The following takes place between 5am and 6am. Events occur in real time.

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5am eastern standard time/ 12pm local time

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Although it is noon, the passengers on this plane couldn't tell that without a watch. There is a terrible storm outside, which has forced the pilots to take an alternate route, hoping to put the passengers in less danger. A young woman named Madeline is trying to comfort her 4 year old daughter. This child is scared of the storm, Madeline assures her it will be okay. Madeline is wrong. She sees something coming at the plane, coming very quickly. Instinctively Madeline tries to shield her child, but it is all in vain. This missle completely destroys the plane, killing every man, woman, and child onboard.

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In Washington D.C., a 17 year old named Raj quietly ransacks a refrigerator, putting some cans of soda into his bag. He hopes the owner won't wake up, but the owner of this apartment does wake up, and turns on the lights. The owner is Raj's father, Rahul.

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Raj: Sorry dad, didn't mean to wake you.

Rahul: I have to get up anyway for work.

Raj: Thanks for the day off.

Rahul: Are you filling your backpack only with soda and junkfood?

Raj: Can't march on an empty stomach.

Rahul: Please take some juice and granola bars.

Raj; Okay.

Rahul: And be careful today. I understand why you want to protest these polluters, provided the protest is peaceful.

Raj: It will be.

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Raj hugged his father and left. Rahul didn't yet realize that his son was secretly saying goodbye, Raj wasn't planning on ever coming home again.

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Jack Bauer was awake, there seemed little point in trying to go back to sleep right now. At any rate, he wanted to savor this moment with Audrey. She was still asleep. When she woke up, they would spend a good day off together, the beach, maybe the movies tonight. Jack Bauer had a good life, right now, he wanted to savor it while he could. He and Audrey were in love, they both worked for James Hellar, Secretary of Defense and Audrey's father, a man Jack greatly respected. And Jack had a good relationship with his daughter Kimberly. She seemed to be in a good job as a sales rep, and in a good relationship herself with a man she loved. But while Jack was in a good place, he didn't get a lot of time off from his job, that was why he wanted to savor today. But then his pager went off, it seemed to wake Audrey up. It seemed that her pager was also going off. Whatever this was, it seemed that they didn't have a day off after all.

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At the White House president Bartlett is asleep, for the moment. But then his phone rang, waking him up.

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Bartlett: Charlie, I'm going to have a snooze button surgically implanted into you. It won't hurt much.

Leo: Sir, we have a situation.

Bartlett: Leo, what is it?

Leo: Please, we need you in the Situation Room.

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At this point the president noticed that it was still dark outside, the clock said 5:05. It was Saturday, he was supposed to be able to sleep until 7am, they wouldn't wake him up unless it was an emergency. The president gets up, by this point his wife Abby has also woken up. He tells her to go back to sleep, Secret Service is probably just doing a drill. As he leaves the president quietly says "Please God, let this be a drill." Jed Bartlett takes the elevator down to the Situation Room, still in his pajamas. Two Secret Service agents silently accompany him in the elevator. The look on their faces suggested this is not a drill. Leo is in the Situation Room, as are admiral Percy Fitzwallace and NSA director Kate Harper, two of his top military advisors.

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Bartlett: Okay, what is the situation?

Fitzwallace: A british commercial airliner was shot down over the kingdom of Qumar.

Bartlett: We're certain it was them?

Leo: Initial reports say the plane had to take an alternate route because of a thunderstorm.

Bartlett: Was this a fringe group, or the Qumari Air Force?

Harper: It's too early to tell. And if it was their air force, there's something else to consider. For the last six months we've been using drone planes to find suspected qumari nuclear sites.

Bartlett: Are you saying they believed a british commercial plane, was really an American spy plane?

Harper: In the storm, we can't be certain one way or the other.

Bartlett: How many dead?

Leo: Over 100, at least six americans.

Bartlett: But most were citizens of the UK?

Fitzwallace: Yes sir.

Bartlett: Which means prime minister Grady will want to use this as an opportunity to bomb Qumar, destroy any chance we have of a peaceful solution. Get me Grady on the phone now.

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President Bartlett hoped he could keep these two sides from destroying each other, but that was becoming much less likely at the moment.

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5:10