The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.
President John Keeler, equipped with a walking cane, limped into the White House conference room where his most trusted advisors awaited him.
"What's going on here?" Keeler asked his Chief of Staff, Mark Kanar.
"Sir, Bill Buchanan, the Director of the Los Angeles Counter-Terrorist Unit, is on the line. He has something urgent to discuss."
Keeler picked up the telephone. "Bill?"
"Mr. President, we've received information that leads us to believe that there may be a Cordelia Virus outbreak sometime today," Buchanan informed him.
"I'm not sure I fully understand..." Keeler trembled.
"Chinese drugrunner Hitako Sunabi, Number Eight on the CIA's Most Wanted List, has been confirmed to have smuggled at least one vial of the virus into California. Our entire unit is solely focused on locating him before he releases it into the public."
"Have any casualties been identified as of yet?"
Buchanan sighed. "Sunabi kidnapped and killed Brad Hammond, our Regional Director."
"My God..." Keeler turned to his advisors. "Send out a Secret Service team to CTU Los Angeles to aid them in their objective."
---
Leaving his office, Porter picked up his coat and whisked it over him. His phone began to ring loudly once more, causing him to cringe.
He knew exactly who was calling, but he would not answer the phone. He would not be a part of this. He would not work for a criminal.
Porter took his briefcase and exited his office as the phone continued to ring.
---
Andre Drazen finally hung up the phone, disappointed. He turned to his assistant, Charles McLemore.
"The accountant knows too much. I want him eliminated before he can tell anyone about the virus."
"It will be done," McLemore nodded.
---
Jack put his key in the ignition, starting his car. He waited until Miller got into the passenger seat before driving out of the prison parking lot, then grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number.
"CTU, Manning."
"Curtis, it's Jack. I finished the interrogation of Sunabi's man."
"Find anything useful?" Curtis inquired.
"The name and location of Sunabi's closest living relative," Jack replied. "His ex-wife, an American named Cynthia Federer. She became a ghost to the government after the divorce. According to Chien, he and a few of Sunabi's men brought her to live at an apartment in San Francisco. The exact address is 129 Braxton Avenue."
"Thanks Jack, good work."
"We'll be at CTU soon." Jack closed his cell phone and focused on driving.
"What exactly did you do to Chien?" Miller whispered. "Will he be okay?"
"He'll be fine," Jack muttered.
---
Palmer cut himself a slice of wedding cake as he talked with Aaron Pierce, his most loyal and trusted friend.
"How's it like working for President Keeler these days?" Palmer asked.
Aaron sighed. "His physical condition has improved since the attack on Air Force One, but his heart was broken by his son's death. I really don't know how he can go on with all these Presidential duties. He's a courageous man, David."
"He most certainly is," Palmer agreed.
He caught a glimpse of Nicole talking with a few of her friends. "I wish Sherry could be here today. She may not have been the best mother in the world, but Nicole was more close to her than anyone. If I had known that everything would turn out this way, I would have stayed a Senator."
Aaron looked down at the floor and nodded. "I'm sorry."
---
Ethan Garrett walked into the main floor of CTU accompanied by Sam Harris, his partner. They had both been recently reassigned from CIA Headquarters, and today was their first day.
A man approached them and introduced himself. "Agent Garrett, Agent Harris? We've been awaiting your arrival. I'm Curtis Manning, Deputy Director of this unit."
"We hear there's been quite a few revelations here in the last hour," Ethan said. "Care to bring us up to speed?"
Curtis bit his lip. "I'm sure you're both aware of the Cordelia Virus incident that took place a few years back."
The agents both nodded in unison.
"At least one vial of the virus has been confirmed to be located in California at this very moment. We need to find and intercept it before it is released."
"But...I thought every trace of the Cordelia Virus was eliminated by the government back when it first turned up," Harris replied, nervous.
"So did we up until a month ago. Division received a lead that Hitako Sunabi, a Chinese drugrunner, had obtained a substance very similar to the virus. We sent one of our agents, Tom Baker, to go undercover in his drug ring. About an hour ago, he confirmed that the substance was indeed the Cordelia Virus, and that Sunabi had smuggled it into California."
"Sunabi's Number Eight on our Most Wanted List," Harris informed Curtis. "He'll be impossible to find in time. Consider the virus unleashed."
Curtis shook his head. "We have a lead that will hopefully take us directly to Sunabi. Cynthia Federer, his ex-wife."
"Even we can't locate Federer. How did you...?"
"Never mind how we got the location, I don't have time right now to go into detail. You'll be accompanying Agent Almeida to Federer's home in San Francisco."
"Great. Where do we prepare?" Ethan asked.
"Follow me."
---
Allie Porter sat in her parents' living room watching television with her older brother Tom. She, along with Tom, had briefly taken a vacation from college to spend the holidays with their family.
Allie smiled at her mother, Wendy, who stood in the kitchen cooking breakfast for them, as Tom gazed on the screen at President Keeler's press conference from the day before.
Suddenly, her father, Edward, rushed in through the front door.
"Honey, we have to leave now," He said to his wife, panting.
"Edward, what's the matter?" Wendy asked worriedly. "Why are you so red?"
"There's no time...Get in the car, all three of you. They could be here any minute..."
Tom rose from his seat and looked directly at his father. "Dad, what's going on?"
"Daddy..." Allie shivered. She watched through a window as a black van pulled up into the driveway.
"We need to go!" Porter shouted, pushing his wife away. "Listen to me, Wendy! Get in the car!"
He was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.
"Hide," Porter whispered.
Allie grasped Tom's hand, her heart pounding. Wendy stared at her husband in disbelief.
---
Kim and Chloe watched as Buchanan stormed out of his office, a look of frustration on his face.
"What do you think he's mad about now?" Chloe asked. "Do you think the virus was released?"
Kim looked at Chloe, her eyes widening.
"What? It's a possibility."
Kim wheeled her chair around to see Buchanan standing in front of her. "Can we speak privately for a moment?"
"Sure." Kim stood up and followed Buchanan into a nearby unoccupied hallway.
"Kim..." Buchanan sighed and leaned his back against a wall. "Chien, the man your father interrogated at Warwood Prison, was found dead after the questioning. There were traces of the lethal substance Beroglide in his blood. Jack will be arrested upon his return to CTU for the death of this man."
Kim could only deny what she was being told. "Mr. Buchanan, think about what you're saying. How could my father even smuggle the drug into the prison, let alone administer it to the victim unattended by a guard?"
"We're still investigating those details. I'm sorry, Kim."
Buchanan rest his hand on Kim's shoulder, then left her side. Still standing in the hallway, she buried her face in her hands as tears began to pour down her cheeks.
---
The doorknob turned and McLemore slowly entered the Porter home, his gun raised.
"Anybody home?" He said menacingly.
The entire family heard his voice from inside the garage, where they nervously waited beside the door. Tom held a butcher knife in one hand as Wendy put her arm around Allie protectively.
Porter slowly peered out the door to see McLemore searching the living room. He turned to his wife and children.
"You all deserve an explanation for this...One of my employers is a man named Andre Drazen. Today he wanted me to transact a large sum of money into a private account. I asked why, and he told me his secret in trust. The money is being used to purchase the Cordelia Virus. And he threatened me...but I can't sit and watch this happen. Wendy, kids, I'm so sorry."
Allie stepped forward. "Don't be sorry, Dad. You did the right thing even when faced with these circumstances, and you're the bravest man I'll ever know. I love you, Daddy."
Porter managed to smile as his daughter embraced him.
---
As Jack drove, Miller's phone began to ring in his pocket. Jack's eyes shifted toward him as he answered it.
"Miller."
"Ed, it's Bill," Buchanan said into the phone from his office.
"What can I do for you, Bill?" Miller responded.
Jack turned into a gas station and got out of the car to retrieve the pump.
"Jack will be taken into custody when he returns to CTU," Buchanan informed him. "As will you."
"What are you talking about?" Miller inquired. "For what?"
"For the murder of a federal prisoner."
Miller was speechless. "Jack handled the interrogation behind closed doors. I took no part in it!"
"We'll sort it all out when you get here. Just make sure Jack gets here."
"Yes, sir." He hung up the phone and turned to the pump and was surprised to see that Jack was no longer there.
Miller slowly exited the car and gripped his gun in its holster. "Jack?" His eyes surveilled the area, but there was still no sign of his partner.
Suddenly, Jack rushed out from behind Miller and hit him over the head with a broom, knocking him unconscious.
"Sorry, Ed," Jack muttered as he got back in his car and drove away, leaving Miller to lie on the cement.
---
Porter held his daughter in his arms as Tom paced the garage.
"We can't stay in here forever," Tom complained. "I won't let these men do this to our family."
"Son, we have no choice," Porter replied. "There's a man with a loaded gun outside of this room, and he was sent by Drazen for a reason."
"I won't let them..." Tom repeated.
Allie admired his determination, but was afraid for her brother's life. "Tom, please don't..."
"At least one man in this house needs to know what's best for the family." Tom pushed Allie away and put his hand on the doorknob.
McLemore's attention was caught by the slightly-moving doorknob, and he began to slowly walk towards it, his gun leading the way.
Porter began to hear McLemore's footsteps as he neared the garage door. "Tom, back away from the door and get in the car..."
"I won't let you order me around!" Tom protested. "I'm a grown man!"
Porter saw as the door slowly began to creak open. "Tom!" He tackled his son to the floor as McLemore fired three shots through the door.
Wendy began to scream as Allie ushered her into the car.
"Dad! Tom!" Allie yelled for her family to enter the vehicle.
"Thank you, Dad..." Tom moaned to his father, only to see that there were two bullets in his back. He was dead. A look of pure terror spread over Tom's face.
"Edward!" Wendy cried, realizing that her husband had just been killed. "No!"
McLemore rushed into the room and began firing at the car. He didn't notice as Tom, filled with rage, picked up the butcher knife he had been holding.
"You son of a b!tch!" Tom threw the knife into McLemore's arm, causing him to scream in pain.
"Tom, get in the car!" Allie shrieked. Tom rushed into the backseat of the car as Allie drove into the street and away from the house.
McLemore stood in the garage, gripping his wound, and gazed upon Porter's dead body.
"One down, three more to go."
---
Tony Almeida burst into Cynthia Federer's apartment, followed by Ethan and Harris.
"She's not home," Harris observed.
"Don't be so sure." Tony sprinted into the kitchen and nearly threw up at what he was immediately faced with.
Lying on the floor, with a bullet between her eyes, was Cynthia Federer. She had been there for at least a day.
"Looks like we just lost our last lead," Ethan sighed, holstering his weapon.
---
Buchanan sat in his office pondering the current situation when his phone began to ring.
"CTU, Buchanan."
"Hello, Mr. Buchanan. Were my demands not clear?" A voice responded.
"Who is this?" Buchanan inquired.
"The man your unit is desperately trying to find."
Buchanan became extremely nervous, but did not reply.
"Don't ignore my question, Mr. Buchanan. I know that your men found the location of my ex-wife and tried to retrieve her. I believed I made myself very clear before with Mr. Hammond. That was your last warning."
"What the hell are you planning?" Buchanan asked, but Sunabi had already hung up.
---
Palmer stood up on the stage preparing to give a wedding speech. He gazed at his daughter, then at the guests. He smiled.
"Nicole, you look absolutely radiant today. I am so proud of you."
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm, but he ignored it. "I wish you the best with your new husband. You two are so compatible, so loving..."
The pain began to grow worse. He interrupted his speech to roll up his sleeve and look at his arm, which was beginning to boil up. He hadn't felt this kind of pain since the assassination attempt made on him almost ten years ago.
"Please, excuse me for a moment..." Palmer said as the pain spread to his face. Stroking his cheek, he felt large bumps beginning to emerge.
Nicole and Keith immediately stood up and ran towards their father. "Dad, what's wrong?"
Staring at his children, Palmer fell to the floor. The boils were spreading to the rest of his body.
"Dad!" Keith yelled. "Dad, no!"
"I love you..." Palmer choked to his children.
Aaron pushed his way through the crowd of people and looked down at Palmer, who was writhing on the floor.
"Please, Aaron..." Palmer groaned.
"Don't make me do this, David..." Aaron pleaded.
Palmer's expression did not change. Aaron could see that his friend was clearly in pain. "Please."
Wiping a tear from his eye, Aaron suddenly whisked out a gun and pointed it at Palmer.
Two loud gunshots were heard throughout the tent. David Palmer was dead.
10:58...
10:59...
11:00