g else in here would be frozen solid by now if we'd got sucked
somehow into Space Three."

"I see," Kerim said uncomfortably. Gefty heard her move over to the
suitcases. After a moment, she asked, "What do the vault keys look
like?"

"You can't miss them if he's just thrown them in there. They're over six
inches long. What kind of a guy is this Maulbow? A scientist?"

"I couldn't say, Gefty. He's never referred to himself as a scientist.
I've had this job a year and a half. Mr. Maulbow is a very considerate
employer ... one of the nicest men I've known, really. But it was simply
understood that I should ask no questions about the business beyond what
I actually needed to know for my work."

"What's the business called?"

"Maulbow Engineering."

"Big help," Gefty observed, somewhat sourly. "Those instruments he
brought along ... he build those himself?"

"No, but I think he designed some of them--probably most of them. The
companies he had doing the actual work appeared to have a terrible time
getting everything exactly the way Mr. Maulbow wanted it--There's
nothing that looks like a set of keys in those first two suitcases,
Gefty."

"Well," Gefty said, "if you don't find them in the others, you might
start thumping around to see if he's got secret compartments in his
luggage somewhere."

"I do wish," Kerim Ruse said uneasily, "that Mr. Maulbow would regain
consciousness. It seems so ... so underhanded to be doing these things
behind his back!"

Gefty grunted noncommittally. He wasn't at all certain by now that he
wanted his secretive client to wake up before he'd checked on the
contents of the _Queen's_ storage vault.

* * * * *

Fifteen minutes later, Gefty Rammer was climbing down to the storage
deck in the _Queen's_ broad stern, the newly fashioned set of vault keys
clanking heavily in his coat pocket. Kerim had remained with her
employer who was getting back his color but still hadn't opened his
eyes. She hadn't found the original keys. Gefty wasn't sure she'd tried
too hard, though she seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation
now. But her loyalty to Mr. Maulbow could make no further difference,
and she probably felt more comfortable for it.

Lights went on automatically in the wide passage leading from the cargo
lock to the vault as Gefty turned into it. His steps echoed between the
steel bulkheads on either side. He paused a moment before the big
circular