“I’m sure you didn’t,” she said, waving away his words. “And I do understand your position. This machine could make or break Christmas everywhere, from the Forge to the Obelisk highabove Arcvale. I am not unaware of its importance.” She sighed. “I am also aware that you don’t know me from a chuffing piston, and asking for your trust is asking you to take a leap of faith over an abyss that could sink this entire place.”
Silas blinked. “Um, well that’s putting it bluntly indeed.”
“Am I incorrect in my assumptions?”
He sighed. “No.”
She waved her hand over the assorted bits and pieces. “I am getting to know this machine, Silas. Each part I remove and clean, and straighten or tighten, or...whatever...each part is a little piece of the whole, and the more little pieces I have, the easier it will be to reassemble.” She stood firmly in front of him and extended her forefinger, using it to punctuate her words. “In,poke, proper,poke, working,poke, order.”
“Ow.” He rubbed his chest. “Keep that up, and you’ll be putting me back together as well.” His lips curled into a sensual smile that stirred things inside her. “I hope you would pay as much attention to that project as you are to this one.”
Secretly charmed, she simply wrinkled her nose. “I would give it some consideration.”
“Hmm.” He leaned over and looked inside the guts of the machine that Thea’s explorations had revealed. “You know, I can see some familiar bits in there as well.” He stood on tiptoe and delved deeply into the greasy murk. “This looks like an old ping-gear. We stopped using those ten or fifteen years ago, at least.”
“It is,” she nodded. “I was just about to get it out. If it can be cleaned...”
“It can be reused,” he finished, grabbing a wrench. “Let me help...”
“I...” Thea was ready to send him off with a flea in his ear, but then she saw the expression on his face as he leaned further into the machine and worked his tool up against the housing.
He loved this every bit as much as she did.
It was evident from the intense focus, the slight sounds he made as he struggled to get the wrench locked on, and the final little yip of joy when he pulled away with the offending bit of machinery in his hand.
“Got the little coggleblaster.” He grinned happily at her, completely oblivious to the smudges he’d just put on his shirt and cheek.
“That is a huge help, thank you, Silas.” She took the gear and placed it carefully in one of the several boxes lined up neatly beside the machine.
“We might have something close to replace it,” he offered.
Quiet for a moment, Thea considered his suggestion, then shook her head. “I suppose we could, but honestly? This fellow is so old that I would worry the tolerances were wrong. It takes only one worn gear tooth...”
He sighed. “I know. And much as it pains me to say it, you’re right and it’s worth it, even though it means more work.” Turning toward her, he paused for a moment. “Look, Thea. I am going to do something I hardly ever do. I’m going to take a massive gamble.”
“On what?”
“On you.”
*~~*~~*
Was he twelve different kinds of an idiot?
Silas asked himself that question more than once as the afternoon wore on. He’d entrusted one of the most vital machines to a woman who had never actually worked in the Forge. If her efforts failed, it would be a disaster of biblicalproportions, with the outraged screams from the upper levels shaking the very foundations of Arcvale.
He paused. All right, that was overstating things a bit, but that’s what it felt like to him.
“I’m not sure what you mean...” Thea was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and puzzlement.
“I could assign a dozen of our best mechanics to this...because at this stage it really is looking as though the Mistletoe machine is repairable.”
Face expressionless now, she nodded. “Yes.”
“But I’m not going to do that.”
The tension he could see in her shoulders ease. “Why?”
“Because I believe this project is yours. You appeared down here at the very moment you were needed most. You have astounding skills with mechanical systems, you intuitively know how to touch them, you can sense their condition, and you seem to possess the gift of accurately assessing how they all fit together.”
