Ku Sui walked on silent feet into the first division of his personal quarters, the softly-lit living room. A lush velvet carpet made the floor soft; ancient Chinese tapestries hid the pastelled metal of the walls; books were everywhere. It was a quiet and restful room, with no visible reminder of the asteroid and its controlling mechanics. Dr. Ku sank into a deep armchair, linked his fingers before him and looked up inquiringly. "We were going to talk about the brains?" he asked. * * * * * Carse had closed the door behind him, and now remained standing. He met the masked green eyes squarely. "Yes." He was silent for a little, then, quietly and coldly he went to the point. "You'll be interested to hear that I have talked with the brains and been relieved of my premise to destroy them. They requested something else. Now I have committed myself to attempt their restoration into living bodies." "So?" murmured the Eurasian. "So. Yes, Captain, that is very interesting." "Very." The Hawk spoke without trace of emotion. "And some courtroom on Earth will find more than interesting the testimony of your re-embodied brains." Dr. Ku Sui smiled in answer. "Oh, no doubt. But, my friend--this transplantation--you accept its possibility so casually! Won't it prove rather difficult for you, who have never even pretended to be a scientist?" "Not difficult. Impossible." "And Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow--I have unbounded respect for his genius, but brain surgery is a specialty and I really think that this task would be outside even his capabilities. I am sure he himself would admit it." "You are right, Dr. Ku: he has admitted it. We both realize there is only one person in the universe who could achieve it--you. So you will have to perform the operations." "Well!" said Dr. Ku Sui. The smooth, fine skin of his brow wrinkled slightly as he gazed up at the intent man facing him. "Is this just stupidity on your part, Captain? Or do you attempt a joke at which in courtesy I should smile?" The Hawk answered levelly: "I was never farther from joking in my life." * * * * * With a delicate shrug of his silken shoulders, Ku Sui averted his eyes. As if bored, he glanced around the room. Slowly he unclasped his hands. "I am a very fast shot, Dr. Ku," whispered Carse. "You must not make a single move without my permission." At that the Eurasian laughed aloud, a liquid laugh that showed his even teeth between the finely cut lips. "But I am so completely in your power, Captain Carse!" He held on to the last syllable, a low, sustained hiss--and then he snapped it off. "_S-s-stah!_" His mood had changed: the smile vanished from a face suddenly thin and cruel; the green eyes unmasked, to show in their depths the tiger.