Chapter 14
The Following Takes Place Between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM
Jack had ordered all three teams to get everything from the plane into the hangar. As they prepared an improvised interrogation room, he was now talking faster than ever, as if a second wasted on talking might doom them--- which for all they knew, it might.
"You're going to have to process all the prints here," he told the lab techs. "We don't have any mobile units and we don't have time to send anything back." Jack didn't even wait until the pilot of the decoy had been sat down before beginning his interrogation
"You," he said as they forced him into the chair "where's the real bomb? Where is the real bomb?!"
The pilot didn't answer them; whether out of ignorance or fanaticism, Jack couldn't guess. "Do you speak any English?" he demanded. No answer. "Do you speak any English?!" He turned to Sydney before the pilot finished shaking his head. "Start interrogating him. See if he's more talkative in Arabic."
Sydney nodded. "Where are we on the other people who were guarding the decoy?" she asked.
"We found no other survivors," Jack said grimly.
"Which doesn't mean there weren't any," Sydney pointed out. "The Covenant obviously has a larger force here than we thought; I don't believe for a second we killed all of them."
"Work on the pilot, I'll see what I can get from CTU."
Jack walked away, taking out his phone.
Your hair will start to fall out in clumps, George Mason heard the phantom paramedic say. That would be the first sign that his asymptomatic period was almost over. Of course, he'd been feeling pretty crappy for the last four or five hours, but now, as he looked at the hair that had come out as he had casually brushed his hand over his head, he now knew that he was going to go downhill pretty quickly. He had hoped to see the threat over before he left, but it was looking a lot like that wasn't going to happen.
"Mr. Mason, I finally have Jack Bauer on line two," came a voice from below. Was her name Diane? Deanna? George couldn't remember. His thinking was starting to get hazy too.
With a tremendous force of will, he shoved the pain aside. "Put him through," he said. "Jack where are we?"
"Still no sign of the nuke."
George pulled himself up. "What about the plane?"
"It's been swept clean." There was a certain amount of exhaustion in Jack's voice also, but George knew he'd get over it. "I need you to use reverse real time telemetry on the satellites. Trace the plane back to its original location. That's where they would have taken the bomb off the plane."
George only faintly heard that last part. He had swallowed some more of his anti-nausea medication and he was sure he could feel the pill traveling down his battered intestinal tract. The blood had also started to ooze onto his sleeves and he was starting to have trouble focusing.
"George? Are you there?" Jack's voice seemed to be coming from a hundred miles away. "George? Are you alright?"
Using an effort he didn't think that he had left, he managed to snap back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. Use reverse real time telemetry on the satellites, got it," he said slowly.
"George, I'm sorry about what happened to you today; I really am." That tone of compassion and urgency was back in Jack's voice. "But if you aren't capable of running CTU, you should step down. Someone needs to be in command."
"There's no one else." Even as he said it, George knew this was a lie.
"What about Tony? Right now, even one of Britstow's people would do"
George had been thinking about that, but not yet. Not yet, goddamnit! "I got it together, Jack. I canhandle it."
Now there was a pause on the other end. "Yeah, okay," Jack didn't believe him, but George could handle that.
"Where are you on the sniper that took out the rest of the Coral Snake team?" George asked, trying to put Jack back on message.
"Nadia sent the security feed for the last hour over to CTU," Jack said. "Tony and Vaughn are going over the footage now. In the long run, it doesn't matter who they find; they have to have been working for the Covenant."
"Yeah, I know that much, Jack," George said with a ghost of his old sarcasm. "What I'd like to know is why they killed the Coral Snake team, but spared you and Bristow."
There was another long hesitation. "My best bet is that the sniper didn't want to risk it. He only had time for three shots before everyone hit the deck.. I may be wrongBut right now, that's lower on my list of things to worry about. Have we gotten anywhere on the people who attacked us at the hangar?"
"We're going over the bodies," George said. "All we can find in their records are links to Second Wave. Nothing directly linking them to the Covenant."
Jack didn't like this either. "Look, I have to go. Get back to me with the ID's."
9:08:48/9:08:49/9:08:50
While Sydney and Jack were interrogating the pilot of the decoy, Nadia pulled aside Curtis and asked if she could help him go through the security footage of the last two hours.
"I've had some experience with the Covenant; maybe I'll recognize some of the faces," sheexplained.
They pulled up the video feed and begin transmitted it to one of the laptops that CTU had brought to the air field.
It had taken her less than five minutes to realize the size of the task that she had undertaken. Norton was a big airfield with dozens of entrances and exits to cover. There had been more than a hundred civilians on the airport before they had closed it at hour ago. And this was based on the assumption that both the terrorists and the military team had entered the field using the major entrances. It would be easier to find a needle in a field of haystacks than to find a familiar face.
Nadia was considering writing the whole thing off as an exercise in futility when suddenly she saw something…"Freeze that. Magnify that section."
Before Curtis could ask what she was looking for, she had dialed CTU.
"Marshall Flinkman."
"Marshall, I need you to send me anything you have with Marie Warner's picture on it to my computer," Nadia instructed.
Marshall clearly had gotten the message from George Mason about being overly verbal, because all he said was: "Got it."
Maybe when this is over, she thought, we can keep Mason. He can reinforce Marshall's brevity. When she was done with that thought, she had the picture. "Son of a bitch."
The video feed had isolated a segment of a woman entering Norton Air Field. The woman had short-cropped dark hair, but she definitely had Marie Warner's face.
"Where have we been keeping the civilians?" she demanded of Curtis.
"Hangars MB-1 and MB-2," Curtis said promptly.
"Notify Sydney and Jack that Marie Warner is somewhere on Norton Air Field. Tell them we need to start doing sweeps hangar by hangar." Nadia got up and checked her weapon. "I'll start with the southernmost; they can work their way north."
Curtis raised his radio, and Nadia said, "In person. If she's near one of our people, she could know were coming."
"Aren't you going to wait for back-up?" Curtis asked.
Nadia shook her head. "No time," she said. "I'm the only one who knows what she looks like. Besides, I have a good idea who she's going to look for."
She spoke into her radio. "I need a location on Kate Warner."
9:13:24/9:13:25/9:13:26
George didn't know if walking around CTU was the best thing for him, but as he didn't know how much longer he would be able to move at all, he decided he might as well keep an eye on things down below.
As he walked past a cubicle, George saw Agent Vaughn talking with a woman he didn't recognize--- a woman in her mid twenties with long hair hanging over her shoulders. She would have been more attractive if it wasn't for the pout that seemed carved on to her face.
"Just start downloading here, I'll get back to you in a minute." Vaughn turned around and nearly walked into George. The director of CTU wasn't sure whether it was his presence or the fact that he looked more and more like a walking corpse that upset him.
"Oh, there you are," Vaughn said, trying to cover his shock. "George, this is the agent I sent to collect Bob Warner's hard drive. Dixon tasked her to be the new systems operative. George, this is Chloe Monroe."
She held out her hand. Before George could take it, another coughing fit ceased him--- the deepest yet.
"God," Chloe said. "You're in worse shape than everyone says you are."
Another man might have been angered by Chloe's response. But even before today, George had always appreciated those who had the ability to cut through the bullshit. "Something I can help you with?" he asked.
"Vaughn's basically got me set up," Chloe said. "I'm going to be downloading everything in the Warners' hard drive onto the server here. Anything else you'll need me to do?"
"Situation reports have changed in the last hour, so I'll need someone else to go over them."
"No problem," Chloe said calmly. "Just tell everyone to stay off my system." George was about to walk away when she spoke again. "Mr. Mason, who do I report to directly?"
Vaughn clearly wasn't sure he'd heard correctly. George decided to assume he had. "You report to me," he said.
Chloe raised an eyebrow. "No offense, Mr. Mason, but I don't think you're going to be in command much longer," she said bluntly. "So do I report to?"
George almost laughed. "They finally send someone I like and I'm not going to be around to enjoy it." George began to cough. "Tony Almeida." He coughed again. "And Michelle Dess-essler." Another fit of coughing ceased him and now he had to support himself with a pillar.
Vaughn walked up to George. "Are you making these changes all the way up the line?" he demanded.
George didn't know what he would have said, and it didn't matter because he was suddenly incapable of answering.
Chloe noticed this. "Mr. Mason?" she said. Before she could say anything else, George collapsed.
Vaughn quickly tried to stand in front of George so no one could see what happened, while Chloe got up and helped George up. Though he couldn't say so, George was grateful that she hadn't asked him if he was all right.
There was now no way he could answer affirmatively.
9:18:14/9:18:15/9:18:16
As soon as they had arrived, Jack Bauer had sent Kate Warner over to Hangar 13, where most of the other civilians had been rounded up. Nadia had assigned an agent to keep an eye on her, and had then been involved in the attack of the Coral Snake team and the search for the bomb.
Furthermore, if she was going to be completely honest, Nadia hadn't felt very comfortable being around a woman whose sister had shot Weiss. She knew that was a selfish and irrational excuse, but she had given in to the lesser angels of her nature for once.
This occupied Nadia's thoughts as she reached Hangar 13 and spoke with a fresh-faced security guard. "I'm looking for Kate Warner," she told him.
The guard looked around. "You just missed her," the guard said. "She told me to notify you and Agent Bristow, that she saw someone that she recognized, and she wanted your help."
Nadia had stopped listening at 'someone she recognized'. "Where did she go?" she demanded.
"Down the tarmac, towards Hangar 15."
Resisting the urge to tear the guard a new asshole for allowing something so stupid, she remained even sounding when she spoke. "Tell Agents Bauer and Bristow to meet me at Hangar 15. Tell them to be very quiet, and not to act until I give the word."
She didn't even wait for the guard to acknowledge this, before she started walking double time over to Hangar 15.
By the time she had almost reached the planes, Nadia thought she could hear two women. By the time, she was in the shadows, she knew she could almost see them, hidden as they were between two of the planes.
"What—what happened to you?" That was Kate Warner, and she sounded unnerved.
"I opened my eyes." Another voice. Nadia had only heard it once before, but she was sure it was Marie. Only this time it had the airily, almost spacey sound of a certifiable lunatic."That's what happened. I was a fool just like you--- until I met Sayed. Until I saw past the lies. The hypocrisy of this country. Of people like our father. He works for the CIA, did you know that?"
"No. No, he doesn't," Kate said. "And even if he did, so what?"
"So what? Do you have any idea of the suffering that they create in the world." By now Nadia had moved close enough to see what she had suspected--- Marie was holding a gun on Kate
Kate was starting to go from shocked to angry. "Oh please," she said sharply. "What are you, six years old? Dad is the enemy? I can't believe how ungrateful you are! Dad and I turned our lives upside down for you after Mom died. And for what?" Kate was getting madder. "So you could be brainwashed by some lunatic? Wise up, Marie! You're about to become the biggest murderer in the history of this country!"
That last was too much. Marie raised her pistol to hit Kate in a backhanded swing. Only while the two sisters had yelled at each other, Nadia had come up behind her When Kate was no longer in the way of the gun, Nadia grabbed it by the barrel, and twisted it further in, towards Marie. The barrel pressed to her shoulder as Nadia gave a final jerk, pulling it away. The gun went off, the bullet punching into Marie Warner's shoulder plexis and then got caught in the muscle tissue.
Thank God she only had a .22, Nadia thought as she went down, wailing in pain.
Nadia looked at the bitch who had shot Weiss, fallen to a bullet, and suddenly pistol-whipped her.
"What do you think about being shot now?" Nadia asked in a forced politeness that was almost as scary as the mild psychosis of the younger Warner. Nadia drove down with her heel on the bullet wound, driving the lead against the nerve center. Marie's entire side reacted as though she were on fire.
"Now imagine being gut shot and left for dead? You starting to get the picture now?" She drove more of her weight into it. "Can you imagine that? Fallen? Bleeding? Alone?"
Nadia wanted to kill her. She wanted to let her .9mm hollowpoints disembowel her and leave her for dead.
The next few seconds seemed to stretch out ahead of her. Nadia had already killed a lot of people today. Mentally and psychologically, it wouldn't have been that hard for her to pull the trigger. There would have been some repercussions, but not much of one; Marie Warner was a confirmed terrorist and murderer.
What ultimately stopped her from shooting Marie was the sound of her sister, sobbing hysterically. To kill a woman in front of her family was not a threshold she was willing to cross--- at least not yet.
Instead, she yelled outto the agents who had come running when the shots were fired. "Contact Agent Bauer and my sister! Tell them that I have Marie Warner!"
9:26:35/9:26:36/9:26:37/9:26:38
Marie Warner had been howling in pain for the last three minutes, but Nadia was starting to get used to it. Kate, however, who had followed the two other women over to Hangar 15, was clearly upset by it.
"You have to give her something for the pain," she demanded.
Nadia shot a look at Sydney that said Do we still have to baby her? Sydney got it, and answered Kate. "We will, as soon as she tells us what she knows."
"But you can't let her suffer like that," Kate pressed.
Sydney walked over to the other woman. "Kate, you're going to have to trust us," she said. "I know that you don't want to see your sister hurt, and I get where you're coming from, but right now you have to let us do this our way. Right now, millions of lives are at stake and your sister is the only lead we have. Do you understand?"
Nadia walked over to Jack. "Do we really still need Kate here?" she asked in a low voice.
Jack sighed. "I realize it's tricky having her around, but she may be able to reach her in a way that we can't."
"The woman just tried to kill her sister for an ID badge; you really think she's gonna listen to anything she has to say?" Nadia said doubtfully.
"I don't know," Jack admitted, "but we may have to try it."
Nadia looked at Sydney, who was coming back without Kate. "Let's hope not."
"Has Marie been prepped?" she asked as she approached them.
Nadia smiled. "A little, but I can get her more ready," she said harshly. She walked over to Marie, who had been handcuffed to a chair. She lifted up Marie's face and smiled. "Hello." She drew her gun and rammed the butt of it down on her shoulder. "That was for Eric Weiss," she said grimly. Then she repeated the motion on her other shoulder, almost dislocating it. "And that was for me."
Marie stopped her whimpering, now nearly unconscious from the pain.
"She's prepped. I think the two of you had better question her," she said coldly. "I may not be able to restrain myself if she gets difficult."
Sydney nodded and waited for her half-sister to walk out of the room, before she and Jack began the questioning in earnest.
"Where's the bomb, Marie?" Jack asked. "The real one?"
"I'm not going to tell you bastards anything," Marie said grimly.
Sydney walked over to her left side. "I didn't see exactly where Nadia shot you," she said slowly,"but based on the point of entry, I'd say the bullet is still in you. Right about here."
She then squeezed Marie's left shoulder, hard enough to start the whimpering again. "Tell us where the bomb is, and the pain stops!"
Sydney grabbed the woman's hair and yanked back, making her look her in the eyes. If anything, she was angrier then her sister was. This bitch had shot her friend and now she wanted her to suffer. She was finally starting to understand how Jack Bauer felt about Nina Myers.
"You're not as strong as you think you are," Sydney said. "You think that just because you were able to look people you love in the face and lie, that you're something you're not. That because you shot your fiancé and were willing to murder your own sister, you're big and strong enough to play the game of global chaos like a pro." She looked Marie dead in the eye. "But you're not, Marie. Let me tell you right now, that you are a child playing an adult's game. You will tell us where the bomb is. One way or the other, you will tell us."
With that Sydney let go. "Because you can't play at our level."
Marie Warner whimpered, her head lowered, not looking at anyone. That was the only reason Jack thought it was safe to shoot a concerned look at Sydney. What the hell was up with her?
When Marie looked back up, Jack's face softened to his "good cop" interrogation set. "Tell us where the bomb is,"
Marie whimpered some more before she finally spoke very quietly. "It's in the suitcase." Marie sniffled. "In the van…Downtown. The Arco Tower."
What kind of van? What make it?" Jack prodded.
"Green. I don't know what make."
Sydney and Jack exchanged a look. Marie's attitude seemed a little---off. Sydney signaled the other agent in the room to halt in sending out a report. "When it's set to go off?" she demanded.
"Three hours, That's what the timer said"
Jack's eyes narrowed. "You're lying," he said. "A bomb this size wouldn't have a visual timer."
"I'm not lying," Marie insisted. "You have to send them all to the Arco Tower."
"I thought we had three hours." Sydney was back in Marie's face. "Why are you so desperate for us to leave?"
Marie refused to answer, but it didn't matter. "The bomb'sstill here," Jack said.
Sydney got on the radio. "Nadia, have the teams initiate a complete search of the airport, starting at the north and heading southward. Confidence is high that the bomb is on site!"
Jack and Sydney rushed out of the hangar so fast that they missed Marie's last words on the subject.
"They'll never find it," she said. "We're all going to die."
9:35:10/9:35:11/9:35:12
Marshall walked over to the new tech, who was typing furiously at her keyboard. "Um, you're the new systems analyst," he began.
"Is that a question?" Chloe asked.
"Oh, I'm Marshall Flinkman, tech analysis."
"I'm very happy for you." Chloe said, without looking up.
"Well, I'm glad to welcome you here to CTU, and, ah, even though I don't normally work here, I've got to say that there's a real nice bunch of people, and considering everything that's happened today, they're doing a tremendous job—"
At this point, Chloe turned away from her computer. "You're the guy who operates out of APO, right?' she asked.
Not used to this kind of abruptness, Marshall shook his head and said. "Right."
"Well, maybe they find your way of talking charming at APO, but here at CTU we don't have time to go on safari through your syntax." Chloe lowered her hand. "I'm sure that you're a nice guy and everything, sure you're a lot of fun, but right now, I have a job to do and I'm going do it. Now, if you need some assistance from my tech server, I'd be more than willing to help. If not, go back and do your job, and let me do mine. Okay?"
Marshall seemed to recover his senses. "You're going over the files from Bob Warner's hard drive, and you need some help breaking through the encryption." When Chloe looked up at this, he shrugged. "Vaughn told me you needed help in that area.'
"I could use a little help getting through the second layer of algorithms," Chloe admitted.
"Well, I've got some cool software that's really good at cutting through government code," Marshall said cheerfully. "Should take no time to get around the Comstat grid."
"I don't need a sales pitch. Just have your computer ready to receive the software."
"Um, yeah, sure." As Marshall walked back to his desk, he passed by Michelle. "New analyst, she's, ah, wound a little tight."
Tony had been watching this byplay when he saw that George was standing next to him. "Got a second?" he asked.
Tony nodded. "What is it?"
George took a deep breath. "I think that it's time I stepped down. I'm not feeling so hot."
Though it was a stupid question to ask given the circumstances, Tony asked: "Is there anything I can do?"
"Actually, yes. Tomorrow, when all this is over, get everybody together and tell them what an honor it was to work with all of them and what a great job they all did."
Tony felt a lump in his throat. "Sure."
George actually laughed. "Remember this morning when I told you that I couldn't wait to get out of here?" Tony nodded. "I don't feel that way anymore."
He pressed a card into Tony's hand. "What's this?" Tony asked.
"Access codes and keys to Division. You're the new director of CTU," George said simply. "I just got off the phone with Chapelle. You'rethe new guy."
Suddenly, Tony thought of every nasty, simple-minded thing he had ever said about George. "Look George, I---"
"It's all right," George said. "Good luck."
Only Tony and Michelle were watching when George Mason left CTU for the last time. He walked slowly and carefully, trying to see the offices that he had hated for much of his career here and yet were a part of whatever legacy he might have. Michelle came close to crying as the boss she hadn't had a lot of decent things to say for just walked away.
At the time, both thought it was the last thing George would ever do for his country.
They were wrong.
Sydney had taken a team to the northern end of the airport to join up with Nadia and Steve Goodrich, while Jack and his team started on the southern end.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Curtis asked.
"I'm not sure," admitted Sydney. "They probably won't have another plane, so they'll probably be trying to carry it some kind of large land vehicle." She got on the cell with CTU. "Marshall, where are we with the satellites?"
"Hold on," Marshall said. "The decoy plane's original location was Hangar 37. Infrareds are showing a vehicle and a concentration of people still at that location."
"Copy that! Get on the horn with Jack and Nadia. Tell them we're going to do this again!"
9:43:05/9:43:06/9:43:07/9:43:08
"Everyone's ready down here," Michelle said
"Good." Tony hung up. He knew what he was about to announce might drop morale a bit but he also knew the people here were professionals. Besides, they needed to know about the change in the chain of command.
He walked downstairs from George's office--- his office now, he reminded himself---- and looked at the people gathered around. "For those of you who haven't heard," he told the group, "earlier today, George Mason was exposed to a lethal dose of plutonium. It's very serious, and he hasn't got much time. He just left the office and he won't be coming back." He needed to pause to swallow the lump in his throat. "Which means I'll be in charge until further notice."
There was sadness but not much surprise. George Mason's condition had been the elephant in the room for the last eight hours.
"Now on a normal day, we would stop to mourn George, just as we would mourn Richardson and Paula and the rest of the people who have died today. Unfortunately, we're going to have to put our feelings on hold until this crisis has been resolved." He looked around. "So let's get back to work."
It was a weak finish but it served its purpose; the agents at CTU dispersed quietly.
"I know I don't really work here, but that was a pretty good speech," Vaughn said as he walked up to Tony.
"Thanks." And now Tony put his mind back on the job. "Where are we with Marie Warner?"
"Jack and Sydney think they're on to something." Vaughn then lowered his voice. "I actually came to talk to you about some of the data we got off Bob Warner's hard drive. It's definitely suspicious." By now Vaughn and Tony had walked over to Chloe. "Tell him what you found."
"Most of the data's still encrypted," Chloe began, "but there are repeated occurrences of ten digit strings. Judging from the pattern, I think they're phone numbers. I'm isolating them on a separate file, until I've gotten further along on the decoding, but Vaughn said he recognized this one."
"It's from APO. It's Sloane's number." Before Tony could react, he added: "Warner said his company passed intelligence for the CIA. For all we know, this could be legitimate business."
"How much legitimate business involves a black-ops unit?" Tony turned around. "Don't worry. I know better than to go up against Sloane without definitive proof. Keep decoding, and let me know what you find."
9:47:35/9:47:36/9:47:37/9:47:38
When they were less than a hundred yards away from Hangar 37, Sydney got out her binoculars to try and get a look at the scenery. There was a large white semi being guarded by five mercenaries--- and that didn't count whoever was in the truck.
The main hangar door was open. No one had bothered to close it after moving the plane. The truck had literally been left in plain sight.
"I can only guess they were relying on secrecy", Syd said.
Jack almost laughed. "A lot of good that will do them." He raised his radio, "All snipers, fire."
The only reason it took them ten minutes to storm the van was that was how long it had taken to get the snipers into position. Two shooters, each with a thermal scope mounted on top of their .50 caliber rifles, each bullet could rip through the shell of a tank. Even had the hangar down been down, it still would have afforded no protection.
Syd and Jack had decided it wasn't worth the risk of a major shootout. If these guys were any good, a firefight would have been a disaster.
With the snipers, the shooting was over within five seconds
"All hostiles are down!" Jack yelled to the radio at CTU.
A moment later two agents opened the back doors of the van. In the back of the van was another box. Sydney signaled to the bomb squad and stepped back to let them in.
"What've we got?" Sydney demanded.
The agents flicked the Geiger counter over the bag. "Definitely nuclear." One of the technicians said. He pulled up one of the counters to reveal some wires. "And this is a triggering device. This is the bomb."
Jack got on the radio with CTU. "Order a level one evacuation of the airfield. We have the bomb!"
There was a fair amount of jubilation at CTU, and Tony fervently wished he could have joined in the celebration. Unfortunately, he had some important business to take care of--- though he wouldn't deny he would be taking some pleasure in this as well.
"Mr. Sloane," he said as he approached the man in this unit he liked the least.
"What can I do for you, Tony?" Sloane asked.
"You're aware that several hours ago, Roger Stanton was relieved of command of NSA?" Sloane nodded. "Less than two hours ago, after extreme methods were used, he revealed that NSA knew about the bomb weeks ago, and that he had sent the Coral Snake team after it." Tony lowered his voice. "After we found the decoy, he revealed another individuals involvement in the conspiracy: Sherry Palmer."
Tony had to give it to Sloane: his stone-face never wavered. "Really?" he said neutrally.
"The President's relationship with his ex-wife has always been complicated," Tony added, "but he couldn't believe that she would commit treason. However, some other people in the agency did not trust her, and monitored several of the phone calls that Sherry Palmer made while at Northwest Regional. In several of those conversations," Tony's voice became colder and added "it's clear that she is talking to you."
Sloane even took this news without reacting. "I suppose I'm under arrest," he said calmly.
"Right now, we can't charge you with anything," Tony admitted, "but that doesn't mean we don't have some questions." He made a motion to two of the men standing near him. "Put Mr. Sloane in Holding 3. A lot of people are going to want to talk with you."
Sydney turned back to the technicians, working on the nuclear device. One had a grim look on his face. "It's armed."
Fuck. "How much time do we have?" Sydney asked.
"I don't know," The tech then said the four words she didn't want to hear. "Could be any second."
9:53:11/9:53:12/9:53:13/9:53:14
The bomb squad had lost no time in getting to work, carefully moving it into the nearest hangar and then beginning to work. Sydney wasn't an expert on the workings of bombs, but she figured that they had to be looking for the trigger and the timing circuits that were connected to the detonator.
"How's it going?" Nadia asked Sydney.
Sydney shook her head. "I'm not sure," she admitted. They need to find the bypass, but whoever put this together was good. It's not going to have an off switch."
Just then, the technicians in front of the bomb stood up. Sydney did not like the expressions on their faces.
He, Nadia and Sydney walked back inside the hangar. "Is there a problem?" Sydney asked.
"The trigger's tamper-proof" said the Asian tech sourly. "I should have seen it, but it was disguised. If it's disassembled or disconnected, it'll detonate."
"Are you telling us that there's no way to defuse this bomb?" Jack asked.
"That's what I'm telling you."
Jack immediately ran to the other end of hangar, where Curtis was waiting.
" There's no way to defuse the bomb," Jack said. "We're going to have to fly it out of here. Now this airport doesn't accommodate jets, so I need you to find me the fastest plane you can, but it's has to be reliable."
"There's a Cessna caravan at Hangar 3," Curtis replied. "Solid plane, cruises at 210."
"Get it," Jack got on the phone. Sydney had a good idea who he was calling and what was going to happen next.
She walked over to the techs. "Either of you get a look at the timer?" she asked. The Asian tech nodded. "How long do we have?"
"Over an hour," said the first tech grimly. "We have until 11 o'clock."
Again the clock was their enemy.
Tony walked over to the computer banks where Marshall and Michelle were waiting.
"All right, Jack says the plane can be ready go in less than ten minutes," he began. "I've contacted the FAA, they're going to make sure the airspace we need is clear. There's going to be a ten-kiloton nuclear blast in a little more than sixty-five minutes. We have to find the safest place for it to go off. Marshall, you're going to detail the effects of the bomb going off in the Pacific; Michelle's going to do the same thing with the Mojave Desert." He turned to Marshall.
"All right, bearing in mind that I don't know how reliable the figures are," Marshall put his hands together. "Basically, the plane can get as far as eighty miles offshore in the time we have. If the pilot pushes the bomb out a few minutes before detonation, it will go off underwater, and the ocean will bear the blast. But prevailing winds would blow some residual radiation over LA. In time, we'd have examples of cancer and birth defects. Furthermore, this eighty-mile radius is filled with ships--- at least two dozen freighters, and God knows how many number of uncharted boats. Bomb goes off, they'd likely be capsized."
"What about the environmental effects?" Tony asked.
Marshall shook his head. 'Nothing but bad news. Keystone species would be exterminated, the food chain would break down, and the underlying ecological infrastructure would collapse. Marine resources such as offshore drilling, commercial fishing and even recreational beach usage would be unsafe for generations." He sighed. "It would be a biological nightmare."
Tony turned to Michelle. "What about the desert?" he asked.
"A Ground Zero would be designated in an isolated location in the Mojave," Michelle began. "Neighboring towns could be evacuated with minimal risk to health. However, some lone campers or hikers could be killed by the blast. If there's a wind shift, there could be some residual radiation blown over Las Vegas, but the best meteorological experts says that's very unlikely."
"What about the long term effects?" Tony asked.
"An area of a few square miles around ground zero would be radioactive for decades, but as we don't get any food or resources from the desert anyway, the environmental impact would be relatively small." Michelle hesitated. "However, there is one thing we have to consider."
"Which is?"
"In the desert, Ground Zero would have to be a precise location. A depression below sea level, with mountains to hopefully contain the fallout. I've got a list of potential targets, but…"
Tony got it. "There are no military aircraft at Norton," he said. "In order for the payload to be delivered, the pilot has to go down with the plane."
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