5:39
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Gearge Mason is briefing president Allen on Aslan's arrest. Mason is covertly taking some credit, but also giving due credit to Eric Carter and his team.
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Mason: Eric Carter and his team did an excellant job of arresting Aslan and taking him alive.
Allen: Was the attack in Virginia his endgame or is Alqueda planning something else?
Mason: We don't know yet but we will interrogate him and find out.
Allen: Good. And please let your team know that they have their president's gratitude.
Mason: I will do that madam president.
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As the call ended Jamey Farrell came to see director Mason.
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Mason: The president wants me to pass along her gratitude to you and the rest of CTU.
Jamey: Cool. But there's something else. Kambiz, the bomber from Virginia, he was on the terrorists watch list. He was Taliban, part of the anti-peace faction. And it seems that his father was killed, early in the invasion, by Jack Bauer. Jack and his team captured this man, interrogated him, and somehow or other he was killed.
Mason: So he had a motive to steal Jack's car, and hope his old enemy was blamed.
Jamey: And Jack did help us find and capture Aslan.
Mason: And his friends, have any of them given us anything?
Jamey: Nothing we didn't know about their pasts, and they all deny knowing anything about Virginia.
Mason: So we have no reason to hold them. Okay, we'll let them go. We need the interrogation rooms anyway for Aslan.
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Vice-president Warren Keaton goes to see president Mackensie Allen. She was focused on the aftermath of Virginia, 78 dead and counting, but she needed to be informed of his involvement with Dave.
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Keaton: There's something you need to know.
Allen: Is this important?
Keaton: Yes. As you know, nine years ago my daughter Nicole was raped by Lyle Gibson. Unfortunately there wasn't enough physical evidence to convict. Then Nicole learned she was pregnant. After much soul searching, she decided to have the baby. Nicole feared that Lyle would try to gain custody, would hurt the baby. I offered him money, one hundred thousand dollars, to leave town and never come back. Lyle seemed to think I was printing money in my basement, he demanded ten million dollars, which I didn't have close to that amount. So, I did what most fathers would do in that situation, I called an old army buddy, Dave. He told me that he and, some friends, could persuade Lyle Gibson to take less money. He never told me who his friends were and I never asked. I don't know exactly what they said, or did. But the next day Lye Gibson called me, and said he would leave town forever in exchange for half a million. I then wrote him a check for five hundred thousand dollars, and wrote Dave another check for the same amount. I made both checks out to CASH, I always assumed that maybe he wasn't planning to report this money, but he was nevertheless alive. But as you know Dave has gotten himself involved in some trouble, and he has informed me that nine years ago he and his friends got greedy. They decided that a rapist shouldn't get the same as they got combined.
Allen: They murdered Lyle Gibson and stole the money?
Keaton: Yes. In desperation Dave says he'll tell the press everything, unless he receives a full pardon.
Allen: I can't pardon a man like that.
Keaton: I know. I'm not entirely certain if my actions constitute the legal definition of felony murder. I do know that Templeton and others will call for investigations, hearings. And my eight year old granddaughter will learn that she was conceived in rape, she will likely face harassment for this. The only thing I can do now is resign. I don't know if that will stop Dave from revealing everything, but it will lessen the damage, for both of us.
Allen: Very well. But I might need your help in this current crisis. So I just ask you to hold off on your resignation until the withdrawel from Afghanistan is complete.
Keaton: Very well madam president. You've got me for another 21 hours and some change.
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2:43 am Kabul time
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Major Barnes and his team raid the abandoned building. The six Taliban spotters all shoot at the marines. Five of the Taliban are killed. A sixth is wounded and arrested. But before he can be interrogated he bites down on a cyanide capsule and dies. Their weapons were all sniper rifles, Barnes wondered if they had some training. It appears these six were not just some random punks, someone else was pulling their strings. The question was "Who?" And what else were they planning.
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5:48 pm eastern standard time.