Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof (11 page)

‘Unlikely,’ Charles said, ‘but not entirely impossible. Kate? You are concentrating so hard I feel you must have noticed something?’

‘There’s a scent,’ Kate said. ‘Metallic, but combined with… with the scent of Mrs Bridger’s French bread.’ She turned and beamed at them, having successfully identified the smell.

‘Garlic?’ Antonia asked. ‘Mrs Bridger makes garlic bread as an appetiser sometimes. Perhaps the food…?’

‘I somehow doubt that garlic plays a great part in the ingredients of the food here, Mrs Wooster,’ Charles said.

‘No, perhaps not.’

‘Still, Inspector, it might be best to check with the warders regarding the last meal served here.’

‘Gruel, sir,’ Franklin replied without moving. ‘Supper is a pint of gruel and five ounces of bread.’

‘Ah. Well done, Inspector. I believe that is a fact I would choose to forget. However, metal and garlic. I believe I may have an idea, but it would be best to confirm it. Ladies, we must retire to the laboratory.’

Knightsbridge.

Kate had never seen Charles’s laboratory. There had been no need and some concerns that such a setting might provoke an atavistic episode, but she looked around it calmly, indeed with some interest. She remembered some of the trappings of her father’s lab, the cages, the benches, the restraints, and this was
nothing
like it.

There were benches, certainly, but these were almost overflowing with instruments, papers, and books, and apparently partially finished devices of various kinds. Along the walls were shelves which held bottles and boxes, and more devices. Some of those even looked as though they were completed though what they were constructed to do was beyond her.

Under the benches were cupboards and drawers, and from one of these Charles took a stone slab perhaps a foot on each side and half an inch thick. He seemed to be struggling with it so Kate stepped over and took it from him, lifting it quite easily.

‘My apologies if I act in an unladylike manner,’ she said, ‘but we know I am stronger than you and there is no sense in your struggling.’

‘I believe my manhood can survive the indignity,’ he replied. ‘It is heavy, and for good reason. Please, on the bench, but then retire a distance. What I wish to show you is quite an energetic reaction.’

Leaving Kate to place the stone, he began searching through the bottles on one of his shelves, finally discovering one made from brown glass with a firmly sealed stopper in the top. Opening it, he took a small spatula from the bench and used it to spoon a pea-sized blob of grey paste dripping thick oil from the jar and pressed it to the stone before resealing the bottle and putting it away again.

That done he retrieved two sets of goggles with dark-tinted glass in them from another drawer, handing a set to Antonia. ‘Kate, you would be advised to put on your spectacles.’

‘Oh…’ Reaching into her purse, Kate found the little leather case he had given her and removed the round glasses. They too had dark glass in them, but they were normally employed merely to hide her eyes from public view. She could see perfectly well through them in daylight, even on a cloudy day, and it gave her greater anonymity. She had been delighted with them, but she suspected that in this case they were being suggested for a different purpose.

‘What exactly is that, Charles?’ Antonia asked. ‘And why is it coated in oil?’

‘It is a mixture of a number of materials, some of which react quite violently with air. Hence it is kept beneath an oil which stops the oxygen getting to it. However, to truly activate this, we will need a more energetic trigger.’

He lit a Bunsen burner using a clever device which appeared to create sparks by rubbing metal across flint, and then used that flame to light a long taper. Holding it at arm’s length, he lowered the burning end towards the blob of grey goo. There was a fizzling noise as the oil evaporated and then…

The flare of light was so bright all of them shaded their eyes from it even though they were looking through darkened glass. It had a bright, scarlet colouration overlaying a brilliant white, and it burned for several seconds, the heat reaching them even from several feet away. When it finally died away, it left the slab of rock still glowing a dull red.

‘
That
is the scent,’ Kate said, sniffing at the air.

‘Even I can detect some hint of garlic,’ Antonia confirmed. ‘What is that material, Charles?’

‘That is Vulcanium.’

‘Something to do with Vulcanite? The explosive you created for the Navy?’

‘A cousin, if you will. Vulcanite produces a far more violent and immediate reaction when triggered. Vulcanium was an attempt to produce a cheaper explosive. I reduced the proportion of Unobtainium considerably, and added magnesium and phosphorus as initiators. The last of those is what gives it that scent. Unfortunately, as you can see, the result was less than explosive, though it is very destructive. I shelved the project and the Navy has to pay more to blow up a city with but a single shell.’

‘I believe such an act
should
cost them a considerable amount. But you are suggesting that this material was used to free Cooper?’

‘You saw the evidence. With Vulcanium’s explosive properties of no use I researched other uses for it. One of these was cutting and drilling hard rock, but it is too expensive to manufacture to make that viable. I shelved it completely, and literally.’ He pointed up at the brown bottle. ‘There are six ounces in there and, as far as I was aware, no more in the world. Someone, and it cannot have been Cooper, used several
pounds
of it to free him.’

‘You’ll forgive me, Charles, but I believe I am detecting a pattern. Is not Kate saturated with an isotope of your Wonder Metal that is not supposed to exist beyond the few ounces held in vaults as well?’

‘That fact has not escaped me, Mrs Wooster. Vulcanium and Vulcanite are made from two-five-seven, but the release of that is strictly controlled, and I thought myself the only person with the knowledge to make this incendiary mixture. It appears that someone has access to both that knowledge and to large quantities of Unobtainium.’

‘And now they have my father,’ Kate said. ‘I cannot think that this will lead to anything good.’

Enfield, 29
^th
July.

Antonia sank herself into the zone of quiet she assumed whenever she was about to make a shot. The rest of the world went away as she focussed on her rifle and the target some three hundred yards away down the range. Here, in the booth she was firing from, the air was still, but she could see the grass moving down the range from her and she allowed for that. She had already adjusted her sights. Now it was simply a matter of steadying herself and waiting for the moment when she knew she had the shot just right… She squeezed the trigger and her M1903 Springfield launched a .30-06 round towards her point of aim.

‘Centre,’ Kate said peering through a telescope at the target. ‘Perhaps an inch high. You are quite amazing.’

‘Your turn,’ Antonia said, pushing herself up from her prone position and rearranging her skirts as she stood. ‘I do wish the club would not be so formal. A dress is not the attire to be wearing while doing this.’

Kate gave a soft giggle and assumed Antonia’s position. ‘I cannot hit that target,’ she stated flatly. She slotted a round into the rifle anyway and slid the bolt home.

‘I think you can. Just focus. Let yourself feel the shot, just as I taught you.’

Closing her eyes, Kate stilled her breathing and then opened them, looking down through the rifle’s sights. She was confident of Antonia’s ranging, so she simply needed to determine her best point of aim and then try to feel out the shot as Antonia had. After almost thirty seconds, she breathed slowly out and squeezed the trigger.

‘Hit,’ Antonia said. ‘Around six inches above the centre, but a good hit. You, my dear, have natural talent on your side, while I have training. I want you to try it again.’

Kate reached for another round, but she heard Antonia moving beside her and stopped, looking around.

‘I want you to try it with this,’ Antonia told her, holding up a huge, double-barrelled rifle, richly decorated in carved metal, with a walnut stock.

‘I-isn’t that Mister Wooster’s rifle?’

‘It is, and it has rested in its case, unused, for far too long. He would
not
have wanted that when there is someone skilled enough to use it and whom I trust to do so. I want you to try the first shot standing up.’

Kate looked at her as though she were mad, but she got to her feet and took the huge rifle rather gingerly from her. Breaking it open, she slid a single, very large .600 Nitro Express round into the right-hand barrel and snapped it closed before setting the stock against her shoulder and aiming down through the sights at her target.

‘It will have quite the kick,’ Antonia said, her voice soft, ‘so be ready for it. Just the same as before. Settle yourself and shoot.’

The gun was heavy, and unbraced, and she was not so sure of the sights, but she steadied her breathing and focussed, letting herself feel the movement of the weapon in her hands and seeing the target so far away. It felt almost as though the extra tension of using Antonia’s husband’s rifle lent her the patience to wait for just the right moment when everything was just right. She squeezed the trigger.

The roar of the big rifle was huge and she felt it slam into her shoulder as it fired like a sharp kick from a strong man. The muzzle rose quite alarmingly and she was most surprised when Antonia said, ‘Hit. Five inches high. David had trouble aiming that thing unless it was properly braced, I might add.’

‘I can understand that. It kicks like a mule.’ She flexed her shoulder. ‘I’m sure that will leave a bruise.’

Antonia picked another round from the cartridge box and held it out. ‘You heal fast. And again.’

Richmond.

Antonia finished cleaning the two rifles, kneeling on the rug in the drawing room to do so, and began packing the disassembled Holland & Holland away in its case.

‘It was
good
to see this in use again,’ she said, her voice soft. ‘I want you to use it. It will be yours now. You’re the only person I know strong enough to use it properly. It would break my arm if I tried.’

Kate peered down at her from the seat she was using to give her the best view of the task at hand. She was meant to be able to take proper care of her weapon in the future and watching an expert was the second best way to learn. ‘I will, on the condition that I return it to him when he comes back.’

Antonia gave her a smile, but there were tears visible in her eyes. ‘It’s sweet of you to say so, dear, but he is not coming back. I know he is not, even if my heart has not quite accepted it yet.’

Kate slid to her knees beside her friend, not sure quite what to do, but placing an arm around Antonia’s shoulders seemed a good start.

‘The worst part,’ Antonia said, ‘is not really knowing what happened to him. Did he suffer? Was it all over in an instant? But… But I know, in truth, that he must be d-dead. There has been no sign of anyone aboard his ship, no wreckage. He would not want me to stop my life and I should move on.’

‘If there is no news, then there is always hope. He could be… He may be lost in delirium somewhere, unable to seek you out.’ Kate turned her face towards Antonia, forcing herself to smile as she did so. ‘Yes, that–’

And then there lips met. It was a soft touch, a gentle caress of soft, sensitive skin against its like before Antonia pulled away again. Kate sat there, her heart hammering in her chest, and a slow burn of unwanted arousal beginning between her legs.

‘You are the sweetest, most caring, beautiful woman I have ever met,’ Antonia said softly. She turned her head away, lowering her eyes. ‘I count myself honoured to have you as a friend and you have no idea how grateful I am that you are here to give me comfort. A-and I should not have done that.’

Reaching up, Kate turned Antonia’s face back towards her, but did not move closer. ‘You said to me that I should never be ashamed of what I was, what was inside me. I thought, at the time, that you were speaking generally, but I see that it was more from personal understanding. For you, and for Charles, I will do
anything
in my power to make you happy or ease your suffering. Remember that, Antonia. I am here for you should you need me.’

Antonia gave a nod, not trusting her voice, and then turned to packing away her own weapon.

Knightsbridge, 30
^th
July.

‘Thank you for coming here, Inspector,’ Charles said as he motioned the man into a seat.

Franklin looked uncomfortable about sitting, especially when Charles remained on his feet, but it seemed rude to decline. ‘We keep importuning you, sir, it seems right that I should come to you when I must not drag you out to some crime scene.’

‘Still a thoughtful gesture. Now, we have been over all the evidence, or lack thereof, and I can draw some conclusions. They are not what I would describe as satisfactory conclusions, and they leave me more than a little disturbed.’

‘Anything you have may be of help, sir.’

‘Quite. On with it then.’ He nodded to where Kate was sitting primly in a seat beside Antonia. ‘As you will recall, Miss Felix detected an aroma of garlic mixed with a metallic overtone in the cell. This combined with the destruction wrought on the wall has led me to the inescapable conclusion that one of my own inventions was employed in Cooper’s extraction.’

‘Sir?’

‘A material which burns at extremely high temperature for a significant period of time, Inspector. A material related to Vulcanite. As far as I know, I am the only person alive who knows the process required to manufacture it.’

‘I see, sir. You said “the only person alive?”’

‘There was one other who might have been able to replicate it. Falk, Andrew Falk. He was my grandfather’s laboratory assistant in his later years and continued on with me for a short time. However, he died in an automobile accident some years ago.’