Wow! I got a bunch of reviews on the last chapter and I really appreciate it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, but special thanks to those who reviewed for the first time. Also, thanks to Judith who went back and read Escape to Argentina and reviewed that. (I haven't had a review on that in months!)
Now on with the story...
Chapter 15: Strategic Planning
Jack and Chase sat in the conference room at CTU pouring over the data that Adam had provided them. They knew that the really important information was classified and they weren't being allowed to see any of it. Instead they had to satisfy themselves with the less important leavings.
Chase pushed his chair back and sighed in exhaustion and frustration. They both knew that CTU really had little chance to get Tony back unless they were willing to negotiate or send in an assault team and they were willing to do neither. "I need more coffee. How about you?" Chase asked.
Jack shook his head. "I've had enough caffeine for one day."
"I'll be right back." Chase told him. He heard Jack's phone ring as he walked from the room.
Jack reached for his phone and glanced at the caller ID expecting the call to be from Kate. Instead the called ID read "private number."
"Jack Bauer," Jack said as he answered.
"Jack, are you alone?"
Jack recognized the voice but couldn't place it. "Yes. Who's asking?" He answered.
"It's Ian Calvert."
"Ian, how are you? I haven't heard from you in years."
"I need to meet with you Jack and you can't tell anyone that you've talked to me."
"What's this about, Ian?"
"I can't tell you over the phone. There's a diner about two blocks south of CTU. Do you know where it is?"
"Sure, on Spring Street."
"That's the one. I need you to meet me there in 15 minutes. You can bring Chase with you, but no one else can know about this. I've never given you any reason to doubt me, Jack. Will you do it?"
"I wish you'd give me more information, Ian, but Chase and I will be there."
"See you there." Ian answered and then hung up.
Chase came back into the conference room as Jack hung up. "Was that Kate?" He asked.
"No, come with me. I'll explain when we get outside."
Chase looked confused but followed Jack out of the conference room. They told Jeff DuBose that they were going out to get some lunch. Jeff told them to take their time. The mood at CTU had changed. Everyone was keeping busy, but the urgency was gone. Most had all but accepted that they could do nothing more for Tony and were simply cleaning up and waiting for the inevitable. Jack found that attitude particularly troubling.
Jack told Chase about the phone call as they walked south out of the CTU building. They quickly found the diner and walked in to find Ian seated alone at a table near the back wall. Jack hadn't seen Ian in several years and was surprised that he really didn't look any older.
Ian stood and shook hands with both men. He knew Jack well but had only met Chase a couple of times. Jack didn't mince words. "What's this about, Ian?"
A middle-aged waitress in a pink and white uniform reminiscent of the 1950s brought three glasses of water and silverware wrapped in napkins to the table. The threesome ordered sandwiches and drinks and waited until the waitress was gone.
"I'm going to assume that you both know that CTU has all but given up on rescuing Almeida. Am I right?"
Chase and Jack both remained silent and nodded bleakly.
"I'm working with someone who is interested in going outside of CTU to rescue him. The problem is that I can't ask any current agents to help me without asking them to risk their jobs. I'm hoping that you two will work with me to find a group of former agents that are interested in going in with us."
"Who are you working with?" Jack asked.
"That's a long story, Jack. I'll explain later, but right now I need to know whether you are willing to go in with us or not. As I told you before, I've never given you a reason to doubt me. I've always been straight with you. Tony doesn't have a chance if we leave this in the hands of CTU. We're his only hope."
"Ian, I don't remember that you knew Tony all that well. Why do you want to get involved with this? You could lose your job." Jack said squinting as if trying to focus, trying to understand.
"I'm doing it as a favor for someone who I owe. Again, Jack, I'll explain later. I just need to know if you are in or out. If you're not on board with me, I'm wasting precious time here."
"Are you talking about some kind of rescue mission with an extraction?" Chase asked.
"Exactly," Ian told him. "If you can get about six to eight men for the extraction and a couple of analysts I can get you the resources."
"We can't get access to anything but non-classified information, Ian. How can we possibly pull off an extraction?" Chase asked clearly doubting their ability to rescue Tony.
"I've got access to all of the classified information, the satellite recognizance, whatever you need. I can get military transport and all the equipment you need."
"How?" Jack asked.
"Don't ask, Jack. Just know that I can do it."
"Does Hammond know anything about this?" Chase asked.
"Do you think I'd be here if he did? He'd charge me with treason if he had any idea I was doing this." Ian lied convincingly. "Hammond is so caught up in answering to the President that he doesn't have time to notice what I'm doing. I told him that I was going home sick. He didn't question me." Jack and Chase appeared to be buying Ian's story.
"Tell me about this plan, Ian." Jack said.
"The person I'm working with is in the early stages of developing the plan, but he needs help. You two have done plenty of this type of work. Are you in? Can you get a team together? We don't have a lot of time."
Chase and Jack looked at each other. "It's hard to agree to something this vague, Ian, but I also can't sit around any longer and wait for Tony's body to surface. I'm in." Jack told him.
"Me, too." Chase answered solemnly.
"Good," Ian answered with some satisfaction. "Here's my address." Ian handed them a business card with his address hand written neatly on the back. "I need you to get together an extraction team and some analysts. Have everyone meet at my house at six o'clock." He looked at his watch. "That gives us about three hours. I'll see you then."
Ian wiped his mouth with a paper napkin then crumpled it into a loose ball and dropped it onto his empty plate. He stood and pulled out his wallet and left enough money on the table to cover the bill and a sizable tip. He turned quietly and walked out of the diner leaving Jack and Chase to finish their meals and begin developing a list of former agents that might be willing to help them.
Chase took out a pen and reached for a clean napkin. "The analysts are the easy part." He said as he jotted down two names. "I'll call Kim, she'll want to help."
Jack nodded. Kim didn't have as much experience as some other analysts he could think of but she was good.
"She can get Kate to watch the kids." Chase suggested.
"No," Jack stopped him. "Tell her not to call Kate. She doesn't need to know about this."
"Jack, you can't keep this from Kate. She needs to know."
"I'll tell her when we know exactly what we're going to do. Until then I don't want her to sit around worrying."
"Okay," Chase sighed. "I'm sure my sister will watch the kids."
"What other analyst do you have in mind?" Jack asked him.
"Frank Healy. He still works for Tony; I'm sure he'll want to help."
"Good choice. What field agents are we going to call?"
The two started naming former agents and adding those who they both found acceptable to the list. When they had several names, they each pulled out their phone and started calling. It took a few minutes to track some of them down, but most were easily located and helped direct Jack and Chase toward the others. For the most part they were happy to help. Most felt as Jack and Chase did, that they were sitting around waiting to hear that Tony had been killed. They all found that unnerving.
Jack and Chase stopped back at CTU and talked to DuBose. They told him that they were both exhausted and going home for some sleep. They also told him that neither of them felt as though they were being of help and would not return. DuBose was a little surprised by their sudden willingness to give up. Both had often been described as 'dogs with a bone,' they never gave up until the mission was complete. But by the same token, everyone was tired and knew that it was unlikely that they would get Tony back alive so he understood their frustration. Going home to their families was probably the best thing for them right now.
The group met as planned at Ian's suburban Los Angeles house at six o'clock. Kim met Frank Healy at Tony's office. They would work there which gave them access to the sophisticated computer equipment Tony used in his business. They would be in constant contact with the others via webcam. In addition to Frank and Kim, Tony's business partner Juan Rodriguez would be working with them.
Juan was a former Argentine government field agent with an attitude similar to Jack's. He, like Jack, had eventually run afoul of the Argentine government and resigned before they could fire him. He and Jack had worked together when Juan was still working for the government. It was Juan that Jack turned to when he needed to get Tony out of the US. Juan provided a safe haven and a job for Tony in Argentina where there was no extradition treaty with the US.
Juan had been in contact with the LA office as soon as he heard that Tony had been kidnapped. He decided to come to LA and see if he could be of any help. Someone needed to run the office, he thought. He obviously had a financial interest in what happened to Tony, but he and Tony had become close friends and, although it made little sense, it made him feel better to be in the LA office. Now Juan was helping Frank and Kim as an analyst but told Jack that if there was an overseas mission, he wanted to be among the field agents.
Once everyone arrived at Ian's house, he introduced Evan Dessler. Everyone who knew Michelle was surprised to meet her father. No one could ever remember her speaking of her father. A brief explanation of their estrangement with little in the way of details was offered with Evan accepting all of the blame. No one asked any questions. It wasn't their business and it wasn't why they were there.
Ian began by providing the satellite recognizance photos and all of the classified information that he had down loaded. They separated into groups to study the data. The house became quiet as they reviewed the data. Occasionally a group would discuss something in low tones and they would scratch notes on yellow legal pads.
It was Chase that interrupted the quiet when he addressed the group at Tony's office via the webcam. "Can you guys pull up the satellite photos? There is something here that doesn't add up and you have better resolution there than we have here."
"What do you see, Chase?" Frank asked.
Chase directed him to several specific photos. "If you look at the infrared recognizance photos that the South Koreans used for their assault, they show a total of 12 people in the compound. That is the two sentries on the roof, one person we presume is Tony, one is Yuen and eight others. We know that the sentries were killed, so now there should be ten people in the compound. Simple math, right?"
Chase had everyone's attention now and they all agreed. Chase continued, "Well look at the satellite photos. They show us the people milling around outside the building and in one photo I can count fourteen. Where did the extra people come from? We know that all of the assault team was killed. The Koreans confirmed that they had recovered all of the bodies. We can also pretty much assume that Tony is not walking around outside. That means there are at least fifteen people in that compound. That doesn't make sense. The satellites show that no vehicles have come into the compound. The South Koreans have the place surrounded. Somebody explain this to me."
"Chase is right." Healey said. "I can go over the satellite photos again, but as far as I can see, no one has entered the compound."
"So where did the extra people come from?" Ian asked.
"There must to be an underground entrance to the compound." Jack stated matter of factly. "Frank, enlarge the radius on the satellite shots so you're looking at a larger area. Look for unusual activity like vehicle movement."
"Will do, Jack, but I have to tell you, that's like looking for a needle in a haystack. The area is pretty heavily wooded; I'm not sure what we are going to be able to see."
"Strategically an underground tunnel would help us a lot." Jack told him. "If we could find an entrance, we could mount a two pronged assault. We could send one team in through the tunnel and parachute in another team.
Frank, Kim and Juan started searching satellite photos for unusual movement while the team at the house started to plan for a possible two pronged attack. It was nearly ninety minutes before Kim said "We may have something here. Frank's going to try and improve the resolution, but I'll send what I've got to your screens now so you can see it. Let me know when you've got it."
It was a couple of minutes before they could open the file and look at what Kim had sent. "Look at the first three frames." She directed them. "There appears to be some kind of movement, possibly a car, in the upper right hand corner. Now look at the middle of the next five frames. This was taken several hours later, but shows the same coordinates. The perspective is slightly different because of the position of the satellite, but it's the same spot. Those frames show movement. Again, it could be anything, but a car is a strong possibility. Frank is trying to improve the resolution a little more." She paused while they looked over the photos. "This next series of frames is really impressive because they were taken at night. Look at the bottom left hand corner, again, these are the same coordinates as before. You can see what could well be a vehicle with headlights on in the very same spot. We've looked at South Korean maps and can't identify any road that goes through that area. It's not any kind of campground or an area that would attract hikers. Maybe we can get the South Koreans to check it out for us."
"We can't do that." Ian stated. "If we call them in, they are going to know that something is up. Hammond has already told them that we aren't mounting any kind of offensive. If we get them to check up on this, it's going to be obvious that we're up to something and they'll want to talk to CTU about it. We have to keep CTU and Hammond out of this."
"Ian's right." Jack told the group. "Get us as much evidence as you can that there is underground access to the compound from that site." He said to the group at Tony's office. "We need to keep planning this operation under the assumption that we've got underground access at those coordinates. Is everybody with me?"
Everyone agreed and the planning continued. They separated into groups again and continued planning. Some concentrated on the assault while others developed a list of equipment they needed and the rest developed a plan for transportation. It was nearly 2am when the plan was complete. It had come together with stunning speed. Ian had arranged military transport to South Korea on a plane that was leaving at noon the next day. If all went as planned, they would be in South Korea in just about 28 hours, or with the time difference, about 4pm in Korea. Their plan had them in place for the assault around midnight. Even if they were delayed by weather or other unforeseen circumstances, they still had plenty of time left in the 72 hour window that Yuen had given Hammond.
The group said their goodbyes knowing that they would be together again within the next few hours. For now they would go home and try to catch some precious sleep. Most knew that they couldn't possibly sleep; the adrenaline rush was simply too great. They all knew the risks and accepted them willingly. They had a common goal; to rescue someone that they all knew would do the same for them.
Thousands of miles away Tony curled up against one corner of the cell that had become his home over the last few days. He shivered against the chill of the room but found that he was at least somewhat comfortable if he sat with his knees drawn up and leaned against a corner. The position allowed him to preserve his own body heat and provided support for his ribs. That brought some relief from the pain he felt as he breathed. His hand rested limply in his lap. It was swollen from just above the wrist and he couldn't move it without pain. Even in the dim light that occasionally came in from underneath the door he could see how bruised it was. The second beating hadn't been as severe as the first. It had left him aching and stiff, but he didn't think he had any new injuries. He knew that he must be a sight. He had never had a chance to wash and he still had blood caked on his face and his clothes.
His captors had given him some food and water again and he ate and drank knowing that he should but at this point he was sure that it was fruitless. Tony was a realist. He knew that there was no way out and that no one else was coming. He knew that Michelle was in LA well aware of those same things and the anguish that she must be feeling hurt him more than knowing he was going to die. He wished they would kill him now and get it over with. Not so much for his sake, but for Michelle's. She needed to put this ordeal behind her and move on to burying him and getting used to her new life. He knew how strong she was and that his family would help her. He was sure that she would be okay. The kids would adjust because that is what children do, he thought pragmatically. Despite his mental attempt to try and distance himself from her, he longed to hold her. He wanted to feel the warmth of her body, to rest his hand on her belly so he could feel his child move inside of her. He wanted to bury his face in her hair and inhale her rich scent. It was torture to think of her, to love her so much and not be able to touch her. He prayed silently for a quick end to this pain. Death would be so much easier.