Voiceover: Previously on 24.
Schiffer: Any problems getting the canisters out?
Erwich: No. They were hidden exactly where you said they’d be. The Russians will finally understand the consequences of occupying our homeland when we turn Moscow into a graveyard.
Nathanson: Erwich has just cleared airport security.
Walt: And the authorities don’t know anything’s been stolen?
Nathanson: Not yet.
Walt: Well, the only thing we have left to take care of is Bauer.
Spencer: You paged me.
Walt: I need you to do something.
Spencer: We have our hands full searching for the nerve gas.
Walt: Bauer is a priority. I need you to clear an entrance into CTU.
Logan: I just signed the treaty. Now, all of a sudden I find out that the terrorists are still out there with nerve gas.
Martha: You people have got to listen to me. I had a document. It was hidden in my blouse. It’s gone. Someone stole it from me.
Walt: This is what she was like before you sent her to Vermont.
Logan: You’re suggesting that I readmit her?
Walt: For her sake, if nothing else.
Logan: Aaron? My wife is gone.
Agent Pierce: [to radio] We have a priority alert.
Bill: You’ve been burrowing into classified CTU protocols without authorisation.
Spencer: I don’t know what you’re talking –
Chloe: Stop. I know you’ve been logged on to the security subsystem where you have no right to be.
Audrey: Someone knew that Jack was alive. It’s critical to our investigation that we find out who that was.
[Hank and Jack fight.]
Jack: Did you let that man into CTU? This man is a professional assassin. He just killed Doctor Paulson and he tried to kill me. Who told you to let that man into CTU?
Spencer: The White House. Mr Cummings …
Voiceover: The following takes place between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM.
[In CTU.]
Jack: I don’t understand the problem. David Palmer was murdered because he was about to expose Walt Cumming’s connection to the terrorists. When Cummings failed to frame me for Palmer’s murder, he tried to frame me.
Bill: All that may be true, Jack, but we don’t have proof.
Audrey: We can prove that Cummings used Spencer to get Jack’s assassin into CTU.
Bill: All we have is Spencer’s word; that’s not enough to build a case.
Jack: We don’t have time to build a case. You want the nerve gas, Cummings is your connection.
Mcgill: Cummings is the President’s chief advisor; how exactly do you suggest we get to him?
Jack: I can secretly meet with Mike Novick, enlist his help.
Bill: How do we know Novick’s not in this with Cummings?
Jack: Because I know him. He’ll listen to me. The President will listen to him. With Novick’s help, we can isolate Cummings.
Mcgill: Jack, as much as I appreciate you wanting to be involved with this, you don’t work here anymore.
Jack: That’s exactly the reason why I should do this. If it backfires, there will be no fallout on you.
Audrey: I think it’s worth a try.
Bill: I agree.
Jack: [to Mcgill] It’s your call.
[Mcgill thinks for a few seconds.]
Mcgill: All right, Jack. But just so that we’re clear, this is about finding the nerve gas, not getting revenge for David Palmer.
Jack: Understood.
Mcgill: Work out your protocols with Ms Raines; we’ll keep looking through Cummings background for anything that supports our case.
[Mcgill and Bill leave the room.]
Audrey: We’re going to need to set up a secure channel for you to contact us on.
Jack: [moving to look over her shoulder at the computer screen] OK. Can you bring up a satellite photo of the compound?
Audrey: Yeah. [She does so] Jack, I’m sorry if I’m being a little distant, I’m just … It’s taking me a little while to get used to you being alive.
[Jack nods and leans away a little.]
Jack: I understand. I’ll call Novick. [He walks away.]
Audrey: Right. Jack?
[Jack turns back.]
Audrey: When Cummings finds out you’re still alive, he’s going to come after you again.
Jack: Yeah. [He leaves the room.]
[Cut to the Presidential retreat. Walt Cummings answers his phone.]
Walt: Yes?
Nathanson: Is Bauer dead?
Walt: I haven’t received confirmation yet.
Nathanson: [frustrated] Your man should have taken care of this by now.
Walt: Perhaps he had to alter his strike window. Has the nerve gas reached the port?
Nathanson: Not yet. It should be arriving any minute.
Walt: OK. I have to go; I’m late for a briefing. [He hangs up.]
[Cut to the port. The truck arrives.]
Erwich: You have all the shipping documents in order?
Schiffer: The canisters will arrive at port in your country in eight days. Ground transportation to your base camp will take another day. You need my help getting you’re your target?
Erwich: No. I’ve arranged transport to Moscow.
[Cut to Logan’s retreat. Novick enters the study, where Logan is waiting.]
Novick: [handing a CD to an agent] Would you put this on, now?
Agent: Yes, sir. [He walks away.]
Logan: Have they found my wife yet?
Novick: No, sir, but secret service is confident she’s still in the grounds.
Logan: If they’re so damn confident, why can’t anyone find her? What the hell are they doing?
Novick: I’m sure it’s just a matter of time, Mr President.
[Walt enters.]
Walt: Sorry I’m late.
Novick: I was just setting up the video. [He switches on the television to show a video. On the video, a man is alone in a small room.] This was made by the terrorists to document the effects of the nerve gas. It was recovered from a training camp two years ago. Disorientation occurs moments after exposure. [The man in the video looks disoriented.] Now the video jumps forward no more than a couple of minutes we estimate. [The man is having a severe reaction to the gas.] Within that time, there’s permanent damage to the central nervous system. [Logan looks horrified by the footage.] Violent seizures take over, bronchial membranes blister, peal away. Death occurs within –
Logan: Stop. [Novick turns the video off.]
Novick: Now, according to DOD, the san-tox nerve gas stolen from the airport is far more lethal than the gas we just saw used. [His pager beeps, and he pulls it out of his pocket.] Now, if released in a two or city for example, the cloud will remain lethal for much longer. [He checks his pager. The message reads: “It’s Jack Bauer. Call me on a secure line.”]
Logan: Are we any closer to finding the canisters?
Novick: There haven’t been any reports of progress, sir.
[Another message appears below the original message on the pager: “Tell no one.”]
Novick: Excuse me, Mr President. I need to return a call to the state department. [He leaves the room.]
Logan: Do you have those updates, Walt?
Walt: [handing over a file] Yes, here’s one from CTU. Also one from Homeland Security. [He seems distracted. He looks after Novick, worried about what Novick is doing.]
12:06:25 … 12:06:26 … 12:06:27 … 12:06:28 …
[Cut to CTU. Jack’s phone rings. He answers.]
Jack: This is Bauer.
Novick: Jack, Mike Novick. It’s good to hear your voice.
Jack: Yours too, Mike. So sorry about David Palmer. I know how much he meant to you.
Novick: Yeah. What’s going on?
Jack: I have a lead on the stolen nerve gas.
Novick: Isn’t CTU coordinating the search?
Jack: This is something I need to bring directly to you.
Novick: I don’t understand.
Jack: I can’t talk about this on the phone, Mike. We need to meet. No one can know about this, Mike, not even the President.
Novick: I’m not comfortable with all this secrecy, Jack, you need to give me some idea what this is all about.
Jack: It concerns Walt Cummings.
Novick: There’s an area a few hundred yards outside the southwest gate. It’s at the far side of the property from the main house.
Jack: Thanks, Mike, I’ll see you in 15 minutes. [Novick hangs up.]
[Cut back to CTU. Derek sees Jack and approaches him. Diane follows]
Derek: Jack.
Jack: Hey.
Diane: They said we could leave soon.
Jack: I know; I heard.
Derek: Well, what about you? Are you coming home with us?
Jack: No, I need to stay here. CTU still needs my help. Derek, I’d like to speak with your mom for a moment. Is that all right?
Derek: Yeah, I’ll just … [He moves a step or two away.]
Jack: [to guard] Take him downstairs. She’ll be there soon. [Derek and the guard leave.]
Diane: You’re not coming back to us, are you?
Jack: [looks down for a moment, then looks her in the eye] No. [Diane nods slowly.] I never thought I was going to be back here at CTU. I would never have gotten you involved in all this, I promise you.
Diane: It’s the woman who interviewed me, isn’t it? Audrey Raines. You were involved with her. I can tell by the way you looked at each other.
Jack: I was with her before I had to disappear.
Diane: Are you still in love with her?
Jack: Yes.
Diane: Does she still love you?
Jack: I don’t’ know.
[An agent enters.]
Agent: Mr Bauer? Transportation is standing by.
Jack: I’ll be right there. [to Diane] I’m sorry, I have to go.
Diane: Yeah. [They briefly kiss, and then hug, before pulling apart.]
Jack: Thank you.
Diane: Yeah. [He holds the side of her face.]
Jack: Thank you. [She half-smiles. He walks away. Diane is close to tears.]
12:09:26 … 12:09:27 … 12:09:28 … 12:09:29 …
[Nathanson is listening to a recording of Jack and Novick’s phone conversation. Cummings is listening in as well over the phone to Nathanson.]
Novick: [on recording] I’m not comfortable with all this secrecy, Jack. You have to give me some idea what this is all about.
Jack: [on recording] It’s Walt Cummings.
[Walt closes his eyes.]
Novick: [on recording] There’s an area a few hundred yards outside the southwest gate. It’s at the far side of the property from the main house.
[Nathanson stops playing the recording.]
Nathanson: Your man didn’t do his job.
Walt: Ah, don’t put that on me, Nathanson. You were supposed to have Bauer killed hours ago.
Nathanson: I’m not going to warn you again. Pull yourself together.
Walt: You heard the call, didn’t you? Bauer’s coming here to expose my role in all of this.
Nathanson: You’re assuming he knows the extent of it.
Walt: Well, it’s obvious he knows enough. And what the hell am I supposed to do?
Nathanson: At this point, there’s only one thing you can do.
12:10:17 … 12:10:18 … 12:10:19 …
12:14:32 … 12:14:33 … 12:14:34 … 12:14:35 … 12:14:36 … 12:14:37 …
[Split screen, with the crate being loaded onto the cargo ship; Chloe working in CTU; and Jack driving to the retreat.]
[Cut to the stables at the retreat. A group of agents are searching for Martha. Aaron Pierce is with them. He sees that the chain on one door is unlocked. He looks inside, opening the door.]
Aaron: Mrs Logan? Please come out of there. Mrs Logan.
[Martha emerges.]
Martha: Aaron? Don’t let them take me. You have to listen to me.
Aaron: They’re just trying to help you.
Martha: No! No, they’re trying to set me up. They’re trying to make it look like I had a breakdown so they can cart me off to some psychiatric hospital.
Aaron: Ma’am –
Martha: Aaron, it’s someone in my husband’s administration. They’re trying to shut me up because I know the truth.
[Aaron looks like he is close to believing her.]
Aaron: What truth?
Martha: David Palmer. I know – [She sees other agents approaching, and stops.] Don’t let them take me, Aaron. Please?
Agent 1: We have our orders, Mrs Logan. I’m sorry.
Martha: Aaron? Please? You’re … [He steps aside. Agent 1 steps forward and Martha starts walking away, with the other agents following. She looks back at Aaron, but then looks forward again.]
12:16:15 … 12:16:16 … 12:16:17 … 12:16:18 …
[Cut to CTU. Bill enters the situation room, where Audrey is working at her laptop.]
Bill: Audrey. Did you check with the airports?
Audrey: They’ve all been alerted in the missing canisters.
Bill: And CHP?
Audrey: Same thing. Trucks are being checked at all major interstates.
Bill: Make sure there’s no mention of the nerve gas; the White House was clear about that.
Audrey: Yes, I know. The bulletin only describes the missing canisters. There’s no mention of chemical weapons.
Bill: Good. The last thing we need is for the public to find out that nerve gas is out there. [He walks away.]
[Cut to the canisters on the ship. Schiffer is setting the codes to lock them. He puts the lid back on the container, and then leaves the crate and shuts it. Erwich is out there.]
Erwich: Schiffer. What are you doing in there?
Schiffer: Making sure the canisters were secured properly. Don’t want ‘em knocking around when this gets loaded onto the ship.
Erwich: My men secured the canisters according to my instructions. You don’t need to be concerned.
Schiffer: All right. Here are the customs documents you’ll need when the ship arrives, along with the remote trigger and the arming codes. [He hands over some documents and the lock.] I’ll take the rest of my payment now.
Erwich: The arrangement was, you’d get your final instalment when the ship left port.
Schiffer: That’s not going to be a problem. They’re loading out in less than an hour.
Erwich: Then you won’t have long to wait.
Schiffer: Fine. [He walks away. Erwich is suspicious.]
[Cut to CTU. Diane and Derek are following the guard. Diane sees Audrey walking out of a room.]
Diane: [to Derek] I’ll be right there. [She walks over to Diane.] Ms Raines?
Audrey: [smiles] Yes?
Diane: We’ve been released.
Audrey: Oh, good. [Derek and the guard are waiting nearby.]
Diane: Can I ask you something?
Audrey: Of course.
Diane: Do you still have feelings for Jack?
[Audrey looks embarrassed.]
Audrey: I’m sorry, but that’s personal.
Diane: I know. But he’s been living with my son and me for the last six months. We started to become a family, and I care about him. Do you know he still loves you?
[Audrey looks surprised.]
Diane: If you don’t love him, let him go.
[Audrey has tears in her eyes.]
[Cut to Jack driving to the retreat. He arrives at the place Novick mentioned.]
12:19:26 … 12:19:27 … 12:19:28 … 12:19:29 …
[He parks the car. His phone rings. He answers.]
Jack: Bauer.
Audrey: Jack, it’s Audrey.
Jack: What’s going on?
Audrey: Jack …
Jack: What? Audrey, what?
Audrey: When this is over, are you coming back?
Jack: I don’t know.
Audrey: Are you going back to Diane?
Jack: No. I – I – I don’t know what I’m doing yet.
Audrey: Is it true what she said?
Jack: What did she say?
Audrey: That you still love me.
Jack: I never stopped loving you. Not for one second.
Audrey: Then don’t go away again, Jack, please.
Jack: It’s more complicated than that.
Audrey: I know.
Jack: It’s time. I’ve gotta go.
Audrey: [crying] Jack …
Jack: I have to go
Audrey: Ok, OK, I know. Bye. [She hangs up and tries to compose herself.]
[Back at the retreat, Jack gets out of the car. He looks around for Novick.]
[Cut to Logan’s study. Logan is on the phone.]
Logan: No! No, keep me out of this. The last thing I wanna do is comment to the press about the roadblocks coming up. And we can’t have any leaks about the nerve gas. It would just – it would just cause a panic. [He hangs up. Aaron enters.]
Aaron: Pardon me, sir. We’ve found Mrs Logan.
Logan: IS she all right?
Aaron: She’s fine, sir. She was hiding in the stables.
Logan: Stables?! What the hell did she think she was doing?
Aaron: Mr President? I feel awkward mentioning this, but, uh, Mrs Logan said some things.
Logan: About David Palmer?
Aaron: Yes, sir.
Logan: I’ve heard her conspiracy theories, Aaron.
[Walt enters.]
Logan: I’ve heard them all, but thank you for your concern. [Aaron leaves. He is still concerned. Logan turns to Walt.] They found my wife.
Walt: Good. [He looks uncomfortable.] Mr President, we need to talk.
Logan: What is it, Walt?
Walt: I was hoping to spare you from this, but I’m afraid Jack Bauer’s forcing my hand. He’s on his way here to meet with Mike Novick.
Logan: Bauer? Why?
Walt: To accuse me of helping the terrorists acquire that nerve gas.
Logan: That’s ridiculous!
Walt: No, sir. It’s the truth.
Logan: [surprised] What did you say?
Walt: Through a proxy, I leaked information to the terrorists about where the nerve gas was hidden.
[Logan looks absolutely shocked.]
Walt: You have to understand, sir, this gas was never going to pose a threat to US lives.
Logan: Never pose a threat? People died in the airport; hostages were killed!
Walt: We had hoped to limit the collateral damage.
Logan: “Collateral damage”?! What were you thinking? This is an unspeakable crime. Walt? You have to answer for this. [He reaches for the phone.]
Walt: Mr President, it’s in your best interest to hear me out. Before you make that phone call. [Logan puts the phone down.]
Logan: What do you mean, “my best interest”?
Walt: The gas is being smuggled out of the country by separatists who think they’re going to use it against the Russians. However, that nerve gas will never reach Russian soil.
Logan: And you know this how?
Walt: We control the remote detonators on those gas canisters. As soon as they reach the terrorist base, we’ll trigger the canisters by satellite and release the gas.
Logan: So everything that happened today was just to kill some terrorists?
Walt: No, the goal is to produce a smoking gun – proof of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in central Asia.
Logan: This is unbelievable. [He tries to walk past Walt, but Walt grabs him.]
Walt: It’s necessary. It will finally give us a pretext to increase our military presence in the region, guaranteeing the flow of oil for the next generation.
[Logan wrenches himself free.]
Logan: How dare you? How dare you act without my consent? How dare you put this administration – this entire country in jeopardy? You’re a traitor.
Walt: No. No, Mr President, I am a patriot! Doing what needs to be done for the continued safety and wellbeing of this nation.
Logan: [the truth is dawning on him] My God … you gave the order to have David Palmer killed.
Walt: That was an unfortunate but necessary intervention. He found out too much, we had to –
Logan: Walt! You’re rationalising murder; the murder of a President. You’re going to contact these people and recover the nerve gas before it leaves this country.
Walt: I’m afraid I can’t do that.
Logan: Why not?
Walt: I don’t know where the nerve gas is, and the man I had working inside has gone dark; he’s unreachable. Yeah … you let things play out as they are. Otherwise, your administration will be implicated, and your presidency will be destroyed. It’s your choice, Mr President.
12:25:32 … 12:25:33 … 12:25:34 …
12:29:44 … 12:29:45 … 12:29:46 … 12:29:47 … 12:29:48 … 12:29:49 …
[Split screen, with Audrey working in CTU; Jack waiting for Novick; the crate being loaded onto the ship; and Diane and Derek in CTU.]
[Jack sees Novick driving towards the meeting place. Novick gets out of his car, looking for Jack. Jack approaches him.]
Novick: Jack. [They shake hands.]
Jack: Thanks for seeing me let this, Mike.
[Jack hears something, and looks towards the sound. It is a helicopter.]
Novick What is it?
Jack: Did you tell anyone we were meeting?
Novick: ‘course not.
[A helicopter appears from the other side of the hill. Secret service agents are inside.]
Jack: Son of a bitch … Who did you tell? Who did you tell?
Novick: I didn’t tell anybody, Jack!
[Two cars approach.]
Agent: [over loudspeaker] Jack Bauer. Stay where you are. Put down your weapon.
[Jack looks frustrated and angry. The cars pull up. Agents get out. They train guns on Jack. Jack puts his bag down and raises his hands.]
Novick: What’s the meaning of this? Tell your agents to stand down!
Agent: Sorry, sir, we can’t do that.
Novick: He’s here at my request.
Agent: [to Jack] We have been authorised to use force if necessary. [Jack puts his hands on the back of his head.]
Novick: Orders? Orders from whom?
Agent: The President of the United States.
[Jack is searched.]
Agent2: On your knees.
[Jack kneels and is handcuffed.]
12:31:32 … 12:31:33 … 12:31:34 … 12:31:35 …
[Cut to Logan’s study.]
Agent: [over phone to Walt] That is affirmative, sir, Mr Bauer was apprehended without resistance on his part. We’re transferring him back to the retreat now.
Walt: Thanks. [He hangs up. Logan is sitting on a couch, looking nervous and upset.]
Walt: Novick and Bauer have been taken into custody.
Logan: So you’re just going to lock Mike Novick up?
Walt: For the time being.
Logan: But what good will it do? Eventually he’s gonna get out and he’s gonna talk to the press.
Walt: What can he say? He doesn’t know anything.
Logan: [stands] I thought you told me he talked to Jack Bauer.
Walt: We stopped Bauer before he could give Mike any details.
Logan: What’s he gonna think? We’re detaining him.
Walt: Bauer was about to divulge national security secrets that Mike’s not authorised to hear; that’s why Mike’s being detained.
Logan: And what about Bauer? He must have talked to other people at CTU, told them what he knows.
Walt: As soon as this nerve gas leaves US soil, it’s going to be very difficult to prove that either of us had anything to do with this in any way.
Logan: You’re sure that these – these – these detonators will work; that the gas will be released before it can be used against the Russians?
Walt: Yes. Right more, all you need to do is authorise me to terminate CTU’s involvement in this matter. Tell them we’ve got the situation under control and that we’ll deal with Bauer, who, after all, is not officially affiliated with them anymore.
Logan: All right.
Walt: Good. [He takes out his phone, and walks away. Logan’s phone rings. He answers.]
Logan: Yes?
Operator: Mr President, I have Mrs Logan for you.
Logan: Not now.
Operator: Yes, sir.
[Logan ends the call.]
12:33:16 … 12:33:17 … 12:33:18 … 12:33:19 …
[Outside, the cars pull up with Jack and Novick inside. The agents get out and escort Jack and Novick out. Aaron Pierce watches. He sees Jack, and Jack looks at him. Jack is walked into the house.]
Aaron: Dunley. [Agent Dunley approaches him.] What is Jack Bauer doing here, why is he under arrest, and why wasn’t I told?
Dunley: Orders of the President.
Aaron: Directly?
Dunley: No. It came through Walt Cumming’s office.
Aaron: OK. Thank you. [Dunley walks away. Aaron stands there, thinking.]
[Cut to CTU. Mcgill enters the situation room.]
Mcgill: We’re no longer running point in the search for the canisters. We’ve been ordered off by division.
[Audrey, Bill, and Edgar look shocked.]
Bill: Why?
Mcgill: The White House wants to use their own people to coordinate from ground one.
Audrey: That doesn’t make sense; we’ll waste hours trying to get another agency up to speed.
Mcgill: Yeah, I know; I tried calling the President. He’s not taking my calls.
Audrey: What about Mike Novick? Jack should be with him by now.
Mcgill: Novick’s people say he’s unreachable and Jack’s cell phone is going to voicemail.
Bill: Something’s wrong.
Mcgill: Yeah, I know. But I don’t know what we can do about it.
Bill: I do.
Mcgill: What?
Bill: We can disregard the order.
Mcgill: We’re not disregarding a Presidential order!
Bill: If we don’t, we will not find this nerve gas.
Mcgill: Sending Jack Bauer to have a conversation with Mike Novick as a private citizen is one thing, but I’m not about to disobey a direct order from the White House.
Bill: That’s because you don’t have the experience to know better.
Mcgill: Mr Buchanan, would you step outside for a moment? [Bill and Mcgill walk outside.] I can’t have you talking like that in front of these people.
Bill: You’re right; I’m sorry.
Mcgill: Are we clear about who is in charge here?
Bill: Yeah, but my advice stands. If this order jeopardises our chances of finding this nerve gas, it’s your responsibility to ignore it. At least until we can put out case to the White House. You also need to learn to make decisions faster.
Mcgill: Bill!
Bill: One more thing which comes with experience. Lynn, if we don’t do everything in our power to stop these terrorists, we’re not doing our job.
Lynn: [after a second] OK. Disregard the order.
Bill: Thank you. [He moves away.]
12:35:32 … 12:35:33 … 12:35:34 … 12:35:35 …
[Cut to the Presidential retreat. Martha is back in her room.]
Evelyn: Is there anything else you’d like me to pack for you? Maybe a few of your nicer dresses?
Martha: I’m being confined to a psychiatric ward, Evelyn. I don’t think there are going to be any black tie events.
Evelyn: I’m sorry.
Martha: How did this happen?
Evelyn: What’s that, Mrs Logan?
Martha: Charles and me. I was his confidante. Always when he was in Congress, my opinion was the one that mattered most to him. Now I’m … less than an afterthought.
Evelyn: I’m sure the President would be here if he could.
Martha: He’s the President of the United States, Evelyn. He can do whatever he wants. If he wanted to be here, he would be.
[Cut to Jack, who is locked in a room and still handcuffed. The door opens. Aaron enters.]
Aaron: Mr Bauer, you’re being moved per the President’s orders.
Jack: Where?
Aaron: To a class three detention facility.
Jack: I want charges. I was invited here by Mike Novick.
Aaron: Those are my orders, sir. [They move towards the door.]
Jack: You’re Pierce, right? Aaron Pierce. You served under David Palmer.
Aaron: Yes I did.
Jack: I need to speak with you for a moment please.
Aaron: That’s not possible.
Jack: It concerns David Palmer’s killer.
Aaron: All right.
Jack: David Palmer was assassinated because he was on the verge of discovering that the terrorists who attacked us today were being helped by someone within Logan’s administration.
Aaron: Who?
Jack: Walt Cummings.
Aaron: Why would Mr Cummings be involved with terrorists?
Jack: I couldn’t tell you, but I can tell you that the terrorists are now in possession of a weaponised nerve gas, and Walt Cummings may be the last chance to stop them in time. Walt Cummings ordered the assassination of David Palmer. I know that’s hard to believe, but I can prove it. It’s true.
Aaron: Actually it’s not that hard to believe. The First Lady also thinks someone in the administration was involved.
Jack: Your primary responsibility as lead agent is to protect the President of the United States. Someone in his administration is undermining his authority; that is equivalent to a coup d’etat. Agent Pierce, please. I need your help.
[Aaron considers.]
12:38:22 … 12:38:23 … 12:38:24 …
12:42:55 … 12:42:56 … 12:42:57 … 12:42:58 … 12:42:59 … 12:43:00 …
[Split screen, with President Logan; Martha; Mcgill; and a corridor in the retreat outside the President’s office.]
[Cut to close up of the corridor. Aaron enters.]
Aaron: Bauer’s escaped.
Agent: When? I didn’t get a code alert.
Aaron: My comm’s down. Call it in; have agents cover the west gate. That’s where he was headed.
Agent: What about you?
Aaron: I’ll take your post. Go.
Agent: Yes, sir. [He leaves.]
[Inside the office, Walt ends a phone call.]
Walt: [to Logan] That was NSA. CTU hasn’t transferred the search operation to their jurisdiction yet.
Logan: What’s the problem?
Walt: I don’t know, but you need to call Lynn Mcgill. Make sure we’re in charge of this.
Logan: I’ve been avoiding his calls because he’s just gonna ask me why I’m calling CTU off the search operation, and I don’t know what to tell him.
Walt: You don’t have to tell him anything. You’re the President.
[Aaron enters.]
Logan: Agent Pierce, we’re in the middle of a meeting if you don’t mind.
[Jack enters.]
Jack: Mr President, my name is Jack Bauer, and I’m sorry to have to confront you like this. [He looks at Walt Cummings.] But your Chief of Staff is withholding information that is vital to this nation’s security.
[Walt attempts to grab the phone. Jack grabs him and punches him. He continues beating him up.]
Logan: Stop this!
[Jack drags Walt over to one side of the room and pushes him against the wall, and keeps hitting him.]
Logan: As the President of the United States, get your hands off this man! Agent Pierce, do something!
Aaron: I am, Mr President, I’m upholding my oath to protect you.
[Logan grabs the phone.]
Aaron: That won’t have any effect, sir, I’ve overridden the distress line.
[Jack stops hitting Walt.]
Jack: Mr Cummings is guilty of conspiring with terrorists. He facilitated the theft of a military grade nerve gas and today is responsible for the death of at least three people. Including David Palmer.
Logan: I know about that, but there’s an explanation.
[Jack looks at him, stunned.]
Jack: What do you mean, you know about that?
Logan: Mr Bauer, please, I just found out a couple of minutes ago. It’s very complicated.
Jack: I don’t know what this man has told you, but we need to find this nerve gas now, and I mean immediately – before it is too late.
Logan: It’s already too late.
Jack: What do you mean?
Logan: Apparently it’s on its way out of the country.
[Jack punches Walt again.]
Jack: Where is it? [He keeps hitting Walt.]
Logan: He told me he doesn’t know!
Jack: He’s lying to you, sir.
Walt: The man I had inside has gone dark. I don’t know.
[Jack pulls out a knife and holds it near Walt’s eyes. Logan grimaces.]
Jack: I’m done talking with you, you understand me? You’ve read my file. [As he talks, he holds the knife over the threatened area.] The first thing I’m going to do is take out your right eye, and then I’m gonna move over and take out your left, and then I’m going to cut you. I’m gonna keep cutting you until you give me the information that I need. Do you understand me? So for the last time, where is the nerve gas?
Walt: I don’t know.
[Jack moves the knife closer to his eye. Suddenly he moves behind Walt and presses the knife to his cheek below his right eye.]
Walt: Stop! Stop! Stop! I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you. It’s on a freighter leaving the port at Longbridge at 2:30.
Logan: Oh my …
Jack: How is it concealed?
Walt: In a container carrying medical supplies.
Jack: What’s the container number?
Walt: I don’t know.
Jack: What’s the number?
Walt: I don’t know! I’d tell you, I swear.
Logan: Mr Bauer!
[Jack releases Walt and moves away from him.]
12:45:53 … 12:45:54 … 12:45:55 … 12:45:56 …
[Jack calls CTU. In the background, agents enter and handcuff Walt.]
[Cut to CTU.]
Operator: Mr Buchanan, I’ve got Jack Bauer on line three.
[Bill accepts the call.]
Bill: Jack, what’s going on? We’ve been trying to reach you.
Jack: Bill, hold on, I’m gonna put you on speakerphone. [He walks over to Logan, and puts the phone on speakerphone.] Bill, I’m standing here with the President. The nerve gas is at Long Beach Harbour in a container full of medical supplies. It’s on a freighter bound for Central Asia. It’s set to depart at 2:30 PM.
Mcgill: How solid is the intel, Jack? [He dials a number on his cell phone.]
Jack: It came directly from Cummings.
Bill: Mr President, we’ve been trying to reach you about an order we received changing our jurisdiction.
Logan: Disregard the order.
Bill: Then you want CTU to maintain operational control over the retrieval.
Logan: Yes, absolutely.
Audrey: [to Bill] I’m alerting CVP. [She works at her laptop.]
Bill: Good. Get the Hazmat teams in there to set up a perimeter. Have medical teams standing by in case the gas leaks.
Audrey: Got it. [She answers a phone call.]
Mcgill: Good work, Jack. Are you heading back to CTU?
Jack: I don’t know yet.
Bill: Jack, we’ll let you know when we have more information on the container.
Jack: Copy that. [He ends the call.] Mr President, Agent Pierce and I are prepared to hand ourselves over to the authorities now.
[Aaron puts his badge on the desk, along with his gun.]
Logan: Aaron.
Aaron: Yes, Mr President.
Logan: Take back your shield, and get Walt Cummings out of my sight.
Aaron: Yes, sir. [He picks up his badge and gun. Along with the other agents, he escorts Walt out of the room.]
12:47:33 … 12:47:34 … 12:47:35 … 12:47:36 …
Logan: [to Jack] He told me it was too late, and I believed him. You need to understand, I trusted Walt Cummings, but he lied to me. I was coerced. There is, uh, one more thing we need to discuss.
Jack: What is that, sir?
Logan: You. The fact that you’re alive presents problems for both of us.
Jack: Yes, Mr President. I accomplished what I set out to do, which was to identify and locate David Palmer’s killer. I would like to stay on until the nerve gas is retrieved, but … after that, I give you my word I will simply disappear again.
Logan: All right. I think that would be best, for the good of the country.
Jack: Yes, sir.
[They shake hands.]
Logan: Thank you, Mr Bauer.
Jack: Thank you, Mr President. Excuse me. [He leaves.]
12:49:14 … 12:49:15 … 12:49:16 …
12:53:42 … 12:53:43 … 12:53:44 … 12:53:45 … 12:53:46 … 12:53:47 …
[Split screen, with Chloe working at her desk; Jack walking through the retreat; Logan in his office; and CTU itself.]
[Cut to outside the retreat. Evelyn is packing Martha’s bag into the back of a car. Martha walks toward the door of the car.]
Evelyn: I’ll see you soon.
[Martha turns to look back at her, and pulls a brief smile. Evelyn sighs and walks away. Martha gets into the car. An agent walks up and hits the car a few times.]
Agent: Hold up.
Martha: What’s happening?
[Her door is opened. Logan is there.]
Logan: Marty?
Martha: Charles.
Logan: Come on. Get out of the car. [He helps her out.]
Martha: What?
Logan: You were right, there was a conspiracy. David was trying to warn you, and warn me. I should have listened to you.
Martha: I just – you believe me now?
Logan: It was Walt Cummings. He lied to me, he convinced me you were out of control.
Martha: Walt?
Logan: Yeah. Sending you back to the clinic in Vermont was his idea.
Martha: And you went along with it.
Logan: I’m sorry, Marty.
Martha: Sending me away without a word. Like I was some nuisance to be gotten rid of.
[Wendy approaches.]
Wendy: Excuse me, Mr President, but you wanted to know when the link with CTU was established.
Logan: Yes. Um … thank you, Wendy. See that the First Lady’s bags get back to her room.
Wendy: Of course. [She walks away.]
Logan: I’ve gotta go. [He moves to kiss her, but she turns her head. Logan hesitates, then kisses her gently on the cheek. He walks away.]
12:55:42 … 12:55:43 … 12:55:44 … 12:55:45 …
[Cut to CTU. Mcgill approaches Chloe’s desk.]
Mcgill: Chloe, do we have confirmation on the intel Jack gave us?
Chloe: There’s only one ship scheduled to leave the port at Longbeach at 2:30; that’s a freighter heading for Central Asia leaving from pier F. We don’t have any CTU teams in the vicinity, but we’ve got a Customs and Border Protection taskforce onsite under our directive. [She hands Mcgill the files.]
Mcgill: Right, make sure the CVP understands the nerve gas is housed in 20 canisters of grey metal that are unmarked that are going out in a shipment of medical supplies.
Chloe: Yeah, yeah, they know all that already, but there’s gonna be about a 1 000 cargo containers on that ship, and we don’t know which one the nerve gas is in.
Edgar: It’s container 539 146. Box seven. I was able to hack into the ship’s manifest. It’s the only container stocking medical supplies.
Mcgill: That’s great. Make sure all the strike force units have that.
Edgar: Right.
Audrey: Lynn, the White House is requesting a live feed from the assault.
Mcgill: We’ll have Chloe patch them in once all our tac teams reach our staging area.
Audrey: All right. Got it. [She moves away.]
[Cut to the retreat. Jack is in the main study. A picture of Erwich is being displayed on the TV monitor.]
Jack: Yeah, that’s him.
Bill: [over phone] His name is Ivan Erwich. He’s a chemical engineer, trained at the University of St Petersburg. Joined his country’s separatist movement six years ago.
Jack: Do we have any clear images, any file photos?
Bill: No. Which is why we need you to ID him when the strike force has a visual.
Jack: OK, just make sure the CVP knows we need to take Erwich alive.
Bill: They know. Stand by.
[Logan enters.]
Logan: What’s the situation?
Jack: Strike teams are in place, Mr President, we’re just waiting for the feed to come up.
[Cut to CTU. Curtis enters.]
Curtis: Feed’s up.
[On the television, we see what the soldiers see.]
[Cut back to the retreat. Jack and Logan are watching the same feed.]
Agent Finn: CTU, we have located the target container. No hostiles present.
Bill: You have a green light, Agent Finn. [The agents move in on the container.]
12:57:12 … 12:57:13 … 12:57:14 … 12:57:15 …
Bill: Remember, do not discharge your weapons unless absolutely necessary. If the bullet breaches one of those canisters, we’ll have a massive casualty situation.
Agent Finn: Copy that. [He and his men assume attacking positions outside the door of the container. One moves in with bolt cutters and cuts off the lock.] Masks on. [All agents put on their gas mask.] Now! [The door is pulled open by another agent. The agents rush into the canister.] Go, go, go!
[Watching the live feed, the people in CTU and in the retreat are very nervous.]
[In the container, the agents see a man slumped against a box and facing away from them.]
Agent Finn: Don’t move! Put your hands in the air now! [They see blood running down his arm from a wound, and a pool of blood on the floor. They approach. It is Schiffer’s body.] He’s dead. [Finn points at the crates.] Open ‘em up. Open ‘em up, let’s go! Open ‘em all up. The agents open the crates. The canisters are gone.] Get ‘em open. Empty. Next one, open it! Next, open it! Next! Open it, come on, come on! What’ve we got? What’ve we got? Nothing? [He takes off his mask.] There are no gas canisters here, CTU. Repeat, the nerve gas is not here.]
[In CTU and the retreat, the people watching react to this news.]
Jack: Get Walt Cummings in here now!
Agent: Yes, sir. [He leaves to get Walt.]
Logan: Dammit!
[Walt enters, accompanied by Aaron and the other agent.]
Jack: The nerve gas isn’t there.
Walt: It has to be.
Jack: Where are the canisters?
Walt: I don’t know. I’ve told you everything. They – they have to be there. [He sees Schiffer on the video feed.] Oh my God …
Jack: What is it?
Walt: That’s Schiffer, the man we had inside. They must have found out we reprogrammed the detonators.
[Cut to a series of split screens. First, we see a close-up of Jack; then Audrey and Bill in CTU; then Walt; then Logan; then Martha walking back to her rooms; then the terrorists driving away; then Derek and Diane driving home.]
[Walt’s phone rings.]
Agent: It’s his cell phone, sir.
Jack: Who’s calling you?
Walt: That’s Schiffer’s number.
Jack: Bill?
Bill: Yes, Jack?
Jack: I want you to monitor and record this call.
Bill: We’re on it. [Edgar turns to his computer to do this.]
Jack: [to Walt] Answer it now.
[He puts the phone on the desk. Walt sits at the desk. Jack turns the phone onto speakerphone and accepts the call.]
Walt: Yes?
Erwich: We know you’ve altered the arming codes, Mr Cummings.
Walt: Who is this?
Erwich: I think you know my name. As I now know yours. Your man Schiffer confessed everything. Is President Logan with you?
Walt: The President had nothing to do with this. Nor did anyone else in the Government. I was acting alone.
Erwich: You really expect me to believe that?
Walt: It’s the truth. Erwich, listen. We can negotiate something.
Erwich: I don’t negotiate with my enemies. I eliminate them. Your country is about to pay a very steep price.
[And off Logan’s horrified reaction, we go to … ]
12:59:57 … 12:59:58 … 12:59:59: … 01:00:00.