02x16 - Firebomb

All episode transcripts for the TV show "Alias". Aired: September 2001 to May 2006*
Watch or Buy on Amazon

Sydney Bristow is an international spy recruited out of college and trained for espionage and self-defense.
Post Reply

02x16 - Firebomb

Post by destinyros2005 »

(Outside the bank in Switzerland, police sirens wail as several officers approach the entrance of the bank with their g*ns raised. Sydney and Sloane step out. Sloane shows the officers the detonator.)

VAUGHN: (V.O.) Stand down!

(The officer speaks to Vaughn via transmitter. Vaughn is in the lower level of the bank with the C-4 and an expl*sives expert.)

VAUGHN: (V.O.) Let Agent Bristow leave with the suspect!

OFFICER: He's holding the detonator and we have a clear sh*t.

VAUGHN: No! You make one move and one of his operatives will detonate the expl*sives. He's got the area under satellite surveillance.

(Nearby, Sark listens in.)

VAUGHN: That means let Sloane go and don't tail him until we get this stuff defused!

(Helicopters whir in the sky as the officer speaks German to the other policemen and they all lower their g*ns. Sark watches. Sloane takes Sydney's arm as they start to walk down the sidewalk and she snaps it away out of his grasp. Meanwhile, in the lower level...)

EXPERT: There's a current running through here. If we clip the wires, we'll break the circuit. There's a fail-safe, the only way to take this out is to disrupt the electronics. We need a water cannon.

VAUGHN: The remote detonator operates on a radio frequency. Wouldn't it be faster to find out what that frequency is and just jam it?

EXPERT: Yes but accessing the frequency might ignite an expl*si*n.

VAUGHN: There's got to be a way to block it.

EXPERT: Not unless you have some way to encase a detonator in concrete.

(Lightbulb moment. Vaughn gets on his walkie-talkie again.)

VAUGHN: This is Agent Vaughn. Get me the bank manager now!

(On a deserted road in Switzerland, Sydney drives her Ford Focus with Sloane sitting in the backseat. He rips off his mask.)

SLOANE: I told you not to come after me, Sydney. I warned you that I will k*ll you if you interfere! If you knew what I have in here, if you knew what my plans are... this is bigger than SD-6, Sydney, than the CIA, than you being deceived by me, than me being betrayed by you. If things were different...

(Vaughn's on the phone with Marshall who's back at the CIA.)

VAUGHN: The safe -- it's a Friedlin model 42-C.

(Marshall plops down a huge manual on his desk and starts flipping through the pages.)

MARSHALL: Okay, Friedlin, Friedlin, Friedlin, Friedlin... number nine... Friendlin... Okay, got it! "Constructed with three inches of high-density concrete surrounded by heavy gauge steel."

VAUGHN: Will it block the signal?

MARSHALL: I don't know, that depends on the detonator. How big is the antenna?

VAUGHN: An inch, inch and a half.

MARSHALL: That means it's probably transmitting by, uh, divided by the speed of light times one-fourth...

VAUGHN: Marshall!

MARSHALL: Three gigahertz! Which means you should have enough shielding so the signal can't get through.

VAUGHN: Should have or have?

MARSHALL: Have!

VAUGHN: Thank you. Tell Kendall to start tracking Sydney in five minutes. She'll be in a Ford Focus.

MARSHALL: Do you know what model?

VAUGHN: ZX5.

MARSHALL: What color?

VAUGHN: Blue. Why?

MARSHALL: Uh, no, I was just curious. I was thinking about getting one myself...

(Vaughn hangs up.)

MARSHALL: Lower it a little, get some big tires, rims. Gold rims. Hello?

(The detonator beeps. It's inside the bank's safe. They close the door.)

VAUGHN: Syd! We shielded the detonator -- the b*mb can't be triggered. Sloane can't know this. A team will intercept your car in five minutes.

(On Sark's surveillance laptop, the detonator signal is lost. He speaks to Sloane via transmitter.)

SARK: Change of plans. ETA -- five minutes.

(The car drives along. Sydney looks back at Sloane in the rearview.)

SYDNEY: The CIA has a hit list. Thirty-five people worldwide its agents are allowed to k*ll. Thirty-five out of six billion. You're one of them. Which means when I k*ll you, I won't even be breaking the law.

(Sloane suddenly opens his back door.)

SYDNEY: You jump, you die!

(But he's not jumping. A van drives up with Sark in the back. They smash the back door off the Focus and Sark opens the back door of the van. The driver has a g*n aimed at Sydney. Sark helps Sloane move out of the car, into the van. They look at Sydney and drive ahead. They sh**t back at her, and the hood on the Focus raises up, blocking Sydney's view. The car spins out of control, stopping on the other side of the road. She bangs the steering wheel a few times.)

(Briefing room with Kendall, Vaughn and Sydney.)

KENDALL: Officials with Amcorp are hiding behind Swiss banking laws to avoid telling us what Sloane stole from the bank. For the moment, his trail's gone cold.

SYDNEY: In other words, we don't have a plan. I mean, it's true, isn't it? We've got nothing.

KENDALL: May I remind you, Miss Bristow, that Sloane was last seen in your custody?

SYDNEY: I was in his custody! He was holding hostages!

KENDALL: You had the option to take him out. You chose not to exercise it.

SYDNEY: I chose not to incinerate three hundred innocent people. Are you telling me you think I made the wrong choice?

VAUGHN: I think we should just stick to what we know. Sloane is holding Neil Caplan hostage for the purpose of building some sort of a w*apon. And presumably, what he took from Amcorp is helping him do that.

SYDNEY: But, see, we don't know that because we lost Sloane. And the reason we lost Sloane is because he had something we didn't -- satellite surveillance! And if we'd tasked one bird to follow him after we defused the b*mb we would have him by now!

KENDALL: Our satellites were tasked elsewhere at the time.

SYDNEY: See, that's my point! We didn't take advantage of the situation.

KENDALL: No, we prioritized!

SYDNEY: What's the point of strategizing if we're not willing to do everything--

KENDALL: We're doing everything we can do!

SYDNEY: No, we're not! Not even close.

(In Switzerland, Sloane enters the warehouse. Sark sits at a table.)

SLOANE: I need a progress report.

SARK: Caplan says he is a day away.

SLOANE: We took the magnetometer from Amcorp to expedite the construction of the Rambaldi device. My flight is the day after tomorrow. It needs to be completed before then.

SARK: I believe Caplan to be a man of his word.

SLOANE: Mr. Caplan is only assisting us because he believes we're holding his family hostage. If what he's put together is as powerful as I believe it to be, I don't want him to be anywhere near it when it's operational.

SARK: I'll conduct a preliminary test myself.

SLOANE: You do that... by tomorrow.

(Night at Sydney's. She and Vaughn come home.)

SYDNEY: I love the zamboni.

VAUGHN: Zamboni's your favorite part?

SYDNEY: No. Coming home with you after the game is my favorite part.

(They kiss. Vaughn takes a few steps, still holding her hand, and gives her hand a kiss.)

SYDNEY: Zamboni was a close second.

(He laughs. His cell rings.)

VAUGHN: Hello?

(Weiss is at the ops center.)

WEISS: Hey. Kendall has something he wants to show you.

(Vaughn mouths "Weiss" to Sydney, she goes in the kitchen.)

VAUGHN: Uh, can it wait?

WEISS: Apparently not. He wants Sydney, too. Are you with her?

VAUGHN: Uh, no, I haven't seen her.

WEISS: You're in bed with her right now, aren't you?

VAUGHN: I'm trying. Just find out what he wants.

SYDNEY: Kendall?

(Vaughn sort of rolls his eyes in confirmation. Suddenly he hears his own voice relaying back to him on his cell.)

VAUGHN'S VOICE: Zamboni's your favorite part?

WEISS: Could you at least try to pay attention? Vaughn, can you hear me?

(Vaughn moves down the hall a bit as feedback and his conversation with Sydney is over the line.)

SYDNEY'S VOICE: No. Coming home with you after the game is my favorite part.

(The sound of them kissing.)

WEISS: Vaughn?

SYDNEY'S VOICE: Zamboni was a close second.

(He leans into the lightswitch which gives off more feedback. Sydney looks at him. Vaughn motions for her.)

VAUGHN: We'll be there soon.

(He hangs up. Later, Sydney takes off the lightswitch and behind the wires is a bug.)

(Ops center. Jack, Vaughn and Sydney walk down the hall together.)

JACK: A cleaning crew is on notice to sweep the apartment, ASAP.

SYDNEY: I don't understand. How can the apartment be bugged? I have countermeasures. Will and I talk there sometimes about work -- he needs to be told.

JACK: Already being handled. We need to know who you've spoken with, what was said, and what intelligence might have been compromised. Plus, you need to compile a list of every person, friend, serviceman, delivery guy, mailman who has been in or out of the apartment. Kendall's waiting for you, I'll take this to analysis.

(Jack speaks to Marshall about the bug.)

JACK: What do you mean, you bugged the apartment?

MARSHALL: It's not like I broke in and planted it myself. I made it.

(He takes a magnifier to the bug.)

MARSHALL: Here. If you take a look right there, I soldered in the circuit board. Can you see that?

JACK: What is that?

MARSHALL: It's a Superman logo. Except this one's got a "M" on it, it's kind of my signature. Um, when I used to work at SD-6, I made it special for Sloane. It operates using an MD-14 data adapter, which cloaks the signal, making it undetectable by bug K*llers. I know, I know, I'm that good. Uh, which is bad.

JACK: Vaughn said he heard it repeat his conversation through his cell phone.

MARSHALL: Right, well, this is a burst transmitter. It periodically transmits what it's recorded to a receiver.

JACK: Can you reverse engineer the signal, find out where the conversations were being transmitted to?

MARSHALL: Uh, well, if the transmitter recorded the phone number that it sends the conversation to, yeah, I guess that it's possible.

JACK: Then do it.

MARSHALL: "Please" would be nice.

(Jack just walks away.)

MARSHALL: That's all right. Never mind.

(Sloane looks at the Rambaldi manuscript with a cut out in it, a piece missing. Sark enters.)

SARK: Caplan finished earlier this morning. The Rambaldi device is complete. I ran the test. I think you'll be pleased with the results.

(Sloane looks at some photos.)

SARK: When we agreed to combine our resources, sir, you promised you'd show me incredible things. But a suitcase neutron b*mb designed in the sixteenth century -- is that even a theoretical possibility?

(In Kandahar, a van comes to a stop. Two men get Sloane out of the back of the van, his head covered with a cloth, and they lead him inside. Inside, he meets with Ahmad Kabir.)

KABIR: Forgive the mode of transportation, but a person in my position cannot be too cautious.

SLOANE: I understand. Our mutual friend, Mr. Dreyfus, he sends his respects.

KABIR: Let me pay you the courtesy of being blunt. I don't do business with Americans.

SLOANE: (nods) I'm a man with no country and few alliances. All I have is a vision of an enterprise that will influence an existing world order that I believe to be corrupt. I'm looking for partners who shares that view.

KABIR: I am but a humble shepherd.

SLOANE: Whose control of the opium trade along the silk road is worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

KABIR: In this part of the world, it's better to be practical than visonary. Why should I invest in your enterprise?

SLOANE: Ah, that, my friend, is a long discussion. First, a gift.

(He opens a small case.)

SLOANE: It once belonged to Khushal Khan Khattak, the great seventeenth century warrior-poet.

KABIR: He united our lands and is a hero to my people. This is a treasure. Tell me more about what you have planned.

(Sydney's bedroom. She does some exercises by her bed. Francie stands at the doorway.)

SYDNEY: Hey. So, how's it going?

FRANCIE: I'm good.

SYDNEY: No, I mean about Will. Is this gonna turn into a thing? What's going on? Have you slept with him?

FRANCIE: No, not yet.

SYDNEY: Will hasn't said a thing. He can't even look at me anymore, he's so freaked out.

(Sydney strips off her shorts and puts some pants on.)

FRANCIE: You know, Sydney, you've been acting sort of weird lately.

SYDNEY: Really? I thought you'd been acting weird. I thought maybe it was because of Will.

(She sits down beside her.)

FRANCIE: You don't talk to me anymore.

SYDNEY: I'm sorry, Francie. I just get so caught up in work.

FRANCIE: Don't forget -- we used to be really good friends. You can talk to me.

(The phone rings. Sydney picks up.)

SYDNEY: Hello?

VAUGHN: Get in here now.

SYDNEY: Okay.

(She hangs up.)

FRANCIE: Who was that?

SYDNEY: Someone from the bank. There's a problem with a client in Tokyo, I have to go in.

FRANCIE: See you.

(Minutes later, the shower runs. Francie sneaks down the hall and uses her cell to call Sark.)

SARK: Hello?

FRANCIE: They found the bugs. How should I proceed?

SARK: They'll be looking for our LA asset. Give them someone.

FRANCIE: I'll take care of it.

(Ops center. Sydney walks in.)

VAUGHN: Send a copy of that to Kendall.

SYDNEY: Vaughn, is it Sloane? Did Marshall get a location by reverse engineering the bug?

VAUGHN: It works on an encrypted feed. It was untraceable. But we got a lead on Sloane another way.

(Briefing room.)

KENDALL: An asset outside Kandahar reported seeing someone matching Sloane's description in the company of men loyal to Ahmad Kabir, the Pashtun w*rlord who played footsie with the Taliban. When they ran, so did he, except we don't know exactly where.

JACK: We believe Kabir's men took Sloane somewhere in the Helmand Valley. Last year Sloane assigned an SD-6 agent to infiltrate Kabir's Helmand operation and intercept routing information regarding a shipment of Soviet surface-to-air missiles.

VAUGHN: Sloane stole a shipment of missiles from Kabir but now they're meeting? What am I missing?

SYDNEY: Kabir has no idea who Sloane is. The agent he assigned got in and out undetected.

VAUGHN: Who was the agent?

SYDNEY: Marcus Dixon.

KENDALL: None of the records we acquired from SD-6 details that mission and everything that Jack knows, now you know. The only person who can help us is Dixon.

SYDNEY: Who has made it clear that he has no intention of cooperating with us.

KENDALL: Well, you're just going to have to change his mind. I want a full briefing on Kabir by our analysts.

SYDNEY: I don't think you appreciate Dixon's sense of betrayal.

KENDALL: Correct me if I'm wrong, Agent Bristow, but only yesterday you were standing here complaining that we're not doing enough to find Sloane. If you do nothing and we lose him this time, you'll have only yourself to blame.

(Dixon's house. Mrs. Dixon is at the door.)

MRS. DIXON: Marcus doesn't want to see you. And for what it's worth, neither do I.

SYDNEY: I know, Diane, I do. I promise you I wouldn't be her eif it wasn't important.

MRS. DIXON: What good are your promises?

SYDNEY: Right.

(Dixon comes out, stands beside his wife.)

DIXON: Hello, Sydney.

SYDNEY: Hi. I need some information.

DIXON: I can't help you.

(Mrs. Dixon starts to close the door but Sydney stops her.)

SYDNEY: Look, five minutes, all I need is a location!

MRS. DIXON: He said no.

SYDNEY: Look, it can mean the end of Sloane!

(Dixon's suddenly interested.)

SYDNEY: Sloane's with Ahmad Kabir. All I need to know is where Kabir operates from. These are bad people, they need to be stopped.

MRS. DIXON: Not by my husband, they don't.

SYDNEY: The agency might try to compel you to tell them what you know.

DIXON: If they do, I'll tell them what I'm telling you. We've made a decision as a family to move on.

(Diane closes the door in Sydney's face.)

(Self-storage building. This time, Vaughn is meeting with Will.)

VAUGHN: Do you own a suit?

WILL: A suit? Yeah, uh, one.

VAUGHN: Put it on.

WILL: Why? Why? What's going on?

VAUGHN: You've only bee doing analysis for a short time but your written briefs are good. One of them on Ahmad Kabir. The director wants an oral presentation.

WILL: Wait, wait, wait. An oral -- like in person?

VAUGHN: Yeah. Just give him talking points.

WILL: I'm a writer.

VAUGHN: It's not really a request...

WILL: I don't talk. I write.

VAUGHN: It's part of your job. Do you know Sammy's Red Hots?

WILL: Sure, Santa Monica and 17th.

VAUGHN: Yeah. Be there in one hour. Order the special, no pickles.

WILL: I like pickles...

VAUGHN: You'll be led out back where a windowless van will be waiting to take you to operations.

WILL: I'm going to be talking to the director? Is that a big deal?

VAUGHN: Yeah.

WILL: Oh, God.

(In Kandahar at their meeting, Sloane holds a carved statue.)

KABIR: It's from the sixteenth century.

SLOANE: Mmm. It is a carving of an arhat, a worthy one. In Buddhist tradition, an arhat is the destroyer of the enemy.

KABIR: How is it you know so much?

SLOANE: I'm a collector. This piece is very special.

KABIR: You want a partner, someone to invest in an incredibly ambitious global enterprise which is at best a risky proposition. What you offer in exchange, to be my... to be my arhat, I need some assurance that you can deliver on that promise.

SLOANE: Oh, naturally. And that's why I'm fully prepared to give you a demonstration. I leave it to you to choose the target.

(Vaughn leads Will to the briefing room.)

VAUGHN: No suit, huh?

WILL: Well, it's been a while since I tried it on. Or worked out, apparently. Which makes me overwhelmed and fat.

VAUGHN: Will Tippin, meet Professor Joyce and Fleming. They flew in last night from the Kennedy School. I'll go tell the others we're ready.

WILL: The Kennedy School. Where is that?

FLEMING: Harvard.

WILL: That's right.

(Later, meeting in progress. Jack and Vaughn and Sydney, who sits beside Will, are there.)

KENDALL: Our objective today is simple: to identify a person or persons who can give us the exact location of Ahmad Kabir's Helmand Valley operations.

(Will fidgets with a pencil. Sydney puts her hand over his, steadying him.)

FLEMING: Despite the American-backed government, the geopolitical reality of Afghanistan is that it's still defined by ethnic rivalries. The simplest way to find a Pashtun like Kabir is to first find an enemy willing to sell him out.

JOYCE: Sharif Rabani is on record as accusing Kabir's Pashtun supporters of engaging in ethnic cleansing. I'm sure we'll have no problem getting him to lead us to him.

WILL: Then why hasn't he? Well, the point is, yeah, they hate each other, but they probably hate us more. I mean, since 9/11 haven't we paid guys like this millions of dollars for information and gotten almost nothing in return?

JACK: Are you prepared to make an alternate recommendation?

WILL: Yes, actually, I am. All I have here are these photographs... Sydney?

(He puts on his glasses, stands up, and gestures for Sydney to put the photo on the screen.)

WILL: This woman's name is Alia Gizabi. She's married to an administrator with the Vatican embassy in Mexico City. Alia Gizabi used to be Alia Kabir. She's Kabir's ex-wife. Since the Taliban got booted, a woman can have a marriage annulled if it's determined that she was forced or sold into that marriage against her will. According to court records.

VAUGHN: You found court records?

WILL: Yeah, yeah, they're published on the net. I realize that there's nothing geopolitcally correct about my analysis, but in the "hell hath no fury" department, I figure this woman would pay us to mess with her ex. I mean, she hates him so much she sent their son into hiding with her relatives.

(He sits down and looks over at the Harvard professors.)

WILL: I'll get you that web address. You should check it out.

(Sydney smiles.)

KENDALL: Okay. I'll alert our station chief in Mexico City. Vaughn and Bristow, you leave in an hour. We need to protect this woman, no one can know the CIA's contacted her. You're going in under an alias.
(Sloane, in Kandahar, speaks to Sark over cell phone.)

SLOANE: Kabir's chosen his target. His ex-wife.

SARK: We're using the device on Alia Gizabi?

SLOANE: You'll be briefed en route to Mexico City. You leave at once.

(Mexico City. At the Vatican embassy, people enter the church. Bells chime. A van is parked right by the steps and inside is Sark. The suitcase b*mb beeps in the back, glowing red. He's on the phone and moves back, sitting next to it.)

SARK: Surveillance confirms Gizabi in the adminstrative wing, adjacent to the church. Now, according to Caplan's calculations of the running requirements we'll need twenty million watts to reach that section of the building.

SLOANE: Twenty per cent of its capacity.

SARK: Yes. That should give us coverage of the entire embassy. But, sir, if Caplan's off by even a microtesla, this could go very wrong.

SLOANE: Do it.

SARK: That's easy for you to say, sir, you're eight thousand miles away.

SLOANE: I'll wait to hear from you.

(They hang up. Sark starts the timer: three minutes to go. Sark climbs out of the van, just missing Sydney -- dressed up as a senior citizen. He walks away.)

SYDNEY: I'm approaching the steps.

MAN: Senora.

(He helps her up the steps. Inside, she enters, looking around at the people who take their seats.)

SYDNEY: I'm in.

(Vaughn talks to Sydney from his SUV parked outside.)

VAUGHN: All right, Gizabi works on the first floor.

(Sydney turns a corner, enters an office, looking for the right one. The b*mb in the van reads 2:20 left. She enters the correct office.)

GIZABI: Can I help you?

SYDNEY: I'm not here to hurt you. I work for American intelligence. I need some information about your ex-husband.

(She reaches for the phone but Sydney stops her.)

SYDNEY: I know you're worried about retribution for leaving him and taking your son, that's why I've come in secret. No one knows I'm here, no one will ever know that you've talked with me. I'm searching for a man, a horrible, dangerous man. He is with your ex-husband at his residence in the Helmand Valley. I need to know exactly where that is.

(Weiss is in the ops center.)

WEISS: Vaughn? Can you hear me, Vaughn?

VAUGHN: Yeah, what is it? What's wrong?

WEISS: We just had an Echelon intercept. Key words were picked up -- "t*rror1st," "weapons of mass destruction." But you ready for this? "Rambaldi."

VAUGHN: Did you get coordinates?

WEISS: Yeah. Yours. We don't know what's happening but you're not waiting for us to find out. Get out now!

(One minute left on the timer.)

(In the office.)

GIZABI: I cannot help you.

VAUGHN: Sydney, we hve to get out of here now. There's going to be some sort of att*ck -- car b*mb, su1c1de b*mb, I don't know, but I'm alerting the embassy, they're going to start an evacuation. There's a door at the end of the adminstrative corridor, meet me there.

SYDNEY: You have to come with me, it's for your own safety.

GIZABI: I told you. I won't help.

(Sydney hits her on the back of the head, temporarily knocking her out.)

(In the church, the priest address the crowd.)

PRIEST: (in Spanish) We must leave this church immediately. It's very important that we leave now. Por favor.

(People start leaving. Outside, Vaughn puts Gizabi in the backseat of the SUV. Sydney gets in and they drive away. In Sark's van, the b*mb whirs and lights illuminate the inside of the van. People run out of the church. Inside, a woman gets up to leave and suddenly bursts into flame. The priest is on fire. People start running for the exit, on fire, but fall to the ground, burning alive. Vaughn and Sydney are driving away with Weiss talking to Vaughn, looking at his monitor.)

WEISS: Are you seeing this? We picked up a hot spot.

VAUGHN: Where?

WEISS: It's directly behind you! It's huge.

(Vaughn looks in his rearview. Sydney peels off her mask.)

SYDNEY: What was it?

VAUGHN: Some kind of a fire. Something burning.

WEISS: No, listen to me, listen to me, it's this inferno! It's right behind you! You don't see it?

VAUGHN: There's nothing.

SYDNEY: Is he seeing people, buildings, what?

WEISS: Wait, wait, wait, wait, whoa, whoa. It disappeared, it's gone!

VAUGHN: Gone? What do you mean, gone?

WEISS: I don't know, it just--it disappeared.

SYDNEY: Let's go back.

(They enter the church and see ashes. Burnt bones in the aisle of the church, of people trying to escape. They look at it all in horror. Gizabi enters behind them. She sees.)

GIZABI: I'll tell you where to find my husband.

(In Afghanistan, Sark, Sloane and Kubir watch the news footage on TV.)

TV ANNOUNCER: Sixty-two people are confirmed dead in what government officials are calling the worst act of terrorism in Mexico City in a decade. Some people describe it as an act of God, though local officials are still investigating the matter. No confirmation--

(They shut the TV off.)

SARK: All of the victims were incinerated beyond recognition. Absent positive identification, a list of presumed dead was published. Your ex is on the list.

(Kabir raises his hand. A follower brings Sloane a wrapped gift.)

SLOANE: What is this?

KABIR: A small token of appreciation.

(He opens the cloth. It's the arhat.)

SLOANE: No. No, this is too much. I cannot accept this.

KABIR: I saw you admire it and deservedly so. You have destroyed my enemy. You are in every way my arhat. I will have forty million wired tomorrow to the account of your choosing.

(Briefing room.)

KENDALL: Video surveillance places Sark at the scene of the att*ck in Mexico City. Subsequent to the att*ck, intel tracked him as far as Kabul. Here's what we can assume. Sloane dispatched Sark to carry out his mission, now that it's complete, Sark has returned to his master and thanks to Ms. Gizabi, we now know where that is.

JACK: The plan is for you to lead a tactical unit into the Helmand. You'll parachute into the compound, affect a roof access, steal the w*apon, and signal for backup.

SYDNEY: You know how people are describing it, don't you? They're calling it a doomsday device, saying it's the first sign of the armageddon, like the devil himself rose up to att*ck that church.

MARSHALL: Um, excuse me, if I may offer a scientific explanation, I think it might, uh, help the, um... Hi, everybody, it's good to, uh... (to Kendall) That's a really nice--

KENDALL: Okay, come on.

MARSHALL: Right. What we're dealing with is a high-energy pulse w*apon. Now thanks to an Echelon intercept we are able to retask a KH-12 satellite over the area and this is what we found.

(He puts surveillance photos up on their screens.)

MARSHALL: Okay, the blue dots -- those are the people in the church before. Now that is what the infrared picked up after. The body temperature of everyone in the affected area increased by over two thousand degrees. They literally melted from the inside out.

SYDNEY: Nothing else in the church was affected.

MARSHALL: Well, that's because it works like a microwave. It excites water and fat molecules which don't exist in inorganic materials and then it converts them into atomic motion or heat.

VAUGHN: You said everyone in the radius was affected, even people who were taking cover?

MARSHALL: Yeah. Well, there's no defense against this kind of energy. It goes through walls, concrete, steel, everything.

KENDALL: There's no shield.

MARSHALL: No. Sorry. Oh, um, I should probably also tell you that, um, this kind of energy knocks out computer circuitry. Which means if it's pointed at the sky, it could take down planes.

(Jack and Sydney in the ops main room.)

JACK: What concerns me is that Sloane knows this kind of use of force is a deliberate provocation that demands a swift response and yet he exercised it on the ex-wife of a petty w*rlord. Why?

(Weiss interrupts them.)

WEISS: I got the inventory back from the cleaners. They found audio and video transmitters, all next gen stuff.

SYDNEY: Video?

WEISS: Yeah. In the TV in your bedroom.

(Sydney looks horribly uncomfortable.)

JACK: We're investigating everyone you listed who's been in your apartment. So far, they're all clean.

(Sydney, still at the CIA, phones Francie.)

FRANCIE: Hello?

SYDNEY: Hey, it's me.

FRANCIE: Hi.

SYDNEY: I know we had plans for tonight, but I have to work.

FRANCIE: What you have to do is quit that job of yours.

SYDNEY: Fran, I'm sorry.

FRANCIE: It's okay. The truth is, I probably wasn't going to be able to make it anyway.

SYDNEY: So you don't want to k*ll me?

FRANCIE: No, of course not. Hey, you know, can we talk about this later? I'm kind of in the middle of something.

(We pan over to a plumber who has a gag in his mouth, tied to his chair in his workplace.)

SYDNEY: Yeah, yeah, I'll call you later. Bye.

(They hang up. Francie raises a g*n and sh**t the plumber. Afterwards she opens the plumber's locker and puts some bugs and electronic equipment inside, then closes it up.)

(Sydney meets with Marshall in front of some video equipment.)

MARSHALL: Okay, um, you remember that movie "Predator" when Schwarzenegger was chased by that crab who could only see in thermal?

(He makes some crab motions with his hands, complete with noises.)

SYDNEY: No.

MARSHALL: No? You never saw that? It was a great movie! Schwarzenegger, it was one of his better movies. Because "Twins"... Um, listen, anyway, Kabir's security cameras, they work the same way. They read heat signatures, which is kind of a problem because, well, you're incredibly hot.

(Sydney just stares at him. He puts a camera up in front of her and on the monitor beside them, Sydney is shown in body temperature, her face and skin glowing red.)

MARSHALL: See? Huh? Now, the solution I hae devised is you parachute onto the roof, you rip off your tactical gear and then you slip on this baby.

(He puts on a black skin-tight mask that covers his neck and head, only his eyes peeking out.)

MARSHALL: Now it's part of a cold suit. It's all black, it's form fitting, and it will bring your body back to room temperature. Put these babies on...

(He puts on goggles to complete the outfit. Sydney holds the same camera he had in front of her and puts it in front of Marshall. On the monitor beside them, Marshall's head is completely invisible on screen.)

SYDNEY: So as long as I'm covered the security camera can't see me.

MARSHALL: Yeah. You'll be the invisible woman. See?

(In Kandahar, on the roof, Sydney looks down at the men on the ground. She's wearing the black outfit. Inside, she runs by a few guards and starts descending a flight of stairs. She talks to Vaughn, who's back in LA in the ops center, via transmitter.)

SYDNEY: I'm in the eastern stairs.

VAUGHN: All right. Go right at the bottom. According to his ex, Kabir keeps weapons and ammunitions in a storage room at the end of the hall.

(Sydney comes to it but there's a brick wall there instead.)

SYDNEY: There's no door.

VAUGHN: What?

SYDNEY: Work's been done. Maybe this place was bombed in the w*r, and had to be reconfigured.

VAUGHN: Meaning our intel is worthless.

SYDNEY: There has to be another way in.

(She turns to go back up the stairs but a man is there. They exchange punches and he grabs her head, ripping off her ski mask. Her head is completely exposed. She throws the guy down, kicking him and turns to see the security camera right in her face.)

SYDNEY: I've been made!

(She runs but meets three men with g*ns. They gesture to her to surrender.)

(In the ops center, Vaughn and Kendall.)

VAUGHN: Sydney's been compromised. You have to order the tac unit in after her.

KENDALL: Did she defuse the w*apon?

VAUGHN: What difference does that make?

KENDALL: Kabir's been alerted. If he's got the w*apon, he'll use it.

VAUGHN: Issue the order!

KENDALL: You heard Marshall, there's no defense against it!

VAUGHN: If you don't issue it, I will.

KENDALL: The tac unit wouldn't stand a chance.

VAUGHN: We can't just leave her there!

KENDALL: Unless we find another way in, I'm afraid that's all we can do.

(Vaughn is at Dixon's house, standing on the porch.)

VAUGHN: I don't think we've been formally introduced. My name's Michael Vaughn, I work with Sydney.

DIXON: I'm out.

VAUGHN: Sydney's in trouble.

DIXON: Respect my decision.

VAUGHN: I can't do that. Not when your decision may cost Sydney her life. You wouldn't tell Sydney how you infiltrated Kabir's so she found an alternate way in using what turned out to be faulty intel. She was captured and unless we find another confirmed access point, no one will be sent in to get her out.

DIXON: It's not that simple.

VAUGHN: Yes, it is! You will either help save Sydney's life or you won't.

(Mrs. Dixon comes out, stands next to her husband.)

MRS. DIXON: Please leave.

VAUGHN: I can't do that -- not until I get your answer.

(Interrogation room in Kabir's compound. Sydney is tied to a chair. A bright white lamp is turned on in her face. She squints.)

KABIR: Admit you are CIA, submitting to a video acknowledging you are here in violateion of international law. Condemn the great Satan and maybe I will spare your life.

(She says nothing. He leaves. Black. Time lapse. The light comes back on.)

SLOANE: Sydney, tell him what he wants to hear... or this will not end well.

(He crouches down beside her. She stares straight ahead.)

SLOANE: You know, in many ways, I will always consider you my proudest achievement. Sydney, unfortunately, I can't do anything about this.

(He kisses her head lovingly. Sydney closes her eyes in disgust.)

SLOANE: (whispers) Bye, Sydney...

(Black. Time lapse. The light comes back on, she comes to.)

KABIR: Have you reconsidered? Hmm? Admitting you are CIA? Perhaps you need a little incentive.

(He gestures to a man who comes forward and puts a platter down with a large nail and pick. Black. Time lapse. Light comes back on.)

KABIR: Enough. My houseguests have left, it would seem there is nothing more for us to discuss.

(He bends down and raises her pant leg. He feels her kneecap.)

KABIR: The cartilage that lets the kneecap slide around does not regenerate. Which you should know in advance of this.

(He gets the nail ready. He goes to swing to take off her kneecap. Sydney winces, anticipating it. Kabir is suddenly sh*t inthe chest. She opens her eyes and Vaughn runs in.)

VAUGHN: You okay?

SYDNEY: I don't understand... how... how did you find a way in?

(The lights in the room come on. Dixon is at the doorway. Sydney covers her face with her hand.)

DIXON: Let's go. Let's go, we got the device.

(On their way out, she can't help but ask Vaughn.)

SYDNEY: Sloane?

VAUGHN: No.

DIXON: This way!

(Down a hall, Dixon runs into one of Kabir's men. He throws a box at the man, jumps out of the way. He punches him. This time, the guy punches Dixon a few times, throwing him near the wall. Dixon fires back with a kick to the stomach which sends the guy over the railing to the floor below. They run out. Outside the compound, men sit around a fire, blocking the way to their awaiting truck. Dixon sneaks a peek and then tosses a small can which explodes, stunning the men. Dixon, Sydney and Vaughn run out. A man from a window above them sh**t at them. Sydney does a roll and sits up, f*ring back. They jump in the truck. Sydney ducks as Dixon sh**t at more men who come out with their g*ns.)

(In the ops center, Sydney types at a computer. Jack comes up to her.)

JACK: Good work.

SYDNEY: I was lucky.

JACK: You got the w*apon. We've saved countless lives.

SYDNEY: Yeah, I didn't get Sloane. Or find out what the hell he was doing with Kabir.

(Jack shows her a bag of the bugs and electronics that Francie dumped in the plumber's locker.)

JACK: We found these on a plumber whose name you gave us. He was m*rder*d. He's either repsonsible for the bugs in your apartment or he was set up. For the moment, it's a dead end.

(He puts his hand on her shoulder.)

JACK: I'm glad you're home.

(He leaves. Sydney looks across the room where Dixon is seated in front of his own computer, doing some work. She goes over to him.)

DIXON: Hi.

SYDNEY: Hi. I know I say this to you a lot. Thank you.

DIXON: (nods) I can't judge you for not telling me about SD-6. If I had been in your position, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same.

SYDNEY: What's going on with Diane?

DIXON: I don't know.

(At Sydney's, in the bathroom, she's in the tub having a bath with candles all around. Vaughn walks in with a glass of red wine. She smiles and takes a drink. She passes it back to him.)

VAUGHN: The Kings are in town on Friday night. You could watch the zamboni.

(He takes a drink.)

SYDNEY: What we saw... at the church... every time we think we've seen the worst...

(She sinks down further into the water. He puts his hand to her cheek.)

(Sark and Sloane.)

SARK: You talk of power and control but when we create an incredibly powerful w*apon you leave it in the hands of a complete stranger. Tell me, how was what happened good for us?

(Sloane looks at the arhat in his hands. He smashes it against the table. Sark watches, shocked. Sloane sifts through the broken pieces of the figurine and finds a piece of paper inside.)

SLOANE: Hand me the top page of the manuscript.

(The manuscript with the hole cut out in it. Sark hands it over. The piece found inside the arhat fits the manuscript page perfectly.)
Post Reply