Chuck vs. the Seventh Day, Chapter 1
CAST (in order of appearance):
Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV - Victor Garber
Sen. Langston Graham - Tony Todd
Dr. Samuel A. Tyler, DCI - John Simm
Gen. Diane Beckman - Bonita Fredericy
Sen. Lou DeBlasio - Michael McGrady
February 13th, 2012
The gavel in the hand of Senator John D. Rockefeller IV came crashing down on the desk, and yet another hearing for the United States Select Committee on Intelligence of the 112th Congress was underway.
Senator Langston Graham (I-NC) was the most junior member of this committee. As a first-term Senator who hadn't even completed two years, he ordinarily wouldn't have even been considered for this committee. However, as the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, he had been considered a most valuable asset, and so had been tapped to replace his predecessor in the Senate, Republican Richard Burr, as a committee member.
Ordinarily, these hearings were the purest form of hell, especially when they were closed hearings. The closed hearings usually discussed classified matters which were not disclosed until the time of the hearing. Unfortunately, those classified matters were usually rather boring.
However, things were about to get very interesting. "Good morning," Senator Rockefeller said, greeting the other Senators and the few members allowed in the audience. "This morning's hearing is classified under United States Code Title Six. Any information revealed in this hearing may not be released to individuals with a clearance lower than 'Top Secret' under penalty of federal prosecution.
"This morning's hearing concerns a joint operation of the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Defense Intelligence Agency, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, known as the Intersect Project."
Senator Graham sat up straight in his seat upon hearing those two words. His spine stiffened and his heart began to race.
"The Intersect Project has been funded for nearly eight years now, with little to no visible results. At the cost of nearly sixty million dollars per year, it is beginning to be a drain on the United States' combined intelligence budget. The purpose of this hearing is to determine the viability of the Intersect Project, and whether or not it should continue to be funded.
"We call first Dr. Samuel A. Tyler, director of the Central Intelligence Agency."
Sam Tyler was a short, thin man. His hair always seemed to be a little bit mussed, but he was always impeccably dressed – suits from Savile Row making him the image of much more than a government bureaucrat.
Born in Wisconsin, he had grown up in Manchester, England. When he returned to the United States to go to college, it was with a noticeable Mancunian accent. Nonetheless, he had been recruited by the CIA as an analyst with a huge amount of potential.
He had risen rapidly through the ranks, becoming Deputy Director (Intelligence) when the President had taken office in 2009. When Langston Graham resigned a year and a half later, Sam Tyler was promoted to DCI.
"Good morning," Tyler said, his peculiar accent coloring his speech.
"Mr. Tyler, you have been called before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to testify regarding the Intersect Project. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"
"I so swear," Tyler replied.
"Very good," Rockefeller stated. "Now, let us begin. Can you please describe briefly the current composition of the Intersect Project?"
"The Intersect Project," Tyler began, "currently consists of two massive databases of government intelligence. One database, known as the Beta Intersect, is housed in a supercomputer at the headquarters of the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland. The other database, known as the Human Intersect, is housed in the mind of Charles Irving Bartowski of Los Angeles, California."
Rockefeller frowned. "Mr. Bartowski is the owner of a highly successful video game company, is he not?"
Tyler nodded. "That is his civilian persona. However, he is an asset of the United States government, and has been for just short of five years. He was identified as a potential CIA asset while a student at Stanford University due to his incredible capacity for subliminal image recognition and retention; however, his recruiting process was cut short when he was expelled from Stanford.
"The Alpha Intersect was penetrated and destroyed in 2007 by a rogue CIA agent. He uploaded the entire database into an e-mail, which he then sent to Mr. Bartowski. Mr. Bartowski unwittingly opened the e-mail and was exposed to all of the subliminal imagery contained within the Intersect. His capacity of image recognition and retention allowed him to absorb all the images into his brain. Certain visual and aural stimuli will cause his brain to access certain intelligence within the Intersect, causing him to be a very valuable asset.
"We have attempted to duplicate this process with other individuals; however, we have yet to find another individual with the same ability for retention as Mr. Bartowski. As a result, he is currently considered an irreplaceable asset, as we are able to periodically 'update' his brain with the same intelligence with which we update the Beta Intersect.
"Upon discovery of the database in his brain, he was assigned a handler from the CIA and from the NSA. His original CIA handler was Sarah Walker, a CIA deep-cover operative who, while having an excellent service record and three Intelligence Stars on her portfolio, was considered somewhat of a loose cannon and almost a liability to the agency. Her inability to maintain a distinction between her professional and personal lives caused her to develop feelings for and eventually fall in love with Mr. Bartowski. She was removed as his handler and reassigned to analysis duty shortly before they married in 2009; she was replaced as his handler by Agent Michael O'Halloran.
"His NSA handler was and continues to be Lieutenant Colonel John Casey, United States Air Force Reserve. Colonel Casey was originally assigned to the Intersect to potentially terminate him; however, he has become an invaluable part of what is informally known as 'Team Chuck'.
"In February of 2008, then-director Langston J. Graham and NSA director General Diane Beckman launched an operation known as Project Moab, an ill-advised attempt to place the Human Intersect in custody in a remote location and use him as an intelligence asset only. However, Mr. Bartowski thoroughly refused to cooperate, and shortly thereafter, Agent Walker and Colonel Casey mounted an extraction operation to remove Mr. Bartowski from custody. Though they, along with Bartowski's sister and brother-in-law, committed numerous felonies, they all received sweeping pardons from President Bush, who wished to avoid a public relations fiasco."
At the mention of Graham's name, the head of every Senator in the room had turned toward him. "Senator Graham, do you care to shed any light on this incident?" Senator Rockefeller asked him.
"Yes, sir," Graham replied. "At the time that we placed Mr. Bartowski in custody, he was under constant threat from a domestic terror organization known as Fulcrum. We believed that he would be safer in custody than he would if he were allowed to continue to live a normal life in Los Angeles. We did not anticipate his utter refusal to cooperate.
"When Agent Walker and Colonel Casey managed to infiltrate our Utah facility and extract Mr. Bartowski with a minimum of losses, we came to the realization that there was nowhere that he would be completely safe and that he would probably be better protected under the eyes of a team of agents."
Sam Tyler had rolled his eyes and snorted when Graham uttered the word "Fulcrum". "Senator Graham," he said, "even the existence of this Fulcrum organization has never been proven, let alone the idea that it is a threat."
"Uh, I'm sorry to interrupt," came a voice from the back. "General Diane Beckman, National Security Agency. There is proof of the existence of Fulcrum. They now and have always wanted to possess the Intersect, simply for the intelligence it contains. They are a credible threat to the Intersect."
"Words, General Beckman," Tyler shot back. "I need to see proof!"
"I'm sorry," Beckman replied, "but the proof is classified beyond even the clearances of the Senators in this room. To reveal it would be to basically throw the Intersect upon the mercy of Fulcrum."
"General Beckman," Senator Rockefeller said, "to begin with, you are out of order. However, I must ask, are you saying that the men and women of this committee cannot be trusted to keep the secrets of the National Security Agency?"
Beckman stared back at him. "Senator Rockefeller, no disrespect, but I trust nobody, let alone any member of this committee. The only person in this room that I would come close to trusting is Senator Graham, and him only because we did work together for several years on the oversight of the Intersect project."
"But that's just it!" Director Tyler interjected. "The NSA's refusal to trust anybody has led to a huge overrun on costs for this program, because in addition to Agent O'Halloran and Colonel Casey, a team of twenty Secret Service agents constantly monitors Mr. Bartowski. He is unaware of them, but they are always there.
"Their presence is unnecessary. There are currently no CREDIBLE threats to Mr. Bartowski. I am aware that we must reduce the costs of this program to keep it running, and it must be kept running. Mr. Bartowski is an enormous asset, and we cannot afford to lose this program.
"It is my professional opinion that we should reduce the number of Secret Service agents designated to Mr. Bartowski from twenty to four. This will allow assets and resources to be freed up for other missions, and will cut the annual cost of the program by more than half."
"Thank you, Mr. Tyler," Senator Rockefeller said. "Do you have anything else to add?"
"No, sir," Tyler replied.
"Do any other members of the committee have questions for Mr. Tyler?"
"I do, Mr. Chairman," said Senator Lou DeBlasio (R-UT). Senator DeBlasio was an ex-officio member, having become the Ranking Member on the Armed Services Committee when the President took office in 2009.
"Mr. Tyler," Senator DeBlasio said, "can you tell me exactly what this Intersect project has done for the United States?"
"The Intersect has, on numerous occasions, allowed us to intercept and interdict the entry of multiple terrorist and narcotic-related organizations and individuals into the United States," Tyler replied. "It has also allowed us to, on a number of occasions, preempt events of disastrous proportions, including the attempted assassinations of General Leland Stanfield and Senator Edward Kennedy."
"Correct me if I'm wrong," DeBlasio replied, "but approximately ninety percent of the Intersect's activities have been in the greater Los Angeles area, yes?"
Tyler nodded slowly. "Yes, that's correct, but as one of the busiest ports in the United States, in addition to its proximity to the Mexican border, Los Angeles has a much higher incidence of attempted terrorist and narcotic activity than any other city in the country."
"Nonetheless," DeBlasio shot back, "I'm kinda wondering exactly what good the Intersect does for the people of this country – like, say, the people of the great state of Utah."
Graham's jaw dropped. DeBlasio was turning this into a political thing. Tyler's face had taken on a look of panic. He looked over at Graham, his eyes saying, Help me please!
As much as Graham disliked Tyler, he knew that the man needed defense against DeBlasio. "If I may, Senator DeBlasio," Graham said, rising from his seat and stepping down to the floor, "the events that the Intersect has helped deter have been greatly to the benefit of the entire country.
"Let's start with the attempted assassination of General Stanfield, shall we? Stanfield was the commander-in-chief of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the time. His death would've had repercussions not just in the United States, but across all of Europe as well.
"The attempted assassination of Senator Kennedy occurred immediately after his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential campaign. Had the assassination attempt been successful, it undoubtedly would have been seen as racially motivated, and could have sparked rioting the likes of which we have not seen since the 1960s.
"Bartowski's intelligence was instrumental in uncovering an NSA agent who was in the employ of North Korea, preventing a priceless diamond from falling into the hands of Al Qaeda, removing a particularly irritating cell of the Chinese Triad while convincing one of the PRC's top intelligence agents to defect, and blowing open the cover of nearly twenty members of the Russian Mafia, resulting in their arrests. All that occurred within the first six months after he became an asset, and you'll notice that I did not use the word 'Fulcrum' once."
DeBlasio shrugged. "All well and good," he replied, "but I still don't see what that does for the soccer moms in Salt Lake City."
Graham shook his head. "This operation transcends politics," he said in frustration. "It goes beyond the good of a state to the greater good of the American people."
DeBlasio stared daggers at him. "The greater good of the American people is a white picket fence, a Chevy and a Toyota in the driveway, a chicken in the pot, and two point five children at the dinner table. As far as I'm concerned, if this isn't benefiting the citizens of Utah, then it's not benefiting the country."
He took a moment to look across at the entire committee. "What I am about to say you can consider an edict from the Armed Service Committee," he informed them. "The Intersect project is to be cut to twenty million dollars, effective immediately. I want you to figure out a way to either wrap the project up or expand its scope beyond Los Angeles by the end of fiscal year 2013."
Graham stared at DeBlasio in shock, and he noticed Tyler standing up beside him. Senator Rockefeller looked confused.
"Uh, we will take a brief recess," he said. "When we return, we shall discuss the matter further."
He banged the gavel, and the committee members began to depart the room. Sam Tyler leaned forward.
"This is gonna be a problem," he muttered to Graham.
Graham chuckled mirthlessly. "You think?"
Author's Note: the character of CIA Director Sam Tyler is based on Detective Chief Inspector Sam Tyler from the BBC television series "Life on Mars." However, beyond name and mannerisms, he is not intended to be the same character as portrayed in the original series.