Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 15: Benefit of the Doubt

Chapter Fifteen

Benefit of the doubt

Andromeda Galaxy

Huz'deyr System

Open Space

The workshop was coming along nicely. It was set up at one end of the cargo area, close to the engine room and generators. He could not get any work done yet, because they were still busy setting up the whole thing. First the right equipment was needed and the right tools. They would definitely need to make a few stops to get what was still missing, but at least there was something to work with. Tony didn't have to think about Earth and how far they were still when his mind was occupied. He had dozens and dozens of tools lying around everywhere and also some of the repair parts from the cargo. There was still too many he did not figure out what to use for. The whole workshop was one big chaos, but Tony could see how it would look like in a few months, how everything will find its proper place. Where he could set up the tools needed for forging, which desk would be used for delicate work – note to self: he needed to get or build a magnifying glass – and also which workbench would be perfect for assembling. He could see all that in the chaos that surrounded them for now. He already had extra lights everywhere, so at least that was finished finally. Once they were done the workshop will be pretty damn awesome. Not as awesome as his workshop at home, but on the other hand that didn't have alien tech in it, so there was that.

'Where will the forge go?' Loki asked.

'I haven't decided yet,' Tony answered, not looking up from the tools he was going through. 'Depends. I'm really against middle age stuff, so no coal or anything. I was thinking gas forge with a cylindrical forge chamber, but then I realized that we don't have any hydrocarbon fuel. And pure hydrogen, which we could get out of water, puts out too much ultraviolet light and I'm kind of sensitive to that stuff.'

He put some of the tools he deemed useful aside and kept searching through the chaos on the floor.

'So some sort of electric forge, right?' he continued the explanation. 'Unless we want to get our hands of natural gas,' he said. 'Which is a big no, I don't want to deal with that shit, so I'm gonna have to tap into the generators. I will need to power up quite a lot of things here actually. That will take time.'

'What about the energy in the weapons?' Loki asked. 'Surely they could power tools as well as guns.'

'That is a good question. The guns are not electric in nature though, obviously. I can't study it before the workshop is done.'

'This will take months,' Loki said as he looked around the chaos Tony made.

'It's not like we don't have all the time in the world,' he shrugged.

'I suppose.'

'You could help me you know.'

'What are you doing exactly?'

'Sorting out tools that could be useful,' Tony answered. 'So pliers, clamps, tongs, any kind of screwdrivers, soldering iron, wrenches. All go into that desk. I'm gonna have to build a drill and a blowtorch, but it seems like I have everything I need for that, so no problem.'

'We do have chisels, right?' Loki asked. 'I will need a small one for engraving runes into my armour.'

'I will need a leaser cutter anyway, it won't be too hard to make it suitable for engraving too, that's a lot better, especially if you need to carve small symbols. Forget the traditional chisel.'

'Alright,' Loki said. 'We'll see I suppose.'

'So you gonna help or what?'

'It's not like I have anything better to do.'