Mozart in Mirrorshades

"Mozart in Mirrorshades" is a short science fiction story by Bruce Sterling and Lewis Shiner first published September 1985 in Omni. The story's protagonist is a man named Rice, who works for a company that obtains natural resources and valuable artifacts from alternate timelines created in the past. The story centers around hostility from the people in the 18th-century timeline, who are angry about their exploitation and the effective robbery of their resources, land, and artwork; these alternate versions of our ancestors ultimately force the company to evacuate the timeline.