Chapter Twenty-One
Tony picked up the phone to call Jack and inform him of their findings. Jack would even be more disappointed then they were, considering the hell he'd probably been through to get that chip.
Michelle clipped on a headset and nodded she was ready.
"Jack, it's Tony and Michelle," Tony said.
"You got the audio file?"
"No."
"What do you mean, 'No'?" Jack asked, his voice laced with aggravation. "Are you telling me that there's no audio file on that chip?"
"If there were, they were destroyed when the chip was damaged," Michelle explained.
"Look, Jack, Chappelle's phoning the president. He wants you on the call," Tony said.
"Yeah, I bet he does!" Jack said sarcastically.
"Also, uh, some of the information Michelle was able to recover may be worth looking into," Tony went on.
"What kind of information?"
Michelle explained, "Identical code fragments at the tail end of several data streams."
"What are you talking about? What kind of fragments? What are the fragments for?"
"Nothing. That's the point. It's junk code. Programmers and hackers sometimes embed it into their programs as a marker, a signature," she said.
"Michelle was able to trace the sequence back to a hacker named Alex Hewitt," Tony put in. "He's got a file with the F.B.I."
"Are you telling me you think this is the technician that created the Cyprus audio file?" asked Jack.
Michelle answered, "Yes."
"Chappelle's not going to let us follow up on any more leads, so you're gonna have to talk to this guy on your own."
"Fine. What's his last known address?"
"210 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood.," Tony told him.
"Okay, I got it. I'll get back to you," Jack said.
"All right," Tony said.
Michelle looked at him and exhaled deeply. Tony lifted his brows and shrugged. They had to sit and wait now.
He grabbed his crutches and started to move away, then turned back. "Hey," he said, getting her attention again.
"Yeah?"
He gave her a little smile. "Thanks for dinner."
She smiled back at him and whispered, "You're welcome."
It was a little after five in the morning when Chappelle called them all into a meeting. Michelle worked her way close to Tony, leaned in and asked, "Do you know why Chappelle called this meeting?"
"No. He just told everybody to save their work and get in here," he answered.
Chappelle came into the conference room and said, "The information you are about to receive is confidential. It'll stay inside until it's been made public, which should be in the next few hours. The cabinet has invoked the 25th Amendment and removed David Palmer from office. Jim Prescott is now the president."
"Why?" asked Tony.
"That isn't relevant to our charge."
Tony disagreed. "Yes, it is, Ryan."
"What's your problem, Almeida?"
"I think we all know that President Palmer was removed because he didn't want to go on with the bombings. That makes what Jack Bauer's doing even more relevant."
Chappelle dismissed that idea. "Bauer has cried wolf twice already. He's come up with nothing. I have a standing order from District that disallows any further resources from being expended on him."
"Why is everybody so afraid to look at all sides of this thing?" Tony asked incredulously. "What if Jack Bauer's right? What if that Cyprus recording was forged, and we're about to bomb three innocent countries? Are you going to tell me that's not relevant?"
"Tony, let me first say that your office has done a remarkable job today. There is no way that the people on the Hill are not going to reward every one of you for the role you played in averting disaster."
"And what does that have to do with anything?" asked Tony, practically growling at Chappelle.
"Let me finish," Chappelle snapped. "The success of this office today is due in large part to the technical team. The same team that has concluded that the Cyrus audio is an untreated, unforged original. There comes a time when you have to let go. Not every hunch works out. Bauer's chasing a ghost. I can't put it any simpler than that. That's all."
Tony and Michelle stayed behind as everyone else filed out.
"What are you gonna do?" she asked him.
"I don't know. I have to talk to somebody in Prescott's staff. If and when Jack comes in here with the evidence we have to have somebody in place to take it to."
Michelle knew how risky this would be. "Be careful, Tony. If Chappelle finds out you're doing an end run---"
"I know," he whispered. "I know."
Thirty minutes later Jack had the programmer of the audio file and needed him brought in. Tony would need to get a chopper to pick him up, something he knew Chappelle would not allow him to do. However, he had to try.
"Jack Bauer just contacted us," Tony said to Chappelle.
"Really? Where is he?" Chappelle asked.
"North Hollywood."
"What's he doing?"
Tony glanced away a second and then back at his boss. "He's got the guy who forged the Cyprus recording. He wants to bring him in."
"Fine, let him."
"Ryan, he's too far away. We need to send a chopper," Tony said.
"We've been through this, Tony. I'm done with Bauer. He's chasing a trail that leads nowhere. We're on to other things."
"Ryan, what could be more important that keeping the U.S. from launching military strikes based on false information?" Tony exploded.
"The thing is, Tony, you've been reassigned."
"Reassigned? Where?"
"I'll let you know in a few days. For now, you can go home."
Tony's heart fell. "Ryan, you can't reassign me now."
"This recording is real. We are going to war. We need to prepare for the domestic response. You have made yourself a liability I just can't afford. You've got fifteen minutes to clean out your desk and get out."
Tony stared after him. How was he going to get out of this?
Michelle watched as Tony started back to his office. She made sure Chappelle was going the other way before making her way to Tony's office.
"What's going on?" she asked, watching as he picked up his laptop cause and placed it on this desk.
"I'm out. Chappelle reassigned me."
"He just reassigned you? He didn't give any explanation?" Michelle asked, amazed he would do that at a critical moment like this.
Tony looked up at her and gave her a crooked smile. "Chappelle doesn't want me on the job. He's got his own people, and I'm not one of them."
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
His phone rang, but he ignored it. Michelle glanced at the phone and said, "Tony, it's satcom."
Tony leaned over to grab it. It might be Jack. "Almeida."
"Mr. Almeida. This is David Palmer."
"Mr. President. What can I do for you, sir?" Tony asked, surprised he was calling.
"I need to speak to Jack Bauer. Do you know how to reach him?"
"Can you hold on, sir?"
"For a moment."
Tony put the president on hold and dialed Jack's cell. "Jack, it's Tony. I have President Palmer on the line for you."
"Okay, good, patch him through," Jack said. "Tony, how we going on the chopper?"
"I'm working on it." Tony had no clue how he was going to do this now that Chappelle basically fired him.
"Work faster!"
"All right, here's the president. Mr. President, I have Jack on the line. Jack, go ahead."
Tony listened to the conversation as Jack updated the president on the progress they have made. When they were through, Jack stayed on the line. "Tony, you still on the line?"
"I'm here."
"Tony, can you hear me?"
Tony spoke a little louder. "Yeah. Go ahead, Jack."
"We need that chopper now."
"I understand. You'll have it."
"Thank you."
Tony hung up and sighed, leaning over the table. He was going to have to take Chappelle out of play to make this happen. After a moment he looked up at Michelle and said, "I'm gonna need your help."
"You got it. What are you going to do?"
"I have to take Chappelle out of play," Tony said. "It's the only way we're going to be able to help Jack."
"Get him out of play how?" Michelle asked.
Tony sighed. "I'll drug him, keep him sedated until Jack is back here."
"Tony!" Michelle whispered urgently. "Chappelle will definitely fire you for this, if not arrest you."
"I know," Tony agreed. "But we have no choice. I hate to get you involved, but I'll need you to tell Chappelle to go to holding room two. I'll handle it from there."
He watched as she nodded immediately and turned to go. He reached out and grabbed her arm. "Michelle, thank you."
She smiled sweetly and walked downstairs. Tony headed to medical.
Michelle understood the reasoning behind Tony's plan, but was worried it would backfire. Wouldn't they miss him? She waited at her desk, aimlessly working on some report, until Tony was ready. Finally her phone rang.
"Dessler."
"You ready?" Tony asked.
"Yeah."
"All right. Let's go."
Michelle hung up and dialed Chappelle's line. "Yeah?" he said.
"Sir, Rudin needs you. He's in holding room two."
"Tell him to call me."
"The com's out in that room," Michelle said.
"All right," he sighed. "I'm on my way."
Michelle hung up and walked towards the holding room. When Chappelle came into the room he asked her, "Where's Rudin?"
Tony grabbed him from behind and held the handkerchief over his mouth. He held him until Chappelle quit struggling and passed out. Tony looked up at Michelle, panting. "I got this. Go send that chopper to pick up Jack."
Once Tony administered the drug to keep Chappelle asleep for a while, he called Jack. "The chopper's about to leave. E.T.A.'s about twenty minutes."
"So Chappelle's on board with this?"
"Not exactly," Tony said, looking down at the unconscienous form of his boss.
"What do you mean?"
"Jack, it's better if you don't know."
"Okay, fine, Tony, you're going to have to get the attorney general involved in this."
"What for?"
"Mrs. Palmer's going to want to try and cut a deal."
"A deal?" What did she have any involvement in this for?
"Hewitt's testimony incriminates her."
Wow. Didn't Sherry Palmer have enough drama from last year? "All right, look, I'll make sure everything's in place."
"This thing's got to go like clockwork. There's no margin for error here."
"Yeah, I know." Tony said and hung up.
Michelle was trying to act like there was nothing wrong, but her heart was beating a mile a minute. She knew she and Tony were going to be in huge trouble when Chappelle was found. They could only hope that by then Jack's evidence would be here and they would be forgiven for being right.
It was six in the morning when Michelle checked up on Chappelle. He was out cold, but looked like he was starting to wake up a little. She locked the holding room again and found Tony. He was moving without his crutches now, but still had his foot in the soft cast.
"How's Chappelle doing?"
"He's still unconscious, but he's starting to stir," she said.
"Yeah. The drug I gave him is short-acting. I'm gonna have to give him another shot soon," Tony said casually.
How long can you keep pumping him full of that stuff?" she asked, scared of permanently hurting the man.
"Well, we only have to keep him on ice long enough for Jack to deliver Hewitt," Tony reassured her. "How we coming on the chopper?"
She sighed. "It should land at Hewitt's in ten minutes. We should get Hewitt here in half an hour."
"Good."
"What about Carrie? Is she asking about Chappelle?"
"Not yet, no. I have her working on image processing. Should keep her busy for a while."
"Excuse me, Mr. Almeida," Robert called out to him. "Brad Hammond from Division in on the line for Mr. Chappelle. Do you know where he is?"
"No, look I'll take it. Thanks," Tony said and took the phone. "Mr. Hammond? This is Tony Almeida. How can I help you sir?"
"Where's Ryan?" he asked.
"Uh, I'm not sure."
"His office says he arrived at C.T.U. three hours ago, but none of your people can find him."
"He must have stepped out," Tony lied.
"Your office doesn't have him logging out. Did he say where he was going?"
"Not to me, sir, no, but tell you what, I'll let you know as soon as I find him."
"No, Mr. Almeida, you'll let me know what's going on over there," he demanded. "I know Ryan Chappelle was going over there to assess the situation and I cannot think of a reason he would be out of contact during a national crisis."
"Mr. Hammond, I'm sorry. I've told you all that I know, sir," he lied again. "But I'll make sure Ryan calls you as soon as he returns."
"You do that."
"Thank you, sir."
He turned back to Michelle. She asked, "What's going on?"
"Division knows something's up."
"So what are we gonna do?"
"Well, we gotta get Alex Hewitt here as quickly as possible."
Tony knew Divison wouldn't let up and they were running out of time. "Michelle, I'm going to send you out to work at an off-site location. Give me a couple of minutes to get it together, but Hammond will no doubt come here looking for Chappelle. When they find him, I'm going to be arrested. I need you to disappear from here so you can continue to help Jack."
He saw the worry in her eyes, but she nodded. "No problem."
He touched her hand gently. "I'll get back to you. Just get ready to move soon."
Five minutes later Jack called him. "Almeida."
"Tony, it's Jack. Hewitt's been hurt. I need emergency medical assistance on the roof of his loft now."
"Jack, there's no E.M.T. on the chopper, but they do have a med kit on board. Can you handle it?"
"I don't know. I hope so," Jack said, panting and sounding very upset. It had to be bad. "Look, I gotta get back to this."
"Wait a second, wait a second," Tony said.
"What?"
"Look, uh, you may not be able to contact me after this."
"Why?"
"Well, Chappelle became a problem, so, uh, I had to take him out of play. And they're on to me now. It's only a matter of time before they take me out."
"Who do I contact if I need help?"
"I'm sending Michelle out to the field to set up an off-site station. Uh, she's going to do whatever she can by remote access. She'll be on a closed cell. Channel B, node 12-12."
"B, node 12-12. Okay, I got it."
"Good luck, Jack."
Tony got the stuff he needed for Michelle and started walking out towards the exit. She saw him moving, grabbed her jacket and followed him.
"This'll get you into the van," he said, holding an access card in his hand.
She grabbed it. "How am I going to break through the firewall?"
"Uh, this has a range of a few blocks. It's Hoffman encoded. It'll get you in," he explained, handing her another card. "Give me a call when you're set, all right?"
Michelle went out to the garage, aggravated from another run-in with Carrie. She was going to be a problem, more than usual. She climbed inside the van and set up her system. The vehicle was one of their many communications van, so it was fully loaded with whatever she'd need.
She called Tony to let him know. "It's me. I'm in place."
"Where are you?"
"I'm in the north lot. Van 15-A. Listen, Tony, Carrie's on to us. She was asking about Chappelle."
"What'd you tell her?" he asked.
"That I didn't know what she was talking about. But we need her out of the way. Keep her occupied."
"Okay, I'll handle it," he promised. "Look, set up and get a hold of Jack. I got to go. Hammond's here."
Michelle smelled trouble.