"Hey." "You couldn't sleep?" "Well, I stared at the ceiling for an hour." "That's my limit." "What was it?" "The drought in Somalia?" "No, Somalia made a valiant effort to get in the game, but no, this morning it is Russian veiling." "What's that?" "Some new kind of hacking software?" "Not hacking, hatmaking." "It's a course at Hutner." "You're obsessing over college acceptances 'cause that big e-mail blast goes out this week." "And by "obsessing" I mean, of course, showing the appropriate amount of interest" " for a concerned parent." " Yeah." "Thank you." "But wait, Hutner is Alison's third choice." "I thought we were confident about Rafferty." "We are." "We're confident... ish." "I mean, her mom's secretary of state, after all." "And they protested when we visited." "So, in the unlikely event that she doesn't get in," "I want to have something good to say about her other choices." "Like, in addition to fashion design," "Bayard offers this whole..." "Omnipreneur program." "Omnipreneur?" " My God." " Something about global markets..." "I don't know, branding power and party hats." " I don't know." " I just can't keep up with the language." "When does the e-mail from Rafferty go out again?" "Thursday at 5:00." "Come on, you're gonna be there, right?" "We promised." "It's been in my calendar for, like, six months." "And Stevie hears from Harvard Law this week, too, right?" "Did you make a... thumbs up for other choices list for her, too?" "She aced her LSATs and she has a letter of recommendation from the White House chief of staff." "And her mom's secretary of state." "It's a lock." "Ish." " Good morning, everyone." " Morning." " Morning." " Morning." "Hey." "I have been up since 5:00." "I am fully caffeinated and ready to crush this food aid procurement intervention." "Where are we on Somalia?" "The situation in the southern portion of the country is still dire." "There's a record heat wave and the bumper crop from 2012 is depleted." "And just to make things interesting, two rebel groups, the Somali Independence Front and the Revolutionary Army of Somalia are both laying claim to the last few acres of arable land." "Leaving the village of Saakow caught in the middle." "Add no water, instant famine." "If it goes unchecked, 50,000 people will starve to death in a matter of weeks." "Apologies for my tardiness." "Have our boats docked in Mogadishu with the food aid?" "Yeah, I got word a couple hours ago." "Global Relief Guild is loading the grain" " onto trucks for delivery." " Okay." "You remember Anis Musse from the Africa desk?" "I... yes." "He left to go work for an NGO." "That's right." "He landed at Global Relief Guild." "He's overseeing the distribution of food." "Well, that's great." "That means that we will have reliable communication on the ground." "All right." "Crisis averted so far." "But there's one more immediate problem." "Yes, there is, always, always." "Dito Pirosmani, former Soviet military officer and current owner of a pseudo-legit" "Georgian chemical company." "He also sells Russian weapons on the black market." "Let me guess." "He's armed one of the Somali rebel groups." "Nope." "He's armed both." "Way to cover the waterfront." "Word on the street is he just sold them each a cache of old AK-47s he boosted out of Ukraine." "Point being, these guys asked for new toys and they're gonna want to start playing with them." "And if fighting breaks out, that will leave Saakow cut off." "GRG won't be able to get the food through." "Well, can't we shut him down?" "Well, he does his best to skirt the U.S. legal system." "Steers clear of American-made hardware and won't sell to terrorists." "CIA keeps a file active, but he's not a priority, though he doesn't know that." "Ma'am, it's almost time for your meeting at the White House." "Thanks, Blake." "All right." "Let's-let's really stay on top of this." "I want updates every couple hours, all right?" "Thank you." "Any updates on that other thing?" "Well, I've just started my research, but so far," "Clifton University's colors are brown and yellow." "Their mascot is the Mighty Woodchuck." "They have a Fondue Fridays on the student grill every..." "Friday." "It's kind of a retro, '70s vibe with a disco ball and..." "Brown and yellow?" "It's so horrifying, I can't even tell you." " Thank God it's her safety." " I..." "Now, after his meeting with Secretary McCord, Mr. Fox provided unfettered access to his corporate finances." "Based on the SWIFT-BIC code, the $500,000 retainer was wired to Mr. Fox from an offshore account in the Caymans." "We're wired into the account, so if he sells our stolen weapons on the black market and uses the dummy corp to receive payment," "I'll be able to trace the transfer." "And it might be helpful to know how much of our hardware he has in his possession." "FBI completed their inventory of the Texas compound this morning." "Please, keep us informed of your progress, Captain." "I will do, sir." "Thank you, Mr. President." "I'm afraid it's worse than we thought." "Munitions scheduled for destruction were being siphoned off to transports for at least seven months without detection." "In addition to artillery shells and ammunition, 35 portable anti-aircraft missiles are gone." "180 sniper rifles, 250 M16s," "28 AT4s, plus two drones identical to the one Henry's asset identified at the Virginia Field Force compound." "FBI arrested eight VFF members in that raid." "Did any of them meet with the seller?" "Maybe they could give us a name or a physical description?" "Reverend Slattery took the meeting solo and he's in the wind." "But we recovered some notes." "Slattery left behind in which he identified the unnamed seller as "college boy."" "We think he may be referring to Anton Jankovic... an American citizen of Serbian descent." "His father was an exporter, and Anton started moving weapons through his dad's shipments while he was still a junior at Princeton." "Excuse me, Madam Secretary, your office is asking you to come back as soon as possible." "They said it's about the food delivery." "I'm guessing that's not your lunch order." "The convoy was almost to Saakow when we were run off the road by the Revolutionary Army of Somalia." "Anyone hurt?" "They had guns, but they didn't fire at us, just took the food." "But GRG has a line on emergency food products from USAID's PREPO facility in Dubai." "If you can ship it here and provide security," "I'll take another ride out to Saakow." "We'll get into it." "You're a badass." "We miss you around here." "Thanks, ma'am." "I know federal law requires we use U.S. shipping lines to deliver the food aid, but that could be another two weeks, conservatively." "Thousands of people will already be dead." "We need to get the Senate to pass an emergency waiver, bypass the shipping rule and fly all the food from Dubai." "Congress is hard-line about those rules." "Farm and shipping lobbies are, um... hold a lot of sway." "Get me ten minutes with the Senate majority leader now." "Mr. Leader." "Madam Secretary." "I understand you want to plead your case, but we have these food aid rules for a reason." "Yes, to, subsidize U.S. farmers so they can sell off their grain overages." "Now, that's a very simplistic..." "And to give U.S. shipping companies a monopoly so they can overcharge and under perform on delivery." "It is a... inefficient and wasteful system." "Welcome to the United States government," "I'm afraid." "All right, but the thing is, Senator... in the last Somali famine, 260,000 people starved to death," "and half of them were children under five." "And they died just because the world waited too long to act." "We all have our priorities." "Yours is to feed the world." "Mine is to protect American farms and American jobs." "That said, no one wants to see women and children suffer, and it hurts my heart to turn you down." "Yes, I can see that." "Speaking of being turned down," "I made a request last month of the Department of Defense to use your plane for a fact-finding trip this weekend, but they said no." "Well, I..." "Mr. Leader, you and I both know that is DOD's prerogative." "Nevertheless, I've been greatly inconvenienced." "Now, if the secretary of state were to put in a word on my behalf," "I'm sure DOD would shake loose a jet." "And then I might be inclined to help you with your request." "So... if I call DOD, you will pass the emergency waiver?" "I'll put your waiver up for a vote this morning." "I'm sure it will pass with bipartisan support." "We all like to help out when we can." "Don't we?" "Wow." "You know, I-I'm just curious." "Where are you going on your fact-finding trip?" "Cabo San Lucas." "The beaches are eroding." "We've been interrogating the captured members of the Virginia Field Force, but it's slow going." "Why is that?" "The VFF was not a typical anti-government militia." "Once they merged with Covenant of John, they became a doomsday cult." "So, we're not just questioning these men, we're deprogramming them." "It takes time." "Then what about your asset?" "Once Agent Conroy was detoxed, he should've been able to give you whatever Intel he acquired as a VFF insider." "Conroy says that in the event of a raid, the leaders had prearranged travel to the Pacific Northwest through a series of safe houses." "Their plan, once they arrived in Oregon, was to go to ground so Dr. Zanner could get to work on the biological weapon." "Oregon." "Well, that narrows it down." "Except we're not convinced the information is solid." "You think he's lying?" "No, but he may have been compromised." "We know the Council suspected a mole in their ranks." "So we've got an agent who was drugged and might've blown his cover, a barely-averted terrorist bombing, bad Intel and no way of knowing where these madmen will strike next." "Have I got everything?" "Yes, sir." "This morning, DEA agents seized the most expensive piece of property in their history, a 360-foot mega-yacht." "Christened the Frisky Business, it boasts 23,000 feet of living space, and is worth an estimated $1 billion." "Hey, Dad, you got to come check this thing out." "It has a missile-detection system, two helipads, three swimming pools and a submarine that doubles as an escape pod." "I got to figure out how to get one." "Well, I can think of two ways." "Become a Bond villain or invent a social network." "In the meantime, would you set the table?" "Hi, babe." "What happened?" "I, I thought we were gonna, you know, order in Kung Pao and..." "I had all this excess energy to burn, so I thought" "I would hobble around the kitchen." " I kept telling him to sit down." " I'm sitting down." "Mom, are you home?" "Yes." "Down here." "I just got an e-mail from a girl whose sister dated a guy whose mom knows a woman who works in the Rafferty admissions, and I'm freaking out." "Okay." "She says that Rafferty just decided to expand their science and technology program, which means that the brainiacs are jumping to the top of the acceptance list." "What if I get boxed out?" "Stupid coding." "I know, right?" "It's not like science is the future." "They're still gonna need clothes in the future." "And I'm sure you still have a good shot of getting in." "It's, it's..." "Look." "The good news is that Rafferty is not the only game in town." "Okay?" "Hutner has this amazing mentoring program, where they pair up students with working designers." "And Bayard has this top-notch business program." "You could learn how to be an omnipreneur." "You guys don't think I'm gonna get in to Rafferty." " No, no, of course we do." " No, no." "That's not..." "Noodle." "There are things that can affect your admission that have nothing to do with you or how great you are." "Like, I don't know, how many legacies apply." "Or, or shifts in school policy." "Guys, rolling admissions at Harvard Law are, like, rolling." "Have you heard?" "No, not yet." "But I am on the student forum website, and people are starting to post." "God, you are so lucky that Rafferty just, like, tells everyone all at the same time." "Yeah, lucky me." "I'm not even applying to colleges unless I know they'll take me." "Underachieve, it's the only way to go." "That's what I should've done." "Geez." "Since it's clear some people think that I set my sights too high." " Don't be..." " Noodle, come on." " No..." " What's with her?" "The..." "Harvard?" "Is that it?" "Nope, nope." "Relax, it's just a news alert." "Two, two rebel groups in Somalia just started shooting at each other." "So you're really planning to travel alone into rebel-held land and negotiate a cease-fire?" "Yes, ma'am." "I admire your passion, Anis, but there is fine line between badass and crazy pants." "How about you just give me a couple of days to work a little diplomatic magic?" "I already called the Somali president and asked him to send troops." "All due respect, ma'am, you know as well as I do that won't happen." "They've got no control here." "Maybe the U.N..." "My second call." "I spoke to the secretary general and the African Union, but they said it's too dangerous." "Which brings me back to you." "If you were still my employee, I wouldn't let you go." "Respectfully, ma'am, that's one reason why I left State to work for an NGO." "I think the rebel leaders will listen to me." "Global Relief Guild is well-regarded here." "Yesterday, they pointed an AK-47 at you and stole your grain." "Yes, but they didn't shoot me." "T-That's a show of respect." "Okay." "Not that you need my okay anymore." "Good-bye, Madam Secretary." "Yeah." "Hi." "I couldn't sleep." "Ice cream at 5:00 a.m.?" "You won't even let me have Sugar Bomb cereal, and that has ten essential vitamins and minerals." "Well, soon, you will be at college." "If you want, you can eat Sugar Bomb cereal morning, noon and night." "I'm sorry about last night." "I know you were trying to help." "It's really okay." "I know you're stressed out, it's a stressful time." "You remember when Stevie was waiting to hear from Lovell, and she wanted us all to start calling her Stephanie..." "Okay." "Could we please not talk about Stevie?" "Yeah, sure." "It's just, I knew this whole process would be a nightmare." "I just thought it would be mine." "A nightmare just for me." "Well, and who doesn't want that?" "Your Dad and I are very proud of you, Noodle." "I know." "But Stevie is pretty much everything you guys love, wrapped up in one stylish package." "She's smart, she's serious, cares about the world." "I know you guys work hard to understand what I care about." "I-It's not work." "Not at all." "Ali, you open doors for us." "Show us things that we might otherwise miss, like, I don't know, color and beauty and how people express themselves differently." "You're an artist, and we are proud to have one in the family." "Your Dad and I, we love our kids more than you can imagine." "Mostly 'cause you're ours." "But we also love your differences." "Even Jason?" "Even Jason." "Your assistant said you had news on the VFF." "We hope to make arrests this week." "That was fast." "An anonymous tip about several shipments of hospital-grade medical equipment led to an abandoned blood work lab near Baker City, Oregon." "And you think that's where Dr. Zanner's planning to finish their biological weapon." "Another tipster claimed he saw three VFF guys at a gas station off Interstate 84." "We're waiting for video confirmation, but the Portland field office is preparing to raid the lab." "Well, I'm glad I was wrong." "I'll start working up the interrogations." "Thing is, Henry... we're taking you off the case." "We brought you on to be Ian Conroy's handler while he was inside the militia." "That element of the mission is over, and to be honest, Director Doherty isn't happy with how it all went down." "He made that very clear yesterday." "But I still think my knowledge as a religious scholar could be helpful." "The mission is now strictly search and capture." "No religion required." "No religion required?" "She actually said that?" "Yep." "Well, you took a bullet for this case." "Literally." "I mean, I like Marguerite, but geez, she can be harsh." "Anyway, I'm handling my concern very constructively." "I ordered Chinese for dinner." "Well played, Professor." "I will be home in a moment." "Or not." "Don't hold the Kung Pao." "I'll call you later." "What is it?" "Anis Musse." "He went into rebel territory to negotiate a truce." "God." "Is he dead?" "No, no." "He's, he's alive, and as far as we know, he's not hurt." "Nadine, you got to lead with that." "Sorry, ma'am." "Anis had secured an agreement with the leader of the Revolutionary Army of Somalia." "But then at his second meeting, the Somali Independence Front grabbed him up." "They say the Revolutionary Army hijacked the grain yesterday, so they want the next shipment." "Obviously, we can't pay a ransom." "And we can't go in and get Anis either." "DOD won't authorize a rescue while the rebels are in an active shooting war." "Now we need someone to negotiate a cease-fire and pull Anis out of there." "And the rebels won't listen to anyone." "They only hear the voice of guns." "Then... maybe we need someone who speaks their language." "Dito Pirosmani." "The gunrunner?" "What are you, crazy?" "Ma'am." "Dito Pirosmani sells the rebels their weapons." "They need him." "Which means that he holds sway over them." "All due respect, this may be the most cynical play I've ever heard." "Well, I will take cynical over mass starvation." "Plus, it is the only way I can think of to save Anis." "Okay, but why would Pirosmani ever agree to help us?" "A cease-fire works against his self-interests." "We need to get him to see the big picture." "Pirosmani makes a huge effort to stay out of our crosshairs." "Who knows?" "He might welcome the opportunity to have us in his debt." "And, as my mother always said, no harm in asking." "Let's reach out to any foreign officials who might have a way to contact him." "We're doing this." "Mr. Brennan, hi." "Thanks for coming in." "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Madam Secretary." "Last time you contracted with Vesuvian, you dealt with my former partner, Isaac Bishop." "Yes, I heard he retired and you bought him out." "Yes, he asked that I tell you he continues to lead humanity astray from the comfort of his dark underworld lair." "Come on in." "Do you want some coffee?" "Blake took excellent care of me." "I'm good, thanks." "Okay." "What can Vesuvian Security do for you, ma'am?" "Well, an American NGO worker has been taken hostage in Southern Somalia." "I heard about it." "And I feel for the guy, but that situation is too unstable right now." "I'm not gonna send my men into a de facto war zone." "I'm not asking you to." "We're going to try and negotiate a cease-fire." "Assuming we do, I'd like for you to send in a team to act as security for Global Relief Guild when they send in their next shipment of aid." "On the way out, you guys will pick up the hostage." "Okay." "But how exactly do you plan on getting that cease-fire?" "You had your staff reach out to a known arms dealer?" "Unofficially." "And they asked him to negotiate with Somali rebels on behalf of the United States?" "To help bring an end to the conflict, feed 50,000 starving people and rescue Anis Musse?" "Yes, I did." "Pirosmani is a dangerous, unstable individual." "He's also afraid of the U.S., and we can use that to our advantage." "What's your plan, Bess?" "According to our contacts," "Pirosmani believes that the CIA has launched multiple sting operations in an effort to take him down." "He is asking for a handshake agreement in person, that if he continues to steer clear of American interests, we'll steer clear of him, legally speaking." "CIA doesn't have any operations targeting Pirosmani." "And no plans to launch one." "Yes." "But he doesn't know that." "Also, during this meeting, I may be able to get some Intel on our Texas depot suspect Anton Jankovic." "Apparently, these arms dealers, they-they keep tabs on each other." "So, potentially, Pirosmani can help us recover some of that stolen weaponry." "Or, potentially, this blows up into a scandal worse than arms for hostages." "What's our alternative?" "Abandon Anis Musse and allow the people of Saakow to die?" "Take the meeting, Bess." "Thank you." "Madam Secretary." "Hi." "You come long way to meet Dito." "Yes, indeed I did, Mr. Pirosmani." "Because I think that together we can save thousands of lives." "Yes, how you say, we make good team?" "Well, I-I sure hope so." "It's a shame you cannot stay longer time in Africa;" "It's a beautiful place." "Happy people." "When not starving and killing each other." "So, um... how Dito can help United States?" "Seven minutes, everyone." "You guys are already here." " Yeah." " Ready and waiting." "Bring it, Rafferty." "Has Mom called yet?" "She will, don't worry." "What if she forgets?" "Or she forgets about the time difference or something?" "Sorry, I ju..." "I'm just feeling sympathetic anxiety for Ali." " Anything from Harvard?" " Nope." "Well, listen, Mom is not gonna forget." "This e-mail from Rafferty is the most important thing on her mind right now, trust me." "I sincerely doubt that, but okay." "I actually made sure she won't flake." "How'd you do that?" "So in exchange for your help, the CIA would immediately shelve its undercover investigation into your business dealings." "Jay, what was it called?" "Operation Top Gun." "I am willing to speak with friends in the Somali Independence Front and the Revolutionary Army of Somalia, make them to stop fighting and release the American aid person." "Excellent." "It's, all well and good, but... how you say... hypothetically, it'll cause loss to business for me." "Just a temporary cease-fire." "They'll be buying your illegal weapons again in a few days." "Hypothetically." "I am a legitimate businessman with interests all over world." "I must have compensation." "Yes, but as I already explained," "I can't pay you cash." "It... could be considered illegal." "That is the second time you use this word, "illegal."" "I think we're done here." "Better luck next time catching Dito." "You know, Mr. Pirosmani, back in the States, we have a word for what you are, and it isn't "businessman."" "It's "omnipreneur."" "It's like entrepreneur, only global." "You go where the action is." "Yeah, I like it, it's a good name for me." " Yeah." " Yeah." "We're all friends here." "What is it you're looking for?" "Here is my proposal." "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Ooh." "Ma'am, I think it's time for that conference call to the States." " Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Mom." "Mommy." " Um..." " Mommy." "Mom." "Mom." " I actually... this is very..." " Mother." "Mom." " Five minutes." " Mommy." "Mother." "Mother." " It's a conference, five minutes." " Thank you." " Busy Madam is... multitasking." "Mother." "Mom..." "I already had a fail-safe reminder system in place." "Blake was all over it." "I just wanted to be absolutely sure you were here." "Okay, here we go." "Is that it?" "Ready?" "Five, four, three, two, one." "I got the e-mail." ""Dear Ms. McCord, it is our pleasure to inform you..."" "Yes!" "My God!" "Noodle!" "I'm so proud of you." "Yes!" "Well, clearly I wasted my time researching those other schools." "Rafferty knows a fashion star when they see one." "I'm so proud of you." "I am so sorry about that." " Thank you." " That's all right." "You were saying you had a proposal for me." "Call it a gesture of good faith." "A 360-foot mega-yacht." "Christened the Frisky Business, it boasts..." "It's the most bang for a buck." "Two helipads, three swimming pools." "And a submarine that doubles as an escape pod." "I know." "So in exchange for helping us, you want...?" "The Frisky Business." "Tac team raided the lab in Oregon three hours ago." "Bad news?" "The place was empty." "We spoke to the medical supply company that was contracted to deliver the equipment." "They said no one was ever there to take possession." "Everything was ordered online, and the credit card that was used?" "Stolen." "Tech is going through it right now, but this looks like a dead end." "So all of it was just a ruse to throw us off the scent." "The question is, where are they really headed, Henry?" "If you want to track the VFF, you've got to remember what they ultimately want." "To bring about the end times." "I can use your perspective." "Mo, I'm off the case." "And you're probably breaking federal law by just talking to me about this." "Then I might as well get something out of it." "I knew as leader of the free world" "I would make some tough decisions, but whether to give a billion-dollar yacht to an arms dealer, that I did not see coming." "If it helps, I also got this." "A phone number." "According to Pirosmani, that is the personal cell... of our depot suspect, Anton Jankovic." "So Pirosmani gets a yacht, and eliminates his biggest competitor." "Win-win for the bad guy." "I know, I know." "50,000 Somalis and one do-gooder American." "Yes." "Pirosmani's ready to fly to Somalia and begin the talks." "Anis Musse is released alive and unhurt, or there's no deal." "Yes, sir." "Elizabeth, hang on." "No, Russell, you heard the president." "Let it go." "Hey, I already have." "Faustian bargains always take me an extra minute." "No, no, no, I'm all in." "I just want you to know, I am gonna take care of this" "Harvard Law business." "'Cause this will not stand." "Not while I have breath in my body, and the private phone numbers of 40 Harvard Law mega-donors in my contacts." "Five years ago, I got a dictator's kid with a 2.5 GPA into that school, so believe me, I will get your far more capable daughter" " in as well." " Stevie heard from Harvard Law?" "Hey, you're home." "I was just gonna call you." "What was that for?" "Making me hear it from Russell Jackson." "Hear what?" "Don't even." "Don't-Don't give me this you wanted to wait until I got home, because I've been on a plane for about 18 hours straight, rushing home so Senator Asshat can go on some fact-finding mission tomorrow to Cabo San Lucas" "with his golfing buddies, and..." " What?" " How could you not tell me?" "I don't get it." "Why wouldn't she just tell us?" "Well... maybe she thinks we can't handle it." "Like we would judge or be disappointed." "I don't know." "I mean, maybe we put too much pressure on her." " Do we do that?" " No, we don't do that." "Maybe we do do that, but we don't realize we do that." "God, Henry... we could be "those" parents." "Think that they're really great and with it." " "With it"?" " Really, their kids hate them." "Look, before we throw out a solid parenting style that's worked pretty well for more than two decades, let's deal with the problem at hand." "There's only one thing we can do." "Right." " Talk to her." " Nothing." "The key to our solid parenting style is that we're always on the same page." "Usually always." "Look, we... we need to let Stevie come to us, and then we need to be as supportive as possible." "No..." " Pressure." " No judgment." "No advice." "You've made a list of positive things to say about her second choice, didn't you?" "Georgetown Law School has this great feminist program and semesters abroad." "I'm gonna go shower." "Okay." "It's done." "Dito Pirosmani worked out a cease-fire agreement with the rebel groups and the food is on its way to Saakow." " What about Anis?" " About to be released." "I guess Pirosmani really wanted that boat." " Is Brennan here?" " In the SVTC room." "He has a unit headed out to the Somali Independence camp to pick up Anis." "We've arrived at objective." "Madam Secretary, they just pulled up." "Ready Tomcat One." "We're approaching the target." "No rebels in sight." "Let's go." "No sudden moves, fellas." "Movement." "That's him." "That's Anis." "We have confirmation on target." "Over." "Mr. Musse, approach slowly." "God." "Contact, contact!" "Return fire." "Return fire." "Go, go, go!" "What the hell?" "Why are they shooting?" "Snipers must have gotten spooked." "Leader One, I need a sitrep." "Come in, Leader One." "Over." "Do we have eyes on Anis?" "Leader One, can you see the target?" "Over." "Negative on the target." "Run for cover." "I know I said this would be a non-combatant evac operation, but we can't leave him." "Leader One, take the house." "Over." "Roger that." "Blue team, move in." "Where's Anis?" "Grab the package and get out." "We've secured the package." "Thank God." "He's wounded but okay." "Can you walk, sir?" "Yeah, I think so." "Clear." "All clear!" "Can your team administer first aid?" "Of course." "Then they'll chopper him to Aga Khan hospital, in Mombasa." "Good." "And have your men confiscate the rebel weapons." "I'll need a breakdown." "We're sure this is the last of it?" "That stack was processed this morning." "This is everything pulled from VFF's compound." "Okay." "Okay..." "What if they aren't planning an attack in the U.S. at all?" "I mean, that would be good, right?" "Not necessarily." "I was convinced the higher-ups at FBI had tunnel vision when it came to VFF, but what if we do, too?" "In this sermon," "Slattery writes about the journey to Heaven." "I assumed he was referring to the Rapture, when the righteous are taken home." "But now I believe he was referring to Israa, the Miraculous Night Journey." "Is that a Bible story?" "It's from the Qur'an." "Muhammad traveled from Makka to Jerusalem in the same night, and then ascended into Heaven." "Specifically, he went to what is now the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, so that God could show him His signs." "It's otherwise known as the Temple Mount." "The holiest place in Judaism." "Today the Old City is under Israeli control, but not the mosque." "That's administered by an Islamic group made up of Jordanians and Palestinians called the Waqf." "Now, Slattery is following signs of the end times in the real world... plague, droughts." "But a key element of the prophecy is that the Lord's Temple will be rebuilt on the Mount." "Which is unlikely, given that the Waqf is in charge of the mosque." "But if the mosque were destroyed..." "We think their plan is to drop a biological weapon on the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a false flag." "To Arab countries, it will seem like Israel is trying to poison the land so that they can destroy the mosque and rebuild the temple." "Neighboring Muslim countries will then attack." "The U.S. will step in to defend its ally." " Russia will go to Iran." " World War III." "If we're right, they'll make their move during the annual celebration of Muhammad's journey, known as Lailat Al Miraj." "Which is when?" "Three weeks." "Slattery's people will be trying to make their way out of the U.S. and into the Middle East." "Small window." "Let's get into it." "Dr. McCord, we clearly could still use your expertise." "I'd like to officially reinstate you, if you're game." "Okay, I'll get to work." "Can I help?" "Um, you can get the matches." "They're over there somewhere." "By the way, I have some news." "My God, you already know?" "I don't know." "Mom, I don't know how you made it 20 years in the CIA with that" " lousy poker face." " Fine." "Russell told me." "I know you should have heard it from me, but, um..." "I just..." "I was gonna tell you after Ali found out about Rafferty, but, I mean, she was so happy, and I really didn't want to rain on her celebration, so..." "Are you okay?" "I mean, I'm not happy, but I'm okay." "'Cause Russell's ready to storm the castle to get you off the wait list." "I already told him that I'm going to write a letter to the admissions board, you know, pleading my own case." "I feel like it's the least that they can expect from a future graduate." "Mom..." "I am so proud of you." "So we're doing candles on this," " "got into college" cake?" " Yeah." "We're all just kind of winging it, babe." "Okay." " Let's do this." " Let's do it." "Thank you guys." "Whoo!" "Um, I have an announcement." "Rafferty changed their mind?" " No, I did." " What?" "I'm not going to Rafferty." " What do you mean?" " What?" "Why?" "I spent some time on the message boards, and I realized that a lot of these kids sounded super obnoxious and superficial and braggy." "Sounds like you found your people." "Go get plates." "And with that, I was so determined to get into Rafferty," "I kind of ignored all the stuff that bothered me about it." "Like the fact that they don't focus enough on the business aspect of the industry." "So I've decided to go to Bayard's." "Omnipreneur program." " Wow." " Wow!" "It combines my love for fashion with concrete business skills." "That's awesome, Ali." "And it's in D.C." "Which is the down side." "Not for me!" "Okay, hey, here's to your new first choice." "Yes." "Congrats." "Looking good, badass." "I'm feeling good, Madam Secretary." "And I hear the food aid has been distributed in Saakow." "Not only that, the cease-fire is holding, and an African Union mediation team is on their way." "Well, fingers crossed we get a heavy rainfall when the Dayr comes, or you and I could be right back in the same boat." "One crisis at a time." "That's my motto." "Thanks for saving my ass." "Ma'am." "I'll talk to you soon." "Ma'am, Daryl Brennan sent this over for you." "Thanks, Blake." "During the rescue, when the rebels were firing on the Vesuvian team, it took me back to my CIA training." "I can still hear the difference." "On full auto, the Kalashnikov cycles more slowly than the M16." "The photos just confirm my theory." "We thought the rebels had AK-47s, but some of these are M16s." "Where did they get U.S. weapons?" "From the Texas depot." "The serial numbers are filed off, but they check out." "And we're sure Dito Pirosmani sold the rebels their guns?" "Pirosmani stole American weapons and sold them on the black market." "He ordered the murders of Agent Garcia and Barry Milken." "And we let him slip away." "Well, at least we didn't compound our idiocy by giving him a billion-dollar boat." "I'd scuttle the Frisky Business before letting that happen." "Any idea where he is?" "CIA says he flew out of Mogadishu on a private jet right after the cease-fire was declared." "They're trying to track him down, but he's gone." "Thanks for coming in, Henry." "Sure." "What's going on?" "We tracked Slattery and the others to the Port of Baltimore." "Two days after the VFF raids, they booked berths on a freighter headed for Greece." "Disembarked five days ago." "From there, it would be easy for them to catch a smaller ship to Lebanon, Turkey." "Or they could be traveling over land." "They could be anywhere by now." "Gentlemen... welcome to Syria."