Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof (26 page)

Charles frowned. ‘Cooper? Alfred Cooper? He’s alive?’

‘He was a few hours ago. He works with Drafenberg, attempting to create creatures hybridised of man and animal. Drafenberg has been attempting the same for years with only very limited success. His experiments on corpses have proven more useful.’

‘The supposed death of Alfred Cooper is what set us on the road to this place, and here he is, alive and well, and continuing his work. That explains why they wished to capture Kate.’

Gantheim gave a nod. ‘Cooper was adamant that his work would take years to replicate without her. The Count is not a patient man. He wishes to have his invincible army of man-beasts
now
.’

‘He must be stopped, sir. We must put an end to this mad man’s machinations.’

‘It is impossible, Doctor. I have considered many options, but none have proven viable. This place is a prison staffed by professional soldiers and walking corpses. It is surrounded by thousands of miles of jungle and hostile plains. There is no way–’

‘There is always a way.’ Charles looked at the tired man, who seemed so
sure
that his situation was beyond hope and so
wished
that it was not. ‘Through the application of sufficient intellect, we will find that way. I need to understand
everything
which is happening here, the layout of the camp, and all you know of von Auttenberg’s plans. Once I have that, we can begin to formulate his destruction.’

2
^nd
September.

Charles was on his way into the laboratory block with his escort when he spotted Drafenberg walking out along with another man he recognised. Not Cooper, whom he had yet to catch sight of, but someone far more unexpected.

‘Falk?’ Charles said, glaring at the man.

‘Doctor Barstow-Hall,’ Falk acknowledged, his brow twitching in an attempt to stop a sneer forming.

‘You are supposed to be dead.’

‘Zer is a lot of zis about,’ Drafenberg drawled. ‘Herr Falk has been most invaluable for his knowledge of Unobtainium’s properties, and several of your discoveries.’

‘That explains how they knew about Vulcanium. How could you, man?’

‘Easily. The Count offered me my own laboratory, money, and as much Unobtainium as I needed. Neither you nor your grandfather had the vision to make full use of the Wonder Metal.’

‘You’re insane. He’s going to destroy the world.’

‘No, sir,’ Falk replied. ‘London. He’ll destroy London, and good riddance to it. After that the rest of the world will bow to his wishes. You could have created the device for the Empire, had you wished to, but you found Vulcanite difficult enough to bear. Now you will see the true power of Unobtainium, in the hands of those willing to use it to its fullest!’

Charles narrowed his eyes but said nothing, walking on past Drafenberg and Falk. He felt a need for alcohol, which was a rare event for him, but would have to make do with physics and planning for escape.

~~~

The cell block door opened and Drafenberg walked in, followed by a man Antonia did not recognise. Taller than the biochemist and more heavyset, but not much younger, the newcomer had the same sort of driven look as his compatriot, which did not bode well, especially when Drafenberg ordered the cell door opened.

There was an argument which ended with the soldier looking ashen and opening the bars. Antonia did not speak German, but it had similarities with both English and Afrikaans. Drafenberg had said something about an experiment. His words as he walked into the cell confirmed that.

‘You are most fortunate, Frau Wooster. You will be allowed to witness first hand zee results of my latest experiment.’

‘First hand?’ Antonia asked, pushing her back against the wall of the cell.

 ‘Ja. Very intimately.’ Drafenberg produced a large syringe filled with some sort of fluid from his pocket. ‘Hold her, Falk.’

Antonia lashed out, kicking Falk in the shin as he approached, but the only result of that was a snapped order from Drafenberg and the guard standing over her with his rifle aimed at her chest.

‘What are you doing to me?’ Antonia asked as Drafenberg pushed the needle into her neck and, slowly, squeezed the plunger down.

‘Zis formula is similar to zee necromensch solution. I have been trying to perfect it for living subjects.’

Antonia felt her skin go cold and her throat dried suddenly. ‘And what happened to your previous subjects?’ she croaked.

‘Pain, excruciating pain, und death.’ He stepped back and Falk pushed her onto the bed before backing away. ‘Except vor von, but he is now a simpleton. I am quite confident zat you vill survive.’

‘Oh.’ Pain shot through her neck and arm and she flinched.

‘I cannot say you vill not suffer zee same agony, however.’

A minute later, as Drafenberg and Falk left, Antonia was screaming.

~~~

Kate listened to the screaming coming through the wall and knew that it was Antonia. Even the guard shifted uncomfortably at the sound, but for Kate it was torture.

She was quite sure that her friend was
not
being tortured because there were no gaps in the shrieks of agony. They had done something to her, something which was causing her the kind of pain Kate herself had had to endure at certain points in her father’s experiments. That left Kate in a truly conflicted state.

While she had told her father she would kill him, she was still not sure she could do it. He was her father and she felt
something
for him, even if she was not entirely sure what that was. He had been the only other person she had seen for five years. He had mistreated her, abused her, experimented on her, but he had also cared for her. Cared for her as one would a pet rat, perhaps, but he had soothed her burns, bandaged her wounds, and even comforted her a little when she was very young and in pain. He had caused the pain, but…

But that was causing pain to her. Now he had, undoubtedly, caused pain to someone Kate loved. He had done something, or perhaps Drafenberg had, but those screams… Both of them were going to have to pay.

So far it appeared that there were three guards, working four-hour shifts in rotation. Two of them, including the one currently sitting on the other side of the bars, were older men who looked like they had seen action, probably too much of it under bad circumstances. Though the current man seemed unhappy with Antonia’s screaming, he was not reacting as much as Kate thought he should.

The third guard was another matter. He would likely have been squirming by now. Younger, and better looking, he seemed like a relatively new recruit. His rank insignia seemed to be less complicated, so Kate assumed he was of lower rank. Most importantly, he was starting to develop something of a relationship with his prisoner. It was a relationship based upon lust and staring through the bars at a half-naked, large-breasted girl who appeared more or less his age, but it was a relationship. He was going to be Kate’s ticket out of there.

But not while Antonia lay there wailing her lungs out. Kate’s plan was going to have to wait for that to stop. Which would probably not be too long, because no one could take that kind of pain for a long time. Kate knew from experience that she could not and she had her own pain to deal with; she had been without her pills for an entire day now and it was starting to tell. She knew that if they did not escape soon she was going to be of no use in that escape when it happened, assuming she was not dead.

~~~

‘What are you working on, Doctor?’ Falk asked as he entered the lab to find Gantheim working at a blackboard while Charles sat at a bench working on some sort of mechanical device.

‘This,’ Charles said, not looking around, ‘is a vaporous dispersal mechanism.’ He felt no desire to lie about the function of the device. It would do exactly what he said it would do, even if it would
also
achieve another end.

‘You are supposed to be working on the explosive–’

‘I understand Doctor Gantheim’s theories and the application of them. I have calculated the explosive potential of the bomb and agree with the theorised explosive force. Such a device would spread radioactive material across a wide area making the capitalisation of captured territory virtually impossible. However, the dispersal of Vulcanium at high pressure in vaporous form followed by a suitable detonation will produce similar effects without the disastrous fallout. I hope to persuade the Count that such a device would suit him better rather than a weapon which may well destroy the planet if utilised incorrectly.’

Falk was silent for a second or two. ‘You seem to have changed your tune, Doctor. You stated that the Count was a mad man who had to be stopped.’

‘I did, and still believe it true. However, he is a mad man with too much power for me to defeat. I am a rational man, as you well know. I can find no way to prevent von Auttenberg from coming to power, but I can, perhaps, prevent him from destroying civilisation entirely.’

‘He will not be satisfied with something–’

‘Approximately ten of these devices dropped by parachute in an achievable pattern should be sufficient to reduce any city to a smoking ruin within a matter of seconds. The explosive force is equivalent to several tens of thousands of tons of trinitrotoluene. Temperatures will reach some four to five thousand degrees. The resulting pressure wave will level anything which it impacts for several miles. But when the flames subside there will be nothing left but ashes, instead of radioactive, uninhabitable ashes. Even a mad man can see the benefits of that.’

‘My apologies, Doctor,’ Falk said, sounding almost as though he meant it. ‘I stated that you do not have the vision to use your abilities in the manner they should be used. Clearly you have far greater resolve than I thought.’

‘Sir, you have no idea what I am capable of with sufficient motivation.’ Tightening a screw, Charles turned, eyeing Falk through a single magnifying lens. ‘Pray that you never have to find out.’

~~~

The pain was coming less often and was not quite so extreme when it did, but Antonia lay on her bunk with her eyes jammed shut anyway. She was entirely unsure of how long she had been in agony, but it had been a long time and she could not understand why she had not passed out.

As it was, her head throbbed, her lungs ached, her throat felt raw, but it was the blinding quality of the light which kept her eyes shut. Even with them open she could barely see. At least it seemed that she had survived. Unless she was, in fact, dead and had yet to get used to the blinding light of Heaven. She thought not; Heaven would have better bedding.

Pain lanced through her skull again, wringing another shriek of pain from her tormented lungs. Except that her lungs did not seem so tormented now. As the pain died away, she realised that what was left was not uncomfortable.

She risked opening an eye. The light was coming from an oil lamp on the guard’s desk. The room had only a single, barred, window and there was barely any light coming through it. It had to be late evening which meant she had spent most of the day in pain. The light was still a little too bright, but she could see quite clearly. In fact, the dim lamp seemed to be providing more illumination than such a device normally did. Presumably some improvement on the design one of von Auttenberg’s people had created.

Antonia closed her eyes again. She would try to sleep. Perhaps some sleep would make her feel better.

~~~

Dinner was a surreal affair. Von Auttenberg entertained his scientists at a long table in his building as though it were an officer’s mess or a genteel dinner party. He wore full uniform and provided suitable evening dress for the men. Nachtigall attended, dressed in a corseted, off-the-shoulder gown in white silk and lace. She even managed to stop smoking for the duration of the meal though she lit up again as soon as the brandy was poured.

What had perplexed Charles throughout an evening which had felt forced and entirely strange was that Gantheim had not arrived for the start of the meal and had not appeared thereafter. Charles had sat next to Moorbridge, an inventor of mechanical devices who was a fellow captive, chatting about the man’s creations and wondering where his fellow physicist had got to.

Moorbridge was, at least, an interesting man. He was fascinated by the Mechman suits, though his own work was based more around automated devices. Charles had heard of him since he had been responsible for automating the telephone exchange in London using very clever, electrically driven, clockwork decision-making devices. The system had necessitated changes to the telephones, but it scaled far better than having hundreds of human operators, and it had been rolled out to other major cities. Moorbridge had not been there to witness his triumph, however, and no one had been able to discover where he had vanished to. Until now, anyway.

‘Doctor Barstow-Hall,’ von Auttenberg called down the table as proceedings drew to a close, ‘Leutnant Edel will escort you back to your room. She has a matter to discuss with you.’

Nachtigall was rising from her seat and Charles followed suit. He made a short bow to von Auttenberg, who raised an eyebrow but bowed his head in return. Then he followed the woman as she glided serenely to the door. She was a beautiful and quite elegant woman, it had to be admitted, though the hand-rolled cigarette pressed between her lips marred the perfection. Charles could only wonder what she wanted to talk about.

As they exited the building into the rather warm night air, Charles offered her his arm. She took it without comment, but said, ‘We will take a short walk, Herr Doktor.’

‘As you wish, madam.’

She gave a soft laugh. ‘The English gentleman to the end?’

‘You dress as a lady. A considerable improvement over your usual choice of attire, I might add. Should I not treat you as a lady, under the circumstances?’ She seemed to be taking him towards the rear of the laboratory building, though he could not be quite sure yet.

‘Ah, but I am not a lady, Doctor. I am very much a woman, but not a lady. Karl enjoys my dressing in such frills and I am happy to comply.’