Chapter Ten

Michelle got briefed by Shiflett on what had gone on with Jack while she was away from her desk, which didn't result in much. She thanked him and sat down. Tony and Mason both headed over to her for an update.

She had just opened her mouth to speak when they heard a loud noise, sounding like an explosion. Mason grabbed the phone, dialed Jack's cell, put it on speaker and asked, "Jack, what's happening up there?"

"We're going down. The pilots don't know what's going on. It felt like some kind of explosion. We're losing all kinds of power up here. They think they can make a safe crash landing on a soft riverbed located in Sector J. The coordinates are 34-30-44 north 119-zero-niner-zero-five west. Did you get that?"

"Yep, we got it," Mason confirmed.

They heard Jack say, "Nina, there's a chance we're not gonna make it through this. We need to know the location of the bomb now. Nina, we've given you everything you've asked for. Please!"

Michelle's heart thudded in her chest. If she didn't talk and she perished in the plane crash… The chances of finding the nuke if their only lead perished was slim to none. She glanced up at Tony, who was sitting on the side of her desk listening to the conversation. His eyes were dark and his face grim, staring down at the desk as he listened. Michelle wanted to reach out and touch him, grab his hand or some kind of contact. She never felt the urgency quite this strong before, but she knew she wanted to act on her feelings towards him. Only one time in her life had she approached a guy before, and that had been on a drunken dare. How she would summon the courage she didn't know, but she wanted to tell Tony how she felt before she died.

She died. It was really the first time she had honestly felt hopeless, like she really could die from this threat. Focus, Michelle, stop thinking that way! While there still is a chance of survival, focus on that.

Her little pep talk helped and she re-focused in on the conversation around her.

"George, we're going down now," Jack was yelling. "We're not gonna make it to the riverbed. The coordinates I have you, they're going to be off…"

A loud pop and then static.

Mason said somberly, "Get the crash site coordinates from A.T.C. and send them to Search and Rescue."

Michelle typed in the coordinates and then called Air Traffic Control. "A.T.C., this is C.T.U. I need the exact coordinates."

It took a few minutes for A.T.C. to get the coordinates and have them send out a rescue team. After she completed that she took her laptop and headed for the conference room to examine the satellite images. Why did the plane go down? As she zoomed in on the area at the time of the explosion she was shocked at what she saw. Who knew they were going to be there? Only C.T.U. and N.S.A. knew Jack and Nina were on that plane, headed for San Diego.

She looked up as Mason walked in.

"These images were taken around the time the pilot reported the explosion," she said. She zoomed in until they could see the light from a missile as it had been ejected.

"God, they were shot down?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, by some kind of ground-to-air missile," Michelle confirmed, examining the images. A drop of blood fell on her screen and she looked up.

Mason's nose was bleeding. He sniffled and took a napkin out of his pocket to wipe it. "Compile a list of anybody that might have had access to their flight plan," Mason instructed.

"Okay."

"I think it's safe to assume whoever it was doesn't want us to find the nuke and if Nina didn't die in the crash they're probably gonna want to finish the job."

"I have Search and Rescue scrambling now," Michelle assured him.

"Make sure they're well-armed," Mason sighed. "And get me their E.T.A. as soon as you have it." He sniffled again and walked away.

Michelle stared after him. Something didn't seem right here.

Tony was looking for George everywhere and finally found him as he was coming out of the conference room. "Hey, George. Richards told me that you had Warner and Naiyeer transferred to room seven."

"That's right."

Tony grunted. "Well, I had them separated for a reason."

"Yeah, because I told you to, and it's not working. So let's put them together and play them off each other, all right?"

"I don't get you, George." Tony blurted out. "One minute you're running away trying to save your own ass. The next minute you're back here trying to act as if you actually give a damn about anybody but yourself."

"Hey, back off."

"No, I'm not gonna back off, George. Not today," Tony said a little more softly. "Now, what's going on?"

George stared at him for a moment and then said quietly, "Remember the warehouse in Panorama City?"

Tony nodded.

"Weapons-grade plutonium, airborne in the firefight?"

"You were exposed?" asked Tony, his heart sinking.

"Yeah. Said I'd be lucky if I make it through to tomorrow."

Tony shook his head and looked down. His hand reached up to rub his forehead in agony. He and George didn't meet eye to eye on many issues, but he would never wish this on him. Another loss of life. "I don't know what to say, George. I'm sorry."

"Me too," George said.

"Does anybody else know about this?"

"Just Jack… and you. Can we keep it that way?"

Tony nodded his agreement. "Do you need anything? Is there something I can do?"

"Just do your job. Let me do mine."

George walked away. Tony stared after him, and then rushed to catch up. They were both needed in the interrogation rooms. They listened from comm as Warner and Naiyeer talked in the other room. They were hoping to find out who was lying. Naiyeer was very upset and tried to see if Warner was lying or not. Warner said as little as possible.

Naiyeer pushed him a little far and they started physically fighting, but the two security guards than came in with Tony and George pulled them apart. Tony felt some hope when Naiyeer said he'd take them to Warner's office and pull up computer records to prove who was involved.

Why couldn't they have done this two hours ago? He thought wearily as he took Naiyeer's arm and steered him outside. He left him with a security guard and then headed back to his desk to organize a unit to take Naiyeer to the Warner office.

He ran into Michelle.

"Hey, where's George?" she asked.

"With Naiyeer. He broke."

Michelle didn't even comment on that, which he was surprised at. "Look, he wanted an E.T.A. on the Search and Rescue. Could you tell him they're about twelve minutes away from the crash site?"

"Okay," he agreed and started walking away.

"Tony," Michelle called.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning back around to face her.

"What's going on with George?"

She knows, he realized by the look on her face. How did she know? "As far as what?" he stalled.

"He's sick, isn't he? He's got some kind of radiation poisoning, doesn't he?"

Tony scoffed and folded his arms. Damn she's good! "Where'd you get that?"

Michelle stared at him incredulously for a moment and then explained, "Hazmat's all over the warehouse he raided this morning, so it's gotta be hot, right? I was just working with him and his nose started bleeding. And that's after Shipler told me he was throwing up in the bathroom. And it doesn't take a doctor to figure it out." She glanced away for a moment, but then looked him in the eye. "Besides, I can read your face pretty well by now."

Tony looked around to make sure no one was listening, surprised but not surprised by her statement. He could read her face and body language pretty well also. He also couldn't deny George's condition now either. Sorry George. "Look, ah, he doesn't want anybody else to know, okay?"

"How bad?" she asked quietly.

"Pretty bad."

"Can he run things in his condition?"

"Yeah, I think so."

She shook her head. "No, that's not good enough. I mean, I feel bad for him, but if he's compromised mentally or physically, we can't take---"

Tony interrupted, "He can do his job, Michelle. He wants to do his job like I've never seen before. He's determined to stop this bomb."

"Yeah, well, so am I. Which is why I think he should step down," Michelle persisted.

Tony rubbed his face again. "Look, I'll keep an eye on him and the second he misses a step, I'll make sure he backs off."

"No, you have enough to do without having to baby-sit him." She argued.

"I'm not baby-sitting him, Michelle." He looked her dead in the eye. "Now, you gotta trust me on this."

He walked away without giving her a chance to comment. While he understood her concerns about his condition, he honestly believed George was more use to them now than before he got sick. Whether it was trying to exact revenge against those who got him exposed in the first place or just the desire to do something right with his life before he died; whatever the reason, George was determined to find the nuke. Tony didn't want to step in unless he had to.

Michelle received the call from Tim Meyers, head of Search and Rescue. "Ms. Dessler, we have confirmation that Jack Bauer and Nina Myers are alive; however, the two F.B.I. agents and the pilot were killed on impact. There is a problem, though."

There's always a problem. "What's that?"

"Whoever forced that plane to the ground send a hostile team in after the survivors Bauer took out seven hostiles before we got there."

"Do we know who these hostiles were?" she asked.

"Not yet. My team is working up I.D.s on them," Meyers said.

"Okay," she said. "Thanks for the update."

"Oh, there's one other problem, Ms. Dessler," Meyers said, stopping her from hanging up. "Myers took Bauer hostage sometime during the exchange. She's demanding to speak to the president."

"You've got to be kidding me!" she groaned. "Okay, hold the line. I'll get George Mason for you."

She looked up and saw Tony and Mason escorting Naiyeer out of C.T.U. Michelle approached them, "Mr. Mason, Tony."

"Yeah?" Mason asked.

She explained what was happening and both men groaned like she had. Mason gave Tony instructions about Naiyeer and then indicated Michelle to follow him to his office. He sat in his chair and called the president's office. Michelle paced the room. As soon as he was off, she said, "We have a secured line ready to listen in."

They heard a phone ring. "Ms. Myers, this Mike Novick. I'm the president's chief of staff."

"I asked to speak to the president," Nina said.

"He's not available," Novick said, even though Michelle knew President Palmer was listening to the conversation as well.

"Do you want to stop this nuclear bomb or not?" Nina asked.

"Of course we do."

"Then put the president on."

"I'm authorized to negotiate on his behalf."

"What I want is nonnegotiable."

"What do you want?"

"I'll tell you where the bomb is in exchange for immunity."

Michelle looked at Mason in confusion. Nina Myers had already been granted immunity from the president.

Mike Novick said, "The president's already granted you a total pardon."

Nina answered, "Except this is a crime I haven't committed yet."

"What crime?"

"The murder of Jack Bauer."

What! Oh my God! Michelle's eyes raised in horror to Mason's. He looked as shocked as she felt.

"Add that to my pardon, and I'll tell you where the bomb is."

"And if we don't comply?" Novick asked quietly.

"We don't have a choice," Jack spoke up.

"Is that you, Mr. Bauer?" Novick asked.

"Yes. Please tell the president that I do not believe he has any other choice but to accept her deal."

All of a sudden the president's voice filled the office. "Is C.T.U. on a secured line?"

"Yes, this is George Mason. We're on a designed channel. I also have Michelle Dessler and, ah, Tony Almeida."

Tony walked into the room; he had been listening in via a headset. His face was grim.

"Do you have any alternatives to what she's asking?" President Palmer asked. "Any weaknesses that we might be able to exploit?"

"None. She's a survivor, sir," Mason said. "She knows Bauer, and she knows if she doesn't kill him now, he'll hunt her down and find her later."

"So, in your assessment, Nina Myers is out best chance to stop this bomb?" the president asked.

"Sir, she may be our only chance," George said solemnly.

"Ms. Myers, this is President Palmer."

"I'm listening."

"Is Jack Bauer there?"

"Yes, Mr. President, I'm here too." Jack said.

"Ms. Myers, if the information you provide culminates in the successful interception of the nuclear device you will get everything you asked for." There was silence for a minute and then President Palmer continued, "You will be pardoned in advance for the murder of Jack Bauer."

Michelle sucked in a breath. Oh my God! The sacrifices that were happening today to stop this bomb. Paula, George and now Jack! And that's besides the other employees of C.T.U. that had lost their lives earlier today. She closed her eyes briefly in agony.

"I can live with that," Nina said.

"Start talking, Nina," Jack ordered.

"The bomb will be detonated by a man named Syed Ali."

"We know about Ali. We need to know where he is," Mason stated.

"He's at a house in Chatsworth on Starling Court. 18 Starling Court."

Mason looked at Tony, "Contact local law enforcement. Have them set up a perimeter."

"Okay," he said and left the room.

"Coordinate among the relevant agencies," he said to Michelle and she ran off to do his bidding. Finally something concrete to work with!