Chapter One
The Raid
The following takes place between 07:00am and 08:00am on the day of the 2004 Presidential Election…
The Calm before the storm, David Palmer thought to himself. The last four years had been full of stress to say the least, but he would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed it. He had gone out into the big bad world wanting to be an NBA star, for the Detroit Pistons if it was his choice, but he saw all the racism around and had decided to do something about it.
And he had succeeded. He had fulfilled his dream. He, David Palmer, the quiet boy from Maryland, had beaten the system. The first black President of the United States was David Palmer. But he wasn't satisfied, not by a long way.
Because deep down David Palmer is a man who wants it all. His legacy wasn't complete, he had already decided that. He wasn't finished, he had just begun.
His backers at booked the Omni Hotel for the grand finale. But David had decided he wasn't going to let nerves get to him and stand around waiting for the results. He was going to participate in a Presidential Debate and sway the final voters.
But for now it was time to go over things with Wayne and Lynne.
As they walked along the huge conference room prepared for them, David smiled at the men and women who worked for him running around in their Versace suits, preparing final presentations for the Presidential Debate.
He continued to stride forward confidently as he and his Chiefs of Staff began to try and reassure him.
"There's nothing to worry about, Mr President." Lynne said as she carried a number of file binders. She had graduated from University of South Carolina with a degree in political science. She also studied at Harvard, eventually obtaining another degree in the form of engineering. "Maryland and New York are with us, as usual. We should have Arizona."
"Sir," Wayne began. Before being employed by the President, Palmer was a member of the United States Marine Corps, though he did not see combat. Wayne then worked for Alan Milliken, a high powered businessman backer of his brother. "California is more of a problem. With Logan hailing from San Diego they seem to like him and the polls indicate that it is going to go for him. But this is a vital state David, at four o'clock today the debate happens, you need to sway votes."
"I know," David said. "Are Keith and Nicole on their way?"
"Yes," Lynne smiled, starting to struggle with the binders. "They were at the Madison Square rally last night." She then looked at her Rolex watch to refer to the time. "They should be here in just over twenty minutes."
"Lynne could you give us a second please?" Wayne asked and Lynne acknowledged by way of nodding her head. "Thanks."
Lynne walked over to Jennie Dodge; the President's Press Secretary and began to hand over some of the binders she had asked for. Wayne led David out of the conference room and down to a secluded narrow hallway, situated in darkness.
"What is it, Wayne?" The President asked as Wayne stalled near a pay phone. There was a moment of tension between them as the silence mounted. "Wayne?"
"I think we have a problem with how you are portraying yourself to the public." Wayne said, clearly uncomfortable.
"What?"
"I think a lot of people are swaying with Senator Logan because they think the divorce feud with Sherry may have become an issue that is affecting your policies."
"You know it never affected my policies!" The President exclaimed, clearly offended by his brother's comments.
"I know it didn't." Wayne spoke coolly. "But it could be perceived that way."
"So then what are you saying?"
"I think Sherry should come down here."
The President couldn't help but laugh at what he perceived as a frankly ridiculous and poorly founded statement.
"No." He said firmly.
"Alright, issues are bound to crop up today whether it is with your backers or whatever. Sherry has sources that can help eradicate those problems."
"No, Wayne."
"Come on David, she deserves to be here. She could have gone on to great things with the degrees she had but she put her life on hold for you and trying to get you in office. Now she doesn't even have a job. Yeah, her methods are poor but she helped you get through a lot of shit, David."
"Wayne…" David tried to interrupt but failed as Wayne continued. "Wayne…"
"She helped you through the primaries! She deserves to be here."
"I don't care, Wayne!" The President shouted before switching to a calmer tone of voice. "The answer is no."
07:04:28
George Mason, Assistant Director of CTU ran into reception after locking his Honda Jazz car. Sweat was visible on his forehead as he showed his ID to Melissa Chavez, a woman whose thick rimmed Lorgnette specs hid her comforting brown eyes.
On Mason's ID was a picture of his usual miserable self, along with his level of access to classified files: five, the highest.
"Clear to go, Mr Mason." Melissa said after following protocol and checking out his card, even though she was quite good friends with George.
Mason, a former Senior Section Leader at CTU's HQ, Washington, went over to the steel doors and slid his ID card through the electronic lock system. His work experience also included being the Special Agent in Charge of both the Phoenix and Miami CTU Domestic Units.
Mason walked into the bull-pen and knew he was going to get his ass busted by Chappelle, over his lateness when they were just about to participate in a crucial field mission.
CTU Los Angeles was based around the main floor section known as the bull-pen. The bull-pen was made up of two levels and contained many desks on the lower level and a walkway on the higher level. The lower level was also home to the briefing room and linked to the holding rooms, where suspects were interrogated.
The new CTU Los Angeles had a new communication system, used to save time and effort. A VoIP system at each desk allowed agents to contact each other without moving across to the recipient, a system which saved vital seconds in an emergency. The new holding room was much more sophisticated with equipment added to discover the reactions of the person being interviewed. The holding room had two sections, the first one, a room with computers and monitors in which looks into the main room through the usage of a one way mirror. The main room was bare and held just a table and chairs.
CTU Los Angeles also had several Tech Rooms around the building. The primary tech room was Tech 1, which was shielded from EMPs. The room was centered around a circular station with several monitors.
"And where the hell have you been?" Ryan Chappelle, Director of CTU, asked, moving away from Chloe O'Brian's workstation, as she hurriedly bashed on the keyboard prepping the final things for the field operation.
"To hell and back." Mason said, but as usual Chappelle wasn't quite with his sense of humor, and simply stood still, creating an eerie feel between two of CTU's high ranking agents. "Where do you think?"
"Follow me." Chappelle, a man who was a Master of Business Administration from Wharton and a Bachelor of Science and Government at New York University, commanded and led Mason to Chloe O'Brian's workstation.
Also gathered around the workstations of Chloe, Edgar, Milo and Paula were Bill Buchanan, Tony and Michelle.
"How far are we?" Mason asked, trying to get involved with the operation.
"Jack and the teams have secured a perimeter around Topolobombo's port." Michelle responded. "They're trying to enter the oil tanker covertly but we're not sure how many hostiles there are on the ground."
CTU had received intel that indicated that an oil tanker that was carrying illegal arms and narcotics was due to arrive in Topolobombo, a small city situated in along the border. The men in control of the tanker seemed to have the intention of setting up an arms auction and selling it to the highest bidder. As a result, David Palmer had authorized Jack Bauer to command a field operation to intercept the illegal armaments.
"Jack and Curtis are on line three," Paula said to Buchanan and took off her headphones.
"Put them on speaker," Buchanan, the former head of CTU Seattle, ordered. Paula bashed on the keyboard for a second and then had Jack ready on speaker.
"Jack," Chappelle said. "When will you be ready to start the operation?"
"In about six minutes." Jack replied. "Chase and Castle are going enter covertly and take down the men on the deck. I'll then follow him up with Curtis and Baker behind. How many hostiles do we believe are on the ship?"
"Milo's been working on thermal scanning, he believes there are eight terrorists on board, we need them all dead." Tony said.
"Have any problems come up?" Curtis asked through the speaker system, while to his right Tom Baker, one of CTU's finest, typed away on a keyboard.
"Nothing as of yet really." Chappelle responded. "We haven't located the crewmen yet."
"What if the crewmen haven't been taken hostage?" Jack asked, trying to cover all ground so his ass wouldn't get busted if anything went wrong. "What if they're working with the terrorists?"
"We haven't gone down that road Jack but I suggest you stay alert." Chappelle advised the elite field agent. "But anyway our main task is intercepting the two hundred kilograms of cocaine and possibly whatever there is of a weaponised virus. Have HAZ-MAT teams arrived yet?"
"No." Jack hastily responded hastily, a rare moment of nervousness clear in his voice. "Look Ryan, I really think we should have got the DEA in on this."
"Jack, you have made that point already. It's too late now."
"But I get all of the blame if this operation goes wrong." Jack said to his boss.
"Well you better not make a mistake then."
07:08:04
Doctor Harry Gregson stood outside Sigma Institutes parking lot, the second largest pharmaceuticals company in America. His dark eyes showed the ambition of a man who ever since he was twenty-three had wanted to run his own multi-million dollar business.
Gregson was a stocky man, though you certainly wouldn't classify him as overweight. His dull face sat atop a rather longer than usual neck. Gregson's auburn hair had often seen him bullied at school, part of the reason he was a lonely introverted man.
Behind the lonely face of Doctor Gregson was a brutal thirst for power. He was what psychologists called a sociopath and a woman hunter. By twenty-five Gregson had committed his first murder, an attractive woman three years younger than him who had the rudeness to reject him. But Gregson wanted to make her suffer first. He kidnapped her, hiding her in an abandoned warehouse near the Port of Los Angeles. Gregson then raped her and sent pictures to the woman's girlfriend. He eventually killed her cutting her in two and then cutting her up as if she was meat for a meal.
But all of his days at Harvard studying Criminology and Science at Harvard had made him learn a valuable lesson; how to kill someone and get away with it. All in all he was responsible for six murders and eight sexual attacks.
Now he was ready to co-operate with people he should really be handing over to local law enforcement. But whatever they wanted him to handle it was worth six hundred thousand dollars, enough to set up his own business, so the morals of his actions didn't bother him at the current time. It was strictly or business.
"Doctor Harry Gregson?" The man the Doctor was meant to see asked. The man's name was Nigel Bloch, an international terrorist. After making personal background checks Gregson found out that the black haired, blue eyed, well built man was born in Berlin to Czechoslovakian parents.
He was a CEO of Identicon Corporation, a Tokyo based company. Bloch was convicted of securities fraud and falsifying data to a high profile UN diplomat which ended in his assassination. Ever since that day Bloch had been on the run from counter-terrorist agencies all over the world.
"Yes," Gregson replied making sure not to make direct eye contact with the German national.
"I'm sure my contact instructed you what to do," Bloch said as he heaved the two heavy briefcases he was carrying carefully onto Gregson's navy blue Ford Fiesta. "But I'd like to run you through it again just to be sure. Inside these briefcases are pieces of expensive cargo that I want to transfer to a friend of mine. As I am on the CIA watchlist I'd rather not be in possession of this cargo right now."
"I understand."
"Your job is to keep the cargo in a deep freeze, most suitably an unused lab. The briefcases are coded so don't waste your time trying to hack into them. Tell no-one, if anyone finds out, kill them." Gregson nodded yet was clearly eager for the meeting to end. "In exchange six hundred thousand dollars will be made payable to your Swiss bank account. My contact has assured me that he will make sure no questions are asked. I also request that after one of my men comes to pick up the cargo you leave the country. I suggest Mexico."
"Okay," Gregson acknowledged his orders and then indicated to Bloch to pass the suitcases to him before walking into Sigma.
Bloch walked slowly away looking for a number on his Sony Ericsson T610 cell phone and then pressing continue on the number he wanted, Nina Myers.
"Did you deliver the virus?" Nina asked as she monitored her workstation inside her flat.
"Yes."
"Good, stay in contact. Once we have the virus Phase Two will be initiated."
"Are you sure Bauer will co-operate?"
"Trust me Jack Bauer won't be a problem." Nina ended the call and smiled.
07:14:37
"Tac teams are ready to go in on your order Jack." Curtis said, his Heckler & Koch P2000 semi-automatic pistol raised in the air as his strike team of six men hid behind a trade container. "Castle, Baker and Chase have all registered in."
"Roger that, Curtis." Jack responded through the com system, as he cocked his SigSauer P228. He then turned his attentions to Chloe. "Chloe, we're ready what have we got?"
"It's not looking good, Jack." Chloe said ominously looking at the thermal scanning. "There are over ten hostiles all look like they are packing AK-47's." Chloe said. "Your job is to shoot to kill we don't need anyone for interrogation. You've probably already got the blueprints of the tanker Edgar sent to you. We believe the arms are being kept in a below deck storage room. Chappelle suggests that in order to get them successfully you need to flush out the terrorists via the main corridor."
"There are five hostiles on the deck and a further eight in the crew's quarters." Edgar said after his thermal scans refreshed themselves automatically. "Six of the eight hostiles are within twenty meters of each other so a flash bang followed by a full takedown on the left flank is probably best solution."
"Team A move, rear team stay in place." Jack ordered. Team A was being headed up by Chase Edmunds while the rear team was led by Tom Baker. "All other teams close in on the ship."
Chase began to move forward, dressed in his full SWAT gear, scanning for tangos as he tried to make a safe entry onto the oil tanker. He carefully moved his Desert Eagle from right to left, his eyes as sharp as a hawk looking for its prey.
The long set of stairs up to the ship seemed to have no hostiles in any alarming positions so Chase strode forward again focusing on the operation.
"Gangway clear, Team A proceeding." Chase started to stride more abruptly, but no less cautiously. Agents Solarz, Landon and Baron followed, each carrying a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun.
"Baker that's your green light. Lobell and Manning move in." Jack ordered. "Chase are you up?"
"Roger that Jack, we got up." Chase responded. "Taking cover behind Container 213. Ready to move when you want."
"Hold position, Chase." Jack said and then moved onto ordering Ronnie Lobell, who was brandishing a Mossberg 500 sawn-off shotgun. "Lobell move onto the ship. Baker, hold position."
"Roger that Jack," Baker stayed in position, still holding his M4 Carbine assault rifle as if his life depended on it.
"Jack, Team B in place." Ronnie, former Head of Field Ops at CTU Phoenix, and Weapons Expert of the executive LAPD Special Operations branch.
Ronnie, backed up by Agents Bundy and Lee Castle, two of CTU's finest had to make the stretch to Container 688, two hundred meters further in from the deck's entry point."
"Baker and Manning move in to Containers 812 and 813 respectively. I'll take Container 913." Jack ordered. "Are we all clear?"
"Roger that," was the unanimous response.
Curtis had the training for this sort of a mission. He was a tactical specialist from CTU Boston and was arguably better than Jack Bauer at planning entries. He got up the stairs with his team, firearms ready, before making a quick sprint to their container. In his team was explosives expert Ed Miller.
Jack had made a successful entry, along with Agent Tom Baker, the former head of a Delta Force unit. Jack looked at his PDA and saw two hostiles nearing Chase's position.
"Chase we got two tangos heading your way."
"Roger that." Chase scuttled forward nearing the edge of his container. He darted out with Agent Solarz behind him. The terrorist bastard hadn't even been prepared; his finger nowhere near the trigger of his Kalashnikov. Easy pickings, Chase thought as the former CTU Washington man fired two silenced shots into the terrorist's heart.
Jack looked back down at his PDA and realised that two more terrorists were heading towards Chase. This team he didn't speak but simply acted. Jack spotted three gunmen all with their backs turned, but presumably ready to ring out an alert to their hostile mates. Bauer squeezed the trigger twice while targeting two of the gunmen but didn't manage to get the third; Ronnie Lobell was already standing over the body that lay in a pool of blood. He looked left and saw Curtis had already taken out the last bastard.
"Michelle," he said. "Have we cleared the deck?"
"Yes, but there are eight more inside." Michelle said monitoring the operation from her workstation with Tony.
"Okay." Jack said. "Miller move forward. Teams A, B and C take position. This is the tricky part."
Curtis' team moved forward, covering for Ed. They ran to the crew's quarters and watched as Ed Miller did his hobby; blowing things up.
He put two huge strips of C4 explosive along the stainless steel doors. Miller then indicated with his hands for everyone to move back, as he put two flash bangs at the bottom of the bronze lining along the steel door. After that he took aim as well.
For ten seconds the teams stood there like sitting ducks until Miller's C4 went up in smoke. This was where the importance of wearing SWAT gear was important, it gave the good guys the advantage.
As the CTU Tac teams rushed forward, gunning down all the remaining eight terrorists in a barrage of noise, bullets and blood the same thought came into their mind. Why were they shooting blind men?
But the terrorists would do the same, and this was a war. Plus the rules were the rules, and they said kill them, and that's what they did. Them or us. Only one answer. Them.
Jack slid down a ladder in the main hall, where the arms were supposedly being stored. He looked as frantically as possible with Chase as they ran around the storage room.
Chase noticed a steel box and smacked it with an available sledgehammer. It took only a mere three blows for it to give way. Chase picked up a bag of white powder and ran his hand through it. He laughed, more out of sadness than anything else.
"It's sugar." He shouted.
"Dammit!" Jack responded in the usual way. "You can call off fucking HAZMAT!"
07:21:43
President Palmer enjoyed the Los Angeles skyline from his office. Inside there was a leather chair which sat behind a Windows XP Flatscreen which was centered on a Mahogany desk.
There was a knock on the door which broke the peaceful silence.
"Come in,"
"Sorry to interrupt you sir," Aaron Pierce said as he opened the door to Palmer's office. "Keith and Nicole are here to see you." Aaron moved out of the way slightly as two smiling faces emerged from the hall.
"Thank you, Aaron." David smiled, almost splitting his face in two. Seeing his kids would really help him through the stress of the day. "Can you make sure only Lynne and Wayne disturb us?"
"Yes Mr President." Aaron nodded.
"Thank you, Aaron." With that Aaron Pierce left the room and stood outside the doorway, standing upright and straight.
Nicole and Keith both gave their father a huge embrace, all three of them stood there smiling.
"So how was the Madison Square Convention?" David asked. His children moved away slightly.
"It was brilliant." Keith said. "There were thousands there, I have to say I think we have New York."
"It was almost like a concert at the end." Nicole grinned. "The Red Hot Chili Peppers came on at the end and played all the songs from their new album. It was awesome."
David wasn't surprised; Nicole had always been a huge fan of them since he brought her One Hot Minute, their sixth album when Nicole was ten back in 95.
"Governor Radford managed to get the Fusion Walkers for tonight's convention." David said. The Fusion Walkers were an up and coming rock group from Los Angeles, who were all supporters of the Democrats and David Palmer.
"Yeah I heard," Keith replied. "Pretty big catch on such short notice."
"They actually approached us," David revealed. "They're playing eight songs from their debut album. Look I'm going to a rally at 12:30 where I'll be with Governor Radford, do you guys wanna come?"
"Yeah," They both replied, ready for a long, long day that lay ahead. But they were ready for it and they sensed that their father was in no mood to back down either.
07:24:09
Miroslav Ernst, a German mercenary, continued to drive down the freeway in his Honda Jazz. It was rush hour, the perfect time for his strike. The sun was beating down on the freeway now, and the weather was hot and humid, something a man like Abdullah was used to.
He had the right training to adapt to any climate, any country, any government, but the American government was without doubt going to be the hardest to adapt to. Compared to this, the border was a walk in the park. Ernst knew that he had been given his role for the day, and that he wasn't going to fail his boss.
His long black hair became greasier as he became nervous before the kill. But everyone was like that.
One push of the button of a piece of plastic a mere fifteen centimeters long and it was done.
The grin on Kamas's face would have stayed there forever, but he had to depart. One last look would be okay though.
As he reversed he looked in his mirror to see the giant ball of flame his array of charges explosive had caused.
07:27:54
"Well done there Jack," Chappelle said sarcastically as he patrolled his office on his cell. Inside there was a long mahogany desk and a Windows XP computer. Next to her monitor there was a phone, where she often received phone calls from Langley and Fort Meade. To be honest Ryan was a bit pissed to see a huge stack of a paperwork on his desk that Erin Driscoll had given him.
"Don't try and fucking blame this on me Ryan!" Jack was pretty pissed to as he walked around the deck. "If Interpol or NSA failed to give you a correct status report of the tanker than it's their fault not mine."
"You could have moved faster, Jack!"
"Oh what and get our whole tactical division killed! Ryan you're the man always slowing things down, at least that's what my experience with working with you tells me."
"Oh really, actually Jack I was waiting on your call! If you decide to remember that!"
"Ryan I did exactly what you told me to! As soon as my men were in place we took the terrorist members out in less than four minutes. No casualties on our side!"
Tony walked up the concrete steps from the Bull-Pen to Chappelle's private office. He could hear the argument and frankly wasn't surprised. Chappelle was quick to blame someone if something went wrong with an operation. He knocked on the door.
"Hang on Jack I'll put you on speaker." Chappelle said. "Come in."
"Sorry to bother you Ryan but this is kinda urgent." Tony entered the office of his boss.
"It better be."
"Part of the Glenn Anderson freeway was just ripped in two by a huge explosion. Division believes that this is a terrorist strike."
"Any suspects?" Jack asked.
"Well Edgar is running through security camera footage and cross checking it with known and suspected terrorists on our watchlist."
"I thought Edgar was tracking the point as to where the tip-off was made." Ryan said.
"Well Chloe wasn't satisfied with having to do cross-checking, so she refused to do it and gave it to Edgar." Tony said.
"We don't have time for her Asperger syndrome today. Let her track the call but next time she refuses to do something tell me and I'll sort it out." Ryan ordered, clearly frustrated. "Alright Jack I need you and Chase back up here to see if we get a location on whoever is responsible for this attack. Leave Ronnie, Baker and a team down there to check for anything of importance but I need everyone else back up here, pronto."
"I understand." Jack hung up and walked over to Ronnie, who was few meters away from him. "Ronnie?"
"Yeah,"
"I just got off the phone with Chappelle. It seems the Glenn Anderson freeway has been hit by a bomb. He wants me, Chase and Curtis back up there now. You and your team will be staying here to try and find something along with Baker. I need you to order the rest of the teams back up to CTU."
Ronnie nodded. "Okay."
07:31:44
David picked up the phone in his office. He was slightly frustrated to be bothered but after all it was election night.
"Mr President it's Lynne. I'm not sure whether you've been informed but a bomb appears to have been detonated on the Glenn Anderson Freeway."
"What?" President Palmer turned on his forty-inch Sony Flatscreen and flicked onto Fox News and saw the images. "How many dead?"
"Initial report; thirty-six."
"Are we sure this is a terrorist attack?"
"That's what Langley seems to be telling us. CTU would like a teleconference within the next three minutes. Shall I tell them to postpone it?"
"No, I'll be down in a second."
"Good, Secretary Heller is waiting for you."
07:33:31
"Did you hear about the bombing, sir?" Walt Cummings asked Senator Charles Logan.
"Yes, I heard." Born in Coronado, San Diego, Senator Charles Logan was the eldest son of former Vice President Ricky Logan. He attended Princeton University where he had a B.A. in History. Logan was the Vice-President of the Western Energy & Coal Reserve and later CEO, attaining the honor of CEO of the year. Before joining the company he had been the Director of Pacific Nuclear Energy. He then moved onto Politics, serving as a Representative in the California State Congress for San Diego.
To the left of Senator Logan stood his two chief advisors, Mike Novick and Walt Cummings. They strolled down a long set of stairs to the lobby of their Marriott Hotel, a mile away from the Omni Hotel, David Palmer was staying at.
"You can attack him in the debate with this," Cummings said. "He assured the press after the nuclear bomb detonation that there would be no more terrorist attacks on this country."
"That's not such a good idea," Mike Novick, often the carrier of bad news replied. Despite David firing him Mike still respected the President immensely. "The nation should be mourning the lives of those who died today not criticizing the President."
"Alright but just look at the facts. He promises no more terrorist attacks and a clamp down on narco-terrorism, and look what we get. An up and coming Mexican drug cartel, the Salazars' and an influx in drug related deaths and homicides." Walt replied.
"Sorry Walt, but I'm going to have to agree with Mike on this one." Senator Logan sided with Mike. "But I will mention the failed War on Drugs. Walt run me through the states we have very likely sealed."
"We've got Texas and New Orleans, Minnesota and Ohio are also swaying are way." Walt said. "The vital state could be California."
"Alright." Senator Logan's cell rang. He picked it up hastily and answered. There was long pause as his two main advisors looked at him gingerly. He stood still with a conspicuous look of concentration. "Oh I see," Rage suddenly emerged on his once calm face. "Bring her here! I want this fixed." He hung up.
07:36:12
"Mr President, you have Ryan Chappelle, Tony Almeida and Bill Buchanan on line." Ryan said as he stood in the conference room for the video feed with the President. Conference Room 1 was CTU's primary conference room where meetings were usually held. A long, wide desk dominated the room and a forty-two inch plasma hung on the wall, on which the image of the President of the United States appeared.
"Thank you, Mr Chappelle." The President replied. "My Chiefs of Staff Wayne Palmer and Lynne Kresge are present along with Secretary of Defense Jim Heller. And since you requested this meeting I'll let you proceed."
"Thanks," Tony Almeida took over the talking. "I'm sure you have been made aware of the bombing on the Glenn Anderson freeway. Initial reports suggest that this was an act of terror."
"What leads you to believe this?" Secretary Heller asked.
"The explosion were caused by military charges that have been used in Iraq and Afghanistan during our operations there." Tony said. "They modified them slightly, made them more dangerous."
"Should we be reading into this?" Wayne Palmer asked.
"No." Chappelle said bluntly. "I'm sure you are aware of the covert operation in Topolobombo. Whatever was on the tanker was seized prior to our operation. But it seems there were no traces of any chemical weapons only cocaine."
"I understand." President Palmer said. "How many dead on the freeway?"
"Initial reports," Bill began. "Thirty-six but that number is undoubtedly rising. I'm sorry to say Mr President but this could well be related to the election. In which case the security level should be raised."
"David you can't raise the security level." Wayne tried to coax his brother out of the decision he was inevitably about to make. "We're relying on these votes."
"Wayne, we have to." David replied. "I won't let innocent citizens die today just so I can be re-elected. Mr Buchanan, do we have any leads on the incidents?"
"Well right now we have our analysts trying to discover link the two incidents but so far they have proved unsuccessful. But one of our senior analysts, an Edgar Stiles, is working on security footage which we believe may give us a location on whoever detonated the bomb."
"Good," President Palmer said.
"Yes," Secretary Heller said. "I suggest the security level is raised to Guarded."
"I agree," Chappelle nodded. "But we cannot rule out that they may be targeting you. I would like to send an extra Secret Service detail just to be safe."
"Mr Chappelle that will not be necessary, I do not want any special attention." President Palmer said.
"Mr President," Secretary Heller began. "I am responsible for the safety of this country and you, this is an executive decision. Send another Secret Service detail."
"Yes Mr Secretary," Tony said and left the room.
"Mr President, we will keep you informed." Chappelle left as well.
"Glad to hear it."
07:40:32
"I've got something!" Edgar Stiles shouted with a burst of excitement. As he started at his computer on his workstation a smile of satisfaction appeared. "We've got our terrorist!"
Michelle and Tony ran over to Edgar's workstation eagerly. Ryan slowly walked over there, interested to hear about the find.
"The man's name is Miroslav Ernst, he's on our watchlist." Edgar revealed as Michelle, Tony and Ryan huddled around his workstation listening intently.
"Paula pull up his file," Michelle turned around to walk to Paula's workstation.
"Already have." She said. "Born in Munich, was orphaned at an early age. He had relations with several shady organizations. Believed to be an explosives and hand to hand combat expert and is wanted in relation to charges of mass genocide in the Balkans. Had contacts with Victor Drazen several times. Bombed Assad pipelines in Kazakhstan. Has kept his nose clean recently."
"Or hasn't been caught." Tony said. "Chloe have you traced the location of the tip-off?"
"Yeah," she said with George Mason sitting next to her. "Me and George found the location."
"Which is?" Ryan asked.
"It was called from a payphone about four blocks away from Los Angeles Harbor." Chloe replied.
"That fits," Milo interrupted. "One of Ernst's suspected hideouts is a block away from Los Angeles harbor. 1183 Green Boulevard"
"Which means he's been staying there." Tony put it together. "Alright Paula I need you to get Jack on Line 1."
Paula started to type away and open up a socket for Jack to speak into but was stopped by Chappelle.
"Jack's too far away." Chappelle took over proceedings.
"Ryan there's no-one else."
"That's not totally true. Howard Bern could be there in five minutes."
"Come on Ryan quit fooling around."
"No we have a small window of opportunity here and I'm not fucking it up." Ryan said and picked his cell. "Bern, this is Chappelle I want you take a team down to 1183 Green Boulevard. I'll get Chloe to go over the schematics with you once you arrive."
07:44:51
"Are you serious?" Wayne asked as he talked on his cell. "We need to make sure this is totally true. Yeah I'll do that."
"What was that about?" Lynne asked as the two of them stood still in the hallway outside President Palmer's office.
"One of my contacts inside Logan's office says that Logan is in possession of something that could jeopardize David's Presidency. We need a meeting by eight at the earliest."
07:45:41
Ronnie moved around the office room with Tom Baker. There were desks lined along the sides with computers sitting on top of them. He turned one of the monitors on and then looked at Baker.
"Can you get me a line with Paula please?" he asked.
"Sure," Baker took out his cell. "This is Baker, can I have a line with Paula Schaeffer?"
"Hold on a second please," The Operator requested. "Alright,"
"I've got her on," Baker handed the phone to Ronnie.
"Thanks," Ronnie took the phone. "Hey Paula, look I've managed to get onto one of the computers and I've been trying to access the files but they're encrypted. And I'm no techno expert so I figured I'll need your help."
"Alright, what have you got?"
"A load of codes."
"Codes or ciphers?"
"I think it will probably best if I send it to your system. I probably wont even get passed the blanket encryption."
"Okay send me all your files. Try and send them chronologically and with tabs."
"I'll see what I can do."
07:48:03
"Alright I've uploaded the schematics onto your PDA," Chloe said to Howard Bern who was on speaker. "You should be fine now."
"Alright, thanks Chloe," Howard Bern, a former Gulf War veteran said.
"Bern remember this is a covert operation." Chappelle said sitting at his workstation in the Bull-Pen. He was the only CTU Agent to have two workstations, something of a luxury he thought.
"I understand."
Bern and his Tac team pulled up quietly across the street as they closed in on the suburban house. They moved silently towards the front of the house in the standard formation with their guns aimed high. They halted at the windows that were next to a double garage. Bern tried to look in but they had Venetian blinds, so that was a no-no.
Bern indicated for two of his men to go round the back. He moved with another few field operatives around to the sides of the home. Bern then motioned for the other agent to go round the back. Howard then noticed a window, which after he pulled gave way. It was clean. Bern climbed slowly and silently desperate not to alert Ernst.
He moved slowly into the living room, and saw other agents had found another loose window. This was unusual. Howard looked at one of the field operatives, Phillips, and they converged towards the fireplace.
On the wall he noticed a silver block with a red and green light. He looked at Phillips, knowing it was the last thing he would ever see.
"Bomb!" He shouted and the whole house ripped up in flames.
"Shit!" Chappelle shouted. "Ernst rigged the place. Edgar call local police, Ernst is now our top priority he should be considered armed and extremely dangerous."
07:54:12
Jack and Chase walked into the Bull-Pen, followed by several field agents and Curtis, and immediately noticed the tense atmosphere in the air. Jack looked at Chase very concerned.
"What the hell has just happened?" He asked his partner.
"I dunno." Chase saw George running to his workstation. "George, what's happening?"
George turned to see Jack walking towards him with a genuine look of fear on his face.
"The man responsible for the bombing of the Glenn Anderson Freeway, Miroslav Ernst, we got his location. But he wasn't there and he had the place rigged with explosives. Agent Bern is dead."
"Chase, go to my office and get my laptop please." Jack told his partner.
"Sure," Chase ran up the concrete steps leading him to Chappelle's office but instead walked straight past and across a walkway, where Jack's office was.
Jack walked briskly to Edgar's workstation and took a seat, before looking at Edgar tiredly.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Informing local police that Ernst is the top priority."
"Alright, continue with that and then open up a pipe to Division for me."
"Okay,"
"Wanna coffee?"
"No."
07:56:13
The van's tires screeched as the car came to an abrupt halt. Eight armed men, each carrying Ak-47's moved out of the car wearing balaclavas. A ninth, an English born man, who was in his mid-forties named Gerald was wearing a suit. He walked calmly into the office building known as Sigma Institutes.
Two receptionists stood behind the desk. They were both attractive blondes and they smiled at Gerald instantly. Gerald wasn't so polite back. The room wasn't air conditioned, to his chagrin.
"Hello," One of the receptionists said. "How can I help you?"
"Oh don't worry, your assistance isn't necessary." Gerald said pulling out a Desert Eagle pistol and firing a shot each at both the receptionists.
The armed men now moved into the reception room. Gerald motioned for them to follow him. He opened a door to a large office room, which reminded him of his old office at MI-5 in London.
Immediately several of the office workers were gunned down mercilessly. Gerald grinned and his eyes shone. Immediately the room's decibel level shot up as the workers ran around screaming like apes. They really have no idea how to save themselves, Gerald thought.
"Hello everybody, my name is Gerald!" He shouted and fired two rounds into the air. "If you want to live I suggest you shut up and co-operate."
The room slowly hushed in volume and Gerald spoke again, this time in a much calmer fashion.
"I have no reason to kill you," Gerald began. "All I want to do is retrieve a briefcase that belongs to me. Can anybody tell me where a Doctor Gregson is?"
07:58:13
Jack's cell rang and he abruptly answered as he walked up to his office.
"CTU this is Bauer,"
"Oh Jack I know who you are."
Jack immediately recognised the voice.
"Nina!"
"Jack, now look I'm not gonna be here for much longer. I just wanna introduce you to a friend of mine, one who has a knife to your daughter's eye. His name is Miroslav Ernst."
"Nina I swear to God I'll kill you."
"Let me introduce you to him." Nina handed the phone over to Miroslav.
"Hello Jack," he said.
"Let me talk to my daughter."
"Your wish is my command." Miroslav put the phone to Kim. She was sitting in a chair with a man holding a knife to her eye. Three men also held guns at her head. "It's your father, say anything out of turn and you are dead."
"Dad," Kim sobbed.
"Kim, sweetheart,"
"Dad what's happening?"
"Kim listen,"
"That's more than enough." Miroslav took over. "Now you know we're not fucking about, leave your office and drive for a bit. You will receive further instructions."
"You're a dead man!" Miroslav had already hung up. Jack almost sprinted down the concrete steps and into the parking lot. Chase, noticing something strange, secretly followed him.
Jack pulled up in his Ford Explorer and drove away quickly. Chase, now sprinting, opened the doors to his Hyundai Santa Fe. He followed him steadily.
07:59:57
07:59:58
07:59:59
08:00:00
Next Week On 24: The Full Circle: Jack begins to receive demands from Miroslav. President Palmer calls on an old friend and Curtis tries to rescue the Sigma workstaff.
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