Tuesday, April 11, 1979. Streaker is performing their concert at the Zenith Pavillion in Sacramento, California when the fans got so caught up with the music and some of them noticed a red light coming from the ceiling. They looked up at the skylight where they noticed the moon was bright red and with the wild music vibrating the building, many of the teenagers were frightened into killing themselves. Soon others followed, except one. Ryan Browning, is definitely mystified at the red moon and bewildered at the mass suicide happening around him.

Saturday, May 13, 1879. Terry Benoon, while getting a shave at the local barber in Deadwood, South Dakota is informed by Nate Woodson that a man is keeping company with Terry's favorite woman at the Bear Tooth Saloon. Terry Benoon takes the cloth over his shirt off, wipes himself off and heads over to the Saloon. Matthew Pitt walks into the Bear Tooth Saloon to wet his thirst while traveling the west and orders a beer. Patrick Ryan Browning, a favorite of many of the residents of Deadwood is playing his Banjo while a very attractive prostitute sits next to him, enjoying the music. Terry barrels into the room causing the swinging doors to hit the wall hard with a loud clap. Terry takes in the view of his favorite woman fawning over the Banjo player she is sitting close to. Terry had picked up a pick axe on his way over and tosses it at Patrick Browning. Matthew Pitt witnesses the attempt to murder Patrick Browning, along with the others in the bar. Patrick ducks the axe and pulls his gun out and shoots Terry Benoon dead. A quick hearing was held with the mayor of Deadwood, E.B. Farnum presiding and declaring that Patrick Browning was in the right to defend himself. At the hearing, Matthew Pitt meets a fellow friend and traveler, Charlie Utter. Charlie Utter was happy to meet his friend, Matthew Pitt, the tall and dark haired gentleman with twinkling green eyes. Charlie Utter, a fellor trapper, surveyor, guide and prospector who cut a notable figure himself. At five feet and five inches, he was meticulous in appearance with his flowing blonde hair and mustache, perfectly groomed, wore hand-tailored fringed buckskins, fine linen shirts, beaded moccasins, and a large silver belt buckle, and carried a pair of gold, silver, and pearl ornamented pistols. Most unusual of all, he insisted on bathing daily.

2279 BC. Pepi II Neferkare, the longest reigning monarch of all time, becomes pharoah of Egypt at the age of 6. Witnesses reported that a red moon appeared that night and many believed that it was a prophecy of doom. This was the first reported sighting of the red moon. Meanwhile, a ship loaded with strange cargo left the shores of Egypt that night, never to be seen again.

2009. Ryan Browning was intrigued by the invitation to a NUMA discovery. Ryan Browning's work as a Cryptozoologist was well known among certain scientific circles. Standing on the deck of the NUMA ship, Viking Princess of the Volsong, Ryan was chilled despite the coldweather gear that was supposed to keep him warm but the coldness of the north Atlantic ocean seeped in. The crane swooped down as a submersible broke the surface and two men emeged from the hatch on the top of the underwater craft. They hooked the crane to a couple of huge metal eyelets. Soon the submersible was lifted out of the water and hoisted onboard the NUMA Ship. Beneath the submersible was an attached metal container that held the contents of an Egyptian ship that had been discovered beneath the waters of the north Atlantic. It was still another two hours before the contents of the metal container was laid out on a large operating table. Everyone was stunned at the sight of the creature that lay dead on the cold metal table.

Ryan Browning was beginning to realize what the creature was, when Dirk Pitt demanded to know what the temperature in the room was. Chad Kriegel said it was 68 degress. Dirk said, "Turn that temperature down to freezing as fast as possible, now!!!".

"That is the Phoenix, my friend and you were right to have the temperature taken down. It was already beginning to come around. I am not sure as to the specific temperature it should be at to keep it from coming back to life. Somehow, man or nature conspired to keep it from reviving itself".

June 6, 1944. Swooping down in his Grumman XF5F-1 aircraft, Kurt Browning shoots at the Nazi pillbox bunkers that were decimating the soldiers on the beach. Fiercely putting every ounce of his energy into crippling the bunkers so that many soldiers on the beach can make a beachhead and destroy the bunkers. Janos was his wingman and warned Kurt to pull up and come around again. Janos Prohaska told Kurt, "Lets's do our job, Kurt, and try not to get killed. Edward Black has paid for these aircraft and we cannot afford to lose them or our lives. Blackhawk Industries wants us as their representatives in the sky and bring this war to a quick end".

With the Phoenix literally on ice, and having just wrapped the Tammy Tryloff/Air Force One affair just days ago, Dirk was spinning with dizziness and needed some peace and rest. Two major events within a month had him seing red everywhere. Dirk headed to the Northwest to be with his son, Dirk Jr. for some R&R.

Dirk Jr. was happy to see his father, Dirk. Dirk Jr. wanted to go to Deadwood, South Dakota to soak up some of the Old West. Dirk was obliging and went on a cross country ride with his son to South Dakota.

Riding in the turqoise Chrysler 300-D convertible through Idaho, Montana and into South Dakota was a thrill with beautiful sunny days that enhanced the expanse of the vast western countryside. Leaving Interstate 90 onto state route 85 and heading south into the Black Hills of South Dakota in Lawrence county, Dirk Jr. drove into Deadwood in the middle of the Black Hills. They found an Inn to register at and decided to walk about the old western town that had been turned into something of a tourist trap. They came upon the Bear Tooth Saloon and decided to have lunch inside. An old man sat next to them at the bar and introduced himself, Devon Birdsong. "I am a longtime resident here, fellas. Nice to meet the two of you. My grandpappy lived here back in the 1870s and 1880s. He was a character as my father described him. A Raconteur, he was. Enjoyed telling stories of Deadwood and his early years before the war between the states. Let me tell you a few of them if you don't mind". Dirk and Dirk Jr. smiled and listened patiently and began to enjoy the stories. Eventually, one of the stories was about the time that Deadwood had burned down in September of 1879. "Some months before that, a man was killed after attempting to kill Patrick Ryan Browning right here in this saloon with a pick axe. Well, Patrick ducked, and killed that mean old Terry Benoon, he did. There were several witnesses to tell the story at the hearing, including a couple of well known old-timers, Matthew Pitt and Amon Tibor Fabrizian, both of whom were well known for their exploits as Scouts, guides, surveyors, mountaineers, fur trappers and in Matthew Pitt's case, a journalist among many of the things he accomplished in his long and eventful life". Amon Tibor Fabrizian and Matthew Pitt had crossed paths over the years in their many travels. Say, didn't you mention your last name was Pitt?". Dirk nodded his head and, "Yes, Matthew is my grandfather'. "Well, tarnation! I'll be a mules a**!! For land's sake, young man, I would like to shake the hand of a Pitt!!". Devon and Dirk shake hands and Devon shakes Dirk Jr.'s as well.

At the age of 69 in 1905, Amon Tibor Fabrizian walked into Delmonico's in New York City at 44th St. and Fifth Avenue. Wealthy but not quite dressed right, he was kicked out unceremoniously but not without being noticed by Gineane Griffiths, who had been dining with her friends inside the restaurant. Making her excuses to leave, Gineane caught up with Amon and introduced herself as a woman of means. Amon was impressed and began a slow but steadily growing affection for her. Gineane steered Amon into her clothing store and began the process of finding the right kind of clothing that would fit the elderly gent. When she was done, Amon was impressed. Insisting upon buying the clothes, Gineane firmly said no but offered to walk with him back to Delmonico's on his arm, after entering the restaurant, Amon and Gineane were seated immediately. Amon was impressed and decided to help the young and beautiful woman by proposing a business deal where he would be the promoter of her fine clothing store. Soon, the store grew into a successful business. They also became involved romantically and in June of 1906, Gineane gave birth to a baby boy. He was named Tibor Braden Fabrizian.

Returning back to work at NUMA after his trip with Dirk Jr., Dirk felt it hard to concentrate on his job. Near the end of the day Admiral Sandecker strode into Dirk's office and saw the nerve wracked frustration over several piles of paperwork written on Dirk's face, he told the man to sit back and relax for a moment. The Admiral pulled out a cigar and started the process of lighting it up when Al Giordino walked in smiling with a cigar in his mouth. The Admiral stared hard at Al's cigar. "Admiral, you always give me that same stare. Give it up, why don't you, just accept that I have my own supplier too" Al said with a grin. The Admiral turned to Dirk and pulled the cigar out of his mouth and "Dirk, I need you to go to Iraq for me. An important archaeological find has been found in the Euphrates and your presence is sorely needed". "Surely, I can't leave all this paperwork, now that I have made some headway, can I?" The Admiral smiled and "Yes Dirk, you can go and leave all that work here, it will be waiting for you when you return".

After arriving in Baghdad and being whisked by car to the boat that lay over the site on the Euphrates, Dirk was shown a ceramic pot with symbols that had been interpreted as having the seeds of the tree of knowledge inside. Gaokerena, otherwise known as the tree of knowledge was known to be the roost of the Simorgh, the persian name of the Phoenix. . It roosted in the tree of life, Gaokerena, and lived in the land of the sacred Haôma plant, whose seeds could cure all evil. In later Iranian lore, the Simorgh became a symbol of divinity. Sçnmurw/Simorgh is also identified as Homâ in Persian literature and in Arabic introduced as the Rukh (the origin of the English word "Roc").
When the Simorgh took flight, the tree of knowledge's leaves shook making all the seeds of every plant to fall out. These seeds floated around the world, taking root to become every type of plant that ever lived, and curing all the illnesses of mankind.

Later, in his hotel room, Dirk began to think that things were setting him on a course that would lead to something he cannot fathom just yet and that scared him. Being one of the first people to see physical evidence of what had been thought as nothing more than a mythological creature now was very unsettling. Then the discovery of the ceramic pot in the Euphrates about the tree of knowledge and the connection with the Phoenix was unbelievable, to say the least. Where will this lead? thought Dirk. Only god knows and Dirk decided to keep his faith to stay on the course being laid out in front of him.

After returning to the States, Dirk heads to his hangar for a few hours of rest before flying on to Seattle. Upon arriving at Sea-Tac International, Dirk rents a car and drives to the Bay Vista Residential Bldg. where his son, Dirk Jr. lives. After being allowed in by security, Dirk rides the elevator to the top floor where his son lives in Suite B, one of only two penthouse suites. Dirk Jr. is happy to see his dad. "Would you like a beer, Dad?" "Yes, please"

Jae-Nae Fine Clothiers was located on the fourth floor of the Fulks building in Midtown Manhattan, where Dominic Griffiths held court as the President and General Manager. Suitably well heeled and smoothly at ease with the wealthy, Dominic was a happy man who loved his position in Manhattan. Having inherited the company founded by his Grand-Aunt Gineane Griffiths, Dominic had allowed a private venture-capital firm take a silent partnership in the clothing company. Deep Number Nine Partners was a shadowy outfit that had been set up to find legitimate businesses to cover up their true nature. The founders had to find a way to channel their financing of a project that only they knew the full picture of.

Despite the upcoming anniversary of Ida's passing. Ryan Browning tried to push the memories back down as he shivered in the frozen room where the body of the Phoenix lay in state. Even with the protective gear on, Ryan felt the coldness seep through the cold weather gear. Looking at the beautful creature in the -40 degree chamber, he turned to leave. The decision not to announce the discovery was gnawing at him. Dirk Pitt had been very persuasive in his argument that there would be interested parties to try and nab the creature made sense. Leaving the unmarked building and stripping off the cold weather gear, he placed the outfit in the trunk of his car and pulled away from the parking spot in the alley, Ryan could feel the memories of Ida rising up in his mind again. It was nearly two years since she had died on that island out in the Pacific Ocean.