Descent from Xanadu

by Harold Robbins

  ***

  He kissed Barbara on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”

  She smiled. “Flatterer. I’m a sixty-year-old lady.”

  “I won’t tell if you won’t,” he said. “You can fake out everybody with forty.”

  “Thanks,” she said. “You look tired.”

  “I am,” he said. “But I’ll get over it. I’ll get a long weekend’s rest at Boca Raton.”

  “You ought to give me a corporate title,” she said.

  “You tell me, you got it.”

  She laughed. “Godmother.” She turned serious. “I worry about you.”

  “I’ll be okay,” he said.

  “I hope that doctor you brought from Yugoslavia will do you some good at least,” she said. “And that she doesn’t play around with any more rough-trade dikes.”

  He was surprised. “What do you know about it?”

  “I told you. I’m the Godmother.” She paused. “I saw the telex you sent to the clinic.”

  He shook his head ruefully. “Shit.”

  “Don’t be angry,” she said. “Don’t forget you have a very close-knit family.”

  “I’m beginning to find that out,” he said. “Was it the same with Father?”

  “More,” she said. “You are away more than he ever was.”

  He turned to face the windows. It was nearing lunchtime and the offices were beginning to empty out. He turned back to Barbara. “Jack Maloney tells me NASA is not giving us any cooperation at all. Hughes has the next six satellites locked up tight.”

  “That’s right,” she said. “I checked with General Stryker at Hughes. He was an old friend of mine. He told me that they’re sitting tight also.”

  “All I want just now is two of the six.”

  “They won’t budge.”

  He thought for a moment. “We supply the directional semiconductors for Hughes, is that right?”

  “Yes,” she nodded.

  “Have they been shipped yet?”

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “What are you thinking?”

  “If Hughes doesn’t have those semiconductors, the satellites don’t go up. Right?”

  “I’m not an engineer,” she said.

  He called Merlin into the office. “Call the procurement office at Hughes, notify them we’re not shipping the semiconductors. Tell them they’re not ready yet, and we don’t know how long it will take.”

  “That’s going to cost you a forty-million-dollar lawsuit,” Merlin said.

  “Fuck ’em!” he said.

  “You’re the boss,” Merlin said and left the office.

  Judd turned to Barbara. “Now you can do your godmother bit. Call your friend General Stryker, tell him that because of your relationship with me, you could expedite those semiconductors if they waive two of their satellite launches to me.”

  “That’s blackmail,” she said.

  “That’s right,” he said.

  She laughed. “I love it!” She began to leave his office, then turned to look back at him. “I know the Hughes organization. It might take some time. Everything goes through channels.”

  “I have the time,” he said. “They’re the ones in a hurry.”

  “Do I get a chance to meet your doctor?” she asked.

  “Dinner,” he said.

  “Lovely,” she said and left the office.

  ***

  “I didn’t know that your stepmother was married to Dr. Marlowe,” Sofia said, as Fast Eddie opened the door to the penthouse Judd maintained at the Mark Hopkins.

  “It’s been six years now,” Judd said, following her into the suite.

  “She’s a young woman,” she said.

  Judd nodded.

  “And Dr. Marlowe is a genius. I never knew a technique like that. Some things about American medicine are light-years ahead of us.”

  “What did he do?”

  “Subcutaneous dispersal injections with a combination of ACTH, procaine and nonallergenic collagen. His touch is so gentle and light I never felt it.”

  “He’s good,” Judd said. “NASA didn’t want to lose him. But he is seventy and decided that enough is enough, so he retired.”

  “They have a beautiful home on Nob Hill, is that what you call it? Have they had it long?”

  “It has been in his family for ages,” he said. “He comes from here.”

  “Your mother must be a happy woman.”

  “She is,” he said. He led her into the bedroom. At the far end of the room just in front of the curved ceiling-to-floor windows was an oval Jacuzzi whirlpool bathtub. He pressed a button turning on the water. He looked at her. “Is water okay for you?” he asked.

  “If it’s not too hot,” she answered.

  “88 Fahrenheit?”

  “Should be all right.”

  “Let’s have a bath then,” he said.

  He was in the tub before her. He turned as she came naked toward him. “He is good,” he said. “The bruises seem almost gone.”

  “He said that by tomorrow they will be completely gone.” She carefully put one foot on the step and checked the water. “It’s fine.”

  He held his hand up to steady her. She saw a smile on his lips. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

  “Your pussy,” he said. “It’s like a baby’s.”

  “Does it look funny?”

  He shook. “On the contrary. It’s a great turn-on. The way your clit pushes out there.”

  She looked down into his eyes. “Would you like to eat it before I get any water and soap on it?”

  “Crazy question,” he replied.

  She pulled her hands around his head, then straddled her legs so that she could ride his face.

  13

  Dr. Lee Sawyer, director of the Crane Medical Research Center in Boca Raton, Florida, was a man of medium height, fortyish, bald, with water-blue eyes and the lugubrious expression of a basset hound. He sat in a chair next to Judd’s hospital bed. “I never believed you would really go through with this,” he said. “How long has it been since you’ve stayed in one place for three days?”

  Judd looked at him. “I don’t know. Where’s Sofia?”

  “She wants to attend every one of your tests,” Doc Sawyer said. “I’ve arranged a suite for her on the floor near yours.”

  “What do you think of her?”

  Dr. Sawyer shrugged. “She’s asking for a lot of information. And I honestly don’t understand why she needs it all.” He looked down at the sheet of paper. “According to this, the first day you have to have six sperm counts and studies, half of each to stay here and the other half to be frozen and sent back to Yugoslavia. On top of that, each has to be taken four hours apart.”

  “Does that mean I have to have an ejaculation?”

  “I don’t know any other way,” Doc Sawyer said. “What’s more, we have to express your prostate each time so that the testes are completely emptied.”

  Judd stared at him.

  “I don’t know what you’ve done to the lady,” Doc Sawyer said. “But you must have convinced her that you’re Tarzan.”

  “What else is on the list?” Judd asked.

  “Complete CAT scan, sonar reading and x-rays of all the vital organs, surgical shaving of pieces of the same, blood twenty-four analysis, oxygen-retention, carbon monoxide and nitrogen level, shavings of skin, hair, nails, both fingers and toes. There’s more, do you want me to read all of it?”

  “I’m exhausted already,” Judd said. “Didn’t she give you an idea why she wanted all these tests?”

  “Only that Dr. Zabiski ordered them.”

  “Have you done anything more about human self-cloning tests?” Judd asked.

  “Not yet,” Doc Sawyer answered.

  Sofia came into the room. She looked different in doctor’s white. “How do you feel?” she asked.

  “Okay,” he said. “Tell me, did you ever give these tests to anyone else?”

  “Yes, one,” she said. “Usually Dr. Za
biski supervises all of them at the clinic, but you were the second person she okayed for all of this. The first was Mao Tse-tung.”

  Judd looked at her. “You worked with him also?”

  “Yes,” she said. “Then I stayed another year with him until he died. He insisted on the whole procedure even though Dr. Zabiski told him he was not a suitable candidate for her treatment.”

  “What did you do for him then?”

  “Dr. Zabiski would send a weekly supply by air. It was a serum that I injected intravenously twice a day morning and night.”

  “What kind of serum was it?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “No one knew except Dr. Zabiski herself. There were even laboratory attempts to analyze and break down the components. The Chinese never found out.”

  “That seems hard to believe,” Doc Sawyer said.

  “Every kind of analysis was tried. Spectrum, electrical, radiological, chemical. None of them worked. Believe me, Dr. Zabiski’s the only one who knows. She probably has a system of her own to defy any attempt to analyze the serum.”

  “I don’t like it,” Doc Sawyer said. He turned to Judd. “Who the hell knows what she could be shooting into you? For all we know, it might be something that could kill you.”

  Sofia looked at him. “I know Dr. Zabiski, Doctor. Her only purpose in life is its prolongation. That’s her dream.”

  Judd looked at Doc Sawyer. “Right now, all I’m doing is undergoing a number of tests. There’s nothing that can do any damage just now.”

  Doc Sawyer nodded.

  “Then let’s go with it,” Judd said. “Later we’ll see what we decide.”

  Sofia looked at him. “The first thing you must do is have a good night’s sleep. We begin at six in the morning.”

  “But it’s only seven in the evening,” Judd said. “I haven’t yet had dinner.”

  “I’ve ordered a light dinner for you,” Sofia said. “You should be asleep at nine o’clock.”

  The telephone next to his bed rang. He picked it up. “Yes?”

  Barbara was on the telephone. “I’ve just been talking to General Stryker. He said that he’s been on the telephone for three days and he hasn’t been able to get any answer to the offer you made for the satellites. He said we’re running out of time. The first launch is scheduled for the fifth of April. Their legal department has already prepared the lawsuit against us if we don’t deliver.”

  “Why can’t he get an answer?” he asked.

  “There are only two people who can approve the exchange. Bill Gay and Howard Hughes himself. Neither of them can be reached. Gay is out of the country and no one can find him. Hughes is in Acapulco but he won’t answer the telephone.”

  “It’s hard to believe that,” Judd said.

  “It’s true,” she said. “Stryker says that no one has spoken directly to Hughes in years. All the messages from him go through Gay or Gay’s men, who are always with Hughes.”

  “Then we’ll have to talk to Hughes himself,” Judd said. “Thanks for calling. I’ll be in touch with you.”

  “Good luck,” Barbara said. “Kisses.”

  “Kisses,” he said and put down the telephone. He sat up in the bed. “Get my clothes. Sorry, but we’ll have to put off the tests for a few days.”

  Sofia looked at him. “But everything is already ordered.”

  “Sorry,” he said again, getting down from the bed. He turned to Doc Sawyer. “Do me a favor and get me Merlin right away.”

  Merlin was in his room almost before Judd had his shirt buttoned. “Yes, sir?”

  “Call the plane and tell them we’re leaving for Acapulco as soon as I get to the airport. Then call General Martés in Mexico City and tell him that I need ten Federales secret police to meet the plane in Acapulco. Tell him there’s hundred thousand dollars for him and a thousand dollars for each man. Tell him I also want to know where Hughes is staying in Acapulco and a plan that could penetrate any security that surrounds Hughes.” He slipped into his socks and shoes. “I’ll meet you in ten minutes downstairs in the car.”

  Merlin left the room. He turned to Sofia. “Make yourself at home,” he said. “I should be back in less than two days.”

  She looked at him. “I’ve never been to Acapulco.”

  “Come then,” he said.

  “But what should I wear?” she asked.

  He laughed. “In Acapulco all you need is a bikini.”

  14

  A tall young man in an army uniform came aboard when the plane landed in Acapulco. He saluted Judd sharply. “I’m Lieutenant Colonel Ayala,” he said in English.

  “I’m Judd Crane,” he said, shaking the soldier’s hand.

  “I am adjutant to General Martés. I have all the information you requested.” Colonel Ayala held out a file folder. “Perhaps it would be simpler if I explained it all to you since it is in Spanish?”

  “Thank you, Colonel,” Judd said. He brought the soldier to the small conference table in the main lounge.

  The soldier spread the papers. “Señor Hughes has the entire penthouse floor of the Acapulco Princess Hotel. Here is the floor plan. As you see, the corner room, the largest, faces the sea and is Señor Hughes’ personally. Next to it is a slightly smaller room. It contains several telephones, a telex, chairs and two cots. There is always a man stationed in that room. The door between Señor Hughes’ and that room is always open. There are four other rooms on the floor which are shared by Señor Hughes’ personnel. There are usually fifteen men in his party but the exact number is uncertain at this moment. We know that four of the men are not in Mexico, nor is Señor Hughes’ personal doctor. As a matter of fact, several days ago, the hotel physician was summoned by one of the Hughes men to examine Señor Hughes and we have learned that el Señor is very ill and should be hospitalized. But we’ve also learned that nothing will be done until his personal doctor returns tomorrow.”

  Judd looked at the soldier. “Did the doctor have an opinion of the nature of Mr. Hughes’ illness?”

  “We do not know what his own doctor has ordered. We know that blood tests were ordered. But we don’t even know if they’ve been done.”

  “Are Hughes’ men armed?”

  “Some of them,” the soldier said. “They are not professional bodyguards, more like secretaries and personal assistants. There is a professional guard at the elevator doors on the penthouse floor, but he is a Mexican hotel security man and not a very competent one.”

  Judd studied the floor plan. “Do you think noise could be heard in the other rooms?”

  “It depends on how much noise is made,” the soldier said.

  “No guns and low voices,” Judd said.

  “Should be okay,” the soldier said. “If we come upstairs on the freight elevator, avoiding the lobby, we could take out the floor guard because he always faces the passenger elevators. Then the element of surprise could overcome any of the others who made it to his suite.”

  Judd stared down at the floor plan. “I don’t want anyone hurt,” he said. “I simply want to speak with Hughes, nothing else.”

  “I understand, Señor,” the soldier said. “Will you be accompanying us alone?”

  Judd thought for a moment. He turned to Sofia. “Could you come with me? If he’s sick, he may need help.”

  “Yes, of course,” she answered.

  Judd turned to the soldier. “This lady is my doctor,” he said. “She will join us.”

  The soldier looked at him skeptically, but his voice was respectful. “Whatever you say, Señor.”

  ***

  It was eight kilometers from the airport to the hotel, then one more kilometer on the hotel road past the golf course to the hotel entrance. Sitting in the backseat of the four-door car, Sofia looked at Judd. “It’s beautiful,” she said. “Someday I’d like to see more of it.”

  Judd smiled. “I have a friend who owns a villa near here. Maybe we can spend the weekend.”

  “Not this time,”
she said. “First, we go back for your tests.”

  Colonel Ayala, seated next to the driver, leaned over the seat toward them. “We will drive around to the service entrance.”

  Judd nodded. He looked out the rear window. The soldiers accompanying them were following in a black-sided panel van. The cars went around the hotel to the service entrance. They pulled into the parking area and got out.

  The colonel spoke briefly to the gateman, who silently signaled them to pass. They went through the basement corridor and stopped at the freight elevator. A cleaning woman was pushing a cart into it. The soldier spoke sharply and the woman nervously pulled back her laundry. They went into the elevator and the soldier pressed the floor button. The door closed.

  Colonel Ayala looked at Judd and Sofia. “You will wait until I tell you to come out of the elevator.”

  Judd nodded. He looked up at the floor lights over the doors. The numbers flashed slowly. It seemed forever before the PH light went on.

  Several of the soldiers rushed out of the elevator almost before the doors opened. A few seconds later others followed. Colonel Ayala gestured for the rest of them to come out. He pressed a button to lock the elevator door open.

  The guard was on his stomach on the floor, hands handcuffed behind his back, in front of the passenger elevator he was supposed to protect. Colonel Ayala spoke quietly to him. The guard gestured with his head to one of the doors, his eyes moving nervously.

  Colonel Ayala inched his way along carefully, his back against the wall until he reached the doorknob. The door opened easily. It was not locked. Quietly, the soldier stepped through the door, Judd behind him. A man, his head resting on crossed arms on the table before him, was fast asleep.

  A soldier stepped lightly behind the sleeping figure and touched him gently on the shoulder. The man awoke, startled. His eyes opened wide, staring down the muzzle of the Colt .45 automatic. He began to open his mouth.

  Judd spoke quickly. “Stay quiet. No one’s going to hurt you.”

  The man turned to him.

  Judd was reassuring. “We’re not here to hurt anyone.” He paused a moment. “Where are the others?”

  The man took a deep breath. “Three of them are in their rooms asleep. The others went into town. There’s an English-language movie today.”