02x11 - A Higher Echelon

[destinyros2005]

(A satellite hovers over Earth.)

SYDNEY: (voice over) Some people think there's a conspiracy. That the government eavesdrops on everyone. It's no conspiracy.

(Rooms full of hard drives, network wires. Satellites are lined up in a field. A computer database flicks through a facial recognition system picture archive.)

SYDNEY: (vo) Right now, satellites and ground stations are listening in.

(Someone speaks on the phone and we zoom through the mouthpiece.)

SYDNEY: (vo) Faxes, e-mail communication, phone calls, are all routed to high-speed voice and optical recognition computers. They can analyze words spoken and written in any common language on Earth.

(Cut to Sydney and Will in their kitchen. Will pours them something from a blender in two glasses. Looks like they just got back from jogging.)

SYDNEY: The system's called Echelon.

WILL: Yeah, I heard about Echelon. I just don't understand how it's legal. So, what, it's just like a computer that listens to and reads everything?

SYDNEY: Yeah, looking for key words. The system scans two million conversations an hour.

WILL: Yeah, while shamelessly violating the Constitution.

SYDNEY: The National Security Agency argues it's one of its most important weapons against t*rrorists. And that they don't abuse the system.

WILL: Somehow that's... unreassuring.

SYDNEY: Well, there's this man named Gerard Cuvee who figured out how to hack into Echelon. He was able to pick up secure m*llitary communications.

(Flashback to a building exploding on the top level.)

SYDNEY: (vo) Because of that, he was able to locate and destroy a US m*llitary lab in Dresden.

(Back to the kitchen.)

SYDNEY: In London, we shut down Cuvee's access to Echelon and, thank God, kept it away from SD-6.

WILL: So you get Echelon, you become Big Brother.

SYDNEY: The best thing about this mission, this guy that I work with -- this sweetheart, Marshall -- was pulled out of SD-6 and taken into protective custody. The CIA's gonna give him a life. A real life. I can't tell you what a relief it is to know he's safe.

(The t*rture room where Marshall is being kept. Men pry open his mouth with a dentistry tool. He gasps.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: You took something that doesn't belong to you. My employer would like it back.

(He squeezes something out of a tube into Marshall's wide open mouth.)

MARSHALL: Oh, please, help, oh--

(Marshall gags and coughs. Suit and Glasses address his men in a foreign language and they take off the brace.)

MARSHALL: No, please, no, no--

(They put duct tape over his mouth. Suit and Glasses looks at the tube he just used to pour in Marshall's mouth.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: Epoxy... is a binary compound. You have just ingested the resin. Alone, it's not toxic. But a combination with a hardener...

(He squeezes the hardener into a glass with the epoxy.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: ...the epoxy cures, passing from a liquid state to a gel state...

(The liquid froths and becomes a gel in the glass.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: ...to a solid state.

(He picks up the now rock hard glass and taps it against the tray.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: This transformation will puncture your vital organs, block your windpipe, causing you to suffocate.

(They rip off the tape on Marshall's mouth.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: So... let's start over. The Echelon operating system -- where is it?

(At Francie's restaurant, Sydney sits across from Francie at a booth and takes a sip of coffee. Francie looks up.)

FRANCIE: What?

SYDNEY: I have a crush on a guy from work.

FRANCIE: Really? Who is he?

SYDNEY: Someone in my department. We've worked together for about a year now.

FRANCIE: You're kidding me. What's his name?

SYDNEY: Michael. And he's... I don't know how to describe him. He's smart... and he's funny. He's so cute.

FRANCIE: Hot cute, not goofy cute.

SYDNEY: Hot cute.

FRANCIE: So why haven't I met this guy?

SYDNEY: He has a girlfriend.

FRANCIE: Of course he does.

SYDNEY: Which is ultimately irrelevant anyway. The-the bank has a policy against coworkers dating.

FRANCIE: You know you could quit.

SYDNEY: Francie--

FRANCIE: Look, I don't know what kind of hold this bank has on you--

SYDNEY: They don't have a hold on me, I just can't quit my job!

FRANCIE: It's not that they treat you poorly, which they do, but the thing is, I haven't heard you talk like this in forever. No one in the free world works as hard as you.

SYDNEY: I know it seems that way--

FRANCIE: Maybe you and Michael are destined. Maybe he can quit.

SYDNEY: I got to go.

(At the task force operations center, Sydney, Vaughn, Kendall and Jack stand around.)

SYDNEY: What's wrong?

VAUGHN: Marshall was abducted.

SYDNEY: What?

KENDALL: Our plan was to intercept him on his way home from LAX--

SYDNEY: I know what our plan was.

JACK: The extraction team was about to move in when they saw this.

(They watch footage on a monitor of the abduction.)

VAUGHN: We ran the plates on one of the SUVs. It was rented by Charles Williamson, we put his photo ID through a facial recognition database. It matched a known associate of Gerard Cuvee.

SYDNEY: What steps are being taken?

JACK: CIA's got one team radiating out from the abduction point and another one in London retracing his steps.

SYDNEY: Our steps. The mission in London was my op, Marshall was my responsibility.

VAUGHN: Before being captured, Marshall e-mailed Cuvee's copy of the Echelon access program to SD-6.

SYDNEY: We took away Cuvee's access to Echelon and gave it to SD-6?

JACK: Yes, but when SD-6 downloaded the program, they discovered a problem.

(Meeting in Sloane's office with Sloane and Jack.)

SLOANE: Marshall's e-mail was broken up into packets of data and routed to SD-6 via internet service providers around the world. However, there was a malfunction and several data packets were not transmitted. Without them, we cannot access Echelon.

JACK: Can we fill in the missing pieces?

SLOANE: I'm told it'll take six months and even then there's no guarantee.

JACK: Do we know where the error occurred?

SLOANE: A government-operated facility in Ho Chi Minh City. I'm sending in Sydney and Dixon to retrieve them.

JACK: Who's leading the team to recover Marshall?

SLOANE: We've changed his access codes. There is nothing that Marshall can tell Cuvee that could possibly hurt us.

JACK: He will be tortured. Most likely, k*lled.

SLOANE: Oh yes, I'm sure he will be. I've already contacted SD-4. There'll be a replacement in op tech by morning.

JACK: (vo) That was the extent of his concern.

(Back to the op center.)

JACK: It was as if someone had overcooked his steak.

SYDNEY: Well, you know what Cuvee's going to do. He's going to try and get Marshall to reverse-engineer the software and get it back on-line.

JACK: Yes, but you need two things to get on Echelon. The software and an access point. Software is like a map, it leads you to the doorway of the system. The access point is the door, most likely a satellite. If we can find the door Cuvee went through and lock it, he won't get on, not even with Marshall's help.

KENDALL: The problem is diagnostics has run a comprehensive system analysis and they can't find the breach.

VAUGHN: Your mother thinks Cuvee may have used a Russian network to make contact -- their version of Echelon called Swarm.

SYDNEY: She told you that?

JACK: I spoke to her. She thinks she can find the back door but she has... terms.

(Flashback to Jack meeting with Irina at her cell.)

IRINA: If you want to know where Cuvee breached the system, it'll take time but I could do it if I were given access to Echelon, no restrictions.

JACK: Kendall will never give that to you.

IRINA: Then I would simply ask you to inform Mr. Kendall that the technicians he'll assign to do the job will discover it is like quicksand.

(Back to the op center.)

KENDALL: Your father was correct. I declined the offer. Second to only Arvin Sloane, Irina Derevko is the last person I want having access to the US government's secure network.

SYDNEY: She'd be watched. I mean, if she tried anything unusual, we could just shut the system down--

KENDALL: No. Access to computers and telecommunications equipment is specifically prohibited by your mother's immunity agreement.

SYDNEY: I think we might be wasting time.

KENDALL: Agent Bristow, we hire qualified technicians around here. What do you say we give them a sh*t?

VAUGHN: Your countermission is simple: in Vietnam you'll download the data packets SD-6 is looking for and switch it with this. It's corrupted data. We'll have what SD-6 needs and they'll never be able to access Echelon. And Syd, we'll find Marshall.

(t*rture room.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: I will ask you one more time... where is the Echelon software you took from us?

MARSHALL: I swear on my mother's grave, I don't know.

(A tear falls down his cheek.)

MARSHALL: And though technically Mom's still alive, she has picked out her gravesite, so--

SUIT AND GLASSES: Refusal to cooperate has a price.

MARSHALL: No, no, no, no, no.

(They pry open his mouth. Suit and Glasses takes the tube of hardener and places it near Marshall's wide open mouth.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: We can find your mother.

MARSHALL: Okay. (whimpers) Okay, okay, okay.

(They take the device off.)

MARSHALL: I sent the Echelon software to SD-6. There's nothing I can do about that, I swear. But-but I saw the code. All of it. And I have a photographic memory so I can recreate it. I can rewrite it. Just don't hurt my mother, please. You leave my mother alone.

SUIT AND GLASSES: We're off to a very good start.

(At SD-6, Jack walks to his office and sees a guard standing outside. Kane is at his desk, typing on his computer.)

JACK: What are you doing?

KANE: Downgrading your network privileges. Pending the outcome of my investigation, your security clearance has been revoked.

JACK: Get out of my office!

KANE: When Emily was k*lled, you claim you were in Taipei.

JACK: It is a fact, not a claim.

KANE: When the blackmailers stole a hundred million dollars of the Alliance's money in exchange for pictures of that m*rder, you were--

JACK: On assignment in Istanbul.

KANE: Doing back channel, unsupervised work that you conveniently arranged for yourself.

JACK: I am a senior officer with discretion to arrange and carry out assignments as I see fit. I will not be subject to a witch hunt!

KANE: You have no protections here, no civil rights, no civil liberties or reasonable doubt. See that I'm not disturbed again.

GUARD: Yes, ma'am.

(Jack storms out.)

(At the ops center, Jack walks in and approaches Vaughn and three other agents standing around.)

JACK: Get everyone you can from op tech now. Notify assets in Istanbul, Taipei and Azerbaijan we'll need immediate assistance in forging hard evidence of my being in each of those locations on specific days and times. (to Vaughn) We have a situation. Ariana Kane, head of Alliance counterintelligence, she's investigating me in connection with the m*rder of Emily Sloane.

VAUGHN: She's, what, checking your aliases, places you've been through the agency? You're covered for that.

JACK: Yes, passport stamps, plane tickes, enough to withstand a cursory inquiry. This is anything but cursory. I did not k*ll Emily Sloane but I do have secrets and the last thing I can afford, the last thing Sydney can affod, is someone discovering that my loyalty does not lie with SD-6.

(Ops center. Jack speaks to Vaughn while another female agent brings Jack a steering wheel and a shifter to place his fingerprints on.)

FAGENT: Got the prints for Istanbul...

(Jack holds the steering wheel like he's driving, touches the shifter like he's shifting.)

FAGENT: This goes with the car you rented in Taipei.

JACK: We back dated phony charges through my credit card to these locations?

VAUGHN: Restaurants, rental car agencies, hotels...

FAGENT: Room charges. They'll be on file with the respective concierges by morning.

JACK: Good.

(They leave; Craig approaches Vaughn.)

CRAIG: Bad time?

VAUGHN: Yeah.

CRAIG: What else is new? Uh, you left word with analysis when Tippin's psych profile came back you wanted to be informed?

VAUGHN: Yeah.

CRAIG: Anything I should know?

VAUGHN: Just run protocol and bring him in.

CRAIG: You got it.

VAUGHN: Thanks.

(Vaughn joins Jack and another agent who sits in front of a computer.)

JACK: What about surveillance?

COMPUTER AGENT: I thought about roto-scaping you out of some other surveillance feed, but if they slow down the frame rate, they'll know it was altered. That's why we went with the green screen. This is the original sureillance feed from the Istanbul intercontinental.

(On one monitor, people walk through a lobby.)

COMPUTER AGENT: And this is the footage that we filmed earlier.

(On another monitor, Jack is dressed in casual clothes and walks past a green screen.)

COMPUTER AGENT: Do some pixel-masking and we get...

(He types a few buttons and the green screen Jack is now super-imposed into the first surveillance feed, walking through the lobby with everyone else.)

COMPUTER AGENT: Look, I even gave you a shadow.

VAUGHN: We've got your fingerprints on rental car keys, seat belt buckles, hair samples stitched into pillow cases...

JACK: Good. I want to review everything.

VAUGHN: Jack, I think you're good--

JACK: Thinking isn't sufficient. I want to know.

VAUGHN: (nods) You're right.

JACK: I want to see the plane tickets.

(At Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney walks in wearing a business suit and goes to the guard sitting in the lobby.)

SYDNEY: Nina Bales from Tech Sky Industries. I'm here to see Mr. Nguyen.

(Dixon sits in a van nearby on comm.)

DIXON: Accessing the system now. Should be in mid-presentation.

(Sydney is now leading a lecture in an auditorium.)

SYDNEY: Thank you for giving Tech Sky the opportunity to talk with you about our micro-satellite technology.

(She speaks in Vietnamese and asks for the lights to be dimmed. They are.)

(Flashback to SD-6 with Dixon and Sydney.)

DIXON: At your direction, the projector will emit a high intensity pulse strobe light that flashes at the same frequency as human brain waves, effectively rendering the targets unconscious.

SYDNEY: I can get the data packets and return and they won't even know I've been gone?

DIXON: For three minutes they'll experience it like a daydream. Any longer and they'll regain consciousness and you'll be found out. Now, make sure you get these glasses on first. They're time synchronized to the pulses, so you'll be unaffected.

(Back to the lecture.)

SYDNEY: A small constellation of satellites in low-earth orbit is cheaper to launch and maintain than a traditional satellite network. And if one micro sat fails, the entire system need not be replaced. What you're looking at is a typical Tech Sky package.

SYDNEY: ...is cheaper to launch and maintain than a traditional satellite network. And if one micro sat fails, the entire system need not be replaced. What you're looking at is a typical Tech Sky package.

DIXON: Okay, Syd, do your thing. I'm almost in.

(She puts on the sunglasses and it flashes.)

DIXON: Okay, Syd, I'm in.

(The men are passed out in the audience.)

SYDNEY: Lan Nguyen, is that right?

DIXON: Right. His ID will give you access to any room in the ministry.

(She runs to the aisles and leans over. She finds Nguyen's badge and yanks it off his chest.)

DIXON: The data packets are in the hard drive which are located in the server room. Two levels down, room 206. You've got three minutes.

(Sydney runs down the stairs and gets to the level. She puts the ID card in and enters. She runs to the wall of hard drives and starts checking.)

DIXON: Syd, you've got two minutes to find the right hard drive.

SYDNEY: I'm not getting a positive signal. Data packets aren't on drive one or two. And drive three is missing.

DIXON: Is there a serial number on the third bay?

SYDNEY: 657-33P-YY2.

(Dixon types on his computer.)

DIXON: That hard drive is in for repairs.

SYDNEY: Where?

DIXON: Level one, room 147.

SYDNEY: I'm on my way.

DIXON: No, the repair room is just off the lobby. I'll go. Meet me at the extraction point.

SYDNEY: Dixon, no!

(He rips off his earpiece and gets ready.)

SYDNEY: I'll make it!

(At the lobby, Dixon walks in and speaks to the guard at the front desk.)

DIXON: Robert Milton, I'm here for the Tech Sky presentation.

GUARD: One moment, please.

DIXON: Yeah, I'm so late already, my boss is gonna k*ll me!

(Dixon is taken down the hall by the guard. When they come to the right spot, Dixon grabs him and throws him inside room 147. Dixon elbows him in the face and punches him. The guard falls. Dixon moves to the table of hard drives and starts looking for the right one. Sydney enters.)

SYDNEY: I told you I could make it!

DIXON: Start over there, work towards me.

(Sydney starts checking, as does Dixon. Dixon gets to it first.)

DIXON: Got it. Okay, let's get out of here.

(He walks out. Disappointed and conflicted, Sydney doesn't move. No opportunity for the switch.)

DIXON: Sydney! The guards will be here any minute!

(She leaves, reluctantly.)

(Back in LA, Sloane speaks to Dixon and Sydney at SD-6.)

SLOANE: This is a great victory. You both should be very proud.

DIXON: Thank you, sir, but our thoughts are with Marshall. Has there been any word?

SLOANE: No, I'm afraid not. But our efforts continue, as do our prayers.

(Self-storage meeting with Vaughn and Sydney.)

SYDNEY: So now SD-6 has everything it needs to access Echelon.

VAUGHN: Any idea on how long before it's up and running?

SYDNEY: Midnight tomorrow at the latest. You should've seen the look on Sloane's face when we got back. I don't think I've ever seen him so happy about a mission. He said he was praying for Marshall.

VAUGHN: Listen, about Marshall -- one of our teams traced Cuvee's unit that abducted Marshall to a safe house outside London.

(Flashback: the guards, fully armed, walk into the safe house.)

VAUGHN: (vo) By the time they got there, it was abandoned. It was wired with four pounds of C-4.

(One of the guards hits a wire that was there for intruders. A key slips out of a b*mb.)

(Back to the self-storage.)

VAUGHN: Never had a chance. And it gets worse. In light of the tragedy, the director has ordered a hlt in the search. So for the moment, Marshall's on his own.

(Speaking of Marshall, he's sitting at a computer. Suit and Glasses sits in his wheelchair nearby and one of his men has a g*n pointed to the back of Marshall's head.)

MARSHALL: You think maybe he could point that somewhere else? All right. Nevermind. It's not.. it's, um...

(At Francie's restaurant, Will has bottles of ketchup stacked up on top of each other, dripping the last remnants of the bottles into new ones. Francie sits across from him.)

FRANCIE: You know, Syd's sleeping off another business trip.

WILL: Yeah. Dublin, I think.

FRANCIE: Glasgow.

WILL: (re: ketchup) Two more, I set a world record.

FRANCIE: Will, I'm serious. Last week it was Buenos Aires, before it was Tokyo. I mean, it never ends.

WILL: Francie, you know how much that used to bug me, right? I mean, I complained about it constantly. But her job, you know, what she does, it's important to her.

FRANCIE: I don't care, I'm still worried about her. Ever since Danny d*ed, all she does is work. Oh, but now there's this new guy.

(Will looks up.)

FRANCIE: You should have heard her talk about him. She sounded so happy.

WILL: She... told you about a guy?

FRANCIE: Yeah. Somebody from work. Michael something. You know him?

WILL: No.

FRANCIE: No, of course not, 'cause the jerks at the bank where she slaves won't let them date because it's against the rules.

WILL: So they're not dating?

FRANCIE: No. No, he's actually dating somebody else. She's just pining. Oh, you know what, the mailman left this for you.

(She shows him a little card.)

FRANCIE: Guess there's a package for you at the post office.

(Will walks in the back storage area of a post office and finds Vaughn.)

VAUGHN: Hey, Will. I got your psych report back. You did well.

WILL: I'm not a sociopath.

VAUGHN: Well, I didn't say that.

WILL: Do I have a job?

VAUGHN: Yes.

WILL: A paying job?

VAUGHN: Yes. As an analyst. You'll be asked to review classified documents and file reports. Think of it as writing articles only now your source material is classified. In fact, your cover is a journalist.

WILL: What does that mean? Am I an agent?

(Vaughn laughs.)

WILL: What?

VAUGHN: Agents are field-trained. You're an analyst. You're desk-trained. You sit at a desk.

WILL: That's cool.

VAUGHN: The agency operates a monthly travel magazine called "Trade Roads." There's a small LA office. Go there when we page you. The material we'll need analyzed will be there when you arrive but don't remove them from the building. When you're done filling out the paperwork just give it to Bill, he'll make sure it's processed.

WILL: I get health insurance?

VAUGHN: Welcome to the CIA.

WILL: Thank you.

(They shake hands.)

WILL: Listen... obviously, you're a good guy and I can't tell you how much I appreciate this job and what I'm going to say is inappropriate. Sydney cares about you, and what you guys have, or don't have, means a great deal to her. I want to make sure you respect that.

(At the SD-6 offices, Sloane looks over the shoulder of an agent who is at a computer. The Echelon software is 58% recompiled. The satellite hovers over Earth.)

(At the ops center, Kendall addresses a group of agents which include Sydney, Vaughn and Jack.)

KENDALL: I just got off the phone with the director again and he asked me again if I knew we were in the intelligence business. SD-6 is by our best estimates, less than twelve hours away from accessing Echelon which will give them all the intelligence capabilities of the CIA. Our efforts to prevent Gerard Cuvee from reaccessing Echelon ended in tragedy. Four agents k*lled. As far as we know, your SD-6 tech ops officer Marshall Flinkman could already have Cuvee up and running again.

(Cut to Marshall typing at the computer.)

(Continued, the ops center.)

KENDALL: As for Derevko's intel on Swarm, info sec has been unsuccessful in their search for a back door access point.

(All of a sudden, monitors go black and computers go down. Kendall, Jack, Sydney and Vaughn walk to the tech agent whose name is Rick. He is at a computer.)

KENDALL: What the hell just happened?

RICK: I had to shut down the system, Swarm detected I was mapping its network and spit out a virus.

(Sydney looks at the screen. The virus is called quicksand.)

SYDNEY: My mother knew this would happen. That's the word she used: quicksand.

KENDALL: She might have set up the virus!

SYDNEY: Damn it! Why keep her here if you're not going to use her?

KENDALL: (to Jack) You have said Derevko turned herself in as part of a plan, something we can't see. If you were right, then giving her access to Echelon could only help that.

JACK: In this instance I think she would be an asset.

(Sydney visits Irina at the cell.)

SYDNEY: They found it. Quicksand.

IRINA: I told your father my terms. Full access to the network, no restrictions.

SYDNEY: Dad fought for you on this. Don't make him regret it.

(Irina smiles.)

(Upstairs, Irina is led into the ops center with various US Marshals escorting her. Other agents stop walking and stare at her. She calmly looks at them all and walks to a computer where Kendall, Jack and Sydney wait. Rick gets out of his seat and gives Irina his chair. She puts her hands out and Kendall motions for one of the US Marshals to do it. He unlocks the handcuffs. Irina sits at the computer.)

IRINA: I'll need to send an access code.

KENDALL: How will we know you're not signaling your operation?

IRINA: You won't.

(Kendall looks at Jack.)

KENDALL: Do it.

(She starts typing.)

(Kane watches the surveillance footage of Jack walking.)

AGENT: Looks clean.

KANE: Slow it down, two hundred per cent.

(He does so.)

AGENT: It's still good. If this was faked, it's the best job I've ever seen.

KANE: Is this the last of the surveillance feeds?

AGENT: Karachi, Istanbul, Taipei... yeah, that's it.

(Another agent walks in and hands Kane a piece of paper.)

AGENT2: I think you should see this.

(In Sloane's office, he monitors the recompiling on his desktop. It's at 62%. He talks on the phone.)

SLOANE: Yes, yes, we should have full access to Echelon in a matter of hours.

(Kane enters.)

KANE: Forensic report.

SLOANE: Okay, Alain. Yes, I'll let you know as soon as we're fully operational. Yes, absolutely. Merci, au revoir.

(He hangs up.)

KANE: Brain matter was found in the barrel of one of Jack Bristow's service pistols. According to the munition log, he checked out a Glock 19 compact for one day, reported a single accidental discharge and no casualties.

SLOANE: I thought you were here to invesigate the events surrounding my wife's death.

KANE: The day Bristow checked out this w*apon, k*lled someone with it, and covered it up, was the day your wife was m*rder*d.

SLOANE: Do you have enough cells to do a DNA profile?

KANE: Already being done.

SLOANE: Well, if it matches with Emily, I want you to let me know immediately.

KANE: Of course.

(Marshall types at the computer while the two henchmen keep watch with their g*ns pointed at him.)

MARSHALL: Hey, you guys like cherry Pez? You know, cherry Pez? The little candy, comes in the little superhero thing? Yeah, I collect the dispensers. I thought I had the largest collection in the world. I actually wrote the Guiness Book of World Records about it. Well, they sid that there was a girl in Australia, nine years old, with a collection larger than me. Which kind of sucked 'cause you know, she's so much younger than me and uh... I'm so much older than her so... I'm kind of hungry, you guys got some snacks? Or your probably...

(They yell at him in foreign language and hit him on the back.)

MARSHALL: I agree.

(Dixon walks into the server room at SD-6.)

DIXON: Something's wrong with my computer, I can't get online. Can you check it out?

SERVER AGENT: Someone has launched a denial of server att*ck on us. We're getting pinged over and over. It's slowing down the network.

DIXON: That's odd. They didn't spoof the origin IP. How can someone be smart enough to hack in here and forget to cover their tracks?

(Marshall types at the computer as Suit and Glasses comes in on his wheelchair. He yells at the henchmen who grab Marshall and yank him from his seat.)

MARSHALL: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What-what's going on? What?

SUIT AND GLASSES: We have a firewall. You broke through it. I want to know why!

MARSHALL: I was just trying to download an mp3 off of Audiogalaxy. Look, am mp3. You know, a music file? This, I am seventy-five per cent done with, I just thought the rest of it would go a lot faster with some tunes. I'm just going to show you the mp3.

(He types and Sammy Hagar starts playing.)

MARSHALL: You like Sammy Hagar?

(They stare at him.)

MARSHALL: I'll, uh, go bck to the program.

(g*n pointed at his head, he types.)

(Dixon walks in the offices at SD-6 and goes to Sydney's desk.)

DIXON: Come with me.

(In Sloane's office, Dixon and Sydney.)

SLOANE: Marshall's in Mexico City?

DIXON: He signaled us through the computer. We traced him through the IP address he used.

SLOANE: Huh, uh, okay, I'll notify the extraction team at once.

SYDNEY: We'd like your permission to conduct the operation ourselves.

SLOANE: Yes, of course.

(They leave. 78% recompiled.)

(At the ops center, Irina types on her own computer. Vaughn keeps watch. Kendall leans down to her.)

KENDALL: Are you making any progress here?

IRINA: Like Echelon, Swarm has access points. If I can locate the directory we will know if there are any accessable points.

VAUGHN: That way we could keep SD-6 and Cuvee off the system.

IRINA: I'd like a coffee please.

(Kendall looks at Vaughn.)

VAUGHN: Cream or sugar?

(Irina turns and gives him a look.)

VAUGHN: Black.

IRINA: Thank you.

(Jack hangs up his cell phone in the ops center and turns to Vaughn.)

JACK: Kane called a meeting.

VAUGHN: Does she know anything?

JACK: Unclear. But I'm told she has two units from security section prepared to take me in. I have to be ready for anything.

(Jack and Ariana are at a restaurant, sitting at a table outdoors. Jack looks at the menu.)

KANE: I have to admit, I'm impressed. I've rarely found a record as well-documented as yours. You couldn't have been more thorough if you tried.

JACK: If I may ask, what is it you're looking for?

KANE: There are only two pieces of evidence I haven't been able to corroborate. Help me with them, and we're finished.

(Not far away, Vaughn and Craig sit in a surveillance van.)

CRAIG: Damn. She's got the place wired.

VAUGHN: Jack, we make six agents from security section.

KANE: Every time you make a phone call on your STU, the SIM card on your cell phone communicates with the local cell tower. Those communications are recorded on the card's memory chip. It's kind of like a mini travelogue.

JACK: Yes, I'm fully aware...

(His voice fades out as Vaughn and Craig scramble in the van.)

VAUGHN: We'll need the cell tower signal codes for Istanbul, Karachi, and Taipei. Jack, listen to me. What pocket is your phone in? If it's the left jacket pocket, hold up one finger. In the right pocket, hold up two.

(Jack pretends to look at the menu and rests his chin in his hand, putting one finger against his cheek.)

WAITER: You two ready to order?

(The waiter reaches in and slips Jack's phone out of his pocket.)

JACK: Not yet. Thanks.

(The waiter leaves. Kane watches suspiciously.)

JACK: You have my phone records.

KANE: Which we both know could easily be forged. So, I'd like your phone.

(She puts out her hand for it.)

JACK: You said there were two things.

KANE: Who is Steven Haladki?

JACK: He was a CIA agent loyal to Irina Derevko.

KANE: Whom you m*rder*d.

(Vaughn's stunned.)

KANE: We found brain matter in the g*n you fired on the day Emily was m*rder*d. I admit, I thought DNA tests would prove that you k*lled her but instead they proved you k*lled Haladki.

JACK: We had reliable intel that Derevko was accessing information through the CIA. Her source turned out to be Haladki. He was crucial to her operation and had to be removed.

(In the van, Vaughn is still stunned but it's all business for Craig.)

CRAIG: I got the tower codes, we can't wait for Bristow's phone. Give me yours. Vaughn! Give me your phone.

(Vaughn does so.)

CRAIG: The card's been reprogrammed, I'll stamp Jack's serial number on your SIM card. YOu'll have to switch them out. Here you go.

(Craig puts the stamp and hastily gives it to Vaughn.)

KANE: If Haladki worked with Derevko, why hide is death from Sloane?

(Behind their table, Vaughn walks past the waiter and drops the newly stamped phone to him.)

JACK; The death of a CIA agent draws unwanted attention and focus. When it happens, the safest recourse is to say nothing... ever.

(The waiter drops the new phone into Jack's pocket and pours water for them. He leaves.)

JACK: Are we through?

KANE: As soon as I get your SIM card.

JACK: Yes. Of course.

(He casually gets the phone and hands over the card.)

KANE: I'll be in touch.

(She waves as Jack gets up and walks away. As he's walking he looks down at his hand and sees the ink from the still wet stamp on his finger. He knows he's caught and starts to walk faster. Back at the table, Kane looks at the SIM card and notices the smudge Jack made. She wipes at the ink and sees that it's wet.)

KANE: Move in on the package!

(Several agents start running out of nearby buildings. The look for Jack but he is gone. The surveillance van, with Craig driving, rumbles past. In the back, Jack and Vaughn sit across from each other. Vaughn stares at Jack with pity and disgust. Jack looks back at him.)

(In Mexico City, there's a rooftop party and Dixon's the DJ, wearing dreadlocks and "cool" clothes. Sydney walks through the crowd in a JLo-inspired outfit with a jet black wig and moves through the dancing bodies. She looks up at Dixon.)

DIXON: Are you ready to partaaaay?!?

(His monitors are right beside the DJ equipment.)

DIXON: Syd, I'm ready to receive.

SYDNEY: (smirking) Are we ready to party?

DIXON: I speak nine languages. Techno is not one of them.

(He bops along to the music. At the edge of the roof, Sydney takes off her bag and opens it.)

SYDNEY: I'll need cover... now.

(Dixon increases the volume of the music as Sydney sh**t the trigger across the way. A pronged line lands on the roof of the building next to them.)

SYDNEY: Dixon, wish me luck.

(She zip-lines her way across to the next building and climbs up. She moves to the transmitter door and flicks at it.)

SYDNEY: I've piggybacked into the surveillance feed. Are you getting the signal?

(Dixon watches the monitor next to his DJ stuff.)

DIXON: One second. (types) Okay, Syd, I'm in.

(He looks for Marshall by switching cameras on the monitor.)

DIXON: He's in the storage room on the forty-seventh floor. Take the eastern stairwell. Room should be the second door on your left.

(Sydney apparently doesn't make the 47 connection -- the room with the red virus ball was held in room 47, Rambaldi's page 47...)

SYDNEY: Guards?

DIXON: I make two. I'll lock the elevators, secure all access doors. That should keep everyone else away but Syd, be careful.

(The tech agent walks in Sloane's office.)

AGENT: Program's done. We'll be uplinked to Echelon in two minutes.

SLOANE: Excellent.

(Marshall looks at the two guards.)

MARSHALL: Whew. Tell your, uh, boss or whatever that I'm finished. The program's written.

(The satellite's in the sky.)

(At the ops center, Kendall leans over Irina, who types.)

KENDALL: You said you would find ones that overlap.

IRINA: I said I would find out if they overlapped.

KENDALL: And if they don't?

IRINA: Then I can't help you.

(Marshall watches as Suit and Glasses types on the computer. The Echelon software window pops up. He smiles. But then a game of Pong starts instead. Marshall wrote a program for Pong, not Echelon. Marshall starts laughing crazily. He stands up.)

MARSHALL: You know where you can go, you FREAK? Any idea?!

SUIT AND GLASSES: k*ll him.

MARSHALL: Straight to hell, my friend! STRAIGHT TO HELL!

(Sydney sneaks in, just in time to see Marshall being lowered to his knees, his hands behind his head. They point their g*ns at him.)

SUIT AND GLASSES: And k*ll his mother.

(Sydney runs in and roundhouse kicks one of the guards. She kicks the other one, twice. Grabs the first guy's g*n and twists his arm around. It cracks. She takes him by the neck and throws him to the ground. Marshall picks up the fallen g*n. Sydney kicks the last guard as Suit and Glasses stares in horror. She looks at him for a moment. And then roundhouse kicks him, sending him backwards, falling off his wheelchair and to the ground.)

SYDNEY: Hi.

MARSHALL: Wow.

(He throws her the g*n.)

SYDNEY: Let's go.

MARSHALL: Yeah.

DIXON: Syd, we've got a problem. I've been locked out. Their security system is operational. Get out of there now.

(Sydney runs to the door with Marshall and opens it up. The guards are coming their way, sh**ting at them.)

SYDNEY: Come on, come on.

(They hide behind another wall, Sydney sh**t back at the door.)

SYDNEY: Dixon, we're trapped!

DIXON: I'll get over to you now.

SYDNEY: There's no time!

(She sh**t back at the door again. Marshall runs over and grabs the chair he was sitting in.)

MARSHALL: Argh!

(He throws the office chair out the window.)

MARSHALL: Come on!

(Sydney runs over to the now open window.)

SYDNEY: Marshall, we're on the forty-seventh floor!

MARSHALL: Remember when we flew to London? I compessed a high glide tactical parachute in the lining of my jacket? Well, as luck would have it, this one's got it to. Along with a hyper-extending tandem sling. Come here.

(He pulls Sydney to him and locks the sling around her waist.)

MARSHALL: I got it.

(He looks at Sydney.)

MARSHALL: Hi. My name is Marshall J. Flinkman and I'm here to rescue you!

(Sydney can't help it and nods. Together they jump out the window. Marshall's parachute goes off and they land safely.)

(Kendall looks at Irina.)

KENDALL: If this was some kind of manipulation...

(She types.)

IRINA: The overlapping access points. As promised.

(She stands up. Rick sits down and starts typing.)

RICK: Confirming a match with Echelon right now.

IRINA: Close the access points and SD-6 will be shut out.

(She walks back to her cell with the marshals.)

RICK: We have confirmation. It's a match.

(In Sloane's office, he talks to Alain Christophe yet again on the phone.)

SLOANE: As promised, Alain, we have Ecehlon at our disposal. Oui.

(The tech agent walks in.)

AGENT: I'm afraid something's happened.

(Self-storage facility meeting.)

SYDNEY: So Marshall saved our lives. How did I return the favor? By bringing him back to SD-6.

VAUGHN: We had to, Syd. Bringing Marshall into the CIA didn't make sense anymore, not after Sloane got the Echelon program.

SYDNEY: I know. It's just... Marshall has no idea who he's really working for.

(At SD-6, Marshall is patted on the back by coworkers. He hugs Dixon. Sydney walks by and watches. He talks to Dixon for a moment before nodding at Sloane, who shakes his hand and then gives him a warm hug.)

(Self-storage, continued.)

SYDNEY: It won't always be like this, right?

VAUGHN: It will end.

SYDNEY: I should go.

(After a disappointing day at work, Sloane comes home to his mansion. He walks into a darkened room, his coat still on.)

JACK: Do not turn on the lights.

SLOANE: You shouldn't hve run from her, Jack.

JACK: Kane needs someone to blame since she can't find who really m*rder*d Emily. She's decided to blame me.

(He takes a step forward.)

JACK: I did not m*rder your wife. But if I don't find the person who did, Kane will frame me for it. I have some leads, I need you to pursue them for me.

(He hands a file over.)

JACK: Can I trust you to do that?

SLOANE: Of course. This will stay between us.

(Jack leaves. Sloane turns on a lamp and picks up the phone once he's gone.)

KANE: Hello?

SLOANE: Agent Kane, Arvin Sloane. Jack Bristow just left my house.