High Energy by Dara Joy Read Free Book Online Page A

opened up to the outside with no supporting structures around it,
    like a window in space.
    Zanita stared out the open door, careful not to lean over too far. "I don't get
    it."
    "You'd have to be a physicist to understand—it has to do with the Uncertainty
    Principle."
    She looked at him strangely. "Uh-huh."
    There was an enormous English conservatory to the rear of the house, nicely
    decorated in white wicker. Zanita sank down into a cushioned chair, admiring the
    flowering plants around her.
    "So, where do you work, in your laboratory in the dungeon?" she joked. Tyber
    nodded quite seriously. "You're not joking, are you?"
    Tyber raised his eyebrows, shaking his head slowly back and forth.
    "Whyever would you work in a musty old cellar?"
    "I'm a traditionalist. All us mad scientists have a certain reputation to
    maintain." She laughed outright. The corner of his mouth lifted in a faint
    smile, then he held his hand out to her. "I want to introduce you to a few…
    friends. Then, if you like, we can go sit out by the pool."
    She placed her hand in his large palm; his skin was warm and dry, the strong
    fingers enclosing her hand, gentle.
    "We are going to venture into forbidden territory, Ms. Masterson," he whispered.
    "We are about to enter into the outer limits known as Blooey's kitchen." He led
    her down several corridors.
    "Do you ever get lost here?"
    "No, but others have. Until I can get you a map, don't go anywhere without
    either me or Blooey leading you. I once lost a colleague for two whole days in
    the south wing. He hasn't visited us since." He grinned wickedly.
    "You didn't by any chance engineer this occurrence, did you?"
    "I'm surprised at you, Ms. Masterson. Just how unchivalrous do you think I am?"
    He mocked her with the term, recalling the moment she had awakened in his arms.
    She flushed faintly. "As a guest in your home, I won't answer that question."
    He pushed a swinging wooden door open with his bare foot, pulling her behind him
    into a very large, sunny kitchen.
    An island with a malachite surface stood in the center of the cooking area.
    Copper pots dangled from rack above the island. The cabinets were rich cherry
    wood. All the appliances seemed to be restaurant-style equipment. Even the
    chrome gas stove, although designed to look like a turn of the century
    appliance, was completely modern. Several kinds of herbs grew along the base of
    the windows. The kitchen table was nestled in an alcove of floor-to-ceiling
    windows.
    In the center of the floor stood a chubby little man and a very fat cat.
    The man wore a red-and-white horizontally striped shirt, baggy brown pants, and
    old, scuffed hiking boots. Around his head was a red kerchief, which was tied in
    a knot behind his left ear—the ear that held a large gold hoop. He was whipping
    a batter to a frenzy in a stainless steel bowl.
    The cat, an enormous orange tabby, watched the man cooking with a greedy gleam
    in his golden eye. He was a tough old customer, that cat. Zanita noted with some
    amusement that a piece of his right ear was chewed off. A black eyepatch covered
    his left eye. He looked like a rogue.
    "Blooey!" Tyber's voice boomed in the kitchen, making Zanita jump. He leaned
    down to explain in a lower voice, "Blooey won't respond to me unless I speak to
    him in a certain—ah, tone."
    The odd man spun around, squaring his shoulders. "Aye, Captain?"
    Zanita immediately recognized the voice as the one she had heard on the
    intercom. Captain? He called Tyber Captain. Had Tyber been in the military? If
    so, this was a piece of information that could be useful in an interview. So far
    as she knew, no one had ever mentioned his being in the service. And just what
    were his government ties?
    "I want to introduce you to someone. Zanita Masterson, this is Arthur Bloomberg,
    known to his friends as Blooey."
    "Hi. Nice to meet you." Zanita put her hand out.
    Blooey squinted, examining her through one eye. "She be yer lady, what ye
    mentioned,