Oh my. Look what I just spotted on Kathleen Bartholomew’s blog: In the Company of Thieves, a brand new collection of Company stories by Kage Baker.

From Tachyon Publications’ site:

The employees of Dr. Zeus Incorporated travel through (and meddle with) history in Kager Baker’s final collection of six stories of espionage, capers, and important affairs gone terribly wrong.

The Company, a powerful corporate entity in the twenty-fourth century, has discovered a nearly foolproof recipe for success: combining time travel and immortal employees. They specialize 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. But there is one major rule that must not be broken: the recorded particulars of history cannot be changed. The operatives of the Company must function with extreme stealth and caution, since avoiding the curiosity and greed of everyday mortals proves much more difficult—and sometimes ridiculous—than anyone had foreseen.

Included in this exciting collection are four previously uncollected stories, “Mother Aegypt” (a classic tale of Transylvanian intrigue), and one brand new story from a collaboration with Kage Baker’s sister, Kathleen Bartholomew. History awaits, though not quite the one you remember.

And just look at that cover by Tom Canty! The font alone… Oh my. Add to that four previously uncollected stories, and one new story completed by Kage’s sister Kathleen (who I interviewed extensively here earlier this year), and, well… I’m excited about this one. Ridiculously excited.

In the Company of Thieves is due out in October 2013 from Tachyon Publications.