At the same time, the faint reflections in the glass would let him keep an eye on the people coming and going in the lounge and corridor behind him. If Snake Voice's agent aboard the Star of Wonder got careless, Jack might be able to spot him.
It took somewhat longer than the minute Jack had suggested. It took nearly an hour, in fact, plus three fizzy- sodas, for them to hammer out a workable plan.
At least, Jack hoped it was workable.
The purser was talking with an elderly woman when Jack returned to the office. He waited behind her as patiently as he could, casually looking around for anything he might have missed on his earlier stroll past the place. It was pretty much as he'd noted then, except that above the door were two more emergency lights. Taking several deep breaths, as Uncle Virgil had taught him to do, he tried to relax.
Finally, the woman left. 'May I help you, young man?' the purser asked with a smile as Jack stepped up to the counter.
'Yes, sir, I hope so,' Jack said, pitching his tone and manner to make himself seem a couple of years younger than he really was. Uncle Virgil had always said that the younger you were, the less likely people were to suspect you of being trouble. 'I'm Jack Morgan, Stateroom 332. My uncle wanted me to put one of his data tubes in the safe.'
'Certainly,' the purser said. 'Do you have a deposit box?'
'No, not yet,' Jack said. 'How long will it take to get one?'
'No time at all,' the purser assured him, stepping to one side and lifting a section of the countertop. His other hand, Jack noted, stayed out of sight beneath the edge of the counter as he did so. There must be either a release catch he needed to operate or an alarm he had to deactivate. The purser propped up the section of countertop and pulled open the swinging door beneath it. 'If you'll come this way, please?'
He led the way back to the vault and swung the metal plate back to reveal a keypad set into the door. 'If you'll just stand there, sir?' he said, indicating a spot where the plate would block Jack's view of the keypad.
Jack did as he was told, and the purser began punching in the code. The plate covering the keypad had seemed easy enough to move, with no secret switches the purser had to use first. But Jack had already noticed the heavy ring the purser was wearing on that hand. Probably a short-range radio transmitter that identified him and deactivated the plate's alarms.
It was like a bank, all right, with all the cute security tricks anyone could ever want. A terrible place to have to break into.
It was just as well, Jack thought, that he wasn't going to have to do that.
'There we go,' the purser announced, swinging the plate back over the keypad. He pulled on the handle, and the heavy door swung ponderously open.
Jack had been wrong about one thing: there was not, in fact, enough room in there for anyone to dance. Both walls were lined with locked deposit boxes of various sizes, with only a narrow walkway down the middle. 'Let me see, now,' the purser said, studying a pocket computer he'd pulled from a belt pouch. 'Box 48 is free. That one will have plenty of room for your data tube. Unless you think your uncle may want to add other items later in the voyage?'
'Oh,' Jack said, frowning. 'I hadn't thought of that.'
He stepped into the vault, as if trying to get a closer look at the boxes. They were, he noted with a small bit of relief, standard coded-key types that he should be able to open with his multitool. That part, at least, should be easy.
'Because I know he has some other nice things,' he went on, pressing his back tightly against one side of the vault as he pretended to study the boxes on the other side. On his skin, he could feel Draycos shift position as the dragon curled himself over the deposit box doors and peered inside. 'How big are these other boxes?'
'They're different sizes,' the purser said. 'The ones like 48 are three by three by twenty...'
He began to rattle off his list of box sizes. Jack pretended to listen, moving slowly down the line of boxes. Draycos was still shifting position, but so far he hadn't given the signal.
The purser had finished his list by the time Jack made it to the far end of the vault. 'And how much are the different rental fees?' he asked, waiting for Draycos to come out of his curve and get all the way onto his back again.
He felt the dragon do so. Turning around, he pressed his back against the other side of the vault.
'There's no cost for any of them,' the purser said, a note of puzzlement creeping into his voice. He was probably used to people wanting to step into his vault. He probably wasn't used to people wanting to make a vacation home out of the place.
Which meant that Jack had better wrap this up quick, before the man's surprise turned into suspicion.
'Because there's that necklace he got for Aunt Louise,' Jack said, as if talking to himself. 'And the antique humidor—that's pretty big. I don't know if he's going to want to keep that in the cabin or not.'
Draycos stirred one final time, and the tip of a claw delicately touched Jack's ribs.
The dragon had found the cylinder.
'No,' Jack said as if suddenly making up his mind. 'No, number 48 should do just fine.'
He turned around, stepping away from the boxes, and idly ran a fingertip down the boxes he'd been leaning against. 'I guess he can always come and change to one of these bigger boxes if he needs to, right?'
'Certainly,' the purser said. 'If you'll step out here, I'll code a key for you.'
Jack's finger touched Box 125; and as it did so, Draycos touched a claw to his side again.
Bingo.
'Sure,' Jack said, walking out of the vault. The purser went in and slid a key into the lock of Box 48. He
