Unobtainium 1: Kate on a Hot Tin Roof Read Online Free PDF Page A

into the seat beside his, crossing her legs and arranging her skirts. Her gown was off the shoulder this evening, a far more modern style than she usually wore and a little shocking, but of course she absolutely shone in it.
    ‘Oh, far from it. The process her father employed is unclear to me, but what he did is. Somehow he has saturated her body in Unobtainium two-six-two.’
    ‘You’ll pardon me, Charles. Science is not my forte, though I have an understanding of zoology. I was unaware that there were different kinds of Unobtainium.’
    That managed to raise a small chuckle from him and she smiled. ‘The metal you may have seen, perhaps in the British Museum, is the most stable form, the “isotope” my grandfather discovered thirty-five years ago. The mass of each atom is two hundred and sixty. The units are not important. In fact, they are essentially arbitrary. The fact that an atom is Unobtainium, or carbon or oxygen, is determined by the element number, related to the positive charge in the atom’s core, but the mass of an atom can vary. We call these atoms of the same element with different masses “isotopes.”’
    ‘From the Greek? These isotopes occupy the same place on the periodic table of elements. Isos topos?’
    ‘I see you know a little Greek and a little chemistry as well as biology. Unobtainium has three known isotopes. Two-six-oh is used in most of the devices we construct from the metal. It is alloyed with iron to make adamantium. Two-five-seven is unstable. Over the course of many years it decays into other materials, giving off energy as it does so.’
    ‘So that is used in the reactor which powers this great city.’
    ‘As you say. Two-six-two is thought to be stable, or very nearly so, but exceptionally rare. I thought that there existed no more than three ounces in the world, all of it accounted for. We know little of its properties. It appears relatively useless given its availability and there is no clear advantage over its more common cousin.’
    ‘But this man, Cooper was it? He has not only obtained some of this heavier element, but he has somehow soaked it into Kate’s body?’
    Charles nodded. ‘It’s killing her. Slowly, but surely. Heavy metals in the body do little good to anyone. I’ve no idea how he kept her alive this long.’
    ‘And he is not saying, I assume? No, but of course not. The man is using the life of his own daughter as a… a bargaining chip.’
    ‘I believe that we can only use the term “daughter” loosely. He may, indeed, have been the… paternal contributor to Kate’s creation, but I believe he did so simply to reduce the chance of discovery. One less person involved in the experiment.’ He spat out the last word, his fists clenching.
    Antonia leaned forward, her hand coming to rest on his. ‘This is not your fault, Charles, and if there is anyone who can cure her of this malediction, I am quite sure that it is you.’
    ‘Thank you for your confidence, but I fear that it may be misplaced even if no one else does.’
    Antonia narrowed her eyes and glared at him. ‘Charles Hunter Barstow-Hall, do not dare to sit here in the club your grandmother’s family built and tell me that you are not scientist enough to solve this problem. You are the foremost mind in science today. In this Great Britain if not the entire world! Kate could not have a better champion in this fight and I wish to hear no more of your negative assertions. You can do this. Do not make me resort to uncivilised language to emphasise my surety on this.’
    ‘Far be it from me to force a lady to use uncouth words.’ Charles picked up his glass and drained it. ‘I must return to my laboratory. If there is an answer to be found, I will find it there.’
    Knightsbridge, 18 th April.
    The nightmare was a familiar one, but no less terrifying for that. Charles crawled in darkness, looking for a way out. He had had similar dreams ever since, at the age of seven, he had been trapped by a