WATCHERS by Dean R. Koontz

pieces. Then, apparently realizing that the dog was going to be forever out of

its reach if it didn’t make good its own escape, The Outsider put its mind to

the problem and, by God, found its own way out.”

“But if the dog got a good head start—”

“There’s a link between the dog and The Outsider that no one understands. A

mental link. Instinctual awareness. We don’t know its extent, but we can’t rule

out the possibility that this link is strong enough for one of them to follow

the other over considerable distances. It’s apparently a sort of mild sixth

sense that was somehow a bonus of the technique of intelligence enhancement used

in both Weatherby’s and Yarbeck’s research. But we’re only guessing. We don’t

really know for sure. There’s so fucking much we don’t know!”

Both men were silent for a while.

The humid closeness of the car was no longer entirely unpleasant, Given all the

dangers loose in the modern world, these steamy confines seemed safe and

comfortable, a haven.

Finally, not wanting to ask any more questions, afraid of the answers he might

get, Walt nevertheless said, “Banodyne is a high-security building. It’s

designed to keep unauthorized people from getting in, but it must be hard to get

out of the place, too. Yet both the dog and The Outsider escaped.”

“Yes.”

“And obviously no one ever figured they could. Which means they’re both smarter

than anyone realized.”

“Yes.”

Walt said, “In the case of the dog . . . well, if it’s smarter than anyone

figured, so what? The dog is friendly.”

Lem, who had been staring at the opaqued windshield, finally met Walt’s eyes.

“That’s right. But if The Outsider is smarter than we thought . . . if it’s very

nearly as smart as a man, then catching it’s going to be even harder.”

“Very nearly . . . or as smart as a man.”

“No. Impossible.”

“Or even smarter,” Walt said.

“No. That couldn’t be.”

“Couldn’t?”

“Definitely couldn’t?”

Lem sighed, wearily rubbed his eyes, and said nothing. He was not going to start

lying to his best friend again.

7

Nora and Travis went through the photographs one by one, learning a little more

about Einstein. By barking once or vigorously wagging his tail, the dog answered

questions and was able to confirm that he had chosen the advertisements for

computers because they reminded him of the computers in the lab where he had

been kept. The photo of four young people playing with a striped beach ball

appealed to him because one of the scientists in the lab had evidently used

balls of various sizes in an intelligence test that Einstein had particularly

enjoyed. They were unable to determine the reason for his interest in the

parrot, the butterflies, Mickey Mouse, and many other things, but that was only

because they could not hit upon the pertinent yes-or-no questions that would

have led to explanations.

Even when a hundred questions failed to reveal the meaning of one of the

photographs, the three of them remained excited and delighted by the process of

discovery, for they met with success in enough cases to make the effort

worthwhile. The only time the mood changed for the worse was when they

queried Einstein about the magazine picture of the demon from an upcoming horror

movie. He became extremely agitated. He tucked his tail between his legs, bared

his teeth, growled deep in his throat. Several times, he padded away from the

photograph, going behind the sofa or into another room, where he stayed for a

minute or two before returning, reluctantly, to face additional questions, and

he shivered almost continuously when being quizzed about the demon.

Finally, after trying for at least ten minutes to determine the reason for the

dog’s dread, Travis pointed to the slab-jawed, wickedly fanged, luminous-eyed

movie monster and said, “Maybe you don’t understand, Einstein. This isn’t a

picture of a real, living thing. This is a make-believe demon from a movie. Do

you understand what I mean when I say make-believe?”

Einstein wagged his tail: Yes.

“Well, this is a make-believe monster.” One bark: No.

“Make-believe, phony, not real, just a man in a rubber suit,” Nora said.

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