Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [2]
Though not conspicuously charismatic, Walsh exerted a stalwart moral authority that manifested powerful sway in D.C., where his opinions and expertise were respected on both sides of the political aisle. Walsh was no political animal, but he'd spent enough time inside academia and the Beltway to develop dexterity in greasing the bureaucratic wheels when necessary.
Jack, by contrast, had never read a business book in his life or lay awake at night contemplating personal techniques for managing up. Yet he'd developed a solid reputation as an effective, galvanizing leader who employed the kind of under-fire problem solving that defined a Special Forces officer. Some of Walsh's higher-ups at Division, however, worried that he was a loose cannon — and this latest mission hadn't dissuaded them from that notion.
"Let's go," said Walsh without preamble. He activated the tape recorder. "Special Agent Richard Walsh, Administrative Director, CTU, Los Angeles, debriefing Jack Bauer, Special Agent in Charge of CTU, Los Angeles."
Jack leaned forward, spoke clearly into the microphone. "On June 3, CTU's Los Angeles office received an anonymous tip through a phone call to our public phone line. The caller, a male, warned us of what he believed was an imminent plot to shoot down a cargo plane as it approached Los Angeles International Airport.
"This phone call, a recording and transcript of which is attached to File 1189 in Kernel 19A of CTU's intelligence database, was both detailed and specific, citing the time, date, and location of the attack. I immediately issued an alert..."
"Almeida stated there was a thirty-minute lag between the call and the alert in his debriefing."
"Ryan Chappelle ordered Jamey Farrell to put a recording of the call through a voice stress analyzer in an attempt to determine the veracity of the caller."
"The result of the analysis?"
"Inconclusive at the time. I determined on my own authority that the threat was credible enough and I took appropriate action. A Counter Terrorist Unit Special Assault Team was dispatched to LAX under my command. It appeared we arrived just in time to prevent a potential disaster..."
* * *
The white airport maintenance van swerved off the pavement, onto the scrub grass that lined the black asphalt. The service road ran parallel to the busy East Imperial Highway, less than half a mile away. Dust billowed behind their vehicle and hung in the arid, Southern California air.
In the passenger seat, Jack Bauer tensed. The brown cloud was large enough to give away their presence to the terrorists, but nothing could be done about that now. If the tipster was correct, time had already run out.
"I see another maintenance van near runway seven," said Jack. "Vehicle identification tag 1178 Charlie-Victor."
Behind the wheel, Tony Almeida squinted against the yellow glare of the morning sun. Tony was Jack's junior by seven years. Latino, originally from Chicago, he was a single ex-Marine with advanced degrees in computer science. Average height, muscular build, black hair worn short, and a soul patch beneath his lower lip. On paper Almeida looked good — Scout-Sniper School and Surveillance and Target Acquisition Platoon School. But Jack hadn't seen the man in the field enough to trust him completely.
"I count two men inside," Almeida said quietly, "both wearing maintenance uniforms."
Jack was also clad in airport maintenance overalls. His black combat chukkas, however, were standard-issue military. As he continued to catalog the flat featureless landscape through binoculars — gray concrete runways, black asphalt service roads, brown grass — Bauer's headset crackled.
"1178 Charlie-Victor is an authorized repair," Agent Costigan announced from the van's cargo bay.
"Roger that," Jack replied.
Gina Costigan waited for Bauer to relay more information. She was in her late twenties and, like Jack, married with one daughter. Former LAPD Special Weapons and Tactics, she'd been recruited by