"24: Saving Jack Bauer" - episode 3

Previously on "24"....

The following takes place between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm (Pacific time). All events occur in real time.

1:00 am (Washington, D.C.)

In a dark bedroom, a smartphone rings. CTU Agent ERIC CARTER rolls over, groans, and answers the call. The caller is CTU analyst ANDY SHALOWITZ, who apologizes for the late call but says this is a critical matter. Eric jumps out of bed and heads to the study, where he says, "Go ahead."

Andy reminds Eric about the downed U.S. drone being held by the Russians. "It's made by Atomic Aviation, so naturally we've been running trace programs to make sure there aren't any moles in the company."

"And?"

Andy explains how the access codes for the drones change frequently based on a special algorithm on servers on the Atomic Aviation campus. The servers are supposed to be airgapped so that there's no remote access, but Andy managed to insert a backdoor months ago during a routine "inspection" tour by CTU. [more technobabble to explain this implausible idea, which just causes Eric's eyes to glaze over.]

"Get to the point, Andy!"

"Someone accessed the algorithm within the last half hour, and then deleted the record of that access. I think someone is trying to get the algorithm to the Russians."

"Dammit!" [Okay, I know this is Jack's line....]

10:10 pm (Los Angeles)

Chloe O'Brian and Kate Morgan arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport and park in short-term parking. On the shuttle ride to the terminal, Kate asks, "What is the plan, Chloe? We can't just fly into Russia."

"I just need to make some connections, and then we can figure out where to go. This way, we can catch any available flights based on where we need to be," Chloe says.

It's late in the evening, but LAX is still pretty active. Chloe finds a comfortable "business traveler" cubicle and gets on her laptop. Kate says she's hungry and goes off to look for something to eat. She asks if Chloe wants anything, but Chloe declines.

[split screen: Chloe gazing intensely at her laptop screen on one, and Kate walking along the terminal on the other.]

Kate goes into the women's restroom and stops at the faucet. She turns on the water, wets her hands, and rubs her face. She looks in the mirror and says, "Jack, I don't want to let you down again, but I don't know if we can do this." [referencing how Jack entrusted her with saving Audrey Raines Boudreau from Cheng's men in "24: Live Another Day," and how she failed]

"Every day I think about what I should have done that night. I let my husband down, I let Audrey down, and I'm afraid I'm going to let you down," she continues.

12:15 am (Chicago)

Tony Almeida looks down at his smartphone after it chirps. He frowns and then scowls. The text message on his phone reads:


A long time ago, I helped you deal with a troublemaker named Cordelia. Do you know who I am? [The WMD threat in Season 3 was the deadly Cordelia virus.]

Tony types back:

I know who you are. Why are you contacting me?

We have a mutual friend who's overstayed his welcome with his foreign friends. It's time to bring him home.

Tony smirks.


As far as I'm concerned, he's where he belongs.

Tony ends the text chat.


1:30 am (Washington, D.C.)

The President has reconvened a meeting with the National Security Advisor, the Chief of Staff, and a couple of generals. The National Security Advisor updates the group on the status of the downed drone: the current estimate of time before the Russians break the software encryption has narrowed to 12-24 hours.


The Chief of Staff suggests two possible approaches, one diplomatic, one military. The diplomatic one is to offer to exchange a few high level Russian spies currently serving prison sentences for espionage for the drone.

One of the generals asks, "What guarantee do we have that the Russians won't have already cracked the software before the exchange?"

"We'd have to insist that the drone be turned over immediately."

The general persists: "What makes you think they're go for this? The intelligence value in that drone has got to outweigh whatever concern they might have for their own people, if any."

The Chief of Staff shrugs. "We don't have to choose one or the other approach. We can proceed on both. In fact, they might provide cover for each other."

The President asks about the military option.

"We deploy SEAL Team 6 on a covert mission into Russian to destroy the drone."

The skeptical general scoffs. "How the hell are we going to insert a Special Ops team into Russian territory to find that drone - and destroy it - in 12 hours?"

"Well, we don't have any better options," the Chief of Staff says.

The President asks the general if there are any other military options on the table. The general admits that there aren't. The President exhales and then directs them to proceed with both options.

10:45 pm (Los Angeles)

Kate sits next to Chloe and asks, "Where do we stand?"


Chloe says, "Belcheck is on. He's on his way to Moscow. But I'm having trouble getting someone else we need."

Chloe tells Kate about the background between Tony Almeida and Jack Bauer. "Everything changed for Tony after his wife Michelle was murdered. We thought Tony got killed in CTU, but it turned out he survived. He got connected with some seriously bad people, but we thought he was doing it to infiltrate them. It was all a ploy to get close to the man who ordered his wife's death. He was all set to get revenge but Jack stopped him. So he hates Jack now."

"Why do we need him? He sounds psychotic."

"Next to Jack, he's the best field agent I know." Chloe pauses. "I don't know you that well," she adds.

"Try again," Kate suggests.

12:52 am (Chicago)

SIDRA walks in behind Tony Almeida and sees him clutching his phone in a death-grip. "What's wrong?" she asks.

He shakes his head. "Stuff from my past, trying to drag me back."

"Don't get distracted, Tony. We got a nice score tonight, but it was way more dangerous than it should have been. You need to be on top of things."

"I know. This is nothing."

Tony's phone chirps again, and he instinctively responds. A video fills his phone's screen. It's footage of a man being beaten viciously.

"Is that Jack Bauer?" Sidra asks.

Tony grunts. "He's in some Russian helllhole. Not surprising considering how many Russians he massacred eight years ago, and then again four years ago."

"Weren't you close to him at one point?"

He glares at her. "That's in the past. Besides, when I was so close to getting the vengeance I wanted, he stopped me. But when he wanted vengeance, he went berserk and slaughtered everyone he thought was responsible. As far as I'm concerned, he can rot in that hellhole."

Sidra says, "Good. I'm working on a way we can sell the guns we kept from tonight's busted deal. Don't get distracted."

Tony looks at the last paused image of Jack's bloody face. "I won't."

beep beep, beep beep