24 Declassified: Chaos Theory/4:00am-5:00am

THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 4 A.M. AND 5 A.M. PACIFIC STANDARD TIME.

4:00am PST

Biltmore Hotel

''By the age of nineteen, Jorge Marquez, now going by his middle name "Rafael," had made a fortune on the Internet frontier alongside his partner, Amistad Medved. With his gift for patterns, Rafael wrote revolutionary search algorithms that reduced the lag time of search engines to nanoseconds. However, the two geniuses were driven apart by the popularization of tiered delivery systems that offered faster speed for more money. The concept repulsed Rafael, reminding him of sharecropper scams in Chiapas and extortion rackets run by MS-13, but sanctioned by the government. Medved, heavily invested in a number of Internet service providers, refused to allow Rafael to publish an algorithm that would latch on to high-speed connections regardless of pay rate. Eventually, Marquez walked away from his multi-billion dollar career, but it was not until a year later, when the Mexican government raided Chiapas and killed his father and cousin, that he would shed the name he was born into.''

Francis Aguillar explains the plan for the upcoming buy, and says that he plans to use Alliance Moving to meet with the arms dealer. Zapata is concerned at this, noting that they used Alliance the last time they were in the United States to transport the Cubans, but Aguillar insists that they have no other options. He agrees to make sure the Alliance men are killed after completing the deal, then asks why Zapata insists on trading with the Indonesians for the equipment they need. Zapata explains that the trade will both cause a distraction in itself, and will also be "aesthetic," effectively dropping "the biggest rock" into the pond.

4:09am PST

InterContinental Hotel

Mark Kendall leaves the hotel room, after a long discussion with Vanowen. Vanowen himself wakes up Emil Ramirez and tells him and Jack Bauer that he has a job this morning, and he wants both of them there. He tells Jack that he did some checking up on him in the other room, confirming that he really is on the run.

4:14am PST

Inglewood

Changed into a fresh set of clothes, with two CTU field agents posing as muscle, Tony Almeida waits at Menifee's warehouse for Encep Sungkar and his men, twenty miles out, to arrive. The stockpile Sungkar arranged to purchase from Menifee is fairly significant, including twelve rocket-propelled grenades and four launchers, a .50-caliber machine gun, a dozen M-60s and MP5s, and other "assorted goodies."

Sungkar's vehicle, followed by a truck, pull up in front of the warehouse, and Sungkar himself and his entourage enter to greet Tony, who is pretending to be Arturo Menifee. Tony shakes his hand, addressing him by his alias Perkasa, and opens the cargo door to allow the truck to drive inside. Unknown to the Indonesians, the truck was just disabled by CTU agents, rendering it immobile, and it fails to start. With a grin, Tony offers to transport him and his men where they need to go in his own truck. Sungkar, displeased, agrees, on the condition that only Tony go with them.

4:32am PST

Downtown Los Angeles

Dan Pascal consults with half a dozen marshals on the curb, near Jack Bauer's abandoned Maxima. For all he knew, Bauer had simply jacked another car, or he could be in any of the surrounding buildings, looking down on him. He had disappeared into the city.

Emerson calls Pascal to report that an LAPD surveillance team downtown picked up photos that might be Bauer; they had been tailing a fence named Vanowen when they identified him. Pascal downloads the images on his car's onboard computer and sees a photo of Bauer with two other men. Emerson confirms that they know where Jack is headed now.

4:38am PST

Playa del Rey, California

The U-Pack Storage Facility in Playa del Rey ran a brisk business renting space to the upper middle class, but the owner also made money by participating in robbery schemes against the local residents. It was also a safe meeting ground for illegal activities, since it was passcode-protected and the legitimate customers almost never visited.

Twenty minutes ago, Jack drove Vanowen and Ramirez to a parking lot near the hotel and traded Vanowen's Audi for an Alliance Moving truck, then made the drive from Downtown to Playa del Rey on the 110 Freeway. Now, Vanowen drives the truck up next to the largest building on the lot, in front of a large hangar door, where momentarily a second truck also pulls up. Four occupants emerge, three of them Indonesian. The fourth, Jack is stunned to see, is Tony Almeida.

4:46am PST

Playa del Rey

Silently, Tony reels at the sight of Jack Bauer, wondering what he's doing selling weapons to Jemaah Islamiyah, whether he's been exploiting his law enforcement connections to run a business on the side. However, he manages to keep his reactions internal; Tony and Jack make no signs that they have ever met before today.

Vanowen takes out two compact discs, giving one to Sungkar and saying that he will get the other once the weapons are loaded onto his truck. While Sungkar's men unload a dolly and cart boxes to the Alliance truck, Tony tries to recognize the men with Jack. Vanowen is unfamiliar, but he vaguely recognizes the other as Jack's cellmate from prison.

4:50am PST

Playa del Rey

Jack is equally dumbfounded by Tony's presence, but is confident that he will know better than to rat him out and ruin his cover.

Vanowen strikes up a conversation with Tony, giving Jack an opening to jump in and fish for what Almeida is doing here. However, the deal is disrupted when the police suddenly appear in full force, ordering everyone to put their hands up. Two squad cars block the main gate, while an unmarked Crown Victoria - Pascal's vehicle - blocks the rear. Everyone goes for their weapons; Jack reaches but does not draw, and a bullet clips him in the arm. A firefight ensues between the police and the dealers.

4:57am PST

Playa del Rey

Dan Pascal hasn't been in a genuine firefight since 1991, but stands his ground, firing a Desert Eagle from behind his car door while trying to keep Jack Bauer out of the crossfire. Suddenly, two of the cops near him fall to the ground, leading him to realize that a sniper is firing from the three-story building nearby. He fires a few rounds upward and slips back into his car, barely avoiding the third shot meant for him.

4:58am PST

Playa del Rey

His arm bleeding, Jack sees Vanowen reel from a high-caliber round, and rushes to grab him, knowing that he can't let him die. He forces Vanowen into the Alliance truck, while Emil Ramirez gets in the passenger side. Jack guns the engine into reverse, heading straight for the two squad cars blocking the gate. The truck plows into the two cars, eventually squeezing through onto the street. Jack glances back at the firefight: the Indonesians are firing at the police, while Vanowen's sniper fires on the cops from the rooftop. With his left hand, Jack readies his SigSauer and, calming himself, fires as best he can, hoping to bring down the sniper before any more police are killed. He then switches into first gear and speeds away.