Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof (25 page)

‘I am pleased that you are comfortable now. You will undoubtedly be less so in the near future. I have one man who is most anxious to make your acquaintance and another who wishes to be reunited with you. I am sure that both of them will be relishing the thought of applying knives and needles to your flesh.’

Out of the corner of her eye, Kate saw Nachtigall lick her lips. She was, it seemed, more of an overt sadist than her commanding officer. ‘What will become of my friends?’

‘You think of them as friends? I should imagine they view you as one would a particularly intelligent pet, but no matter. They will come to no harm if the good Doctor cooperates. I have need of him, and my scientists have need of you. The woman, however, has but a single purpose here and that is to die should either of you disappoint me. I believe you are aware of what I do with the dead? They make such excellent workers, even the women.’ Kate gave a nod; words seemed unnecessary. ‘Good. Take her to her cell. Let Drafenberg know that she is available.’

Nachtigall snapped off a salute and then pushed Kate towards the door. She seemed a little annoyed that her victim did not stumble. The soldiers were more concerned with the way Kate’s breasts bounced as she stabilised her footing and started in the direction she had been pushed. Aside from the bullying Nachtigall, how many women had these men seen in the last several months? It was both danger and opportunity, depending on how things continued. Von Auttenberg wished her alive, but unharmed? Did he have sufficient control over his troops? She suspected he did, and Kate was more worried about Antonia than herself anyway.

The compound they had been brought to was composed of a number of buildings, all of them surrounded by a fence and concealed beneath trees and camouflaged netting which had been strung between the branches. The structure where von Auttenberg had his office was the best constructed of them, and even that had the appearance of something which had been put up quickly and then improved with stucco and iron cladding for the roof. There was the infirmary block, several barracks buildings, another relatively well-built structure the purpose of which she could not discover, what looked like a mine entrance of some sort, and a small, squat, ugly building of corrugated iron to which she was directed.

The outer door opened into something which appeared more or less like an office, with a desk and chair, except that the rear half of it was a cell containing a rough bunk and isolated from the rest of the room by thick, iron bars. Kate expected to be put into that, but instead she was taken through a second door and into another room.

Here there was only a chair in front of the bars, and behind the bars was another chair, though one of peculiar design. The function of it was quite clear and Kate wondered whether it had been manufactured specifically for her or whether they had other difficult to contain subjects in mind. Built of very solid-looking wood, the odd piece of furniture had leather cuffs attached to the bottom of its front legs. There was a beam mounted at the top of the chair’s back and cuffs had been nailed to the ends of that such that the occupant’s arms would be stretched out in a crucifixion posture. At least she would be sitting down.

Kate did nothing to resist as her hands were untied and she was strapped into the seat. Now was not the time for resistance. There would be such a time, she was sure of it, but this was not it. She watched, unconcerned, as one of the soldiers sat down in the watchman’s chair while Nachtigall and the others left. The man, middle-aged and showing signs of a balding pate beneath his cap, glared at her and she stared back, golden eyes unblinking, until he looked away.

~~~

Von Auttenberg leaned back in his chair and put his feet on his desk. Charles was glaring at him, which was exactly what he wanted. Antonia was another matter. They had dressed her in uniform taken from a couple of men; the slacks were too large and had to be held up by a belt, while the blouse was too tight resulting in her not being able to button it properly. It gave her an impressive and highly inappropriate cleavage which she was resolutely failing to appear embarrassed about. Where did these women come from? English women were supposed to have the basic moral nature of nuns!

‘What have you done with Miss Felix?’ Charles snapped.

‘She is secure,’ the Count replied. ‘And healthy up to this point. She is required for analysis by my scientific personnel and will not be harmed.
You
are also required. I will be expecting you to assist my scientists–’

‘Over my dead body!’

‘No, Doctor Barstow-Hall. Not over
your
dead body. Mrs Wooster is
not
required for any purpose other than to ensure your compliance.’

‘If you hurt her–’

‘I will
kill
her, Doctor. I will do it without a second thought. Obviously I would then have no bargaining chip, though I should point out that those who die here suffer a continued existence which you would find most horrific and I could use that threat to maintain control. However, it is the
manner
of one’s death which really matters, is it not? I assure you that Mrs Wooster will be subjected to every manner of degradation, both painful and humiliating, which I and my subordinates can contrive prior to her demise. You will have several days to relent and save her from further harm, and I am quite sure you will do so. You are a gentleman, which makes you soft, useless, unwilling to take the actions necessary to achieve true greatness.’

Charles looked at the mad man behind the desk, not entirely believing what he was hearing but also quite sure that there would be no hesitation in torturing Antonia to death. He glanced at his companion. She appeared quite sanguine, but he had known her for some years now, had come to recognise expressions on her face which perhaps only her husband knew. Antonia Wooster was seething, but biding her time. She knew what Charles knew: if they were to escape and defeat von Auttenberg, they needed to know more and be in a better position to act. They needed to know where Kate was. They needed to know exactly what their captor had planned.

‘Very well. I’ll do as you say.’

‘Excellent!’ Von Auttenberg looked across the room to where Nachtigall was waiting, an ever-present cigarette burning away between her lips. ‘Take the woman to her cell and have the Doctor escorted to the laboratories. He is to speak to Gantheim.’

Charles frowned. ‘Andreas Gantheim? He went missing–’

‘Indeed, Doctor. I went to some effort to procure him. His work has borne considerable fruit, but you will help him perfect it. Take them away.’

They were separated almost as soon as they were out of the building. Antonia was pushed away by two guards and taken towards a corrugated iron structure on one side of the compound while Nachtigall and one guard escorted Charles to a large, fairly permanent-looking building which presumably housed the laboratories.

Within that there was a corridor with several interior doors off it. There were no internal windows so determining what went on behind the doors was impossible, save for the one Charles was shown to and pushed through. Within that room was a relatively well-appointed physical sciences laboratory and workshop. There were benches with chemistry apparatus atop them, several mechanical devices on benches or the floor, one of which looked somewhat like an Unobtainium reactor, though not a functioning one, several blackboards, and there was a man.

Andreas Gantheim looked like he had not slept properly in months. Charles recalled reading that he had been no more than thirty when he vanished, and that had been perhaps three years earlier, but this man looked older, greyer than one would have expected. His hair was entirely white and there were dark circles under his eyes. He stooped, standing before one of the boards with hunched shoulders, and he turned slowly at their entry.

‘Herr Gantheim,’ Nachtigall said, her voice cold with contempt, ‘you may know Herr Doktor Barstow-Hall. You will instruct him in your progress and he will help you to complete the device.’ Without another word, she turned on her heel and left. The door was locked behind her.

‘Doctor Barstow-Hall,’ Gantheim said, his voice a hoarse whisper, ‘it is a pleasure to meet such a man as yourself, but…’

‘I think we both could have wished for better circumstances. I read some of your papers on atomic theory. They were most imaginative and quite brilliant. I need to know what von Auttenberg is forcing you to construct for him that I might counter it.’

Gantheim sighed. ‘There is no counter to this device, Doctor, no defence. The Count means to hold the world to ransom.’

‘How?!’

‘By bringing about its end if he does not get his way. A bomb, Doctor Barstow-Hall. A bomb beyond anything you could imagine. A device which harnesses the very force of the atom to unleash disaster upon us all.’

~~~

Antonia lay on the bunk in her cell watching the guard watch her. At least they had untied her arms and she could lie down comfortably. She had concluded after only five or so minutes that her main issue was going to be boredom. There was nothing to do aside from watch the guard. She was quite unlikely to notice anything particularly informative, and waiting for a chance to escape was likely to be tedious and fruitless. And then the outer door opened and two men walked in.

The first of them was a short, skinny rat of a man with a long nose and short, scruffy, black hair. He had the appearance of someone who washed irregularly, if at all. He was excited about something, speaking animatedly in German to someone behind him.

The second man through the door caused Antonia’s eyes to widen, though somehow she felt she should have been expecting to see him. She had seen him once before and would never forget his pale face with its pale, grey eyes and bald pate. He glanced at her, but seemed not to recognise her. Well, she had been one of many at his trial and had not taken the stand. Alfred Cooper seemed very lively for a man who had supposedly been decapitated.

The ratty man peered at Antonia for a few seconds, grinned maliciously, and then went through the inner door into the other side of the building. Cooper followed after him, looking unhappy, but also a little eager. It was a strange combination and Antonia could think of only one reason for it: he was about to see his daughter again.

~~~

Kate looked up as the two men walked into the room beyond the bars of her cell. Her eyes narrowed and, as the door closed behind the second of them, she said, ‘You appear remarkably healthy for a corpse, Father.’

It was the other man who replied, his accent quite thick. ‘Ve needed you isolated from your companions, Fräulein Kate. Und your father’s death was convenient in stopping the police searching vor him. Two birds vith one stone, as you British say.’

Kate peered at the man, though her nose was telling her more than her eyes. He stank, both of dirt and of various chemicals. Her father had smelled the same at times, when he became fixated on some problem and neglected his hygiene, but this man appeared to take it to extremes.

‘Might I know with whom I am conversing?’

‘Of course. You know your father, obviously, and I am Helmut Drafenberg. Ve share some interests. I have been attempting to do vat your father has achieved vith you. Zee fusion of man und beast, ja? You are a fine specimen. Very fine indeed. Vee must have blood samples. Perhaps ozer samples if these are insufficient.’ He waved at the guard. ‘Öffnen Sie die Tür. Wir haben nicht den ganzen Tag Zeit.’

The guard seemed keen to take his time, whether from reluctance to actually open the door or just to annoy Drafenberg, Kate could not tell. He freed his pistol before working the lock, so perhaps it was the former. With the door swung open, Drafenberg and her father entered, syringes were taken from a bag, and they advanced.

‘Your speech is much improved,’ Cooper said, his voice quiet and a little sullen.

‘I was taken in by people who bothered to educate me,’ Kate replied. ‘I learned quickly for the first few months.’

‘That stopped when you matured?’

‘Around the time of my first oestrus. Did you know I was going to begin craving sex every few weeks?’

‘No. It was a possibility, but much of your nature awaited discovery rather than being pre-planned.’

‘She appears oblivious to zee needles,’ Drafenberg commented.

‘I’ve had a lot of needles stuck into me in the last six years,’ Kate told him.

‘Zat is goot. Zer vill be many more.’

Kate turned her gaze on him. ‘There will not. You will die and there will be no more needles.’

‘Fräulein, you cannot hope to escape from zis place. The Count vill hunt you down, like an animal, und he vill not be so kind a second time. Ve will not be able to stop him from–’

‘The Count will die first,’ Kate stated and Drafenberg backed away from her.

‘I think ve have everything ve need for now. Come, Cooper, to work.’

Kate watched them go. Perhaps taunting the man, scaring him even, had not been the best of ideas, but she had very much wanted him to be worried. And she most certainly intended to keep her promise.

~~~

Charles shook his head. ‘I understand what you are trying to do, but such a device would require large amounts of two-five-seven to generate the kind of explosion von Auttenberg wants. He cannot have obtained such quantities.’

‘He can,’ Gantheim replied, ‘and this is also my doing. At least partially my doing. This camp is set upon an Unobtainium mine of great abundance, but almost everything here is two-six-zero. I have created a process which is able to convert that into its unstable isotope. Bombardment with helium nuclei at great velocity is required. I call it “atomic alchemy.” My prototype was what attracted von Auttenberg to me. I have paid greatly for my hubris.’

‘Hubris? It’s genius, man! I’d never even considered it. We could power the
world
with reactors using your process.’

‘But instead we face its destruction. Hubris, Doctor. I admit that I have since discovered that a variation of the technique can create a much more fabulous result. One which I was amazed to discover possible. Cooper, working alone, has created two-six-two in substantial amounts in this manner.’