Chapter 4
A Silent Mind
Furys' concentration changed between the papers on his desk and the computer screen in front of him. Being director of S.H.I.E.L.D you would have thought that they could trust someone enough to look through this and give him the simpler version because he did not understand a single theory on the documents he had been staring at for what seemed like years.
Universal safety all over Earth, with a warning system to alert them to any unusual activity near Earth of even on it; that's what Odin had promised. Instead he was looking at complicated diagrams and charts depicting what he thought strangely resembled a child's drawing of football strategy, but in space.
Just as he was about to give up and file it under 'classified', he heard a cheery knock on the door.
"Come in."
The door opened to Tony Stark poked his head round the door.
"Do you mind if I talk with you a sec?"
Fury didn't look up from his papers.
"Actually, now that you're here, I would like your opinions on these."
He handed him the file containing the diagrams and twisted the monitor so Tony could see it.
"Before I explain any of this, I must mention that this is highly classified. The only reason I'm showing it to you is because I think it could help prevent another incident which nearly crippled us. Unfortunately, no one, and by that I mean me, can understand a word of it."
Stark sat down and glanced through the documents, completely ignoring the monitor. Some things he recognised as construction blueprints, but when his eyes caught a glimpse of the calculations, his eyes lit up and he virtually jumped in his seat.
He made a half gasp half shriek sound as his smile grew bigger and bigger.
Fury continued to stare at Tony. Stark didn't seem to realise it until he put down the papers and looked up.
Tony straightened up in his seat as he took a deep breath.
"This is incredible. These two diagrams here are schematics for emitters and receivers of large amounts of energy. Theoretically it is possible but we would need large amounts of vibranium or something similarly light but strong and dense enough to withstand such a large current.
Taking into the account the amount we would need to make a field large enough to cover the entire planet, it would be impossible unless we had about 400 thousand of captain Americas' shield. But it seems like they refer to something called Gangritr. It has similar properties to vibranium and comes in three colours."
He added the last bit as if he were helping Fury pick out his summer collection.
At the end of his little jest he tore his eyes away from the piece of paper and looked into Furys' one good eye. Even though the guy didn't tend to show emotion or pleasure, he generally looked curious.
"What would the field do the planet exactly?"
"I think what Odin is suggesting is that if we build this and hook it up to Earths' satellites, we can collect information about any unusual readings such as radiation spikes, energy fluctuations, anomalous weather readings and all that good supernatural stuff from anywhere on the planet."
He turned the papers over to reveal more diagrams.
"And if we create an inverted section like this and place them on the outer part of the satellites, then we can also collect the same data from as far away as 100 billion miles away."
This time Fury gave Stark a quizzical look.
Tony added, "Just so you know, Pluto is only about three and half billion miles away."
Fury nodded then gathered up the papers into one neat pile, while repositioning his screen monitor back towards himself.
"Thank you for explaining. Do you think if we had the right amount of this Gangritr material, that you could make this?"
"Are you kidding me?! Creating this would require some serious time and money. You'd have to use about half a football pitch sized amount of metal for each satellite with complex little pieces of machinery with annoying little wires and cables and syncronise all the parts perfectly, not to mention the emitters and receivers."
Fury stared at Tony with a little grin creeping onto his face. He nodded.
"When can I start?"
The rest of the avengers were standing in the lobby of Stark Tower with their bags packed and ready. Thor had been given a suitcase specially prepared for him by Tony and Bruce since he'd never been on holiday in Asgard before.
Natasha was trying on her sunglasses, Bruce was rummaging through some papers in the briefcase section of the sactual, Clint finally gave up trying to fit his arrows in a toiletries bag and Steve was fumbling with the keys to his beloved motorcycle.
Despite the fact that everyone else seemed to be looking forward to escaping the city, he wasn't as enthusiastic about it. He'd always felt slightly out of synch with reality ever since he realised he'd missed the better part of a century.
The only part of his daily routine that he loved now was riding his Harley Davidson round the city. A little bit of nostalgia helped him realise that the world hadn't completely changed.
The silence in the lobby was interrupted by the ping of one of the elevators opening. Tony Stark bounded out holding a new soldering iron box in one hand and an array of loose sheets of paper in the other. He also wore an old shirt and was balancing a pair of goggles on his forehead.
He practically skipped across to the avengers and laid the box and papers down on the front desk.
"Sorry guys but I eh, I've decided to sit this one out."
The others looked at him like they'd never seen him before.
Clint looked up from his bag.
"You're kidding right? You were the one who practically begged Fury for a chance to escape. Now you're staying behind? What is so important that it could get in the way of you having time off?"
Steve pocketed his keys and glanced from Clint to Tony.
"Is Fury asking you to help with the repairs? I couldn't help but notice the showers in the gym aren't hooked into the water supply anymore and the ones in the rooms aren't much use after 7am."
Tonys' eyes lit up as his looked at Steve.
"Yes, yes he is. Electricity is also down in most parts of the building too. We've had to reconnect up to the main power grid just to keep the kettle boiling. Since the arc reactor is my technology and no one else understands it, unless you want to come home to a cold home, I'll have to stay behind and make repairs. Don't worry about me though, I'll have the jacuzzi fixed before you get to Patras."
"Believe me Stark," Natasha started, "the last thing that's going to be on my mind while relaxing in the sun is what you'll be doing."
Clint suddenly burst out laughing. It seemed he'd been trying to hold it in for some time.
They all turned to look towards to the large glass doors that opened out into the lobby.
Harold Hogan was leaning against the doors trying to open them, continuingly changing position as if that might help.
Steve walked over to the door and waited for Harold to stop pushing. He then pushed the door away from himself as Harold stepped back in amazement.
"Sorry, I didn't know it was a pull."
"That's alright. They usually open by themselves but since we have no electricity, we've had to label everything."
"I see you didn't get round to the front doors yet."
They walked back and joined the group.
Harold was wearing a dark blue suit as always, matched with a pair of driving gloves.
"Finally our chauffeur has arrived." Clint began to collect up his bags and hurried towards to door.
Harold walked over to Tony.
"Where are you bags sir? I thought you were coming as well."
"Not today I'm afraid. I'm a bit bogged down with fixing this place. The others however seem to be very keen to be off."
They turned to see the rest of the avengers pick their belongings up and follow Clint.
All apart from Steve who was trying to make the wheels on his suitcase behave and go forward. He soon gave up and carried the thing through the door.
Loki opened his eyes in his new surroundings. The last thing he had heard was the roar of the Bifrost as it sucked him into the portal. He felt gravity pull him away from Asgard and when the motion stopped, he felt the satisfying feeling of ground beneath his feet.
He'd landed amongst a selection of dense grey trees. Very odd. He'd never seen trees lacking their usual brown bark and green leaves. Even in Asgards' autumn and winter, the trees colour didn't change, they just kept renewing their youthful shades.
It took his head a minute to gather itself but he soon realised that it wasn't just the trees that weren't right, the whole island was grey.
He held up his hands and saw that he couldn't see the usual pale colour of his long slender fingers. The greens, blacks and golds of his outfit also became different shades of grey.
This wasn't so bad he thought. The point of this must be to prove something without him realising it.
He opened his mouth.
"So Odin thinks by removing colour, he can show me the error of my ways. Make me forget that my true blue skin means nothing to him."
He grabbed his throat as if in pain. He eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open. He didn't yelp though. He couldn't. The words he had intended to speak did not make it past his lips. He could only hear his thoughts.
He desperately looked around and noticed a raven perched on a nearby branch.
It stared at him with big beady eyes then turned its' head to the side and opened its' beak.
Nothing.
What made his shiver was not the terrifying squawk that such a bird should make so much as the eerie silence that followed. He walked over to a tree opposite to the bird and sat against its' trunk. He then held his knees close to his chest and began to truly assess his surroundings.
This was his home now, he's have to learn to cope with the silence as well as find shelter and food. Now that he didn't have his magic anymore, he was as good as mortal. He could grow old here, die of thirst or hunger. But that didn't terrify him the most.
He could die of loneliness.
The raven had long since flown away but he remained in his crouched position.
How would he eat? There didn't seem to be much else apart from the trees, the large roots that made the ground impossible to get comfy on and that bird.
He sat up straight. There must be a source of water at least here then. If that bird can live here then so could he. Unless it didn't need to consume food. Maybe it lived off the isles' victims. Or the bird could just be a figment of his imagination. Another thing to torment him.
He buried his head between his legs and shook it. He mustn't think too much.
He would go mad trying to figure out what would happen next that he could probably imagine anything and it would appear hurtling around the corner.
He picked himself off the floor and proceeded to walk in a straight line. There seemed to be a definite path here. Whether that was intended or if it had been by accident he didn't care. Who knows what else could be in these woods. If he could see 30 feet ahead of him he'd know of anything lurking in the trees. That was good enough for him.
He carried on walking until his legs grew tired and he continually kept tripping over the large roots.
He was about to stop until he saw what he only assumed could be a sheer cliff.
It was. He'd reached the end of the island. Far off in the distance he could see the golden city of Asgard.
He hadn't travelled very far then.
As he looked at Asgard, he understood why Odin had decided to send him here.
Far enough away from people to think about what he'd done; isolated enough to have only his mind for company, but close enough to home to be reminded that he wasn't alone and that he was still loved.
Odin began the arduous journey from the palace to Heimdall's observatory.
It wasn't a particularly long distance but he could feel his energy slowly depleting. The Odin sleep was nearing.
He decided not to ride Sleipnir to show to the people of Asgard and to himself, that he was still capable of making light of such a simple task.
He arrived at the observatory and entered. Heimdall was standing facing Odin and greeted his king with a slight bow.
Odin stopped just inside the entrance and looked up at Heimdall.
"Have you delivered my message to Midgard?"
"Yes, my king. They received it gratefully and send their thanks. They do have one request."
"What is that?"
"The metal that is needed to create the device is scarce on Midgard, so much so that only about 50lbs has ever existed on that planet. They would ask for supplies of Gangritr."
Odin stroked his hands down his lapels as his thought.
"Arrange for me to speak to Vasad and his adviser. Meanwhile, inform Midgard that the metal with be delivered soon."
With that he turned and started walking towards to the palace.
Heimdall walked over to the portal and called for Vasad to answer.
After a few seconds Heimdall was pulled through the portal and landed in front of Vasad and his guard.
"What do you want Asgardian?"
Vasad sat upon his throne with his guard, Suttungr standing to his right.
"Odin asks if he may speak to you an your adviser again about important matters."
"Very well. I trust that Loki has been dealt his punishment and that everything is going smoothly for you."
Vasad glanced from his guard to Heimdall as if mocking him.
"Loki has been sent to the Isle of Silence, there to carry out his sentence until further notice."
Heimdall noticed that Vasad did not seem to be paying him any attention.
"We would ask for your assistance to help Midgard. They suffered as well due to Lokis' actions."
Vasad visibly changed his mind as he heard that Odin required his help. He felt like he had the upper hand here.
"Very well, but under one condition."
"What would that be?"
"We wish for the Allfather to come here, to Jotunheim. Since we came to your realm we think it right that both parties should show equal amounts of trust. He may bring two other people if he wishes."
"Thank you. He will arrive soon."
Heimdall bowed, turned and left in a blaze of blue light. He reappeared back in his observatory and made his way towards the palace to tell Odin.