Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof by Niall Teasdale Read Free Book Online Page B

having his hair cut at the best barber he could afford, and he could afford a very good barber, once a month when he went to London. They both had hazel eyes, fairly thin lips, noses which tended to a slight bulb, and a small cleft to their chins. Charles’s face was thinner; age was starting to tell around Alexander’s cheeks.
    Georgina was another matter. Over twenty years Alexander’s junior, she was only four years older than Charles and still quite beautiful. A blonde, she kept her long hair tightly bound into a bun almost all the time as she thought the style made her look respectable. She had blue eyes, but with a hint of green to them, and pale skin. Her figure was still trim. She hated Antonia Wooster because they both followed the same archetype, but Antonia was streets ahead of her, but worse, Antonia really did not care that she was attractive, while Georgina had staked her future on it.
    ‘Bringing home strays now, son?’ Alexander asked by way of a welcome.
    ‘Her name is Kate. Her father used her as an experimental subject and her body is infused with Unobtainium two-six-two. She requires approximately weekly exposure to enough radiation to cause severe ill-health or death, otherwise she will die.’
    ‘But why bring her here?’ Georgina put in.
    Alexander gave a sigh. Georgina probably assumed this was because Alexander had realised the reason and thought it unfortunately appropriate. Charles knew that the answer would have been obvious to anyone and that Alexander was constantly disappointed in his second wife’s lack of perception. ‘Because this house runs on a reactor and she can have easy access to it at any time. What do you plan to do with her? Is it even possible to infuse someone with Unobtainium?’
    ‘It should have killed her, but there she is. As to what I want to do, I want to discover a way to remove the metal from her system. Beyond that, she needs to learn. Mrs Morton can teach her proper manners, sufficient to function in society at least. She is a very amenable girl, but uneducated. She seems to learn quickly so the task should not be too onerous.’
    ‘I realise that you feel responsible for every foul act perpetrated using the metal, but–’
    ‘Kate has been subjected to such ungodly things that listing them in front of Georgina would be ungentlemanly, Father. It is our duty to help her. Without our company, and the produce thereof, she would not be in the state she is in, and I will not hear of turning her away when she needs our help. If your duty does not sway you, the girl is a scientific miracle and I may learn much which can further increase the yearly profits during my attempts to cure her.’
    One could almost hear the sound of cash registers ringing up sales in Alexander’s head. When Hunter Hall had died, the Unobtainium Company had stagnated until Charles had taken over research and development. Charles was the future of the company and Alexander knew it.
    It was, however, Georgina who spoke, because she had a love of wealth which left Alexander’s in the shade. ‘I am sure that she will be a welcome addition to our little family,’ she said with a beaming smile.
     

The Animal Within
    Rhidorroch, 31 st May 1920.
    ‘This,’ Charles said, holding up a small, hexagonal bottle with a waxed cork stopper and a colourless liquid inside, ‘is what I’ve been working on.’
    ‘And he’s very proud of it,’ Antonia added.
    Kate peered at the bottle and the label which decorated one face. ‘Katheros?’ she read.
    ‘It’s something of a bastardisation of the Greek,’ Charles said, ‘for “clean.” This chemical, injected into the blood, neutralises radioactive particles and allows them to be flushed naturally from the body. If my chemistry is correct, it should work on a number of heavy metals.’
    ‘The Unobtainium in me?’ Kate asked, sounding as though she was trying not to be hopeful. She, rightly, assumed that if that were likely, Charles would have