Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JJ Abrams and George Lucas do. Please don't sue me.
Author's Note: takes place mid season four but discusses season-five spoilers

Of Geico, Aflac, and Rambaldi

By: Kityye

Chapter One: Carrie

Mrs. Bowman-Flinkman seemed flustered to be the first person to give a presentation. She had never been the center of attention among all the CIA agents. She hadn't actually spoken at one of their meetings in a long, long time, since back when she worked for the NSA, at least. And the task she had been given was neither specific nor easy.

She started out by greeting everybody after they sat down. She was at least as nervous as Marshall was when confronted by groups, but she concealed it a little better. Marshall grinned encouragement at her; the others greeted her back, trying to set her at ease. Well, Sloane and Jack merely tried not to be intimidating. Sloane leaned back in his chair, and Jack allowed his face to relax from his poker face to his normal face. Overall, the room's normally intense atmosphere was gentled for the quietest member of their group.

"Hi. I worked for the NSA for four years before I was transferred to the CIA, where I worked for two and a half years. My specialty was figuring out what things do; my favorite assignment involved putting together all of the Rambaldi artifacts into a world-destroying creation. Finally, I was recruited to APO with the rest of you and Sloane gave me a new task."

She pulled out a remote control and all of the computer monitors in the room winked on. She pressed a button: the screens stayed blue. She pressed it again. Nothing happened. During the interlude, Weiss poked Vaughn as if to say, "Didn't I tell you Sloane was up to something?" Vaughn shot him a cold look.

Marshall stood up and took the remote, turning it over and opening the battery cover. He took something small and red out of it and put the cover back on before handing the remote back to his wife. She pressed the button; a slide-show came up.

"Sorry," Marshall said, holding up the red thing, but Carrie interrupted him before he could go on a tangent explaining what he'd done to the remote.

"Sloane told me about something called Prophet Five. It was a project that happened in the 1970s. Brilliant scientists and linguists were recruited to de-code a five-hundred year old document on advanced genetics."

A picture of Rambaldi's Page 47 displayed itself on the computer screen. It shrank into nothing and a picture of a greasy-looking beatnik took its place.

"I was able to trace the life of one of the scientists: Aldo Desantis. He worked for Prophet Five for three years before disappearing entirely. He deciphered one of Rambaldi's medical inventions and was experimenting with it when the trail stopped."

Nadia raised her hand. "What medical invention?"

"A cryogenic chamber." Carrie was prepared for the blank stares of the spies (who were not medical students) and pressed a button on her remote. "Think Han Solo."

A short clip began playing from The Empire Strikes Back of Han Solo being raised out of the carbon-freezing chamber. The Wookie roared and C3PO said, "Oh. They've encased him in Carbonite. He should be quite well protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is." The clip ended.

Weiss looked like Christmas had come early. Sloane looked deeply disturbed and Jack seemed affronted that popular culture had breeched the building's perimeter. Dixon seemed amused in an I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that way, while Vaughn looked like he understood cryogenic chambers now. Sydney had a dreamy I-love-Han-Solo look on her face; Nadia simply seemed confused (she'd grown up in another country and had a deprived childhood). Marshall, who had suggested the comparison, was incredibly smug.

Carrie cleared her throat in order to bring attention back to her and continued: "The cryogenic chamber disappeared from records a week after Desantis did. This opens up three scenarios: he was killed so he couldn't talk, he was put in the chamber, or he destroyed the chamber and went into hiding. It is possible he is still alive, but I have been unable to trace his whereabouts."

Vaughn looked thoughtful. Sydney cocked a questioning eyebrow at him, but he didn't notice. She resolved to ask him about it later.

"The rest of the scientists working on the project were hunted down and murdered," said Carrie. "I have been unable to find a living link to Prophet Five, yet the group probably still exists. Given their previous interest in Rambaldi, it seems likely we will come across them someday."

Heads nodded in agreement around the table.

"Any questions?" asked Carrie.

Weiss raised his hand. "Who is the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?"

Dixon collapsed into helpless giggles, while Marshall counter-quoted Weiss with "Ancient weapons and hokey religions are no match for a good blaster at your side," and Vaughn buried his head in his arms and pretended he didn't know Weiss. Jack Bristow declared an ending to the meeting and Nadia, Sydney, and Sloane fled as fast as they could without actually running.


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