He drew at the cigarro, and the smoke wreathed gently around his ascetic saffron face. A faint, queer glint was visible under the long lashes that half-veiled his eyes as he continued: "But I have a question, Captain. A mere nothing, but still--" "Yes, Dr. Ku?" "The living bodies into which you propose to transplant the brains--where are they?" Hawk Carse's face was stern and his voice frigid as he answered: "Fortunately, those bodies are right here on the asteroid." "Here on the asteroid, Captain? I don't understand. What bodies are here?" "The bodies of your four white assistants, whom I have safely confined, and one of your robot-coolies, also confined. I did not intend to use these five, but, because you put a premium on time by your attempted destruction of the brains, it cannot be helped." * * * * * Dr. Ku Sui's impassive demeanor did not change. He did not seem in the least surprised. He puffed quietly at the cigarro and nodded. "Of course, of course. You have five bodies right here on the asteroid. Yes." "At least," continued Carse levelly, "I do not regret having to use the bodies of your men. They are no longer human: they are not men: they are in effect but machines of your making, Dr. Ku." "Quite. Quite." "I suppose you find it an unpleasant thought, to have to be the means of re-making them into whole, normal human beings?" "On the contrary," breathed the Eurasian, "you inspire a very pleasant thought in my brain, Captain Carse--though I must confess it is not exactly the thought you mention." A smile, veiled by the smoke of the cigarro, appeared on his lips. The Hawk looked at him closely: the words had a hidden meaning, and it was clear he was not intended to miss the implied threat. But what was Ku Sui's thought? Back in his mind an anxiety grew, indefinite, vague and devilish. And that vague anxiety was still with him when, fifty-seven minutes later, the asteroid returned from its inverted U-flight, slowed in its hurtling drop from space and hovered directly over the secret, hidden laboratory of Master Scientist Eliot Leithgow. CHAPTER VIII _White's Brain--Yellow's Head_ To Friday it was a bad mistake to reveal the location of the laboratory to Dr. Ku Sui. From him above all men had that location up to now been kept. Just a few days before, Hawk Carse had risked his life to preserve the secret. And yet now, deliberately, he was showing it to the Eurasian! Nervously, Friday watched him, and he saw that his eyes were alive with interest as they scanned the visi-screen. It was too much for the Negro. "Captain Carse," he whispered, coming close to the adventurer, "look, suh--he's seein' it all! Shouldn't I blindfold him?" Carse shook his head, but turned to Dr. Ku, where he sat bound in the chair scrutinizing the visi-screen. "Yes, Doctor," he said, "there it is--what you have searched for so long--the refuge and the laboratory of Eliot Leithgow."