Disclaimer: CBS Owns all rights to Jericho and it's Canon characters, and NBC owns Casey. My own plotline and characters are mine though.

Timeline Layout: Bombs+205 days. 25 days after "Why we fight", 5 Days prior to The season Two Episode "Reonstruction" and 4 days after chapter 2 of the Hawkins files.

Series Layout: Follows Hawkins on a AU path (Chinook universe) to tracking down Valente and his group of thugs. IN this AU the Western Government (Allied States of America) is not inherently evil. More like Valente, J&R and a number of picked thugs have corruptiuon throughout the government. This will cover mainly conspiracy and laying out the outline of the politcal aspect of my "Chinook" universe. Whereas the actually Chinook series will cover the little peoples aspect. Also, I am going to stick somewhere between Canon and total AU for the next few episodes.

Chapter explanation: Sortof short. But it conveys everything that happens between chap 2 and when stuff gets moving better in chap 4 (Set during 2X01 episode Reconstruction).

Warnings: Mild language. ALSO-----Unbeta'd Sorry. But I was stumped on this one, got a inspiration and finished and psoted it.

Feedback: Please leave!!!! Mucho appreciated!!!!

[WRITERS QUESTION: Luck has been against me and I have missed some of the Jericho Episodes. I have a couple questions.
#1. Am I portraying Beck right? I got the hint, that although he is doing his job. That he would VERY MUCH dislike a lot of government agents..... am I right?
#2....I am trying to keep Casey Canon to himself....Am I succeeding? Because his canon behavious is why I picked him Start changing too much and he ain't the same mean, cold, hard and hilarious secret agent.

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Major John Casey stood in front of the Video screen for several minutes, awaiting his conferance with Valente. The plan he worked out with Hawkins had been risky, but he decided to gamble on it. It was all they could do until they could find a way to get into the high end files in Cheyenne's computer database.

If Casey could glean some "Infomation" from his new "Lead", they might be able to fake their way into access to them. And for the moment Hawkins would stay low and avoid contact with the new military forces.

"Valente is coming online sir," a man said behind him.

He stood in front of the screen for several seconds more before it fuzzed to life. When it came on, it had the same usual view. Valente sitting behind his desk, a look on his face as if he felt all powerful and superior and a charisma that made you want to punch him.

Casey glared inwardly at the man. Bald, overweight, sitting in a comfy chair in an air conditioned and heated office, manicured hands crossed in front of him, sitting on his pompous ass, while the army grunts and civilians of "his new country" were out humping it in the rough....and the entire situation his doing.

"You have information Mr. Casey?" he asked.

"Yes sir."

"You have located Sarah Mason then?"

"Uhh. No sir. But I don't think we will find her here sir," Casey started.

"And why is that Major?" Valente got the self-superior look on his face again.

"Sir. In my investigations, Mason DID arrive here. However she disappeared soon afterwards and a dead John Doe was found."

"Mason killed him?" Valente asked.

"We believe so sir. Jericho's CSI had not taken the proper precedures when they found the body, but they did lift the fingerprints, we ran them through the database and they came up flagged," Casey rummaged a minute, "I will send the photograph of the body when this conferance is over."

"Good work Major. However, you stated that you believe Sarah Mason is no longer there?"

"Yes sir. I have had several tips that she may have went to New Bern."

"The town that attacked Jericho?"

"Yes sir. I have reason to believe that she attempted to use her knowladge of her short stay in Jericho to extort resources from New Bern."

Valente was silent for several moments, mulling this over, "You may continue with your investigation as you see fit. Major Beck will continue the search for Mason in Jericho. Your orders remain the same. Find the suspect and eleminate her," he finished and then the screen went black.

Casey looked at the blank screen and his lips curled into a half-concealed snarl. "Asshole," he muttered.

He turned and walked back to Major Beck's office. The seated man looked up and put aside the folder he had been reading, "Major Casey."

"I am informing you that I am going to New Bern to continue my investigations."

Beck frowned. He didn't like that he had intentionally been left out of the video conferance. As far as he knew he should have been present, but Casey "Suggested" that he shouldn't attend. However he put aside the thoughts, "What reason? My orders are to search for the suspect in Jericho, I was under the assumption, your orders were the same. If something has changed, I should be informed."

"Your orders are the same. However I am following up a lead. I will not be long at New Bern, two or three days at the most," Casey emphasised the "your orders" part of his words. He tried to convey that although their rank was equel, his status in the CIA gave him priority over Beck.

Beck picked up his phone, "I will inform the New Bern contingent of your arrival and to cooperate fully in your investigation."

Casey flinched a hair. The last thing he needed was for the military to "help" him find a suspect that he knew wouldn't be found. That was why he had prevented Beck from joining the video conferance. "No sir. My operation will be covert. I cannot divulge any information, but increased military presence or activity will hinder my investigation. I will however inform the New Bern commander of my arrival."

By now Beck had picked up the fact that Casey was intentionally showing the fact that he outranked him. He didn't like the fact, but it was true, the new CIA ranks outranked their counterpart military ones when it came to intellegance operations. He stood up and motioned towards the door, "Then you had better be on your way. If you need assistance.....you know where to find me."

By standing and his careful wording, he was forcing Casey from the office. The CIA agent stiffened, turned and walked out. Major Beck smiled as he watched the man's back disappear. Although he held no personal grudge against the man, he didn't like intellagence agents. He had seen enough of them to know that almost every one had personal agenda's, and that government agencies were unified in name only, in reality being little cells working in somewhat unison.

Major Casey was just another cloak and dagger agent, who would lie to his face and not even blink....He had done it just now, and it bothered Beck, because he didn't see a reason for Casey to have done so.

'Guess we'll see what happens,' he thought to himself.

Cheyenne Wyoming. Capitol buildings complex.

Valente nodded and the video feed was switched off. He was silent a few moments before realizing that his secretary's assistant was still in the room, silently waiting.

"Your excused, Li," he said to the assistant.

The man nodded and silently exited the door. As he left, Valente had a cold feeling. Although he couldn't explain it, he had a uneasy feeling. His senses had always been seemingly attuned to people's actions versus their explanations, and this Major Casey bothered him. He brought up the agent's database file and perused it while deep in thought.

Although Valente had no way of being sure, the Major had seemed as if he had been with-holding something. The fact that he was a former NSA agent, one who had been particularly assigned "Specific and vital missions for the NSA" according to his file, bothered him. General Beckham had come within a hour of blowing his operation, and had undoubtably had operations going long before then. And if anyone had been assigned the case, it would have been the Major.

He had no proof of course, his operatives had skimmed most of the NSA's files before the bombs went off, to preserve their use for the new government. However in none was there any mention of himself, Jennings and Rall, or Operation Red Bell. Frankly, it bothered Valente. Anything important would have been on Beckhams personal computer database, where the most sensitive data was kept. And with that gone, he had no way of knowing the Major's intents.

He seemed loyal enough, even having taken down a number of rebel cells, opposed to the Allied Government. And he had taken the orders to report to Jericho and search for a "Terrorist" without question.

Valente shrugged. Possibly his instincts were wrong, he hated to admit they might be, but after this long, he was becoming slightly more paranoid. He took a moment and carefully poured a small measure of whiskey from a bottle on his desk.

He raised it to his mouth and slowly drained half the contents. Although it eased his mind a great deal, there was still a nagging at it. However he finally forced himself to shrug it off. There was nothing he could do now.

His many extended operations, from before, during and after the attacks had slowly whittled away at his original core group of agents. He was in the process of replacing many of the lost agents, and this Casey was a good prospect. Hopefully.....................It wouldn't come around to bite him in the ass.