“Powered grapples are an integrated system. I’d have to strip off the harness, leave it draped over a branch or something, and pick it up on my way back. Besides, that five-meter range I quoted on the power detectors is only a guess. They may have focused detectors aimed in random directions that have two or even three times that range. I’d look pretty stupid if I reached the window to find half a dozen men with blasters waiting patiently for me to get there. Don’t worry—the manual system will work just fine.”
“Let’s say it does,” Lando said. “Once you’re there, then what?”
“Ah,” Bink said, lifting a finger. “That’s actually the easy part.” She lowered the upraised finger to point over her shoulder out the window. “Smack in the middle of that room over there is a Jaervin-Daklow floor safe. Probably bought here in the city—it looks new. They’re big, heavy, nearly impossible to break into, and have a touch-pad coder that’s virtually impossible to slice.”
“Unless?” Solo prompted.
“Unless you can see the pad while the code’s being entered,” Bink said, feeling a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Our friends over there were smart enough to set up the safe facing away from the window so no one could watch from, oh, say, right here.” She flicked a finger against her forehead. “What they weren’t smart enough to realize was that the room’s inside wall is facing the safe from less than three meters away. And said wall has a fresh gloss-white coat of paint.”
For a moment the room was silent. “You’re joking,” Zerba said.
Bink shrugged. “You turn sticks into butterflies and change clothes faster than people can blink,” she reminded him. “Jedi could supposedly lift rocks with their minds and make people forget their own names. We all have our specialties. This one’s mine.”
“The individual button lights on a keypad are never exactly the same,” Tavia said. “Differences in the emitters, plus bits of dust and finger oils, all shift the color and optical texture a bit. When one of the buttons is pushed, that light is blocked and the pattern on the wall behind is changed.”
“What do you need to work it?” Solo asked.
“I need to be at the window when they start keying in the code,” Bink said. “The rest is just reading reflections.”
“And shadows,” Tavia added. “If we can figure out whether the operator is left- or right-handed—and we usually can—the way the shadows shift when he hits individual keys can also be read.”
Bink rolled her eyes. “Tavia, you’re not supposed to tell people how the trick works,” she said mock-severely. “They’ll lose all respect if they know how simple it is.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen,” Solo said dryly. “When can you be ready?”
Bink looked at Tavia. “Two hours?”
Her sister didn’t look happy, but she gave a little nod. “Two hours,” Bink confirmed, turning back to Solo. “If Villachor has another late-night visitor, and if our friends across the way are invited, I can be by the window when they get back. After that, maybe half an hour to get in and crack the safe, see what’s inside that’ll tell us who they are and what they want with Villachor, then ten more minutes to seal up again.”
“What if Villachor’s already closed shop for the night?” Zerba asked. “If he sticks to schedule, he won’t have another meeting until tomorrow morning.”
Bink shrugged. “Then we do it tomorrow morning.”
“In broad daylight?”
“Not a problem,” Bink assured him. “There’s enough foliage out there to hide me from most people.”
“It’s the ones who aren’t most people I’m worried about,” Zerba muttered.
“I may be able to buy us another night here if we really need it,” Rachele said doubtfully. “It’ll be tricky, though.”
“Hold it,” Lando said, straightening suddenly in his seat, his eyes on the window. “Looks like they’re on the
“Let’s say it does,” Lando said. “Once you’re there, then what?”
“Ah,” Bink said, lifting a finger. “That’s actually the easy part.” She lowered the upraised finger to point over her shoulder out the window. “Smack in the middle of that room over there is a Jaervin-Daklow floor safe. Probably bought here in the city—it looks new. They’re big, heavy, nearly impossible to break into, and have a touch-pad coder that’s virtually impossible to slice.”
“Unless?” Solo prompted.
“Unless you can see the pad while the code’s being entered,” Bink said, feeling a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Our friends over there were smart enough to set up the safe facing away from the window so no one could watch from, oh, say, right here.” She flicked a finger against her forehead. “What they weren’t smart enough to realize was that the room’s inside wall is facing the safe from less than three meters away. And said wall has a fresh gloss-white coat of paint.”
For a moment the room was silent. “You’re joking,” Zerba said.
Bink shrugged. “You turn sticks into butterflies and change clothes faster than people can blink,” she reminded him. “Jedi could supposedly lift rocks with their minds and make people forget their own names. We all have our specialties. This one’s mine.”
“The individual button lights on a keypad are never exactly the same,” Tavia said. “Differences in the emitters, plus bits of dust and finger oils, all shift the color and optical texture a bit. When one of the buttons is pushed, that light is blocked and the pattern on the wall behind is changed.”
“What do you need to work it?” Solo asked.
“I need to be at the window when they start keying in the code,” Bink said. “The rest is just reading reflections.”
“And shadows,” Tavia added. “If we can figure out whether the operator is left- or right-handed—and we usually can—the way the shadows shift when he hits individual keys can also be read.”
Bink rolled her eyes. “Tavia, you’re not supposed to tell people how the trick works,” she said mock-severely. “They’ll lose all respect if they know how simple it is.”
“Yeah, that’ll happen,” Solo said dryly. “When can you be ready?”
Bink looked at Tavia. “Two hours?”
Her sister didn’t look happy, but she gave a little nod. “Two hours,” Bink confirmed, turning back to Solo. “If Villachor has another late-night visitor, and if our friends across the way are invited, I can be by the window when they get back. After that, maybe half an hour to get in and crack the safe, see what’s inside that’ll tell us who they are and what they want with Villachor, then ten more minutes to seal up again.”
“What if Villachor’s already closed shop for the night?” Zerba asked. “If he sticks to schedule, he won’t have another meeting until tomorrow morning.”
Bink shrugged. “Then we do it tomorrow morning.”
“In broad daylight?”
“Not a problem,” Bink assured him. “There’s enough foliage out there to hide me from most people.”
“It’s the ones who aren’t most people I’m worried about,” Zerba muttered.
“I may be able to buy us another night here if we really need it,” Rachele said doubtfully. “It’ll be tricky, though.”
“Hold it,” Lando said, straightening suddenly in his seat, his eyes on the window. “Looks like they’re on the
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