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This article's subject relates to the 24 expanded universe.This is a production article written from an out-of-universe perspective

24 Declassified: Veto Power is the second novel in the 24 Declassified series. Like the other 24: Declassified novels, the story takes place prior to Day 1.

Summary[]

Jack Bauer has been demoted to domestic terrorism after a disastrous investigation of an innocent man. While undercover with the Greater Nation militia, he picks up a thread leading to an Islamic terrorist cell that may be planning an attack in the next twenty-four hours. However, Jack's superiors, including Ryan Chappelle, are slow to believe him.

Meanwhile, factions within the United States government are fighting their own war over the New American Privacy Act, which would give unprecedented power to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Episode guide[]

Six months ago[]

Whilst torturing Ibrahim Rafizadeh for information on his son, who had possible terrorist connections, Jack learned that his son was dead. However, Ibrahim was unaware of this when Jack told him, causing massive humiliation for CTU and for Jack personally, causing him to be demoted from CTU Special Agent in Charge and taken off high profile cases.

Prologue[]

48 hours before...
A CTU team takes down a small group of anti-governmentarians in the Greater Nation militia, including Edgars, Peterson, Heinrich Gelb and undercover agent Jack Bauer, under the name Jack Miles.

Meanwhile President Harry Barnes and Attorney General James Quincy talk about the New American Privacy Act, and whether the President will veto it.

3:00am-9:00am[]

Jack and a CTU team raided the main Greater Nation base and took Brett Marks into custody. Special Agent in Charge of CTU Los Angeles Kelly Sharpton contacted Jack, angered that he took a CTU team without permission from the agency itself. However, Jack discovered that his work was worth it when Merrit, a member of the CTU team finds plans suggesting that Islamic terrorists will attack in the next few hours. Brett Marks tells Jack that the CIA was contacted with information about the terrorists, but it was dismissed, so the Greater Nation took matters into their own hands. However, CTU analyst Jessi Bandison searched the database and found no such contact to the CIA. Jack confronted Marks again, who agreed to divulge information of their so-called "Operation Backup". He said that a man in Beverlywood has information on the terrorists. Jack was shocked to learn that the man with terrorist connections was Ibrahim Rafizadeh, the man who Jack tortured six months ago.

Jack headed over to the Rafizadeh house, but encountered Ibrahim's daughter, Nazila at the door. She was angered at seeing Jack, the man who destroyed her family. Jack explained that her father was in possible danger due to unknowing terrorist connections he had, and as they went to his room they discovered that he was gone. Jack found a business card with an address that Nazila remembered her father had been asked to go to for a research project for a movie. As they left the room Jack noticed a card from Ramin Rafizadeh, Ibrahim's supposedly dead son. Nazila agreed to take Jack to Ramin if he promised not to harm him and if he agreed to help get her father back safely. Jack arrived at the address on the business card and found several hostages being kept by two Greater Nation members. Jack was overpowered by the two men, who crushed him under a bookcase.

Jack managed to escape the binds he had been put in by the Greater Nation men, and headed over to where he could hear Ramin Rafizadeh being tortured. From the interrogation Jack learnt that Ramin was not a terrorist, then killed all his captors. Jack then traveller to Culver City where Ibrahim was being held. There he met CTU agents Nina Myers, Ted Paulson and Lzolski, and together they managed to take out all guards and get Ibrahim back safely. However, Frank Newhouse, a leader member of the Greater Nation, managed to escape.

Meanwhile, Senator Debrah Drexler was contacted by Attorney General James Quincy who asked for her vote on the NAP Act. However, she refused. To her shock, Quincy revealed to her that he knew about her shady past: before she was a Senator she was a call girl in San Francisco, forced into it to earn money to live. She was soon contacted by Quincy, who told her to vote for his NAP Act or he would release pictures of her from her past. She contacted closer personal friend Kelly Sharpton and asked him to find a way to destroy the evidence Quincy had on her. Sharpton used Jessi Bandison and her quick computer skills to hack into Quincy's computer, telling her it was a training exercise. At the same time Drexler prepared to give a speech, as ordered by Quincy, announcing her support for the NAP Act. However, Sharpton contacted her just in time, telling her that the files had been deleted, and she merely told reporters that she still did not support the act. Whilst on Quincy's computer, Sharpton noticed a bulletin with information about the Islamic terrorists attack, and about Frank Newhouse, one of the lead members of the Greater Nation militia who had escaped the raid earlier in the morning. Shockingly, it had a timestamp earlier that CTU knew of Newhouse's involvement. Soon after Quincy realized his files had been deleted, and contacted someone to learn who had hacked into his system. Unfortunately, Sharpton contacted a member of Quincy's team trying to get more information on the bulletin he had seen. This tipped off Quincy, who deduced that it was he who had hacked in to the system, as he would have had no other way of knowing the information he did. To make matters worse, Jessi learnt that there was not a training exercise planned for the day, and told Ryan Chappelle that Sharpton had used her.

9:00am-3:00pm[]

Kelly Sharpton contacted Debrah Drexler and asked her to find out information on Frank Newhouse and his connections to James Quincy. She contacted someone in Langley and asked them to dig up information on Newhouse. She did, and passed the information on to Juwan Burke, an assistant of Drexler. However, he was pursed by men who clearly did not want him to possess information on Newhouse. He managed to escape safely. Soon after, Sharpton was arrested by Ryan Chappelle. FBI arrived to question him, but Chappelle received an urgent call just before Sharpton was taken away. It was Quincy, who told him to let Sharpton go. Chappelle was confused but agreed, unaware that Debrah Drexler was standing over Quincy forcing him to release Sharpton now that she had the information on his connection to Frank Newhouse.

Kelly Sharpton went to Holmby Hills, to an apartment connected with Frank Newhouse. There, he found a bomb that was set to go off at around 1:05PM, giving him just over five minutes to diffuse it. He contacted Chappelle at CTU who forwarded him to Glenn Schneider, a bomb defusal expert. He explained that the bomb had a mechanism so that if the tennis ball that was on top of the bomb was moved, it would explode and expose anyone within a close range to napalm, burning through their skin. However, that would be the only way to deactivate the bomb. So, Sharpton covered his face and kicked the tennis ball off the bomb. Napalm burned his arm, but the bomb was defused.

Jack arrived at a location provided by Brett Marks, and a CTU forensics team found traces of C4 in the apartment. Also, translators found sectors of Farsi, but were unable to decode what it means. Jack took it back to Ibrahim Rafizadeh, who learnt that it was an ancient poem that people had probably used to contact each other through. Nazila Rafizadeh agreed to translate it if Jack let her, and her father and brother go. However, Ryan Chappelle was unhappy to sanction such a deal. Jack went back to the Rafizadehs and told them he could not release them. However, Nazila was no longer interested in that, informing Jack that the papers say that there will be an attack on President Harry Barnes the next day, in Los Angeles. Jack called a meeting with the heads of the NSA, FBI, CIA and Secret Service, but was rebuked by Chappelle after one person commented that the assassination attempt cannot be true because the President would not be in Los Angeles on the given day. Jack was humiliated, but Nina Myers gave him a new lead on Julio Juarez, which he set off to pursue. At the same time, the Rafizadehs were allowed to leave. Jack arrived at Juarez's location, but he ran before Jack could corner him. Juarez managed to get to a group of friends, but Jack held him at gunpoint, keeping himself safe. He found out what he needed from Juarez and bolted. He discovered that Juarez had helped eight Arabs cross the border six months ago. Jack then received intel on a Babak Farrah who was connected to the Arabs who crossed the border, and so CTU set him up with a profile, Jack Knudson, and he entered Farrah's loft and integrated himself within the group. Farrah told Jack to shoot a man, a thief who stole from Farrah, before they left.

3:00pm-9:00pm[]

Jack shot the thief, but just in his hand. Farrah approved, and took Jack to the Peppermint, a strip club. He paid a girl to entertain Jack whilst he "attended to business", but Jack because interested when he heard raised voices from Farrah and Farid Koshbin, whom Farrah was accusing of stealing from him. A gunfight ensued, and Jack had to break his cover to protect Farid, who it seemed important to Farrah was dead, so it was important for the opposite for Jack. Jack saved Farid and killed Farrah, and they went back to CTU. When they arrived, Nina Myers informed them that two EMP devices had been stolen from Cal Tech the day before. CTU soon learnt that they had developed what was known as a HERF gun; a portable EMP device. Jamey Farrell discovered video surveillance from Cal Tech that showed two vans arriving, but only one leaving. Tony Almeida set off to look.

Jack went back to interrogate Brett Marks, and unhappily agreed to let him go if he told CTU everything he knew about Frank Newhouse. He gave some information, most of which CTU already knew. However, when Jack asked him about EMPs, Marks said that one could wipe out the whole country if it were nineteen miles above ground, for instance over Kansas. Sharpton confirmed the information and Jack halted all flights from Kansas International Airport. Bob Lundquist, an F-16 pilot in Texas was sent to Kansas to destroy the EMP device that CTU presumed would be above Kansas.

Meanwhile, Frank Newhouse worried what was taking so long for Farrah to kill Farid. He contacted James Quincy, and told him that everything was under control. Quincy seemed unsure, but agreed. Nina Myers was searching for Newhouse whilst Jack and CTU dealt with the EMP. She followed a lead to an address in Santa Monica, a house owned by Matilda Swenson. She was not there but Nina talked to her friend who was. She discovered from him that Matilda was Frank's girlfriend. Jessi Bandison helped her to track Matilda's cell phone, and they found her to be in the mountain ranges of Santa Monica. She set off.

CTU discovered that it was a weather balloon that was carrying the EMP, and informed the F-16 pilot. Jack realized that there would be plenty of time for the pilot to get there in time, but was informed by Major Scott Wilcox that F-16s could only go to 50,000 feet: the target would be out of range in a matter of minutes. The F-16 managed to reach the weather balloon in time, but the F-16 went down in the attack after the engines buckled, then cut out.

9:00pm-3:00am[]

James Quincy was pleased to discover that his plan had been successful: there was an uproar on the news about the story he had leaked with details of the terrorist group operating uncaptured in America for six months, pushing public opinion towards his NAP Act. Meanwhile, Brett Marks and Frank Newhouse met up to complete the last phase of their plan.

At Cal Tech, Tony Almeida discovered the other route that the second van had taken out of the car park. It led straight to the road, leaving CTU with no leads as to where they could have gone. Meanwhile at CTU Ryan Chappelle rebuked Jack after he discovered that in fact there was no EMP device on the weather balloon, and the F-16 pilot had died for nothing. He suspended Jack. However, Jack suddenly discovered Marks and Newhouse's final plan: the President would not be in Los Angeles, but would pass over it in Air Force One: the theory that had been shot down several hours before was correct. However, Chappelle refused to believe him and so Jack followed up on the lead himself.

In the Santa Monica mountains, Nina Myers was led to the site of Matilda Swenson's car crash by Deputy Pascal. However, she was not dead, and gave information that Newhouse had called himself William Binns in her company. CTU ran a check on him, and discovered that he owned an office in Century City, the highest building in Los Angeles. Jack put the pieces together and worked out that from the height of the Century City tower the EMP device that Newhouse had could reach Air Force One. He set off to the tower.

In the tower Jack encountered Marks, Newhouse and two henchmen dragging the EMP up the stairs to avoid detection. He yelled at the to stop when he came close, and to Marks, Newhouse and Jack's dismay one of the henchmen exploded the EMP right there in the stairwell. All the lights went out, and Jack shot blindly towards the stairs. The henchmen were both dead, killed from the heat of the EMP. Jack reached the top of the stairwell and the roof, and managed to kill both Marks and Newhouse before they could use the HERF gun that they still possessed to take down Air Force One and the President.

Vetopoweruk

The U.K. alternate cover.

Memorable quotes[]

  • Nina Myers: Am I not the sexiest woman alive at the moment?


  • Nina Myers: Thing is, when the doors don't open, I usually knock them down.


  • Kelly Sharpton: This cause is just as worthy, if you need to dress it up to make yourself feel better. We've got Islamic terrorists and domestic terrorism and secret agents. It'll look great against the backdrop of the flag, if you're into that. Me, I just want to make sure no one dies, or at least that the right people die.


  • Kelly Sharpton: Hey, Glenn. You better be a good conversationalist because you may be the last person I ever talk to.


  • Paul Meister: Agent Sharpton, you are under arrest. Do you have anything you would like to say before we take you into custody?
  • Kelly Sharpton: That has got to be the tallest FBI agent I've ever seen. And you have a very nice tie.

Appearances[]

Background information and notes[]

  • Time references given in this novel place the story after 2003.


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