“I see the full effects of the perilium have begun to manifest themselves.”
“The full effects?” George frowned. “So it’s true, then… this stuff reverses aging, too?”
Vale shrugged. “Of course. Aging is merely caused by the body’s inability to keep up with overall cellular deterioration. Perilium increases this ability.”
“So why didn’t you mention this before?”
Vale chuckled and sipped his juice. “There are some things people need to see for themselves. We felt that claiming a cure for Alzheimer’s had already stretched your credulity far enough. You never would have agreed to participate in the treatment if we explained all the benefits.”
George leaned back in his chair. “You’re right. I would’ve thought you were crazy.”
“What exactly is this perilium doing to me?” Miriam said. “I look… I feel like I’m twenty years younger.”
Vale lifted the corner of his mouth in a smile. “You’ve met Sam and Eleanor Huxley?”
“Yes.”
“Eleanor was dying of cancer when they first arrived. She was seventy-nine and Sam had just turned eighty.”
“What?” George and Miriam gasped in unison.
George’s head was spinning. “But… they don’t look a day over thirty. Neither one of them.”
“No, they don’t. Not since they began taking perilium.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Oh… I think it was 1972. Thereabouts.”
Miriam gasped. “That would make them around 120 years old.”
George couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The whole thing was just too bizarre to be true. These people had stumbled on an actual fountain of youth? No wonder Vale went to such lengths to keep it a secret.
He found himself stammering, “Well… I mean, that… that’s amazing. You’ve actually discovered a legitimate antiaging compound. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.”
“Now do you understand the impact of what I’m offering you?” Vale said, looking at George. “Both of you?”
George blinked. “Both of us?”
“You didn’t think we would give your wife this gift and not make it available to you as well.”
George was momentarily stunned as he considered the opportunity Vale offered him. This perilium not only gave people a second chance at life, but a whole new life altogether. It was almost too incredible to wrap his mind around. He was seventy-three years old, and by drinking this substance once every few days he could turn the clock back… forty years? Fifty?
Miriam leaned forward. “So then… excuse me for asking, but how old are you?”
“I was born in Richmond, Virginia, on October 16… 1847.”
“Eighteen…,” Miriam breathed. “But… that’s impossible.”
“Impossible?” Vale raised his eyebrows. “You’ve looked in the mirror. Is that impossible? Is that too good to be true?”
George was shaking his head. “So you’re more than 160 years old?”
Vale’s smile faded slightly and his yellow-green eyes were solemn. “Now you understand why I must keep perilium a secret. And why I have to go to such lengths to protect this place.”
George could barely think clearly enough to consider the ramifications of what Vale was saying. This was the most significant medical discovery in history. It screamed to be shared with all of humanity, yet George understood what chaos would ensue if this ever became known. Vale’s little retreat would be overrun by the masses. Everyone in the world would come to Wyoming seeking a slice of immortality.
But now—to make the matter more intriguing—Vale was offering this miracle to him. George looked again at his own aging hands. What would he give for the chance to reverse the effect that time had had on him? The chance to be young again with Miriam? The chance to live… forever?
Then Miriam’s voice drew him from his thoughts.
“This isn’t natural.” She put her hand on George’s arm. “You can’t just cheat death like this. Not without suffering some consequences.”
“Consequences?” Vale said. “Do you mean consequences like having three lifetimes’ worth of acquired knowledge and experience? Perfect health? Resistance to illness and injury?”
“Injury?” George repeated.
Vale nodded. “The body’s natural healing processes are hyperstimulated. We’re not certain precisely how it works, but we’re getting close.”
George looked from Vale to Miriam. “So someone taking perilium can’t be killed?”
Vale chuckled. “I wish that were the case. No, our bodies can sustain physical trauma to such a degree that not even perilium can help. It won’t grow back a limb, for example. Nor does it prevent someone from, say… drowning or suffocating. But I can tell you that most injuries—even gunshots, if not immediately fatal—can heal within minutes. Broken bones, depending on the severity of the break, will heal within a few hours.”
Miriam was shaking her head. “So… forgive my cynicism here, but what’s the catch? I can’t believe this perilium has no negative side effects.”
Vale narrowed his eyes at George. “You haven’t related our conversation to her?”
Miriam frowned and turned to George as well. “What conversation?”
“Uh… well…” George had hoped to explain the situation to her in his own time. On his own terms. But truthfully, he hadn’t even figured out exactly how he was going to broach the topic. Now he stammered, trying to find the words to explain it all to her.
Finally Vale interjected, “The beneficial effects of perilium require a regular regimen to maintain. But as long as you continue your treatment schedule, you should retain your health—and youth—indefinitely.”
“Regular regimen?” Miriam fell silent a moment. “What exactly does that mean? Just how often do I have to take this stuff?”
“That all depends on your body’s specific response to the treatment,” Vale said. “But in your case, most likely once every few days.”
“And how often do you have to take it?”
George stared at his wife. A few days ago she didn’t even know her own name. Now she was back to her old self again, going after Vale like an attorney questioning a beleaguered defendant on the witness stand. George watched Vale draw a breath and could see a slight tightening of his lips.
“Those of us who have been here longer take a daily dose.”
“Daily,” Miriam said. “So then, the older you get, the more you need.”
“A minor consequence.” Vale tried to shrug off her comment. “It was to be expected.”
“And if you stop taking it?”
Vale’s eyes narrowed. It was as if that thought had never even crossed his mind. “Then of course the beneficial effects would wear off as well.”
“And I assume everyone in town… they all have to get their daily allotments from you?”
“Yes.”
“And where do you get it?”
Vale glanced at George as if expecting him to intervene, but George could only shake his head. Vale’s eyes flicked back to Miriam. “From a local tribe called the N’watu,” he said. “They discovered the secret of perilium a long time ago.”
“But you don’t know what it is.”
“We’re… addressing that issue.”
“Addressing it? So this tribe—the N’watu?—right now they’re the only ones who know how to make this perilium?”