Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof Read online

  Kate on a Hot Tin Roof

  The First Novel in the Unobtainium Series.

  By Niall Teasdale

  Copyright 2015 Niall Teasdale

  Amazon Kindle Edition

  Contents

  The Girl in the Cage

  The Animal Within

  Counting Our Blessings

  Heat

  The Dark, Dark Continent

  The Man Who Would Be Kaiser

  The Land of Opportunity

  The Girl in the Cage

  Richmond, London, 11th April 1919.

  The laboratory looked more like a medieval torture chamber than a place to carry out science. There were cages of iron the size and shape of a man, smaller ones meant for animals, and a large, heavy, wooden bench with shackles attached to it designed to hold down a person. Charles took it all in with the look of a man horrified by what he was seeing, but not entirely surprised.

  Perhaps torture chamber was the wrong term. The room might have given one the impression that it had been imagined by someone like Mary Shelley sometime in the last century. A laboratory where some insane genius conducted experiments to build a living being from stolen body parts.

  If that were the case, then the mad man had not been employing lightning to animate his monster. No, the source of power he had made use of was the reason Charles was there. At one end of the room was a metal sphere, perhaps three feet across, and through a porthole in the underside of that sphere light could be seen falling on the floor below. The pale, turquoise light indicated that it was almost certainly an Unobtainium reactor.

  ‘When we saw that thing,’ Detective Inspector Franklin was saying, ‘we called the Royal Society immediately. We’re not equipped to deal with it. Not at all. When I heard you were in town and they were sending you over… Let’s just say I’m happy to see you, Doctor Barstow-Hall.’

  Charles pulled himself into business mode and nodded. ‘Has anyone looked in through the glass?’

  ‘No, sir!’ Franklin replied emphatically. ‘We all get the briefing about that stuff. We know the signs and we stay as far away from it as we can.’

  ‘Very wise,’ Charles replied. From his valise he took a mirror on an extending rod and a pair of darkened goggles, and used it to peer into the underside of the sphere from as far away as he could. The angle was not good, but without proper protective clothing, if the sphere was a reactor, the effect of looking in directly would likely be fatal.

  Suspended within the metal sphere, held at its exact centre by six thin wires, was an irregular globe of greyish metal. Even through the filters, Charles could see what looked like blue flames dancing across its surface. Unobtainium-257, and he was probably looking at around eight ounces of it, mixed with other metals, based on the amount of energy being given off.

  He backed away, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead as he turned to Franklin. ‘It looks stable, but it’s a substantial amount. I’ll have one of our teams come over here to take it away. Have you any idea how this man got his hands on so much of it?’

  ‘Not a clue, sir. We didn’t even know it was here until we got in. Someone passing by on the common heard screams. A woman, he thought, and he called us. Upon investigation it was determined that the owner of the house was acting in a manner we felt was suspicious, so we gained entry. He made his escape through a concealed exit during that time.’

  Charles allowed himself a slight smile. ‘I’m not your Superintendent, Detective Inspector. There’s no need to make it a report. Have you discovered the source of the screams?’

  ‘When we found that…’

  ‘Perhaps further investigation is in order then.’

  Franklin nodded, turning towards the door. ‘You heard the Doctor. It’s safe enough to stop hiding behind your friends. Get in there and find out where those screams came from.’

  The constables hurried through the laboratory and into the rooms beyond, all of them underground, and it was barely more than two minutes later that another scream echoed from that direction. This time, however, it was that of a man. A few seconds later, three of the five men who had passed through returned, one clutching his bleeding hand.

  ‘Let me see,’ Charles said, pulling a roll of leather from a pocket. The wound was clearly made by teeth, but… ‘This is no animal I’ve ever seen.’ There were deep marks from long canines, above and below, but the remainder of the tooth marks seemed to have been made by someone with human dentition.

  ‘It’s a beast of some sort, sir,’ one of the constables said as Charles began to bandage the wounded one’s hand. ‘It’s too dark to see properly in there, but we heard chains and then something attacked us.’

  Charles tied off the bandage, his eyes scanning the room again, taking in the experimentation bench and the man-shaped cages, and the cables leading from them to the reactor. ‘You should get that seen to by a physician,’ he said.

  ‘You’re a useful man to have around, sir,’ Franklin commented.

  ‘When one’s family business is mining, a basic knowledge of medical aid is an essential.’ Charles pulled a thick, metal tube from one of his numerous pockets. ‘Let us examine this feral beast, shall we?’

  As they walked into the darkness beyond the laboratory, the metal tube produced a beam of brilliant light which shone ahead of them. Charles noted the policemen putting a little distance between them and it, and suppressed a grin. Many people were nervous of Unobtainium devices, even the simplest of ones. The light stick produced illumination through the electrical excitation of the Wonder Metal alloyed with a little beryllium. Charles had constructed it himself and he was not doing without it: darkness was something he was not especially fond of.

  ‘This way, sir,’ a constable said, indicating a door on the left. If Charles had had to guess, they were right under the reactor, but no light was reaching the room.

  The light beam flicked over a door of iron bars. The beast, it seemed, was kept caged, but there was no sign of it near the door. Charles stepped closer, the beam shifting out across the windowless, stone-walled room within. Squalid was the best term for it. There was no paint on the walls though there was the suggestion of excrement smeared in places. He spotted a tinned bucket in one corner and then a chain fixed to the middle of the opposite wall by a very heavy bracket. He followed the chain and…

  Something moved suddenly, pulling away from the light. ‘Was that a foot?’

  ‘Can’t be,’ Franklin breathed.

  Charles moved the light further, illuminating the corner, and the ‘beast’ was revealed. ‘That, gentlemen, is no beast,’ Charles said. Curled up in the corner, an iron collar around her neck, was a girl. She appeared to be little more than a teenager, but a well-developed one. Her body showed long, powerful muscles and full breasts on a slim frame. Brilliant, amber eyes looked out from a tangle of jet-black hair which obscured much of her face. Her dusky skin was smeared with dirt, a fact made quite obvious by the fact that she was naked aside from the metal collar. ‘Franklin, your coat,’ Charles said.

  ‘Sir?’

  ‘She’s naked, man! This mad man has been experimenting upon a young girl. We can’t allow her to remain here.’

  ‘She attacked one of my men, sir. She’s dangerous.’

  ‘She’s terrified. Your coat, Detective Inspector. I’ll see that you are recompensed.’

  Franklin, reluctantly, took off his oiled cotton coat and, holding it out towards the girl, Charles edged closer. ‘I mean you no harm, girl. I’m here to help. Do you understand me?’ Her yellow eyes, certainly not the eyes of a normal young woman, stared out at him briefly, and then she nodded. She spoke some English at least. He moved closer s
till. ‘I’m not going to hurt you. We’ll get you covered up and then I’ll see about getting that chain off you so we can take you somewhere safe. How does that sound?’ He was almost within arm’s length of her now and he tried not to show any signs of fear. ‘Easy does it?’

  Her head shifted, her hair parting to reveal a pretty, angular face with a rather flat nose and a small mouth. She had still managed a respectable bite. ‘Safe good,’ she said, her voice a soft, breathy whisper.

  Charles placed the coat around her shoulders. She remained still, not trembling, but tense, as though she was expecting something bad to happen at any moment. ‘Franklin? Are there keys out there for this collar?’

  There was a pause and then a rattling of metal. ‘Found them, Doctor,’ Franklin said.

  ‘Well bring them in. It’s quite safe. Miss… Our young friend is not going to hurt anyone else, are you?’

  ‘Kate,’ the girl whispered.

  Charles smiled. ‘Good afternoon, Kate. My name is Charles Hunter Barstow-Hall and I am most pleased to make your acquaintance.’

  It was apparent that she had understood little of the sentence, but enough to get the drift, and she beamed at him. The broad grin revealed teeth which included long, sharp canines. ‘Sharles,’ she said, mangling his name in a rather pleasing way.

  ‘Lord save us,’ Franklin exclaimed, holding the heavy ring of keys out towards Charles. ‘What’s he done to her?’

  ‘Nothing good, I’ll wager,’ Charles said, his tone dark.

  The Barstow Club, Mayfair.

  ‘You’re looking more than usually dour tonight, Charles.’ Charles looked up to see Antonia Wooster standing over him, and because it was her, he mustered a smile.

  ‘An unsettling discovery, Mrs Wooster,’ he replied. ‘A most unsettling discovery.’

  Unasked, but not unwelcome, Antonia sat down in the wing-backed chair opposite him, settling her long skirts about her. She was a tall, attractive woman. Her blonde hair was schooled to fall loose around her shoulders this evening, and her cream, corseted gown flattered her figure. She was the model of an upper-class lady, all elegance and poise. The fact that she was one of the most accomplished marksmen in the country was something you knew, not something her demeanour gave away.

  ‘Given what I know of what unsettles you, Charles, I would say that you have found some foul experiment perpetrated by someone using your wondrous metal.’

  ‘Indeed, you know me well, madam. In this case, however, the experimentation was of a nature I find myself ill-disposed to mention in polite company.’

  Antonia’s eyes narrowed and she regarded him for a second before leaning forward conspiratorially. ‘Few people know of what I am about to mention, Doctor, and it would be best were it not to become more public knowledge.’

  Frowning, Charles said, ‘You may count on my discretion, Mrs Wooster.’

  She gave a short nod. ‘On our last venture into the Dark Continent, David and I encountered creatures which made us doubt our very senses and outraged our sensibilities to such extremes that the warnings of our guides fell upon deaf ears as we searched for their origins. Man-things, they were. Beasts, yet not beasts. Men, but with minds of the wildest nature. Alone save for our most loyal guide, we hunted them to their lair, for the natives of the region refused to go near the place. They claimed a mad god was sending the monsters out to pillage the lands around. Still we went, for we feared not a god, but a man was responsible, and we were not in error. In a high-fenced compound, deep within the jungle, we discovered a man performing experiments upon animals. And not just animals, but men, and women, and children not yet old enough to walk! Using Unobtainium, this… demon was somehow merging the natures of man and beast into one. His creations were so wild that even he could not control them. We were forced to kill many of them, and our assault upon his encampment allowed others to breach his home. They fell upon him and, I feel justly, tore him limb from limb before we could stop them.’

  She leaned back in her seat and her pale cheeks reddened slightly. ‘I am ashamed to admit that I wondered at the time whether I would have attempted to save him, even had I had the opportunity, such were his ungodly acts in the name of science.’

  Charles felt his fists clench and forced himself to relax. ‘You’ve nothing to be ashamed of in my eyes, my dear lady. The merging of man and animal… I may have discovered someone perpetrating the same heinous act upon the very soil of England.’

  Antonia’s eyes widened. ‘The deuce you say, sir!’

  ‘Sadly, I do. For I discovered a strange, feral girl, her teeth baring fangs. She was chained up in a cellar like an animal.’

  The huntress shook her head. ‘If she is as those others were, she will have to be put down. It is a sad day for the Empire when its greatest discovery leads to this.’

  ‘There are days, like today, when I wish my grandfather had never discovered Unobtainium,’ Charles said sadly. ‘However, this girl may not be beyond saving. Feral she may be, but not without some civility. She understands at least some English, and she reacted well to my acts of kindness. She did bite one of the constables, but I believe she acted out of fear. Indeed, it is my belief that she has been shown little kindness before today.’

  Antonia was silent for a second. ‘Would it be within your power to allow David and myself to see your feral child, Doctor? Having had experience of such monstrous chimera before, we may be able to judge whether this new experiment is better suited to civilised existence than the ones we encountered in Africa.’

  ‘I should value your opinion, Mrs Wooster, but I would ask that you keep an open mind. Kate, for that is how she calls herself, is the victim in this detestable turn of events.’

  There was a flicker of genuine surprise at his words. ‘Why, Doctor Barstow-Hall, you give me hope that she may, indeed, be more than a mere animal. The things we fought showed no signs of self-awareness, let alone enough to call themselves anything, and spoke only in grunts and growls. I find myself impatient to see the morning and my chance to meet your “Kate.”’

  Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 12th April.

  Someone had found a light, cotton shift for Kate to wear, and she had been cleaned since Charles had last seen her. Her hair had been cut into a rather modern style, though the rough hacking it had taken before had necessitated a shorter cut. Charles believed the style was known as a bob, and it did suit the girl.

  Her skin was no less dark for the washing. She did not have the black skin of those of Nubian blood, but she was no pale, English rose like Antonia Wooster, whom she regarded warily as the huntress entered the room with her husband. Then she saw Charles and her face lit up.

  ‘Sharles!’ she exclaimed, beaming at him and showing off her fangs.

  ‘Good morning, Kate,’ Charles said, returning her smile. ‘These are my friends, David and Antonia Wooster.’

  ‘Good morning, young lady,’ Antonia said, smiling rather as one might to a child. In truth, they had no idea how old the girl was. David hung back, allowing his wife to speak while he watched, eyes scanning over every detail.

  Kate regarded Antonia for a second. ‘Pu-leased tooo make y’r ak-aquaint,’ she said. It was as though she was struggling with the simple sentence, but she managed a close approximation of what Charles had said to her the day before.

  ‘By George,’ David said softly, ‘I believe your assessment may be accurate, Doctor.’

  Antonia was still looking less than sure. ‘May I come closer, Kate?’ she asked. ‘I won’t hurt you. I just want to look at you.’

  Kate looked unsure, but at an encouraging nod from Charles she nodded to Antonia and the tall huntress closed the distance to the shorter girl. Reaching out, Antonia ran gentle fingers over Kate’s jawline and then lifted one of her arms, feeling the muscles all the way down to her hands. She stepped back, nodding. ‘Thank you very much, Kate,’ she said.

  ‘My pu-leasure,’ Kate intoned in her throaty voice.


  ‘Perhaps a cat of some sort,’ Antonia said. ‘The skin tone suggests something with dark fur. A panther? Her dentition is human, I’d say, aside from the extended canines. The jaw musculature is pronounced for a stronger bite, and the limbs appear strongly muscled. But her eyes…’

  ‘What about her eyes?’ Charles asked, stepping closer. ‘The colour is unusual, but…’ Kate turned to look at him, her amber eyes bright in the winter sunshine from the window, and he saw what Antonia meant. Kate had vertical slits for pupils now that she was in daylight, just like those of a cat.

  ‘Oh my dear child,’ Antonia said, addressing the bemused girl in front of her, ‘what did that foul man do to you.’

  ‘Fffather make me special,’ Kate said. ‘Fffather told me so.’

  The three adults looked at each other and then back to Kate. ‘He was your father?’ Charles asked, shock evident in his voice.

  ‘How could any man do that to his own child?’ David breathed. ‘He’s burned her…’

  Charles looked down at the reddened skin on Kate’s arm. He had seen it when they had brought her up from the cell and known then what it had meant. ‘I’m afraid it’s worse than that. That is a burn caused by Unobtainium radiation. He has been exposing her to the energy of the reactor. Though…’ He frowned and, gently, took Kate’s arm. She did not resist as he examined the back of her forearm. ‘This is healing substantially faster than I would have expected given the state of it yesterday. I’ve seen men plagued by these burns for weeks. Many suffer worse effects.’

  ‘Worse?’

  ‘Yes.’ He looked at Kate. ‘Your father? Does he put you in the blue light often?’ She nodded. ‘Does it make you feel sick?’

  ‘Once,’ Kate replied, half purr, half whisper.

  ‘Nausea is not infrequent in high enough doses, along with loss of motor skills and fatigue. Then comes chronic pain and loss of hair.’

  ‘She seems to have all her hair, if a little roughly cut,’ David commented.

  Charles gave a cough. ‘Not… all of what one might expect, but she certainly has a full head of hair, yes.’ David gave a rumble of laughter at Charles’s discomfort; Charles was a little surprised to note that Antonia did not seem the least discomforted. ‘If your exposure exceeds a certain level, you die. If you’re lucky that is rapid, though it is never pleasant.’