The Nasty Frenchman turned pale eyes toward him. "You worried or something?"
"Well, it looks like we're headed for the center of the Earth. I'd like to be able to find my way out sometime—"
"Why?"
The question was so blunt that it left Jeff's jaw sagging for a moment. "Well, I'm not planning to spend the rest of my life in here."
The Nasty Frenchman guffawed. It was not a pleasant laugh. "Here for a nice restful vacation, huh? You wise guys are all the same. Go ahead, dream—I won't bother you."
The little man turned his attention to the controls and the car swung sharply to the right and headed down another corridor. Jeff scowled as he watched the lighted corridors flash by. Were they speeding so far, so deep in the depths of the building? Or was this part of a definite plan to confuse, to lose recruits in the mammoth place so completely that they could never find their way out? Jeff shrugged, finally. It really didn't matter too much. He had one job and only one. He could worry about escape when it had been accomplished.
"That girl," he said finally. "The doctor called her 'Blackie.' Is she down here where we're going?"
"How should I know? I don't keep her on a leash." The little man's face darkened and his eyes turned suspiciously to Jeff.
"I mean, is she one of the group—one of the Mercy Men?"
The Nasty Frenchman threw a switch sharply, swerving the speeding car through a long, dim passage. He ignored the question, as if he hadn't heard it. In the dim light his skin was pasty yellow and wrinkled like a mummy. The cruelty and avarice on his face was frightening.