually unkempt, quickly tucked in his shirt and tried to smooth down his spiky black hair. He was the man in charge of the tour and proudly showed the women around the long, narrow space, taking them through a small lounge area to the control room. A large monitor there displayed a night-vision image of an alleyway.
    “This is the exact spot in which we’re now standing, two-hundred and sixty-nine years in the past,” said Yoshi. “Since they didn’t use daylight savings time yet, it’s about nine AM there.”
    Suddenly a flash of red darted across the screen.
    “What was that?” asked Evie.
    “Probably a rat,” Yoshi replied with a shrug, “judging from the size of it. This monitor shows us images based on heat. If a man were to walk into the alley, we would recognize it as such from its shape, but again, it’s not a picture, it’s a heat image.”
    Just then another red shape wandered across the monitor and they could see from its shape that it was