Which was a good thing, because the explosion was pretty impressive, all things considered. At least judged by noise, smoke and falling debris. My uncle was an explosives expert. Not that he did this for a living.

“Uncle Archie, are you alive?”

“Yes.”

“All parts still attached? Any bleeding?” I had my cell phone ready. Emergency response knew the way to my uncle’s place really well. Sadly, I was a living testimony to the fact that not all paramedics are hot-looking. At least, so far, we hadn’t really seen a lot of hotness action. Probably because the hunky ones knew better than to risk permanent disfigurement by coming out here. I was pretty sure that a call to Uncle Archie’s meant they drew lots and the loser showed up.

“Yes to the parts, no to the bleeding. You’re not filled with support today, Kelly.”

“I think I just ruined my new suit.”

“Why do you wear a suit out here anyway?” I heard the sounds of explosion clean-up, so risked a look over the desk. It still looked too smoky to take a chance on leaving the relative safety of the laminated plywood.

“Because I have to look professional for interviews.” Interviews I was, so far, not doing overwhelmingly well with. At least if I judged it by call-backs, of which I had exactly none.

“Why you want to be a lawyer is beyond me.”

“I want to make sure I can defend you when you blow up the wrong thing and you’re sued by the government.”

“Good point.” There were more clean-up sounds. “It’s safe to come out now, Counselor.”

I stood up and surveyed the damage. “Maybe the drycleaner can get these stains out.” Hey, suits are expensive. After determining that I didn’t have to slash my wrists over my clothes, I took a look around.

My uncle probably wasn’t the only inventor who did his work in a barn. He might have been the only one who did it in a barn the size of an airplane hangar, though. The smoke was clearing, so I could see fairly well again. I did a quick check -- none of his major inventions seemed damaged. This was good. Recreating useless inventions costs money.

Not that Uncle Archie didn’t have it. In his youth he’d created something that the government still paid him well for. He wouldn’t tell me what it was, but I had the feeling it had something to do with either nuclear power or smart bombs. I kind of hoped it was nuclear power but if I had to put money on it, no one blew stuff up like my Uncle Archie.

Sadly, that government money pretty much funded his massive experiments addiction. He survived by ranching. I survived by working as a temp and living off bagged noodles. College was expensive and the small inheritance I’d gotten when my parents had died was long gone. Not that Uncle Archie hadn’t been a good steward of that money. But there’s only so far life insurance and several thousand dollars in savings goes -- and they’d died when I was twelve, which was fourteen years and a lot of up-close and personal explosions ago.

Uncle Archie gave me a hug. “You know you should call before you come so I’m ready.”

“I did call. Several times. It would help if you ever answered the phone. Any phone. You have phones in the house, in the stables, in this barn, and a cell phone, right there in your pocket. I called all of them. You didn’t answer.”

“I was busy.”

I resisted the urge to scream. “Right. What were you trying to do this time?”

He grinned. “Something that’ll make you happy. I have an assignment.”

This was rare. The last assignment I could remember was when I was sixteen and he was asked to create a non-petroleum-dependent car. He’d done it. It had blown up, of course. But it had only needed some minor modifications to be production-worthy and explosion-proof. But his assignment had been cancelled without explanation, and we’d been left with the expense. And a really snazzy solar-powered car that could go up to twenty miles per hour. On a good day.

“Who hired you?”

“Not the government this time. A real contract.” He rummaged around in the desk I’d been hiding under and pulled out some papers. “Here’s the contract. Enjoy the light reading.”

 (Go to www.ginikoch.com, select Expanded Universes from the nav bar, and read the rest!)