"Last time on Stephen King's Golden Years..." "Harlan Williams, tech number 10884." "Custodian third." "Scientific history, gentlemen." "And you were here." "Dr Todhunter!" "Overload across the board!" "Harlan..." "Experimenting with regeneration." "Attempting to accelerate the healing process in living tissue." " You don't believe him?" " Do you?" "No." "The regeneration is just a cover." " For what?" "I don't know." " Don't you think we ought to find out?" "They want me to use the janitor as cover to keep an eye on Todhunter." "But I want to use Todhunter to keep an eye on the janitor." "Something happened to him." "I know you haven't had any brown in your hair for at least five years." "What have you been using?" " I haven't been." " What?" "I haven't been dyeing my hair." "When will he feel safe?" "God help us if it goes wrong." "He never did tell you what was wrong, did he?" " You think he's crazy?" " Certifiable." "He's a genius." "He's allowed to be a little eccentric." "Were you intimate?" "Very intimate." "We used to kill people together." "There is nothing to worry about." "I assure you." "I decided at that time," "I hadn't the slightest idea anything was wrong, until..." "This doctor of yours has got something important locked up inside his head." "Is Jimmy there?" "It's Dr Ackerman calling." "Thank you." "Oh, Jimmy, my boy." "And what can I do for you?" "Well, it's more what I can do for you." "You told me to call if I noticed anything odd about the janitor's re-exam." " Harlan Williams." " Williams?" "Don't you ever knock?" "Not you." "No, someone just came in." "Hold the line a second." "Just put the files over there." "I want to see Redding's body again, tonight." " Can't this wait?" " What for?" "I have a life, Miss Spann." "Outside activities." "A world beyond Falco Plains." "I have an investigation to conduct." "Redding isn't going anywhere." "He's locked up tight." "He'll be waiting for you in the morning, trust me." "I've learned never to trust anyone but myself," "Dr Ackerman." "I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning." " You still there?" " Yes." "You were saying something about the janitor." " I was?" " About noticing something odd." "Oh, yes." "What was really odd, were the phone calls I got." "What calls?" "Who called you?" "The first one was from that idiot in personnel, Moreland." ""Idiot" is right." "What did he want?" "He told me to notify him the moment that Williams flunked his exam." "And then I got a call from someone that makes Moreland look like small beans." "Telling me to make sure that Williams passes." "What do you mean?" "I just got a craving for Mom's chocolate éclairs and coffee." " You interested?" " You buying?" "Somebody's got to pay for it." "See you after work?" "Well..." "He not only passed his eye exam, he passed it with flying colours." "I might have let it go at that, except he asked me to dilate his eyes." "He said a country expression, but it didn't sound like that." "What was it?" "Well, I was looking at him with the pupillary..." "He asked me if I saw anything green in there." "Does that mean anything to you, Mark?" "I can't say that it does." "So, when you dilated his eyes, you said you saw less floaters in there, and that's not normal, is it?" "Well, it's not abnormal." "Not any more than flunking a visual acuity test and then passing a retest is abnormal." "Visual acuity seems to fluctuate." "Like blood pressure." "No." "Not like blood pressure." "And that's the point." "Blood pressure does fluctuate radically." "Visual acuity doesn't." "Well, not really." "The janitor also seemed very nervous." "That's what got me curious." "If it had been only one or two oddities," "I might have let it go, but all of them together..." "You know." "No." "Thanks, Ma'am." "So I pulled his last visual acuity test." "He only flunked by a little, but this one last week, he passed by a lot." "An improvement of 14% in less than a month is, well..." "Let's just say it's something I've never heard of." "If he was set enough on keeping his job, to retake the tests, maybe he memorised your charts." " Maybe Crewes fed him the answers." " I change the charts every two weeks." "It's a DOD reg." "And why would they cheat?" "I'd already told Crewes I'd pass him." " Is something wrong?" " No." "You know, I know you told me to call if anything unusual happened, but I'm sitting here wishing I'd never talked to you about this." "It doesn't take a person long to get paranoid, does it?" "Well, you'll understand if I want to protect myself." "Not to be involved any longer." "Thanks for calling." "Say hello to Virginia for me." "I will." "Good night." "Well?" "I'd give it about a 58." "It's hell to dance to, but the lyrics are great." "Good night, dear." "Yeah, that's ready." "Okay." "Let's move out." "No, Ma'am." "Nobody followed Lt. McGiver out that night." "Everybody..." "Oh, excuse me." "Good morning, Dr Todhunter." "You're early." " What time do you have?" " Quarter to the hour." " Only two minutes fast." " If I was you, I'd get a new watch." "This watch belonged to my father." "I will never be rid of it." "But if it's broken..." "Even a broken watch tells the correct time twice a day." "Don't you see that?" " Well, Sir..." " Time is the only enemy." "Miss Spann understands that." "Don't you, Miss Spann?" "Yes." "Tempus fugit." "Indeed." "Carpe diem." " Have a nice day." " Spare me." "The speed limit inside the plant confine is 25..." "This has gone far enough." "Yes, I heard." " But, Gina..." " No buts." "You're going to the doctor." "This morning." "If that Ackerman is the only one you'll see, I guess he'll have to do for now." "Don't you think you're making a kind of a big business over a few brown hairs?" "It's not just a few brown hairs around your ears, and you know it." "There's more." "There, and down there." "I think you're getting a little personal there." "It's not funny and don't make out that it is." "You know what's happening as well as I do and it's not funny." " Gina, honey." " You're getting younger." " Gina, that's..." " That's crazy?" "Yes." "But it's happening." "I don't know what they were playing with." "I don't want to know." "I just want you to get a medical discharge and treatment." "For whatever this thing is." "Treatment as far away from Falco Plains as we can get." "Gina..." "Gina, people don't..." "They can't get younger." "Then what is happening to you, Harl?" "I don't know exactly." "I have lived with you almost my whole life." "I could pick your face out of a room filled with men if I was blind and none of them were talking." "I could do it by touch." "You don't look the way you did two weeks ago." "You look the way you did two years ago." "I'll go see Ackerman." "But what do you think is going to happen then, Gina?" "They'll find out what's wrong and they'll stop it." "You must still believe in Santa if you think it's going to be as easy as that." " What do you mean?" " You talk like they play square." "Like they're just going to fly me off to the Mayo Clinic and make it all gone." "Well, they don't play the game square." "They play it as crooked as a drunkard walks." "You think you're the only one scared?" "Remember that window I broke at the plant three years ago?" "There was a scar on my arm where the glass cut me." "Hell of a magic trick, don't you think?" "Now you see it, now you don't?" "It was there on Monday." "On Tuesday morning, while I was shaving I noticed it had lightened up some." "On Wednesday, it was just a little white line you could barely see." "This morning... gone." "My, God." "That was when you were 67." "That's when I really started getting scared." "All I'm saying is that there's no telling what they'll do." "I'm no hot-shot doctor, no general and not even a bird colonel." "I'm just an old man who swabs floors and empties waste baskets." "I could disappear without a trace." "And so could you." " Harlan, that's crazy." " Yeah, now you're getting the picture." "That's how the government does business in places like Falco Plains." "Crazy." "You want to just go on waiting." "Is that it?" "No." "I don't want to go on waiting." "I'll go talk to Ackerman, like you want." "Only, I want you to be ready." "For what, Harlan?" "See if we can cut through the preliminary bull here, Doc." "The part where you ask me what I'm doing here and I tell you I'm going to ask you some questions." "Then you tell me to get out or you'll call the police..." "All that stuff." "Who are you?" "Well, that's as good a place as any to start." "Jude Andrews, DSA." "We'll skip the part where you say you didn't see me with the DSA team and they're gone anyway and you have to call General Crewes and so on..." "You didn't see me with the rest of the team because I'm here on a special assignment." "You didn't see me leave with them for the same reason." "God..." "Got any orange juice, Doc?" "You're sharp, aren't you?" " I can take it from here." " Thanks." "Dr Ackerman didn't say you'd be in this early." " He probably overslept." " Shouldn't you wait for him?" "I work better alone." "Dr Redding..." "We have to talk." "You're really going to hurt my feelings if you don't at least taste those eggs." "That's all you're going to eat?" "I thought he was being so paranoid." " Who?" " Jimmy Eakins." "I saw a sign on a guy's desk once." "It made perfect sense to me." "Maybe you ought to get one for yourself." "You know, just to remind yourself of the facts of life from time to time." "What was that?" ""Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness."" "Yeah." "Maybe you're right." "On my desk." "To remind me of the facts of life." "You know, I've really enjoyed your hospitality, and I'd hate to spoil it, so I want you to listen to me closely." "If I find out that you've withheld anything from me, even if it turns out to be something unimportant," "I'm going to come back and perform some dental surgery with a power drill." "You may think I'm exaggerating, but as I've enjoyed your hospitality, I want you to understand that I'm not." "I'd come with a drill and a little black case and plug it in." "Please..." "And then I'd go to work with the number 2 drill bit, which is about the size of that finger." "Sometimes, I perform the surgery with the mouth open." "Sometimes, through the cheek." "I don't use Novocaine." " There's usually a great deal of blood." " Please." "If you've forgotten anything..." " No." " Anything at all." "Left anything out?" "Going once, going twice," "gone." "This is going to stay between the two of us." "Am I right, Doc?" "Yes." "For sure." "Yes." "You're not going to talk about it to your pal the optometrist or Spann?" " General Crewes or anyone at all?" " Yes." "No." "I won't." "Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness." "Am I right?" "You bet." "Your toast is ready, Doc." " If there are any developments..." " I'll let you know right away." " Even sooner than that." " Yeah." "Have a nice day, Doc." " Well?" " Are you sure about this?" "I saw it with my own eyes." "Or didn't see it." "He's gone." "We need a drink." " We need a body." " What am I going to tell the DSA?" " Why tell them?" " Because we work for them, remember?" "Terry, you call the DSA." "You're the one who found the body was missing." "Louis..." "Listen to me." "We don't have to tell them anything." "Right now, there are only three of us who know about this." "You, me and whoever took Dr Redding for a ride." "What's the point?" "Everyone's going to find out sooner or later." "I vote for later." "I'm sorry, Terry, but I have to overrule you on this one." "Ouch!" "What did you do that for?" " I'm returning the favour." " What favour?" "Trying to stop you from making a fool of yourself, and of me, too." "The body stops here, Louis." "He was our responsibility." "You run this base, I'm head of security." "Who do you think will take the heat?" "I've got a good idea who did it." "I think I know what for." "I just need to buy us a couple of days to prove it." " Then they won't blame us." " That's right, Louis." " You think Jude did it?" " Well..." "Seems like old times to me." "For starters, it's Redding." "Yeah, I pulled him out last night." "No." "He lived about four hours." "Before he died, though, a number of scars on his body disappeared." "No." "You don't understand." "I mean, completely disappeared, as if they'd never been there." "Including a large burn scar." "There were before and after photographs." "Crewes didn't tell me." "Nor did he or Terry tell me that for some days, the janitor and Redding both glowed like watches with cheap radium dials." "Yes." "He's still alive." "I'll be checking him out." "I'll be very actively checking him out." " Hey, Harlan." " How you doing, Rick?" " Wouldn't do me much good to complain." " No, I guess it wouldn't." "You look like you're feeling okay." "I didn't expect to see you back full-time so soon." "Everybody's got to be somewhere." " What's your secret, Harl?" " What secret?" "Well, you sure got well in a hurry." "Want to tell me what kind of vitamins you take?" " C." " Vitamin C." " That's it?" " That's it." "That's my secret." "See you around, Rick." "The speed limit inside the plant confine is 25 miles per hour." "I need to see Dr Ackerman." "He's doing an inventory in the pharmacy." "Unless it's really important, I doubt he can see you." " Could I tell him what it's about?" " Well, I..." "I'd rather not say." "May I speak to him for a second?" "Thanks." "Mr Williams is here, Dr Ackerman." "I told him you're doing pharm, but he's asking if he can see you." "All right, Dr Ackerman." "Yes." "Thank you." " That's weird." " What's weird?" "He's usually like a bear on pharm days." "He was like a bear this morning." "But he asked me to send you right in." "Thank you." "I have to talk to you, right away." " Is it important?" " Yes." "I think so." "Yes." " It's not something you forgot, is it?" " No, no." "This morning, the janitor..." "Meet me in the parking lot." "We'll take a walk." " It will be good for the constitution." " When?" "Now." "Hey, Harl." " You going to move those lockers?" " As soon as I make a phone call, Billy." " Hey, how did your exam go?" " All right, I guess." "You sound kind of down." "You sure everything's okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "I'm just a little tired, that's all." "Why don't you go find the long dolly, Billy?" "You bet, Harl." "And find Phil and Roger while you're at it." " You mention lockers and they disappear." " Yeah." "Hey, Harl." "I've got a good one for you." " Are you ready?" " Sure." "Why did the man tie his watch to a bird?" "I have no idea, Billy." "Because he wanted to see time fly." "I'll be sure to use that one, Billy." "Falco employees are reminded to take their cars through the disinfectant wash at the end of each day." "Thank you." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Hello?" " Harl, is that you?" " Yes." "It's me, honey." " Hang on a minute, will you?" " Harlan, please talk to me." "All of a sudden, I get the feeling that might not be such a good idea." "Harlan, don't put me out." "Did you talk to the doctor?" "Yeah, I talked to him all right." " It might have been a mistake." " I don't understand." "I know you don't, honey." "I'll tell you tonight, okay?" " What's wrong?" " Maybe nothing..." "Maybe a lot." "But I don't want to talk about it on the phone here." "Bye, Gina." "First point:" "Williams cut his arm about three years ago in an accident." "That scar is now gone." "Same way Redding's were." "Yes, that was the first thing that jumped into my mind." " Any photographs?" " No, but there would be an X-ray." "And there would be reports of the accident." "Enough for any medical man in the world to confirm a resulting scar." "Second point:" "His hair is turning brown again." "That's what really rocked me." "Sooner or later we all go grey." "Harlan Williams is the only man I've ever seen to go back to brown." "It's not a dye job?" "No." "I haven't had a strand under a microscope yet, but I called you before I did anything else." "The correct procedure, Doc." "Believe me." "Yes." "But I don't need a microscopic exam to confirm the basic facts." "Judging from the pattern of new growth, it's no dye job." " Anything else?" " No." " But you had an impression?" " I examined him after the explosion." "I taped his head and his arm." "He looks younger now." " Apart from the hair, how?" " That's just it." "I don't know." "You know, it's like..." "When I was 17, I copped my brother's draft card." "I tried to buy a bottle of wine and the guy at the store laughed at me." "When I was 21, I still had to show my driver's licence." "You know what I'm saying?" "But every year, fewer and fewer bartenders wanted to see some proof." "Then one day, no one was asking at all, as your face changes." "It's nothing you can put your finger on." "It's like that with Williams." "He's getting younger." "I don't know how." "He just is." "The hair, the scar he says is gone..." "These are empiric things." "This other thing is just something around the edges of his face." "Tell me, Doc." "Does he understand what's happening to him?" "I mean, really understand?" "Yes." "He's a janitor, but he's not stupid." "He understands." " How does he feel?" " Scared." "He's holding it pretty well, but he's scared almost out of his mind." "We'll walk back now." "I want you to forget all about this, Doc." " Good." "All right." " I'll handle it." "It's just all very strange." "What was the name of that optometrist who tests G3s through G5?" "Eakins." "Jimmy Eakins." "I've known him for ten years." "He's not going to be in trouble, is he?" "Why would he?" "Come in." " Miss Spann." "I need to speak to you." " Major Moreland." "What can I do for you?" " What..." "What are those?" " Just something to amuse me." "And it's cheaper than seeing a shrink." "You see, whenever I'm feeling uptight..." " Miss Spann..." " I just have a little target practice." "You got me..." "Not bad, Major." "Most days I have trouble hitting even one of them" "And it only cost the American tax payer eleven million dollars to develop." "Now..." "What can I do for you?" "Perhaps, I'd better take this business to General Crewes himself." "I'm afraid you're stuck with me today." "He's in Washington testifying in front of a subcommittee meeting." " Fruits or nuts." "I can't remember which." " I beg your pardon?" "Fruits or nuts." "House or Senate." "Sit down, Major." "Now..." "If you'll just state your problem," "I'll get the General to see you in the morning before he's even had a chance to get his seat warm." "Well, that's good." "That's good, because this matters." "This travesty has be seen to." "There's some kind of hanky-panky going on around here and I know it." "And it will not be allowed to continue." "You'll have to put me in the picture, Major." "The "picture", as you call it, concerns a classified installation employee named Harlan Williams." "He... well, he's just a janitor." "No one of real importance... you might say, but the principle..." "The principle is important." "The rules that make the difference." "Wouldn't you agree?" "Yes." "I think principles and rules are very important." "And I want you to tell me all about it." "I would be delighted." "You want what?" "I was just thinking that if it was all the same colour all over, it would seem more, you know, normal." "Very good, Mr Williams." "Rita will take care of you." "Rita." "Mr Williams needs a hair colour job this afternoon." "Hi, Mr Williams." "Does Gina want you to darken it up a little bit?" "Actually, he wants it all white." "Oh, wow." "Really?" ""Well, to each his own," the old maid said as she kissed the cow." "Well, come on back." "I do your wife's hair, so I know all about you." "So, I'm sure you see the problem." "Yes, I think I do." "Would it be possible for me to hold on to these exam results long enough to make photocopies?" "I..." "I'll do the job myself." "And I'll return them personally to your office in less than half an hour." "That would be fine, Miss Spann." "It's obvious that there's been some kind of chicanery by, or on the behalf of this Williams." "Well, it would certainly seem so." "Some effort to short-circuit the system." "I suppose it's technically possible to fail the test and then pass it." "But his mistake was to overdo it." "Don't you agree?" "I do have to say you probably found the handle on that coffee pot." "You damned do." "Oh..." "You will see that the General..." "He'll get the message ASAP and I'll have these papers back to you the same way." "Thank you." "I suppose I might have misjudged you." "Well, people sometimes do that." "But now I see that you're a woman after my own heart." "The kind of woman who likes to get things done and can expedite." "Well, I try, Major." "I really do." " Now, if you'll excuse me." " Of course." "It has been a pleasure to talk to you." "Same here, Major." "A real pleasure." "Did you forget something?" "I'm sorry." "We're closed." "You'll have to come back tomorrow." "You'll have to make an appointment." "I don't think this can wait." "Where have you been?" "I called and Charlie Rhode said you'd left after lunch." "I've been worried sick, Harl." " I've been at the beauty parlour." " What?" " Look." " My, God." "You've dyed your hair." "Not a strand of brown." "Come inside and tell me why you didn't want to talk to me on the phone." "I think it might be just as well if we talked out here." "You're scaring me a little." "You think I want to?" "It's not just what's happening to you, is it?" "I don't know anymore." "I went to see Ackerman and it's funny..." "I got the feeling he was trying to put me to sleep, somehow." "Yes." "To lull you." "That's right." "Lull me." "He gave me a physical that didn't amount to much." "He kept saying that this sort of thing happens sometimes." "I got the feeling he was about to blow his top and didn't want me to know it." "Like he was overexcited and scared." "What about the scar?" "Did you tell him about the scar?" "He said that these things just disappear sometimes." "Spontaneous regeneration of the tissue." "Sounds like spontaneous bull to me." "Did he give you any tests?" "Did he take blood?" "He said he wanted to consult with some of his colleagues first." "Then he reminded me of the National Security Act." "You know." "The oath I took." "He said they didn't want me to discuss this with anyone, not even my wife, until he'd gotten back to me." "I don't like this, Harl." "I don't like this at all." "Yeah, well." "There's even less to like about it." "A little while later, when I was talking to you on the phone," "I saw Dr Ackerman consulting with one of his colleagues." "A man named Jude." "I've seen him around." "He came with the rest of the DSA investigators, only he didn't leave with them." "He's some kind of spook." " Maybe they weren't talking about you." " Maybe they weren't." "Do you remember what I said to you about being ready?" "I want you to pack a couple of suitcases and keep them in the front hall closet." " Just in case." " Harlan..." "If one of us were to take a lot of money out of the bank all at once, alarm bells would go off." "But if you were to take out 500 dollars tomorrow, and I were to take out 700 next week, we could rat-hole it, just in case." "In case we have to run, you mean." "That's what I mean." "I'll tell you something, Harl." "A little dye in your hair doesn't fool anyone for long." " Oh, Gina." " No." "It's your face." "It's something about your face." "I can't put my finger on any one thing." "Because it's everything." "Where is this going to end, Harl?" "Where?" " I don't know." " And who's going to help us?" "I don't know that either." "Dr Eakins, are you in there?" "Doc?" "Doc?" "Freeze!" "Holy God..." " Hey." " Dance with me, Mother." " What?" " Come on." "They're playing our song." "The rug won't bleed if you cut it a little." " It'll make you feel better." " I'm fine." "It'll make me feel better." "What's the worst that could happen?" "I mean, if we don't leave, what's the worst?" "We could just disappear." "I... hear things from time to time." "I guess all janitors do." "Janitors are the world's invisible men." "The Shop is supposed to have places where people can disappear." "There's one in Maui." "Another in Idaho." "One in Vermont." "But wouldn't they try to find out what was wrong with you?" "Wouldn't they try to find out if it was about that experiment that went wrong?" " Wouldn't they try to help you?" " Well..." "They'll try to study me, all right." "That I'm sure of." "But help me?" "I don't think so, Gina." "I think they'll just sit back and let it, whatever it is, run its course." "Isn't there some little part of you that wants to get younger?" "Good God." "No." "It's unnatural." "And besides, where does it all end?" "Cheer up, Gina." "Everything's going to be all right." "You promise?" "I promise." "Shake it like we used to, Mother." "Watch this one." "You're going to love it." " What is it, Mother?" " I can't keep up with you, Harl." "I'm too old."