THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 6:00 AM AND 7:00 AM
EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
CTU Los Angeles
6:00:01
6:00:02
6:00:03
6:00:04
Jack Bauer arrived at CTU stunned by the number of men in suits that had showed up for the briefing. He tried to ignore their presence as he walked into his glass encased office, but the rising number of noise and frustration invading the workspace gave him little patience. He walked up the flight of stairs leading to his office, but stopped there. His head turned to the people below him as he shouted, "Keep your voices down in here!" A second after, all activity stopped and nearly everybody had their eyes on Jack. Jack ignored the attention and walked straight into his office.
Seconds later, a woman walked into Jack's office one hand holding a document and the other a disposable cup filled to the rim with coffee.
"You okay?" she asked, concerned.
Jack got straight to the point. "What do you have Michelle?"
"Well," she went on. "We are about to have a briefing on what exactly occurred and we are just waiting for some members of NSA and FBI to run in."
Jack couldn't wait for the briefing. The morning had given him a headache and the incident that occurred only seconds ago proved that he was growing grumpier by the second. "Tell me what you know."
Algeria Africa
6:25:12
6:25:13
6:25:14
6:25:15
William Redding had rendezvoused with Sam Fisher on the government bird driven by two highly skilled pilots and were now on African air making way back home to the States.
Sam had not yet changed into his casual clothing; instead he immediately picked up a telephone attached to wirings on the airplane eager to make a phone call to Col. Lambert. It rang three times until somebody had picked it up.
"Lambert?"
"What is it Fisher?" asked the voice in the phone.
"You mind telling me what's up?" asked a curious Sam.
"There was an attack on the Pentagon an hour ago. There were several casualties: all of them government officials. Press hasn't said anything yet, and the boys down at Pentagon want all branches investigating in on this, including Third Echelon."
Sam grew confused. "But Lambert, this isn't normally our thing." It was true. The role of Third Echelon was never to investigate attacks already made on American soil, but rather to investigate any potential criminals that could be classified as a possible threat to the home land and eliminate them.
Lambert understood the role of Third Echelon, which was why the last detail would change everything. "Security claims that Alex Whitmore was there during the time of the attack."
Sam lost his breath. "Whitmore!" And that last detail changed everything.
"I sent Grimsdottir down to CTU in Los Angeles, she should be there by now. She'll try to learn whatever she can on the attack, and then she will fill them in on everything we have on Whitmore," said Lambert.
"But..." Lambert went silent for seconds.
"But what?" Sam was anxious to know.
"CTU can't know anything about Third Echelon," concluded Lambert. "The new branch has had numerous reports of moles in the past few years that they have been active. I'm sorry to say that we can't completely trust CTU, but the secrecy of Third Echelon is of higher importance and we don't want someone passing information on us. Grimsdottir has been informed and will try to keep the organization confidential."
"I understand." Sam Fisher was aware of the newly formed Counter Terrorist Unit office down in Los Angeles, and of the numerous moles that had presided in it. There were good people no doubt and the new office deserved lots of credit for the work they had done as a counter terrorist unit, but CTU was often unorganized in keeping a keen eye on their employees, and lots of information had been leaked from the office over the past years. Spies from all around the world have died due to internal leaks, and that was something Sam wasn't willing to be a victim of. Neither Sam nor Third Echelon could risk any confidential information leaving the country, even if it meant death.
CTU Los Angeles
6:32:43
6:32:44
6:32:45
6:32:46
Michelle Dessler had entered the conference room passing out documents to all unfamiliar.
"All we have information on" Michelle told. "Is the bomb itself and a suspect who might have been involved. Anna Grimsdottir from NSA has that information from surveillance", she said while pointing her hand at a 5'8'' tall woman with black hair and blue eyes. The woman responded with a short wave.
"Judging from the explosion and damage, the bomb is completely standard C4 explosive in a briefcase. We still don't have any ideas as to how the bomb got in; we have people investigating that at the Pentagon. Security feed shows a man in a blue suit come in with a briefcase go in the men's room. But when he left, it wasn't with him."
"Any ideas on who this is?" a voice came from somewhere around the room.
She replied, "Anna has all that information", and directed her eyes to the NSA employee. Anna got up and cleared her throat.
"The man is known to us only as Alex Whitmore. We do not have any clear identification of the man or where exactly he was born. NSA has limited files on him. We know him through several gun running operations internationally around the globe. He has funded numerous terrorist activities around China to a revolutionary group known as the "Blue Carve". We doubt that the group has anything to do with the attack as Whitmore's relation with them was only mutual. We have sent several field operatives down to find him over the past few years. A tactical force was sent to take him down, but it failed. Whitmore has had secret ties and support from numerous terrorists. Most of the team turned out dead and he vanished, no activity from him since. We are so far unsure of where or how to locate him and are currently investigating him with the best of our abilities." It was true for the most part. The true identity of Alex Whitmore was unknown to government officials. But a tactical team was never sent to retrieve him, rather a Splinter Cell was sent to catch him dead due to secret information he had on the United State's security systems. But the operation failed because Whitmore was completely aware. There were moles alright. And Anna knew very well where to find their target. Only minutes ago Whitmore had purchased tickets to Los Angeles.
CTU Los Angeles
6:45:12
6:45:13
6:45:14
6:45:15
The conference was over. Dan White had recognized the tall woman talking about Whitmore. She was lying, Dan knew. He left the conference room in a hurry, pressured to make an urgent phone call to his associate.
"It has been confirmed", said Dan. "Make all the necessary arrangements to make sure that they are stopped." A low voice in the phone asked to make sure.
"Yes," replied Dan. "Third Echelon is on the case."
Ciudad Victoria, Mexico
6:57:32
6:57:33
6:57:34
6:57:35
The pilot told Sam and William that they were in Mexican air. Sam nodded and sat perfectly still, head facing the ground. He was still wearing his black stealth suit without realizing it. His head had gone adrift in space, thinking. Is this finally it? Sam hated losing, and with Whitmore he had lost too many times. Sam acknowledged the threat Whitmore served to all United States secret agents and knew that it was his given responsibility to eliminate him. He has been chasing him for too long, this time it had to be it. It had to end.
Suddenly, a series of red flashes invaded the plane. One of the pilots cursed aloud.
"An incoming missile!" he yelled.
One thought went into his head after he heard the pilot. Whitmore knows. He urged everybody on board to brace for impact as he did so himself. Something large hit behind the plane, causing it to veer out of control. The plane then began sinking with incredible amounts of speed onto the ground. He was hit, he might not make it. This could be the end of Third Echelon, but Sam could think of only one thing. Whitmore knew.
6:59:57
6:59:58
6:59:59
7:00:00
