AFTER-ACTION REPORT

During Easter Weekend, April 6-8, 1945 agents Corliss (ranking officer), Tolle, McDaniel, and Shevardino were dispatched to Statesville, NC to provide backup and general security for Adeline Kersey-Vespers. Ms. Vespers had taken leave and retreated to the care of a Southern Baptist faith healer, Reverend Wayne Newman. Fearing for the integrity of DET66 information and the general sanity of Ms. Vespers regarding her continued search among medical quacks to restore her ability to walk, Olsen sent this rather large detachment considering the light duty. Initial attempts by Corliss and McDaniel to present Corliss as a wealthy patron eager for a cure for his persistent leg troubles were rebuffed by Newman's attendants while other patrons were heartily greeted. During this time, Tolle and Shevardino made contact with Ms. Vespers; found her in good spirits and hopeful of a cure, but wary of the Reverend's foul temper.

Following the evening's sermon, suspicion of the good reverend grew in regards to the appearance of an odd trailer to the caravan coinciding with a hijacked shipment of Plutonium from the Clinton Engineering Works in Oak Ridge, TN. Ms. Vespers had also covertly given the team a coded message indicating that Newman was wise to their arrival and was keeping her under surveillance. The team returned that night to remove Ms. Vespers and locate traces of the missing plutonium. Tolle cut the lights to the compound of tents and busses to provide cover for an entrance by Shevardino and McDaniel. An account of the entry by Shevardino indicates that while he was preparing Ms. Vesper's wheelchair one of the reverend's thugs entered the tent, surprising both himself and his lookout McDaniel. Gasoline powered generators were activated restoring power to the camp, and bringing the Reverend himself and a score of his attendants (still wearing sunglasses). Although they pleaded with Ms. Vespers, she refused to leave the Reverend's care stating that this was her last chance to walk again and become a productive member of the DET66 team.

Sunday morning, Easter, the team returned to the revival meeting. A coded message from Ms. Vespers warned the team that Newman was some sort of alien. Unable to extract Vespers and under constant surveillance the team reluctantly watched as Newman performed his healing ritual on Ms. Vespers - with astonishing results. She was, indeed, able to stand and walk on her own. In the pandemonium following the healing, the team searched the compound for the missing plutonium. The empty lead "pigs" used to transport the radioactive samples were found adjacent to a strange device that turned out to be a time machine of alien design. Discovery of the team within the trailer lead to a standoff- the machine in trade for the recently restored Ms. Vespers. A daring attempt to rescue Ms. Vespers by Tolle resulted in a lethal shot to her head. Without his bargaining piece, Newman launched himself at Tolle, and began absorbing his "life energy". One of the touring busses owned by Reverend Newman was suddenly driven by Corliss into the trailer's side, dislodging Newman from Tolle. Newman then activated the machine with the apparent goal of reaching the historic Vlad Dracolya. However, gunshot wounds from Shevardino and McDaniel had weakened the reverend, and he was pulled from the machine, replaced by both Shevardino and McDaniel who were attempting to deactivate the machine. With a shimmer both men and the machine had vanished.

Wayne Newman was revived in the local hospital but kept sedated. While under sedation Newman's ranting painted a story of being stranded on Earth for 160 years during which time he had built the machine to rescue his compatriot, Vlad, from our past. Further questioning revealed that his healing abilities resulted from an ability to absorb and transfer the life force from animals - apparently this includes humans as well. The life force of individuals both fed Newman and was used to restore Ms. Vespers (note the Statesville, NC missing persons report for Miss Sadie Hawkins and others associated with Reverend Newman have been deemed classified following DET66 review). Newman is currently housed in Wing 66, Alcatraz Penitentiary where the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay are predicted to be lethal to his physiology and should keep him confined.