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While Tony and the Faux-yer are busy framing their terrorist patsy Jibraan, Chloe figures out that Kiefer's dying. But she gets over it in time to find the fake leads to Jibraan that they planted. Olivia meets with her friend Martin, who apparently knows some hit men. She thinks better of it at the last moment, but Hodges gets blown up during his transfer anyway, causing Olivia to freak. Kiefer and Walker try to track down Jibraan through the imam at his mosque, in whose face Kiefer gets. Fortunately a DCPD officer calls in with an address for Jibraan before things get violent. As Kiefer and Walker head over, Tony makes Jibraan tell his little brother he's been a secret terrorist all along. Chloe discovers that the leads pointing to Jibraan were faked, but by the time Kiefer and the rest of the FBI get there, everyone's moved on except Jibraan's brother and one of Tony's goons. During the raid the brother wounds the goon, possibly fatally, which might make it difficult for Kiefer to find Tony before he makes Jibraan set off the canister in the subway. Uh, just pretend you didn't see the previews for week, okay?
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previouslies freeze-frames? President Allison Taylor, Olivia Taylor, Jonas Hodges, and Tony Almeida. Oh, and some Jack Bauer guy. Will one of those people die this hour? I'm thinking yes, unless Kiefer starts feeling better soon.
Jibraan Al-Zarian's apartment is quite the hive of activity. The goons Tony and the Faux-yer brought along are busy doing stuff like hiding dynamite and guns in dresser drawers, while Tony himself tapes a gag on the mouth of Jibraan's younger brother Hamid, who is still unconscious and laid out on a bed in the back room. Then he limps past Jibraan, wearing a tape-gag of his own and handcuffed to one of his cheap dining room chairs, over to the Faux-yer, who is busy at Jibraan's computer. She's just about done filling his hard drive with cookies from scary-looking terrorist-symp websites, and whatever else one might say about terrorists, they clearly know good web design. Some real bleeding-edge work on a lot of those home pages. I would have assumed those kind of sites would be full of flashing text and have basic LiveJournal templates. Between that and faking some financial records for Jibraan, it's now just a matter of fifteen minutes of backdating it all before she's done. Tony picks up a printout and returns to Jibraan to remove his gag, with the predictable dire warnings of what will happen if Jibraan yells for help. Jibraan, no dummy, asks why they're trying to make him look like a terrorist. Tony only tells Jibraan one thing: "If you don't do exactly as I say, you're going to watch your younger brother die right in front of your eyes. And then I'm going to kill you," he adds, tapping Jibraan on the forehead. However, Tony claims, they might live if Jibraan plays ball. Tony gives Jibraan the printout, telling him he'll need to read it to a video camera. The moment he glances at the text, Jibraan balks, so Tony cocks his gun and goes over to Hamid to show he means business. Jibraan gives in. "I'll give you five minutes to look that over," Tony tells Jibraan. Sadly, it's looking like Jibraan is going to be spending that five minutes crying. That's some severe stage fright right there.
At FBI-DC, Chloe informs Kiefer that the CTU servers are not only up and running, but have already completed a full scan of whatever it is they scan. The bad news is they came up empty. Apparently all the terrorists are taking the day off. After a moment's thought, Kiefer tells her to widen the parameters to include all Muslims in the Washington, D.C. area, particularly employees of the government or of possible terror targets. He continues going on in this vein until Janis interrupts: "Excuse me, has anybody heard of racial profiling?" What's it been, eight minutes since the last time Kiefer screamed at her? Sitting nearby, Walker tries to shut Janis down, but Kiefer says Janis is right. He walks over to her and uses a very civilized tone of voice as he agrees, and claims not to like it any more than she does. "But Hodges told me specifically that he was going to utilize Muslim extremists in an effort to offload the blame for this attack. I need to know who he's working with and we're running out of time. I don't know a better way of doing this. So if you do, please tell me now." Janis doesn't, so Kiefer thanks her sincerely for helping out. I like that approach better than his usual high-handed insistence that "this is the only way." Terminal illness agrees with him, apparently. He turns back to Chloe to continue giving her instructions, when he suddenly pulls a Memento in mid-sentence. She reminds him they were talking about INS records, and after he agrees and tells her to get on that, he excuses himself. It must be hard for him to have to ditch out a couple of times an hour to give himself a shot, after all these years of never even being able to pee. Back by the servers, Chloe asks Janis what's going on with Kiefer. "He's doing pretty well, considering," Janis says, not realizing that Kiefer hasn't told her. Walker gently informs Chloe that Kiefer was infected, and how it happened. "He probably didn't want you to worry," Walker says, not even knowing Chloe well enough to realize that for her, "worry" means "commence an annoying, mission-threatening scene." Ah, and here she goes, already storming off in search of Kiefer.
She finds him around the corner, just sitting down at a table for his latest shot. She sits down across from him and asks why he didn't tell her. He says it doesn't matter. "We need to stay focused on finding Tony." There's the usual exchange about how he should be in the hospital, to which he gives the usual reply that there's no treatment or cure. She asks how long, and he tells her a day or two. Her face crumples and tears start to spill down it as he gives himself the injection and explains to her what it's for. He quietly tells her he's accepted it, and she needs to as well. "Whatever time I've got left, I want it to matter. We need to find Tony. Put an end to this." She doesn't move, so he takes her hand and whispers in Full Velvet, "I can't do this without you." That convinces her to get back to work. And any number of shippers to fire up their laptops. And their computers.
At 4:09:24, Jibraan is positioned in front of a webcam, with the feed going live to a big flat screen monitor in front of the Faux-yer. They've hung behind him a big black flag with gold Arabic lettering on it that I assume does not translate as "Have a nice day." He's not only pulled himself together but is apparently delivering the speech from memory since he's not holding it, when the Faux-yer gets up and peeks out the closed drapes to see a Metro Police car pulling up out front. She quietly tells Tony the fuzz is outside, so he tells her to shut down and hide, along with the goons. He then drags Jibraan over to the door and positions himself behind it while telling Jibraan to get rid of the cops. "Don't try to warn them," Tony warns, his gun at the ready. Jibraan nods. Hey, what if the cops are there for one of the neighbors? Oh, I know, I'm just being silly. Jibraan opens the door when the knock comes. "Ja-Brain Al-Zarian?" the lead cop asks. Jibraan politely corrects the pronunciation and stands blocking the narrow door opening as the cop tells him one of the neighbors called about some yelling and unknown people. What kind of uptight neighbors does Jibraan have, anyway? And even at four in the morning, is this the kind of day when big-city police officers are underutilized enough to show up at a domestic disturbance call within fifteen minutes? Jibraan tells them a story about friends who had drunk too much and got into a loud argument, so he kicked them out. He apologizes and promises it won't happen again, and the cops leave, satisfied. Tony watches through the window as the cops get back in their car outside. "You did good, Jibraan," he says. "Now we have to finish reading the statement before we take off." Now that they're all friends, Jibraan asks, "Where are we going?" Tony blows that question off and repeats his call for Jibraan's cooperation. They put him back in front of the flag, and at a nod from the Faux-yer, he smoothly picks up where he left off. It's 4:12:38, and I'm wondering afresh at the resources of The Group; where did they get access to an invisible teleprompter at this hour?
At 4:17:03, Chloe has already found something using Kiefer's new parameters, namely a series of deposits to someone totaling $2 million from "The Islamic League for World Peace." Well, that certainly sounds sinister. The account is of course connected to our own Jibraan Al-Zarian, which means that if nothing else, Hamid should find himself pretty well set up after this goes down. Chloe has Jibraan's recently visited websites up on the screen moments later, in all their full graphic glory. There's a fake address on the bank account, which Walker attributes to Jibraan's expired visa, so Chloe points them to a personal reference on his INS form: Muhtadi Gohar, the imam at the G Street Mosque in Georgetown. Kiefer decides to go roust him, and tells Chloe to issue an APB on Al-Zarian and "fax everything over to the car. Great work." As he and Walker start walking away at 4:18:04, she stops him and asks if he's up to it. "I have to see this through," he says. "Please, I can help." Remember several hours ago, when Moss first shut him out of the action because he was sick? Yeah, well, Moss is dead now, and Walker's not about to make the same mistake.
Aaron ushers Olivia's shady gay friend Martin into her office, not that "shady" and "gay" aren't synonyms on this show. She thanks and dismisses Aaron, and thanks him for coming. Without either of them saying anything, Martin says he knows why he's there, but warns her that this is way different from the oppo research she used to have him do on Noah Daniels. "It's Jonas Hodges," Olivia says. Martin recognizes the name, and asks, "What in God's name do you have against him?" Olivia says Hodges is behind it all. "He's also responsible for the death of my brother." Martin hasn't gotten the memo that Roger didn't kill himself, but when he keeps asking questions, Olivia cuts off the discussion. "All you need to know is Hodges worked a deal. Witness protection, my mother agreed to it, and he's going free. Unless someone intervenes." Martin offers her some advice: "This is big game. Walk away." She refuses, but he pushes, "Once this happens, once it goes through, you can never go back. You will live with it for the rest of your life." She impatiently tells him not to lecture her about conscience (because, you know, he's both shady and gay), and assures him she's thought it through. "What I can't live with is that monster getting away with this." She holds out an envelope containing Hodges's itinerary, and says this needs to happen quickly. Finally he accepts the envelope. "I'll make a call, I'll get you contact information, a price, and instructions on how to transfer the funds." She thanks him, and he takes his leave, with Aaron glancing suspiciously between them as he opens and closes the office door. She is going to regret drafting him for the night, I suspect.
Janis enters Hodges's medical room with a wheelchair and a gray-haired plainclothes officer she introduces as Marshal Sullivan, who will be taking him into witness protection. She leaves the two of them alone, but not before Hodges favors her with a creepy, "Thank you for your hospitality, young lady." Sullivan hands Hodges a slim folder containing his new identity. "Robert Tippet, that's my new name," Hodges says. "Sounds like a dog breed." Aw, things are tough all over. Although now I'm starting to wonder whether witness protection has naming conventions that reflect the different ethical status of their clientele. Say, someone like Hodges, a terrorist/traitor who rolls over on his compatriots, gets named Mervin Q. Dungbeetle, whereas an innocent who informs on the mob with nothing to gain becomes Bono Tripod Godlike III. Sullivan tells him they're going to Colorado, where they'll finish up the biography and new ID, and start counseling. "It helps entrants deal with their new circumstances," Sullivan explains. "Do I impress you as someone who needs therapy to cope with new circumstances?" Hodges asks drily. Not for that, no. Sullivan tells him it's there if he needs it, on the taxpayer's dime. "You think I'm getting off easy, don't you?" Hodges asks him. Sullivan doesn't comment, but Hodges accuses him of giving off attitude, which he takes as license to launch yet another self-pitying stemwinder: "I've lost everything. My company, my family, and most importantly, my name. Do you know how much blood and sweat went into making that name mean something? That name...I don't think it means what he thinks it means. Instead of threatening to give Hodges the name Tampon Hitler, Sullivan says they're off to Andrews AFB in 30 minutes, so get ready. After he leaves the room, Hodges hurls the folder against the wall. Touchy! It's 4:23:26.
At 4:28:22, Kiefer and Walker pull up outside the mosque in a silver FBI SUV. Kiefer's fraying -- blinking and grunting and generally acting like he ate too much Thai food -- but insists to Walker that he's fine. And then he draws and cocks his gun. She asks him what he's doing, since they could be innocent. Kiefer reminds her that Hodges is using sleeper cells. "Al-Zarian might not be knowingly complicit about everything that happened today, but innocent? No." Kiefer's definition of "innocent" certainly is a flexible thing, isn't it? There are a lot more of them when he's defending torturing someone. Walker presses the button outside the steel grate that serves as a security door, and almost immediately a light comes on inside the vestibule and a voice answers, "Yes?" While Kiefer lurks out of camera range, Walker holds her badge up to the lens and tells the imam they're there to ask for his help, "to stop a potential terrorist attack." The man himself opens the door and steps out, not brimming with helpfulness. At least they didn't wake him up, since he's wearing a cardigan and button-down shirt. "I know you," he says to Kiefer. "My name is Jack Bauer," Kiefer responds. Gohar knows him from TV. Dude, those Senate hearings this morning must have had better ratings than an American Idol finale. Walker asks to come in, and Gohar unlocks the gate and admits them, giving Kiefer the hairy eyeball the whole time.
Once inside, Walker handles the questioning, telling him they're looking for someone who worships there. "I knew the blame would eventually fall on us," Gohar says, as Kiefer wanders off to stare creepily through some screens. Walker hands Gohar a photo of Jibraan, but he takes it without looking at it and demands, "Why do you think he's a terrorist?" Walker makes the mistake of referring to Jibraan's profile (which Gohar translates as "Muslim"), but also mentions that Gohar is listed as Jibraan's personal reference. "Where someone worships is private information, protected by law!" Gohar says hotly, which is not how they found Gohar in the first place. I see his point, but that's not a strong argument he's using there. Walker says that right now she's more interested in stopping an attack, and repeats the question. "Look at the photo!" Kiefer yells from across the room after a pause. Gohar says he knows Jibraan, and knows he isn't a terrorist. "I know the man. He is not violent and he is not extremist." Kiefer is out of what little patience he came here with, and stomps over to the imam demanding to know where Jibraan lives and works. Gohar claims to know neither, but Kiefer isn't believing him. "And you expect me to believe you?" Gohar retorts. "I watched your hearing at the Senate. I know what you have done." Actually, dude, you don't know the half of it. "So tell me, why should I believe anything you say to me?" Kiefer gets right in his face and says Gohar doesn't have a choice, and plus it's the truth, too. "The truth is that you come into a house of worship with information you should not have [not really], an outrageous accusation, no legal warrant, and threaten me!" "I have not threatened you," Kiefer says threateningly, fooling no one. Seriously, you can practically hear him choking back the "yet." This could be about to get nasty, but luckily Walker's cell phone rings. It's Janis, telling Walker that the lead cop from earlier recognized Jibraan when the APB came out and called it in. "2700 Eastbrook, apartment 3." Walker tells Janis to put the building under surveillance and an FBI perimeter, and they'll be there in ten. She hangs up, telling Kiefer they have an address and it's time to go. But first, Kiefer insists on handcuffing the imam. "I'm not letting him call Al-Zarian before we get there. He's coming with us." Besides, it's not like he's about to let a reluctant source off the hook just because they don't need his information any more.
At 4:32:07, the Faux-yer is watching a playback of Jibraan's statement. Tony gets off his cell hone and tells her, "Station teams are ready and waiting." She asks for two minutes to upload. Tony says to Jibraan, "I need you to talk to your brother. Tell him what we discussed." Jibraan asks how he knows they won't kill Hamid anyway. "Because we need him to tell the police that his brother's a terrorist," Tony shrugs. Oh, all right then. "Believe me, you're saving his life by doing this." If Jibraan has figured out that this doesn't exactly bode well for his chances of seeing the sun come up again, he's too worried about his brother to show it.
Over in the other room, a goon with some smelling salts wakes Hamid up with a start. Jibraan sits down to him and tells him to be cool. "Sorry we had to do it this way," he says. Hamid is confused, not least by Jibraan's use of the non-royal we. He asks who Tony is, and Jibraan claims he's a friend. "I've kept him from you," he says. "I'm not the person you think I am. I hate what this country has done to our people. And I'm working with these men. They're going to help me strike back against the evil that has been done to us." He's referring to the fact that their parents were killed in an American air strike. By now, the Faux-yer is packing up and wiping her prints off Jibraan's computer keyboard. Hamid doesn't buy what Jibraan is trying to sell him, and asks Tony what they did to him, but Jibraan doesn't need any help for what he's doing. "When they ask you why I did what I did, I want you to tell them. Then no one will blame you for anything, you'll have done nothing wrong." Yes, until the authorities find all the weapons and explosives in the dresser drawers. Those might be difficult to explain. Jibraan says Hamid will understand one day, and tells him he loves him. He bends to kiss him on the head, and Hamid spits in his face. "You said today it was a bad day to be a Muslim. Well it's an even worse day to be your brother." Ooh, burn! Tony calls a halt to this, and gives the order to move out, leaving one man behind to watch Hamid. On their way out, the Faux-yer asks if Hamid was convinced. Tony says, "Even if he wasn't, once the attack happens he will be." Sounds like a solid plan. It's 4:35:56.
4:40:24. Olivia's on the phone to a mysterious deep voice, the owner of which says he's already gotten the itinerary and is ready to go. "I just need you to transfer the funds." He gives her some codes and account numbers, and she punches it into her laptop, which already has an e-banking window open. "After the funds have been transferred I'll proceed," he says. "There'll be no need for us to have any further contact." He hangs up before she can even ask what the plan is. She looks at the computer screen, and two big rectangular buttons appear at the bottom: one in red marked "CANCEL" and the other in green, marked "EXECUTE." Get it? Execute? Too bad the button isn't shaped like an anvil. Just then Aaron knocks on the door to tell Olivia that her dad wants to see her. Yes, he's been moved to the White House, per Taylor's orders. Given Henry's luck, I don't know how that occurred so uneventfully, but we've only got a few hours left, after all. Olivia says she'll be right there, and he leaves her alone to contemplate the screen some more. She inches her cursor down to EXECUTE, but then changes her mind and clicks on CANCEL instead. The window closes and she walks out of her office at 4:22:22, dialing her cell phone as she goes. She gets Martin's voice mail and says, "I decided to take your advice and walk away. Please call me as soon as you can." And how reassuring to know that the White House Chief of Staff only almost ordered a hit on someone.
Kiefer's riding in the back of that FBI SUV with Gohar, while Walker drives. His cell phone rings, and guess what Chloe found out? All of that stuff on Jibraan was artificially backdated a half hour ago. Stellar work, Faux-yer. Suddenly I'm a lot less scared of this The Group given the fact that their fake evidence tying someone else to their attack didn't even hold up until the attack actually happened. "Jibraan could be innocent," she says. Kiefer sighs with embarrassment and thanks Chloe, then hangs up and tells Walker that Jibraan is being framed. Walker asks why Tony would do that, and Kiefer explains, "They wouldn't want to risk the attack not being carried out properly. How could I be so stupid? An innocent man is so much easier to control. All they needed was a Muslim. They could create whatever background they wanted." Gohar has been taking all this in without saying anything, until Kiefer reaches over to uncuff him. Gohar says he's surprised; not that Jibraan is innocent, but about Kiefer. He says most cop types won't ever admit they were wrong about something. "Please know that I forgive you," he says. Kiefer, who hasn't apologized, grumps that he didn't ask. "Then I hope you can at least forgive yourself," Gohar says. "I gave up on that a long time ago," Kiefer quietly drama-queens. Gohar says it's never too late to turn towards God. I don't know, Kiefer's cutting it kind of close. But how awesome would it be if he converted to Islam before Season Eight?
At 4:44:52, Taylor is giving her husband a drink by his bedside. She wants to hang around a bit, and has apparently already brought him up to speed on the situation, saying she wanted him to understand. "You're the president, sweetheart," he says. "You don't owe me an explanation." Although this might add a new dimension to discussions about whose in-laws they're going to see at Christmas. "Yes, I know we went to my parents' place last year. Hey, you know what happened this year? I sustained a near-fatal gunshot wound from someone who was working with the guy who had our son killed, which you didn't believe me about for months even though I turned out to be right, and who you pardoned hours later. Just saying."
Olivia comes in, and they have a happy reunion. Henry says he's happy "just knowing you two are speaking again, let alone working together." And it only took a commando invasion of the White House to make it happen. Taylor ventures to say that it might not stay that way, and Henry tells Olivia that he understands her concerns about Hodges's deal. She says she's "had some time to think," (although she hasn't exactly spent the time just thinking), and she apologizes to her mom for making the decision harder. Taylor responds that Hodges will be judged, "If not in this life, then the ." Yes, Roger will be giving him swirlies throughout eternity.
Hodges sits in his wheelchair, again dressed in the suit and shirt he wore to the White House earlier. He pulls out his wallet to look at a couple of photos of what I assume are his wife and grown daughter. The daughter, it bears mentioning, looks absolutely nothing like Angelina Jolie. Sullivan appears at the end of the hallway and calls, "Mr. Tippet?" Hodges takes a minute to realize he's being addressed, and Sullivan confiscates his wallet, as well as the picture he's holding. "Can't let you hold onto anything that ties you to your former life," Sullivan says. He wheels Hodges out a back entrance to a loading dock. As they go, Hodges offers to work with Sullivan someday. "I don't intend to be Mr. Tippet forever." Oh, don't worry, you won't even be Mr. Tippet for another five minutes. Sullivan opens the back door of a black SUV, and Hodges steps inside. Sullivan walks some distance to a uniformed guard with some forms to sign. Hodges reaches into his shirt and pulls out the spare photo he secreted there. And then the SUV gets blown to hell, sending Sullivan and the guard flying, with Hodges still inside. Holy shit, that photograph was wired to explode! It's 4:48:42, and it looks like someone somewhere decided to EXECUTE after all. Roll up your sleeves, Roger.
At 4:53:04, Tim joins Taylor and Olivia in the Oval Office to give them a somewhat belated update on the bioweapon suspect. His cell phone rings, and after a brief, tense conversation, he hangs up and informs the Taylors, "Jonas Hodges was just killed." He says it was a car bomb as he was leaving the FBI. "Are there any suspects?" Taylor asks Tim. He says he doesn't know, even when the prime suspect points to her own phone and ducks out of there. Tim tells Taylor this must have been an inside job. "Whoever ordered the hit knew exactly when and where Hodges was being transported." And knew Hodges was still alive in the first place, which in itself wasn't exactly a large circle. Taylor's pissed at yet another leak in her shop, as though she didn't invite her in herself. Was it really worth trading Ethan Kanin for Loose Cannon, Madam President?
In the hallway, Aaron flags down Olivia to ask if everything's all right. She fakes a pleasant smile and steps into an alcove to call Martin. "Hodges is dead!" she hisses into her phone. From his car, he tells her to calm down and that they can't talk about this on the phone. She keeps babbling about how she couldn't go through with it, but there's been some mistake. "Hodges is dead and I'm responsible!" He tells her to chill or he's hanging up, which is funny because it's usually Leland Orser playing the panicked one. He tells her to get to Pershing Park as soon as she can and they'll talk about it there. She hangs up, pulls herself together, and presents a brave face to Aaron, waiting in the hallway to open the door to the Oval Office for her again. Actually, my theory about all this is that someone else actually killed Hodges and Olivia had nothing to do with it, but if someone ever checks her web history or visitor's log or ANYTHING SHE'S BEEN DOING AT ALL for the last hour it's not going to look good for her anyway.
At 4:55:53, Walker's SUV pulls up outside Jibraan's building, where a discreet FBI cordon has been set up. That FBI Field Ops guy from last hour is in charge. Video surveillance is already in place, showing one guy and a hostage -- Hamid -- in the back room. No Tony. Kiefer tells the camera guy -- some dude who's getting live video by inserting a laparoscopy camera directly into the building and all the way into Jibraan's apartment somehow -- to zoom in on the hostage, whom Gohar recognizes as Jibraan's brother Hamid. "They're using him as leverage to make Jibraan do what they want," Kiefer realizes. "That's what I would have done." Kiefer says they need to take the goon alive, and asks Walker to let him take point. She nods, but when she goes to follow him to the entrance, Gohar voices his doubts to Walker about Kiefer's condition. "Maybe you should be in charge." Walker says she is, but even though Kiefer's dying he's the right man for the job. Kiefer returns with a platoon of armored agents, and Gohar begs him to save Hamid. The Field Ops guy says they have a clear path inside.
So Kiefer and Walker lead the men up into the building and right outside Jibraan's door. Kiefer counts down, and the guys with the battering ram break the door open, and another agent tosses in a flash grenade that flattens the goon. He's barely hit the ground before Hamid uses his cuffed hands to smash the wall mirror behind him, grab a big shard of glass, and thrust it into the man's throat. Wow, Hamid's speed and effectiveness would be pretty impressive if that wasn't such a stupid thing he just did. Rushing in at the head of the FBI column with his gun leveled, Kiefer tells Hamid to stop and to put down the glass. "We're FBI, we need him alive." "He made my brother into a terrorist!" Hamid complains. Kiefer says they know Jibraan is being set up. "The only one who can tell us where your brother is, is that man right there. Now put it down." Hamid obeys, and Kiefer yells at him to put his hands behind his head. Walker manhandles him over to the bed while Kiefer bends over the goon an
d says he's bleeding out. He screams for a medic. The field ops guy relays the order into his walkie-talkie while Kiefer rips a bandage. Really, field-ops guy? You had to wait until Kiefer told you before you called for a medic for the dude you just saw getting stabbed in the throat? Way to be proactive. No wonder you're on the graveyard shift.
But if they can't save the guy, here's a thought -- why not go public with the information that Jibraan is being set up? Without a viable patsy, The Group will have no choice but to call off this morning's operation, or at least put it off long enough to give Kiefer time to find them. And of course, by "Go public," I mean, "send an interagency bulletin." The Group always seems to be able to intercept those anyway. I mean, obviously they can't wait to put it on C-SPAN 2 at eight in the morning when the entire world is watching.
In other splitscreen windows, Olivia is the protagonist of her own Poe story, the charred carcass of Hodges's SUV smokes after having been put out, the bioweapon canister is transferred by a guy in a hazmat suit (because apparently The Group has the proper facilities for this kind of thing, unlike Starkwood) while the Faux-yer watches, and Tony leads Jibraan across a street, where he taps on the side of a van.
Once they're inside, Tony talks to a guy who's busy on a laptop, hacking into some system or other. Jibraan asks what he's supposed to do, and Tony tells him he'll know soon enough. "Is the subway on schedule?" he asks, looking at video of a train platform that's surprisingly busy considering the Metro doesn't start running for another two hours. The hacker says it is. The subway? What the hell are they thinking? "Let's see, we've got one canister of a biological weapon that only infects those who are directly exposed to it. How shall we maximize casualties? I know, let's release it underground, in a place that can be quickly sealed off and the damage easily contained! They'll never expect that!" Stupid The Group. They deserve to fail. It's 5:00:00.
M. Giant is a Minneapolis-based writer with a wife, a son, and a number of cats that seems to have settled at around two. Learn waaaay too much about him at Velcrometer, follow him on Twitter, or just e-mail him at M.Giant[at]gmail.com.
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