The Ambassador's Daughter

Chapter 9

True to her promise, Louise used her phone with decreasing regularity. But she did let Steve know when she was coming back. Tucked into her purse, was a blueprint. Louise was finishing up her last year of mechanical engineering and hoped that she would be able to help T'Challa's engineers design and create Bucky's new arm.

Gordon dropped her off at the palace and she rushed up the stairs to Bucky's room. Steve looked up when she entered. In addition to the usual crew of doctors, Louise saw two new men and a woman. They were standing around a table situated under the window, the table was covered with papers and a couple of heaps of metal. Steve and T'Challa both stood by the table as the new people described plans. Louise slipped past the doctors and moved to stand beside Steve.

She looked at the plans scattered over the table. The new people were obviously the engineers T'Challa had summoned. They had brought the king their designs for engineering a new bionic arm. Louise leaned past Steve and pulled one of the blue prints towards her. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at her. "I'm sorry," She said, looking up at everyone, "I've almost got my mechanical engineering degree. I thought I could help. A bit."

T'Challa looked at her in surprise. "That is interesting, Miss Louise. We were just discussing the difficulty of making Mr. Barnes's arm fully functional. As you pointed out the other day, modern prosthetics don't usually have the level of dexterity that Hydra managed in the forties."

"It was definitely technology well before it's time," Steve agreed. "As was most of the stuff Hydra had."

"And we're having trouble getting around that now?" Louise guessed. The engineers nodded. "What if we stopped looking at the arm like a prosthetic and started looking at it like an arm?" Louise reached into her purse and pulled out her blueprint. "We need to make it so it can move on its own. If we hooked it up to a motor, the fingers would flex, the elbow would bend et cetera. That's the hurdle we have to jump first, then we can worry about making it an extension of Bucky."

The four engineers took her blue print and looked at it together. "You do not have a master's degree?" one asked. Louise shook her head.

"So, no doctorate?" Another asked, again, Louise shook her head.

"Just a fourth year mechanical engineering student? And you come up with this, thinking it will work?" Asked the first. Louise nodded.

"I'm smart and innovative. That's a direct quote from one of my professors, on one of my first assignments." Louise said, not liking the incredulous tones she was hearing. "My father is an ambassador, my grandfather was a senator. Seeing the things for what they could be, not what they are, is practically genetic." Steve turned away to hide his smile. T'Challa didn't bother hiding his smile. This is what he wanted for her. This is what she lacked in the Mansion. She hardly ever had the courage to defend herself to her father the way she defended herself to complete strangers. T'Challa hoped that Louise could help Bucky be more than the Winter Soldier, and that Bucky could help Louise be more than the ambassador's daughter.

"Well, this may work." The second engineer replied after an awkward pause and careful examination of the blueprint. Louise decided to call him Dr. Pompous-Pants.

The third engineer took the blue print and scrutinized it. "Of course it will," She said looking suitably impressed. "You are indeed smart and innovative, Miss Louise. I am Doctor Tung' Ala, and I am pleased to have your input." Louise smiled.

"How do we make the arm flexible enough to work like an actual arm?" The first engineer asked.

Well Dr. Holier-than-thou, Louise thought, out loud she continued, "We need to make it into three major separate parts, like a regular arm. The shoulder to the elbow, the elbow to the wrist and then the hand, with individual fingers. That's the only way I can see it moving the way Bucky will need it too." As she spoke she pointed to the different parts in her designs.

"Right," Doctor Tung' Ala agreed, "Like a child's Barbie doll. The flexible points are separate from the rest of the limb."

"Exactly," Louise agreed, "Except, obviously, more refined. Hopefully, with Vibranium, the joints will be sturdy enough that wear and tear will be a minimal concern." Louise looked to T'Challa, "How are we coming with that, by the way? The mining of enough Vibranium to do the job, I mean."

T'Challa frowned. "What you see on the table is all that we have at this time." Louise glanced down. There were four lumps roughly the same size as very large potatoes. She picked up one of the lumps of Vibranium, feeling it in her hands. She was surprised at how light it was.

"How much Vibranium would we need?" She asked Doctor Tung' Ala. The other woman picked up another lump of Vibranium and examined Louise's plans again.

"I'd say about another three lumps this size."

"How long would that take to procure?" Louise asked T'Challa.

Again, T'Challa frowned. "I have crews working in a mine as we speak, but Vibranium is hard to mine, as I've told you before."

Louise nodded thoughtfully, "Do we have anything already made out of Vibranium that we could melt down?" Dr. Holier-Than-Thou asked.

T'Challa pondered the question for a moment then shook his head. He was not about to sacrifice his suit for Bucky. T'Challa needed that suit. Louise seemed to read his mind, at least the part about having something that he wasn't willing to part with, not for this. "It's alright. It's not like Bucky is going anywhere. Doctor Mang'Tan said Bucky's vitals were strong and stable. That isn't likely to change in a few more weeks. How long did it take to mine this much Vibranium?"

"Each lump took about a week."

"Seriously!?" Louise gasped, "You weren't kidding when you said this stuff was hard to mine. No wonder Howard Stark thought he had all the Vibranium on earth when he made your shield, Steve." Steve nodded, he was as dumbfounded by the time it took to mine that little amount of Vibranium they saw before them as Louise was.

"What if we used another metal?" Steve asked, "Bucky's old arm wasn't Vibranium. His skills in combat should keep it from being sabotaged. No one's going to be able to sneak up on him and stab him."

"I strongly suggest we wait for more Vibranium, Your Majesty," Dr. Pompous-Pants chimed in. "We don't want to be taking short cuts here." Louise rolled her eyes, but remained silent.

"I want to give this man his best start on a new life." T'Challa finally decided, "I feel partially responsible for his current situation. If I had just let him go, he may never have thought this was the answer." T'Challa motioned towards the cryo chamber.

With that, it was agreed to wait until more Vibranium could be mined, and Louise went home. She promised to return at the end of the month, to check on Bucky and the progress of the mining effort.