Part 4   -   Revelations

Michael Vaughn woke up with his head pounding and his stomach growling, wondering exactly where the hell he was.  It took him just a moment to remember where, how he got there was another story.  He was dressed in nothing but boxer shorts which, in and of itself, was nothing unsettling except he couldn't remember how he got that way.  He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the clock on the night table that read 5:00 AM.  The last thing he remembered was getting up to go to dinner when an odd feeling came over him; that feeling, a tingly sensation followed by the smell of almonds.  That is how it always started. 

He remembered that he tried to get to his room before it hit, but couldn't remember whether or not he had.  He silently prayed that it was Weiss who had found him and stuck him in bed, keeping the incident to himself, but then he saw the small bandage on his forearm.  Removing it, he saw the puncture left over from the IV.  "Sh**", he muttered out loud.  He still hoped that somehow Sydney hadn't found out, but it didn't seem likely.  It was the only thing he had asked of them in return for his cooperation and he blew it himself.

His head continued to pound and he wondered if Morganetti still kept a bottle of ibuprofen in the kitchen.  Even if he didn't, maybe some food would help.  He hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday and not much before that.  He quietly pulled on a pair of sweats and a T-shirt and headed out toward the kitchen.  He was a bit groggy, but it only took him a few steps to get his legs functioning normally.

It was still dark outside, but someone had left the light on over the kitchen sink.  There was just enough light to navigate from here to there without tripping over things and waking the others.  It would be bad enough later when he had to face whatever had happened.  He certainly didn't want to deal with it now. 

He had just reached the sink and was pulling the medicine bottle from the cabinet when he heard someone from the darkened living room say, "Should you be out of bed?"  He immediately stiffened and, without turning around, shook his head and stated wryly, "I guess that answers my question".

"What was that?" Sydney asked without rising from the sofa where she had been sitting.

"Whether or not I put on a little show last night."

"That's not funny.  You scared me.  You scared all of us."

After taking a deep breath, he decided to finish taking the ibuprofen before heading into the living room.  If he was going to have to have this conversation right now, he sure as hell wanted to get rid of the headache.  He sat down on the opposite end of the sofa, just barely able to make out her features in the dim light from the kitchen.  She sat cross-legged in the opposite corner.  They stared at each other silently for a few moments, each unsure of how to start the next phase of the conversation.  Sydney finally broached the topic, 'Why didn't you say anything?"

Now there was a loaded question.  What had they told her?  It would be best to keep things as simple as possible for now.  "There was no reason for you to know.  I hadn't had a seizure for months.  On the way to Hong Kong, though, I probably did something stupid.  I stopped taking my medication.  It makes me fuzzy and I didn't think that going out in the field like that was a great idea.  It  has Phenobarbital in it.  I mean, I know that it's not Scopolamine or Sodium Pentothal, but it's close enough.  I couldn't afford that.  I didn't know what I was walking into."  He paused before continuing, " As for what you probably saw last night, it really isn't a big deal, Syd.  I never remember them and I'm usually fine afterwards.  I'm sorry that you had to see it.  Apparently, they're a lot worse on the spectators."

 "How can you apologize to me when it's all my fault?" she rasped out.

"What?!  What the hell did they tell you?"  He really wished he had stayed in his room now.

"They didn't tell me much of anything.  You've all been good at that.  I finally just put it all together."

"What?"  He could feel the panic rising, but tried to push it back down.

"Vaughn, please, I'm tired of playing this game", she pleaded.  "They told me you were injured during a mission ten months ago and that you developed the seizures later.  You told me about the operative that Sloane had abducted around the same time.  I'm not an idiot!  I put it together and they didn't deny it.  Don't you deny it either."

Vaughn leaned over and held his head in his hands.  "It's not your fault.  You had no idea.  Even if I had known you were alive, I wouldn't have wanted you to do anything.  You were safe.  You're not to blame for Sloane's obsessions.  I was extracted and recovered.  End of story."

Just then, they could hear one of the doors opening upstairs.  Vaughn was relieved to see Judy Barnett appear.  At least this conversation would be over for now.  She came down fully dressed and flicked on the lights.  Both Sydney and Vaughn shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness. 

She addressed Vaughn first.  "You're up early considering that I gave you enough Valium to put down a horse.  How are you feeling?"

At least that explained the grogginess.  "I'm hungry."

"Well that's a good sign.  Let's get you something to eat.  Then, you can start back on your medication immediately."

"How did you know…"

"You told me."

"Oh...  What else did I miss?"

"My first double-header.  What you did was incredibly dangerous.  You're lucky that you got off so easily.  Going off of that medication cold turkey can lead to non-stop seizures which is exactly what happened.  You're lucky that Sydney was able to tell us that you were still on it and what the dosage was."

Vaughn's head immediately swiveled to Sydney with a questioning look.  Now she was the one who wished she had never left her room.  "I saw the pills on the plane.  I didn't know for sure that they were yours."

"You went through my stuff?"

"Vaughn, I went through all the bags in that room.  It was right after we got on the plane.  You hadn't told me anything yet except that it was two years later and you all thought that I could be a double.  I was desperate for information.  Then, I saw that it said Phenobarbital and thought that maybe you planned to use it on me."

Vaughn shook his head incredulously.  "What a pair we make" was all he could say.

"Okay then", said Judy Barnett, "On that note, why don't we all get some breakfast.  The others will be up soon."

-------------------------------

After breakfast, Vaughn went to be checked out by Dr. Kramer while Sydney had another session with Dr. Barnett, still trying to sort out how she had ended up in Hong Kong.  Later, as everyone was enjoying their lunch, Kendall strode in with Sydney's test results waving in his hand.  "Agent Bristow, it's good to have you back. You've passed every test with flying colors.  We can start your debrief immediately.  Weiss, Tippin, Dr. Barnett, let's all head over to the conference room in the Security and Communications building."

"Wait!" cried Vaughn rising from the table, "We had an agreement!"

"Yes, Mr. Vaughn, we did, but you're still here on the island through no fault of mine. It was the unexpected consequence of your decision to stop your medication.  That half of the agreement is moot anyway.  We didn't tell her about your condition.  You illustrated it for her in glorious Technicolor."   "As for the other half, not only are you still here, but the good doctor disagrees with your leaving before Ms. Bristow is fully informed.  Something about the two of you needing closure", he said as he circled the papers over his head."

"What?!"

"Michael, calm down," Dr. Barnett tried to soothe.  "I know that this isn't what you wanted, but I believe it's in both your and Sydney's best interest.  Ideally, this process could have taken place over several weeks or months, but we don't have that kind of time", she said glaring at Director Kendall.  "You may not agree with me now, but you will with time."

"The two of you can go to hell!" yelled Michael Vaughn as he stormed from the kitchen and out the back door, slamming it behind him.

The others simply sat at the table, stunned by the encounter they had just witnessed.  Kendall turned to Agents Jenkins and Morganetti and commanded, "Radio down to the dock and order it secured.  I don't want our friend leaving before we finish this."  Then, he turned back to the table.  "What are you all waiting for?  Let's get this show on the road!"

Even though Sydney was relieved that she was finally going to get answers to what the hell had happened over the past two years, she couldn't stem the wave of dread that had begun to engulf her.  Everyone rose from the table and headed over to the second building that flanked the house, the one that Sydney had yet to enter.  No one spoke as they filed into the building.

Once inside, she saw a wall of monitors.  There must have been twenty of them.  All of them were showing some part of the enclave.  Apparently, there were several monitors in the main house and in the lab and bunkhouse in the other building.  None of them appeared to be in any of the bedrooms of the main house.  Thank God.  There were many focused on the rocky shoreline and dock and others that were aimed at what appeared to be woodlands.  The island must be bigger than she thought. Off the room with the monitors and communication equipment was an arsenal.  Flack jackets, helmets, and semi-automatic rifles were lined up against one wall while the other held a variety of smaller weapons and equipment.  This place was equipped to handle a full-out invasion.

There was another room off the communications room which was set up as a conference room.  There were several monitors placed around the long conference table in the middle.  Everyone filed in and took their places.  Sydney was motioned to one end of the table while Kendall sat down at the other.

"Agent Bristow", Kendall began, "Mr. Vaughn briefed me fully about what he told you on the way over regarding the investigation surrounding your disappearance.  I've brought the others up to speed.  In addition, Agent Weiss has informed me about what you've been able to piece together on your own, which is unfortunately accurate.  This afternoon we're going to focus on the gaps in your knowledge, most prominently those involving Arvin Sloane."

"As you have been told, Arvin Sloane disappeared for several months after our encounter in Mexico City.  Then, he reappeared with a new organization made up of former contacts, mercenaries, et cetera.  Suddenly, this new organization started assimilating other organized crime organizations at an astounding rate.  This usually happened right after key figures from these other organizations started showing up dead from unknown causes.  Every now and then some would have other injuries, but none of them fatal.  The primary cause of death remained elusive."

While Kendall continued speaking, slides of the victims flashed before them on the monitors.  Sydney recognized some of them as K-directorate and Triad members with whom she had had run-ins in the past.  The pictures showed the bodies where they had been dumped.  Most were not obviously injured, although some were shown with obviously mangled limbs.

"What was clear was that Sloane was able to get crucial intel from these victims that enabled him to take over their operations without question.  More and more terrorist cells and organizations keep coming under his folds, either through intimidation or the abduction and murder of key players, during which he somehow obtains all of the critical information regarding their organization.  Currently, his organization rivals the size of the former Alliance and it is still growing.  It contains all or part of the following criminal organizations:  K-directorate, the Triad, the Italian and French Mafia, the Russian Mob, and the Yakuza."

"His ability to obtain critical information about these organizations appears to be directly linked to the Rambaldi device that Sloane constructed in Mexico City, Il Dire.  Rumors about Il Dire have been running rampant through organized crime networks and the international intelligence community for 18 months.  It was originally believed to be some sort of torture device, but the condition of most of the victims seemed to contradict that assessment.  Up until ten months ago, the only intel we had on it came from your father who was in Mexico City while it was being built.  His only observation was that whatever it was seemed to require a great deal of energy."

Kendall paused and let go a deep breath before continuing, "We had no direct knowledge about the potential power of Il Dire until after Vaughn's abduction and subsequent extraction approximately two months later.  Unfortunately, we learned it at a terrible price.  Less than a week after his extraction, while he was still in a CIA hospital abroad, the Joint Task Force detention facility was raided to obtain Sark's release.  Sloane's raid was successful and left 9 agents dead – 4 from the CIA, 2 from the FBI, and 3 U.S. Marshals.  Dozens more were wounded.  These were the agents who were killed."  Kendall flashed the faces on the screen.  Sydney was acquainted with all of them.  However, two of them were friends – Agents Craig Blair and Christine Phillips.  Sydney stifled a strangled cry and held her head in her hands.

"Director Kendall, could you please hold up for a moment?" asked Dr. Barnett.  "Sydney, are you alright?  Would you like us to take a break for a little bit?"

"No, I'll be fine.  This just caught me off guard.  Please continue Director Kendall", she said shakily as she gratefully accepted a box of tissues which Will passed to her from one of the side tables.

Kendall continued, his voice slow and deliberate, "There was only one way that Sloane could have gotten the intel to conduct the raid on that facility – Michael Vaughn.  All the information Sloane needed to carry out the assault came from the research Vaughn had conducted on the facility as part of his unauthorized investigation of your mother during her incarceration.  He is the only person who knew all of the details."  Kendall paused and looked over at Sydney who sat in horrified silence, not knowing what to expect next.

Kendall began again, "We needed to know what else Vaughn may have let Sloane have.  There was a problem, however.  Vaughn had been injured during his captivity. Along with sustaining several broken ribs and limbs, he had fallen into some sort of catatonic state and was unable to tell us anything.  We tried everything to break him out of it, including drugs and electroshock, but nothing worked initially." 

"The agencies involved decided that we couldn't risk what Vaughn may have told Sloane.  Consequently, anything that Michael Vaughn had ever worked on had to be considered comprised.  Dozens of agents and contacts had to be pulled from the field.  The JTF facility was abandoned and the task force relocated to other quarters at a cost of millions.  The same was done to the enclave on Bainbridge Island near Seattle.  All classified materials and protocols that he had ever come in contact with either had to be moved or considered compromised.  The list goes on and on."  The irritation in Kendall's voice was growing and he knew he shouldn't continue.  "Doctor Barnett, perhaps this would be a good point for you to take over the briefing…"

Kendall sat down and Judy Barnett continued.  "It had been several weeks since Michael's extraction and, although most of his physical injuries were healing, we were having no success in breaking him out of the catatonia.  His EEGs and MRIs were showing alterations, suggesting that something had been done to his brain, but we couldn't say what.  All of Sloane's other victims were dead so we had no one with whom we could compare him."  

"Finally, we realized that what we were seeing was probably a combination of problems.  One of the neurologists whom we brought into examine Vaughn brought up the possibility of something called complex partial status epilepticus, which is basically epilepsy without the violent convulsions that you witnessed last night.  It's basically a seizure which stays entirely in the brain and can mimic catatonia.  However, it should have responded somewhat to the treatments that we had tried, especially the drugs.  So, we guessed that he was also probably suffering from posttraumatic stress syndrome.  Consequently, we decided on a treatment path which included drugs for the epilepsy and psychotherapy for the PTSD, hoping to break through to him.  The only thing we needed was some way to open the door to his mind."

"Many posttraumatic stress patients avoid the people, situations, or activities which are reminders of the original traumatic events because these exposures can cause their symptoms to worsen, cause them to withdraw further.  In Michael's case, that meant all of us.  We had to find someone or something to help bring him out that had nothing to do with you, the CIA, Sloane, or Rambaldi.  This was incredibly difficult because his job was his life at that point in time."

Sydney looked up with tears in her eyes and said, "Oh my God, Alice…."  Dr. Barnett shook her head and looked over to Will and Weiss to continue the story.

Will Tippin continued, "Syd, when Dr. Barnett told us her theory about what Vaughn needed, we both thought of Alice immediately.  With his mom gone, she was basically his only significant tie left to his life outside the CIA.  She still didn't even know he worked for the CIA.  They had become friends again and she had been calling us trying to find out where he was.  At that point, he had been gone from LA for two and a half months.  We had originally told her that he had taken a temporary assignment abroad, but then we told Barnett about her and the CIA decided to bring her in."

"We told her what Mike actually did, which kind of freaked her out, and then we told her the basics about what happened to him and how she needed his help.  She took a leave of absence immediately from her job as a physical therapist.  Then, Dr. Barnett and her team, Vaughn, and Alice were brought here about seven and a half months ago.  This was the new enclave that the CIA had set up to replace Bainbridge.  We couldn't bring him back to LA because the facilities there had been compromised."  Will nodded back towards Dr. Barnett.

"Without getting into all the details", continued Judy Barnett, "Michael started responding within a couple of weeks.  Within a month, we were able to start regressing him to find out what had actually happened to him."

"After everything he had been through, you started regressing him almost immediately!"  Sydney could not believe what she was hearing.

Kendall leapt in, "Agent Bristow, did you miss what I said earlier?  Nine agents dead.  Dozens wounded.  Other agents and intel compromised.  Need I elaborate more?  Vaughn understood what needed to be done and cooperated."

"Yes", Dr. Barnett interrupted, "he did, but that does not mean that it wasn't a long and difficult process.  Not long after we got here, when Michael emerged from the catatonic state he appeared to be in, he started having the full-blown grand mal seizures.  These ended up confirming that it was indeed epilepsy with which we were dealing.  He had them almost daily until we were able to get him on the right medication, which took several weeks.  After that, the seizures started tapering off.  By the time he left here, he was down to one every couple of weeks."

"His regression therapy sessions were very successful.  Although these sessions were occasionally difficult on him, he was not only able to give us the particulars about what had happened to him during his captivity, but also gave us detailed information on the Rambaldi device, Il Dire.  Apparently, it had been used on him repeatedly and he had been able to glean what it was and, to some extent, how it worked."  Judy Barnett then gestured to Will Tippin to continue.

"Syd", Will began, "as you know, right before you left, the NSA facility was raided and all 24 Rambaldi artifacts that the government had were taken along with several of his manuscripts.  These artifacts were combined with the ones that Sloane had already to create a device that looked something like this".  Will pressed a button on his laptop and brought up sketches on the monitors of something that looked like a primitive MRI, the medical device used to perform body scans.  However, looking at the scale on these sketches she could see that it was actually much smaller and that the opening could not possibly accommodate an entire body.

"These sketches were created using Vaughn's recollections of the device.  You can clearly see where some of the items taken from the NSA fit into it.  We are assuming that the other parts are the Rambaldi artifacts that Sloane already had.  The last piece that was taken, the Di Regno heart appears to be part of the power supply over here."

Will took a deep breath, not sure how to continue.  "Syd, it's a memory extraction and storage device.  The opening is just large enough for someone's head.  The subject is restrained and their head is slid into it.  When the device is activated, whatever the person is thinking is transmitted to the device and then it can subsequently be transmitted to someone else.  Vaughn never told Sloane anything.  Sloane would ask him questions while the device was activated, but he'd never answer.  However, over time, he realized what was happening because Sloane's questions would become more and more detailed.  Questions he could only ask if he knew the answers to the previous ones he had asked.  By then, Sloane had asked dozens of questions about you and the Joint Task Force facility."

"Was it painful for him?"  Sydney broke in, emotion choking her voice.

Will looked down.  "Not originally, according to him.  There was an odd sensation, but it wasn't really painful.  However, when he realized what was going on, he tried to resist it.  Apparently, the device can only pick up a person's active thoughts, kind of like the RAM on a computer.  When a computer program is running and in the RAM, you can access the data, but you can't when the program isn't running. When Vaughn realized this, he tried to think about other things, mundane things, so that Sloane couldn't get whatever he was after.  The device had some kind of variable control so that it could not only pick up someone's primary thoughts, but also their background thoughts.   When Mike resisted, Sloane would crank it up and that was supposed to be pretty unpleasant."

Sydney looked down and bit her lip as Will pressed ahead.

"Anyway, Vaughn apparently got pretty good at resisting, or Sloane was afraid to use the device on him full throttle as he still needed him alive, because that's when he started the physical torture while using the device in an attempt to break him down.  He never used drugs though.  I guess they distorted the data somehow.  Typically, he would break or re-break something.  He was careful not to do anything life-threatening, just stuff that would definitely get his attention."

"The interesting thing is that Vaughn apparently wasn't the only person from whom Sloane had problems getting information.  After we learned all this stuff from Vaughn, we went back and looked at the other victims.  Of the two dozen or so victims that we have been able to identify, only two or three had obvious injuries, similar to Vaughn's.  It was weird - they were all left-handed.  According to Marshall, left-handed people predominantly use the right side of their brain while right-handed people use the left.  Essentially, their brains are wired differently.  Only five to ten percent of the population are like this.  Apparently, Rambaldi optimized the device to work best on most people, right-handed, left-brained people.  When we looked at the left-handed victims, Sloane had the most trouble taking over their organizations."

"Unfortunately for Vaughn, though, Sloane was able to spend a lot of time with him.  All of the other victims died within a week of their abduction.  He had Vaughn for eight weeks.  He simply just kept at him.  A few days before he was extracted, Sloane took the device and left.  We know now that he needed to use it in Japan on someone from the Yakuza.  It was while he was away that your mother was able to get a location on Vaughn through one of the mercenaries that Sloane had left to guard him.  Apparently, he felt he wasn't getting paid enough.  Your mother immediately contacted the CIA and Vaughn was extracted."

"Where was he?" Sydney choked out, tears streaming down her face.

"He was abducted during an operation in France and was recovered from a Basque Separatists camp in Andorra."

"Would you like to stop for a while, Sydney?" Dr. Barnett asked, her voice laced with concern.

"You mean there's more?" Sydney cried as she cradled her head in her hands.

"Unfortunately, yes, Agent Bristow", interjected Kendall.  In addition to his activities with Il Dire, Sloane has been desperately trying to rebuild Markovich's doubling device.  I don't think I need to point out how horrible it would be if Sloane were able to have both of these devices at his disposal.  As a precaution, all G8 leaders and their cabinet ministers now undergo monthly DNA testing and screening for anti-rejection drugs.  However, there are hundreds of thousands of lesser dignitaries and captains of industry.  Screening all of them on a regular basis would be impossible.  Obviously, this information cannot be shared with the rest of the world as it would likely cause political panic and chaos on world markets."

"So far, with help from your mother, believe it or not, we've been able to keep one step ahead of Sloane in his attempts to build a new device.  All of Markovich's computer files were destroyed in Marseilles at the server farm, but Sloane has painstakingly taken all of Markovich's earlier work from his research notebooks and the like and now has his own team of experts trying to build a device.  Luckily, the files that you copied for the CIA before destroying the original device in Poland were still being evaluated at Langley.  Sloane did not get a hold of them during the raid on the JTF facility."

"Your mother, and now your father, have been helping us by channeling whatever intel they come across regarding his attempts to rebuild the device.  This, plus the knowledge we already have in house about how the device works, has allowed us to play hand check with Sloane by cutting him off from crucial information, equipment, and supplies, preventing him from completing his work.  However, we think that he is getting dangerously close to having a working prototype."

 "As for your parents, they have purposely made it so that they can only contact us and not vice versa.  They send us information via e-mail through anonymous re-mailers.  All attempts to trace them have been futile.  Apparently, they fear that we will attempt to recapture your mother.  Nothing could be further from the truth."

"What?" asked Sydney incredulously.  Why?"

"Because she is the Prophecy woman.  If Arvin Sloane is successful, he will no doubt be the 'Greatest Power'.  According to the prophecy, she is the only one who can bring him down.  She can't really do that if we have her behind bars, can she?"

Sydney was stunned.  The world had truly been turned upside down.

Kendall continued once again, "Arvin Sloane had been desperately seeking you because he thought you were the Prophecy woman.  He had gotten Page 47 along with the artifacts in the NSA raid.  He still believes that the 'Greatest Power' refers to the United States.  That is why he was so desperate to find you.  He thought that he couldn't fulfill his destiny without you.  After he kidnapped Vaughn and used the device on him, he realized that you couldn't be the Prophecy woman because of you little field trip to Mount Sebacio.  He finally came to accept you were dead.  Now, he is playing a world-wide game of cat and mouse with your mother, trying to get her to join forces with him once again.  However, that is unlikely as she feels that he is responsible for the death of her only child."

"All of this is why we were so suspicious of your turning up in Hong Kong.  Not only did we truly think you were dead, we also believed that perhaps Sloane had finally perfected the device.  We thought he might use a double of you to convince your mother that you were still alive.  Perhaps then she would be willing to join forces with him again.  We thought that Ms. Calfo's double might have obtained some of your DNA before your confrontation.  This, when combined with the information that Sloane had been able to obtain from Vaughn, the person who knew you best, would have made for an incredibly convincing double."

"About a year ago, before Vaughn's abduction, when we knew that Sloane was attempting to rebuild Markovich's device, we were afraid that Sloane might try to trick us with a double of you.  That's when Vaughn and your father came up with the idea of having a list of questions from different people to which only you would know the answer.  There were originally four questions.  Vaughn's was eliminated for what are now obvious reasons."

Sydney's head was reeling from all of this information.  Yet somehow one thing in particular bothered her.  "Why did you send Vaughn to Hong Kong?  You had to bring him back in and, if I were a double, he would have been the easiest for me to deceive."

Kendall looked down at the table, hesitant to answer the question.

"Tell her the truth", Will bit out while staring directly at Kendall.

"I knew we shouldn't have let you in that meeting, Mr. Tippin."

"What Kendall doesn't want to tell you is that Vaughn was sent because he was deemed completely expendable.  We were going on conjecture about what the motives of your apparent double might be.  Other theories involved the kidnapping of another operative to get more information and Sark baiting Vaughn so that he could kill him.  As for kidnapping another operative, by sending Vaughn, they wouldn't give Sloane anything he didn't already have.  As for Sark, Vaughn and Sark's hatred of each other escalated after that night and, once Sark had been liberated, it seemed obvious that he might try to get Vaughn.  It's one of the main reasons that he is in Witness Protection."

"So you just sent him off to be killed! " Sydney leapt up and was heading towards Kendall when Will and Weiss grabbed her.

Kendall rose and stepped back.  "Agent Bristow, you are ignoring the last and ultimately correct possibility, that you were actually alive!  That is something that Mr. Vaughn definitely would have wanted to know and he was given a choice as to whether or not to participate."

Weiss finally entered the fray.  "Don't forget to add all the guilt that you and the other senior officers piled on him about what went down at the JTF facility!  Vaughn was racked with guilt over that.  You offered this up to him as an act of atonement for the crime of having been one of Sloane's victims!"

The volume in the room had grown and several agents who had been in the communications area came into the conference room.  They flanked Kendall, as it was obvious that he was close to being attacked.  With his backup in place, Kendall felt emboldened.   "Well, I'm sorry that none of you agreed with my decision regarding this, but whatever happened to the sacrifices of the few for the good of the many?  That's what this work is all about."  "This", he said with a wave of his hand, "isn't getting us anywhere.  It's water over the damn.  What we need now is a plan to take us from here."