Descent from Xanadu (36 page)

“You seem pretty big, Crane VTOL Six,” the speaker barked. “I don’t think we have enough room down here for you.”

Judd spoke through his throat microphone. “Maybe you haven’t heard us clearly, controller. I am Judd Crane and you’re going to make room for us, and I don’t give a damn how you do it.”

The voice from the speakers respectfully hushed at once. “Sorry, sir. Just give us a few moments, sir, until we move several of the choppers up to the plateau.”

“Thank you, controller,” Judd said and switched off his mike. “Asshole,” he said.

Ten minutes later the VTOL was descending straight down into the crater as if it were an elevator on cable tracks. Inside they snuggled into their fur-covered, down-lined parkas and waited for the signal to open their doors. A blast of freezing air told them they could disembark. The pilot pressed the button and the staircase opened for them.

Judd came down the staircase first. Doc Sawyer grinned at him beneath his fur parka. “Welcome to Xanadu, the top of the world.”

Judd grabbed his hand warmly. Behind Sawyer he could see Dr. Schoenbrun. He reached to take the German’s hand. “Welcome, Mr. Crane.”

“Let’s get out of the cold,” Sawyer said, turning away.

They began to follow him. Judd took it all in quickly—men boarding copters being lifted to the plateau, others going up on the covered elevator built into the side of the mountain. Their flight bags told him they were going to board the large C-5s he had seen waiting to take off. Sawyer opened a huge steel door; they stepped into the warmth of the building.

“Two weeks,” Sawyer said with no attempt to hide his satisfaction. “We made it in two weeks.”

“Yes, Mr. Crane,” the German added. “It is all ready for you. In the morning you can press the button and the nuclear generator begins to build up its heat.”

“How long will it take to be completely operational?” Judd asked.

“A week,” Dr. Schoenbrun said. “As soon as it reaches maximum power, it turns itself off and on automatically. It polices itself by robotics and its life span should be infinity.”

“What if it malfunctions?” Judd asked.

“It shouldn’t,” the German said pedantically. “First, there are no moving parts, it’s nothing but pure atomic power. Second, if there is a malfunction, it has capabilities built into it to repair itself. Mr. Crane, I assure you that this is the most perfect perpetual motion machine that man has ever developed.”

“I just want to be sure,” Judd said. “After all, it’s my own life I’m betting on.”

“The machine will work,” Dr. Schoenbrun said stiffly. “I can’t guarantee your life.”

“Seven o’clock tomorrow morning,” Judd said crisply.

The German doctor looked puzzled. “Mr. Crane?”

“We press the button,” Judd said. He turned to Sawyer. “I’m going to my apartment to grab a shower. Okay for dinner at nine tonight?”

Lee nodded. Judd turned to Dr. Schoenbrun. “Doctor?”

“With pleasure, Mr. Crane,” he answered with a click of heels.

Lee was seated on a couch sipping a Scotch on the rocks as Judd came into the room from the shower. He waited until Judd had tied the sash around the robe. “Feeling good?” he asked.

“Okay,” Judd answered. “Why do you ask?”

“No headaches?”

“None.” Judd looked at him. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m curious about the increase in the number of brain cells. What did Sofia think?”

“She said to wait and see. She didn’t understand it, either.”

“I’d like to run another series. Scans, EEG, the works,” Lee said. “I’d feel better if we found the scan showed no further activity.”

“What are you afraid of?” Judd asked.

Lee met his eyes. “That you didn’t exactly tell me the whole story. I think you did have some of those cloned cells injected into you.”

“And if I did?” Judd asked. “I’m okay. I don’t feel any bad effects.”

“Increasing brain cells can possibly have a bad effect. Wild-growing cells could turn out to be a cancer, or a tumor. We just don’t know.”

“I’m okay,” Judd said, annoyed. “Let’s drop it.”

“Cheers.” Lee sipped his drink. “Being down here for two weeks, I’ve been out of touch with things. Did you finally meet with the Maharishi?”

“Yes,” Judd said.

“Get what you wanted from him?”

“Some,” Judd answered. “He had the notes we were looking for. We found out that he was Zabiski’s brother. They worked together in a German lab almost until the end of the war. The study was longevity.”

Lee was silent.

“The old lady was experimenting on cellular therapy long before anyone. But did you ever wonder what cells she was using?”

Lee nodded. “I have a hunch. Human fetuses.”

“What leads you to that conclusion?” Judd pursued.

“Her insistence on artificial impregnation of those girls. After all, just one girl would have been enough to check your ability to produce a normal child. A dozen girls was overdoing it.”

“But all those girls miscarried,” said Judd.

“That wasn’t your fault,” Lee said. “I managed that for the girls. My stomach wasn’t strong enough for what the old lady wanted to do. Human beings aren’t yet ready to replace laboratory animals, no matter what those years working for the Nazis did to the good doctor.”

“Did you know that I did have a child?” Judd went on casually.

Lee’s surprise was genuine. “No.”

“Sofia,” Judd said. “I don’t know how she managed it, but she didn’t go through with the abortion. Then she made her way from Russia to the States to bear the child.”

Lee stared at him. “Did you know about it?”

“Not until Barbara told me that day she walked out of the last meeting in San Francisco.”

“Have you ever spoken to Sofia about it?”

Judd shook his head. “What was there to talk about? It is no responsibility of mine and I’m not going to change my life.”

“But the child,” Lee began. “What about it?”

“Barbara has it and that’s fine with me.”

“Aren’t you curious? Not just to see it, but whether it looks like you—”

“Barbara told me all I need to know,” Judd broke in. “So he has blue eyes like mine. I really don’t care.”

Lee rose to his feet for another Scotch. “You’re a strange man, Judd. I guess I’ll never understand you. Probably no one ever will.”

“That’s not important either.” Judd smiled. “After dinner do you think we’d have some time to go through the culture labs?”

“If you’d like,” Lee said.

“I would like,” Judd said. “Very much.”

“Meanwhile, before we go down to dinner,” Lee asked, “do you mind if I check your heart and blood pressure? Funny things happen at this altitude.”

“Go ahead,” Judd answered.

Lee picked up a small valise and opened it. “I brought my portable EKG unit.” He glanced at Judd. “Have you been doing any dope today?”

“No. I’m clean,” Judd answered.

“Lie down on the couch,” Sawyer said. He attached the electrodes, carefully read the tape, finally disconnected the wires of the unit and began to check Judd’s pressure at both arms and at the calves of his legs.

“You should check it on my cock,” Judd said as he got up from the couch.

“No chance. The reading would go off the dial.” He grinned at Judd and shook his head admiringly. “You seem fine. Blood pressure 140 over 80, the heart normal, nothing extraordinary anywhere.”

“Feel better, Doctor?” Judd teased.

Lee got to his feet. “I’ll leave you to get dressed now. See you at dinner.”

***

Dinner was simple. Rare filet with mushroom caps, baked potato, julienne green beans and carrots. Afterward, a simple green salad and French Brie. The wine was Bordeaux, Château Mouton Rothschild ’76. Then demitasse.

Dr. Schoenbrun’s smile revealed his satisfaction. “A good chef is the epitome of civilization.”

Judd smiled. “I never really realized you were a philosopher, Doctor.”

“Philosophy begins in the stomach, not the head,” the German offered.

Judd sipped at his demitasse. “Have you been pleased with your progress, Doctor?”

“Very much, Mr. Crane,” Dr. Schoenbrun replied quickly. “By tomorrow the last of the working crew will be gone. Then only the basic technicians will remain. Perhaps no more than seven men are needed for protection purposes. After three months even they will not be required.”

“That’s very good,” Judd said. “I must compliment you, Doctor. I can think of no one who could have accomplished this project so quickly and so well.”

The German smiled proudly. “I look forward to the morning.”

“I do, too,” Judd said. “And, now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to turn in. I’ve had a long day.”

***

It was eleven o’clock when Judd joined Sawyer in the elevator that took them down to the laboratory level. They entered the small reception room; a security guard was seated behind a desk opposite the elevator doors.

Sawyer led them into a small changing room, stripped off his clothes and stepped to the shower, gesturing Judd to do the same. Afterward, they put on fresh aseptic linen, surgical caps and long surgical rubber gloves.

Another small antechamber lay between the dressing room and the laboratory. Sawyer closed the door behind them and pressed a button on the wall. A faint odor of ozone came through the ventilator. After a moment, the laboratory door opened by itself.

Two technicians were awaiting them in the lab. Sawyer nodded to them. “This is Mr. Judd Crane,” he announced. In their unisex uniforms, Judd could not tell whether they were man or woman. “Mr. Bourne and Ms. Payson,” Sawyer introduced. They nodded without shaking hands.

Sawyer led Judd to the bank of Plexiglas drawers covering the walls. Each drawer was numbered, using an index system. There were three tables on steel tracks in front of the walls. On top of each table stood a robot arm that could open any drawer at the command of a computer keyboard. Next to the robotic arm, a three-lensed electronic microscope was ready to project the image on a large computer screen.

Sawyer turned to Judd. “At the moment, we’re powered by six hundred and twenty-four batteries, working on four-hour relays. When the generator power is turned on, the batteries will cut off automatically. Anything else you would like to take a look at?”

Judd nodded. “Cells from the cortex.”

Sawyer gestured to the technicians. Quickly they pressed the keys on the computer. One of the tables began to move along the wall; suddenly it stopped. The robot arm worked its way to the cell bank where it paused only long enough to pull a drawer and place it under the microscope. The technician switched on the large screen.

Simultaneously, all the lights in the lab went off. Judd stared at the screen. It showed a split-screen picture. Index numbers flashed above the top of the screen. One set of numbers was prefixed with the letter “C.”

Sawyer spoke to Judd. “‘C’ is clone, the other is real.”

Judd stared at it for a long moment, then spoke. “I can see no difference between them.”

“There isn’t any,” Sawyer said. “At least, none that we can see. But that is external. We do not know whether they work in exactly the same manner.”

“They have to,” Judd said. “They are exactly the same.”

“Not exactly,” Sawyer said.

Judd looked at him questioningly.

“We know what God hath wrought,” Sawyer said softly. “What man has, is still conjecture.”

23

Judd came down from the Nautilus machine in the gym, his jogging suit soaked with sweat. He took a deep breath as Fast Eddie poured a large glass of orange juice. He drank it in gulps. “God, I needed that,” he said. “I was all dried out.”

“Have another one for you,” Fast Eddie said.

“Hold it for a minute,” Judd said, relaxing into a chair.

“There’s two things wrong with this place,” Fast Eddie said. “First, you can’t go outside. You’d freeze your balls off. Second, there’s absolutely, positively no pussy around.”

Judd laughed.

“Not so funny,” Fast Eddie said seriously. “I never figured you’d go for a monk’s life. I always figured I’d get along on your leftovers.”

“Sorry about that,” Judd smiled. “Guess I’m just getting old.”

“You’re not getting old, Mr. Crane,” Fast Eddie insisted. “You’re getting bored. Your head’s into other things.”

“It’s only been a week,” Judd said.

“Seems much longer.” Fast Eddie shook his head doubtfully.

“Anyway, the drought should be over by tomorrow,” Judd said. “Sofia is coming down with the Maharishi, and he’s bringing a dozen of his girls. He never travels without them.”

“I hope they have warmer clothes than what I saw them wearing in California. They’ll turn blue before we get them into the house,” Fast Eddie said.

“We’ve got fur wraps on the plane for all of them.”

“You think of everything,” Fast Eddie said admiringly. “Who all else is coming down?”

“Sawyer and Merlin from Florida. Dr. Schoenbrun, back from Rio. The reactor is due to cut in tomorrow.”

“Goin’ be a big day.”

“I hope so,” Judd answered.

“I’m beginning to think that you’re goin’ a big sweet on Dr. Ivancich,” Fast Eddie said slyly.

“It’s a working relationship,” Judd said, still denying his own feelings.

“A little fuckin’ relationship don’t hurt neither.” Fast Eddie grinned. “Maybe we better have us a couple of toots just to get into training.”

“You go ahead. I’m trying to dry out a little. The doctor’s planning to check me over again.”

Fast Eddie held out the second glass of orange juice. “Then you better have this now. You’ll need some help.”

“What makes you think that?” Judd asked.

“I know that doctor lady. She’s got the real hots for you. She’ll fuck your brains out.” He laughed as he left the gym.

Judd shook his head in disagreement, but Fast Eddie had already closed the door behind him. Judd sipped at the glass of orange juice and finally turned to the shower.

***

His telephone was ringing as he was drying himself. He picked it up. “Your mother’s on the line, sir,” the operator said.

He pressed the button on the direct line. “Barbara,” he said.

Her voice told him she was nervous. “Where are you, Judd?”