The sign on the frosted glass door said, ‘Tomlin Corporation’. In smaller print, two lines centered below the corporate name read: ‘Raymond Blacker’, ‘Chief of Security’.

The courier knocked twice on the door, then entered without waiting for a response. The strong scent of cigar smoke assaulted his nose and eyes as he stepped into the dimly lit room. Silhouetted by the curtained window, a large man sat at a desk. He raised his head to look at the approaching courier.

The man behind the desk didn’t seem to be alarmed by the intrusion of this particular individual, though few men would dare to enter his office unannounced. The alarm sensors indicated that the courier was unarmed. The only metal on the courier’s person was in the special packet he carried in his left hand.

The courier laid the packet on the desk in front of the Security Chief and bowed, respectfully. The crisp lines of his clothing and his alert demeanor indicated nothing of the hours he had spent traveling halfway around the globe to deliver this information in person to his superior.

“This is from our American offices in New Mexico, sir,” the courier stated. “On this disk is the confirmation of the data you received last evening. It also contains the video; the proof you requested. It has been verified and is absolutely authentic.”

He stood, waiting silently.

“Thank you, Johnson,” the man behind the desk said. His voice was gravelly and hoarse, the result of too many cigars and his own second-hand smoke. “Go get something to eat. Report back in a hour.”

“Yes, sir!” the courier replied. Turning sharply on the balls of his feet, he turned and left the opulent office of the Security Chief.

Blacker waited until the door was closed.

“Computer, open security file ‘Jake Pestova’,” he ordered to no one in particular.

Blacker remembered the name easily, by now. A wall panel lit up. The file entries were displayed on the wall.

[Nov 9, 2059: Standard Security Check on job applicant Jake Pestova.]
[Subject’s records modified by Tabor Investigations, Inc. in 2051.]
[Subject’s actual age and birth date unknown.]

[Nov 11, 2059: Cross-reference Jake Pestova w/ legal:]
[American Military Intelligence: Nov 4, 1991: Ref: X file.]

[Nov 11, 2059: Request Data transfer: X file from MI to Tomlin Security Munich]
[Data Transfer Complete. Data from MI as follows:]

[Nov 4, 1991: X file closed due to termination of subject, Béla Wilson.]
[No DNA samples of subject available on site.]
[No physical evidence of termination of subject available.]
[For more information, request: Communication Blackout MI X, item 7.]

[Nov 11, 2059: Request Communication Blackout MI X, item 7.]
[Information not available. Reason: National security.]

[Nov 11, 2059: Cross-reference: Béla Wilson w/ legal.]
[Information not available. Reason: National security.]

[Nov 12, 2059: Cross-reference: Béla Wilson w/ civil.]
[Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:]

[Chicago, IL. Cook County Records: Last update 1991.]
[Béla Wilson: Born Betty Belview around 1904 exact date unknown.]
[Aliases: Bee Bee Belview.]
[Deceased: 1928. Cause of death: Multiple gunshot wounds.]

[Bozeman, Mt. County Courthouse Records: Last update 1991.]
[Aliases: Bee Bee Palinni, Béla Wilson.]
[Married Joseph Palinni in 1929, divorced in 1940.]
[Deceased: 1994. Cause of death: Multiple gunshot wounds.]

[Nov 12, 2059: Request police report of shooting death of Bee Bee Belview.]
[Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:]

[Shots fired. Witness saw boyfriend of Bee Bee Belview fleeing scene. Witness saw deceased’s body lying on floor in her apartment. No body found at scene of crime. Murder warrant issued on Johnny Dombrosky. Victim’s body not recovered.]
[Photo available.]

[Nov 12, 2059: Request police report of shooting death of Béla Wilson.]
[Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:]

Shots fired. 911 call: Robbery in progress. Three shooting victims at crime scene: Béla Wilson: multiple gunshot wounds in back and chest. Jake Pestova: single gunshot wound in stomach.
John Doe: single gunshot wound in back of head.]

[Additional data re: Béla Wilson data as follows:]

[Subject disappeared in route to hospital. Body not recovered.]
[Photo available.]

[Additional data re: Béla Wilson as follows:]

[Subject’s name appears in legal hearing of Charles Blacker. “Béla Wilson was a vampire! An evil creature of the night! I did society a favor by ridding the world of her!”]

[Nov 13, 2059: Request news coverage re: Charles Blacker.]
[Data Transfer Complete: Information as follows:]

[Charles Blacker: police officer accused of attempted murder of Frank Tabor and Tonya Hastings.
Subject accused Frank Tabor’s boss and senior partner of The Target Club Béla Wilson of being a vampire and confessed to her murder by car bomb. Official police records differ; showing that subject vanished after being shot. Body not recovered.]

[Nov 15, 2059: Application approved. R. Blacker, Asst. Security Off. Albuquerque Division. Tomlin Corp.]

Blacker paused the display. He’d read it many times before. There was no DNA available to indicate that this Wilson person ever existed. There were photographs of her available from 1928 and from her obituary in 1994. Except for hairstyle and clothing, she looked exactly the same in each photograph.

He continued the display, looking over the actions he himself had instigated.

[June 30, 2060: Electronic surveillance initiated re: Jake Pestova]
[July 7, 2060: Electronic surveillance initiated re: Frank Tabor]
[Cross-reference all entries to Security File ‘Jake Pestova’.]

[Oct 1, 2060: Pestova retirement plan approved. Construction to begin during last year of service.]

[Unknown infrared and electromagnetic activity detected.]
[Location: Pestova apartment in Albuquerque.]

[Reprogram to erase duplicate entries re: Pestova apartment in Albuquerque. Display only most recent alert and increment counter number of incidents.]

[Unknown infrared and electromagnetic activity detected.]
[Location: Pestova apartment in Albuquerque.]
[Incidents: 86.]

[August 14, 2079: Construction completed on Pestova retirement facility. MAS-DEC Security System feed installed as requested. All tests negative. All systems operational.]

[Unknown infrared and electromagnetic activity detected.]
[Location: Tabor apartment in Bozeman.]

[MAS-DEC Security alert:]
[Infrared and electromagnetic motion detected.]
[Location: Pestova retirement facility.]

[Reprogram to erase duplicate MAS-DEC Security alerts.]
[Display only most recent alert and increment counter number of incidents.]

[Poltergeist activity detected on visual feed. Pistol appears on dresser.]
[Location: Tabor apartment in Bozeman.]
[Incidents: 01.]

[MAS-DEC Security alert:]
[Infrared and electromagnetic motion detected.]
[Location: Pestova retirement facility.]
[Incidents: 238.]

Blacker took the disc out of the padded protective envelope and laid it on the receiver built into his desk. He watched the new information as it was added to the file displayed on the wall.

[Class A ALERT:]
[VR system activation at Tabor residence.]
[Security Video feed activated.]

Blacker watched as two young girls in very flashy one-piece mini-dresses suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the steps outside the building. His eyes widened as he recognized the Wilson girl from the old photographs.

The wild stories his grandfather had told him when he was a child visiting the crazed old man in the asylum were actually true! This woman really was immortal! His intuitive surveillance of those who were closest to her was finally paying off after years of watching and patiently waiting for her to reappear.

He watched the internal surveillance feed as the mysterious woman vanished from Frank Tabor’s bed after having made love to him. He was a little annoyed at the odd video glitch just before she left. It had showed her positioned beneath Tabor, then instantly reappearing above him. That indicated a gap of about ten seconds of lost data. He would have to arrange for the covert surveillance unit to be checked for malfunction.

The second video feed came from the MAS-DEC security system installed in Jake Pestova’s retirement cabin in the desert; the most likely place this Wilson woman would manifest, if, in fact, she really existed. According to the event log, she reappeared on the landing pad outside of Pestova’s cabin less than a second after she vanished from the Tabor residence. She was wearing some kind of artificial wing attachments and was, other than the wings, completely naked.

According to his up-to-the-minute reports from his agents at MAS-DEC Security, she was still there, inside the cabin.

‘You’ve returned from the dead, my beauty…’ Blacker thought gleefully. ‘It’s time to find out how you’ve stayed alive so long. And where you got that instantaneous transporter technology you’re using…’

The company that could develop real, non-fictional transporter technology could make several fortunes. Raymond Blacker intended to be the man in charge of that company. His long shot had finally paid off.

I’m going to own the world!

He couldn’t stop smiling to himself and his hands shook with anticipation as he re-lit his cigar and blew a perfect smoke ring that encircled the round shade of the antique tiffany lamp on his desk. Then he began making plans to return to the U.S. He wanted to handle her capture personally.

End of Book II: Phoenix

Stay tuned for Book III: Wrinkles in TIme

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