Alias s04e01 Episode Script

Authorized Personnel Only (1)

Is this OK for me? I just got it.
For you, yes.
For you is very OK.
For me, too.
I am sorry for barging into you.
Is no problem.
Do you travel much? Yes.
For my work.
I like the train.
Yes.
What is your work? - I'm in chemical business.
- I knew something like that.
- You did? - Yes.
Because I look at your hands when I come in and I think: "He uses brain more than hands.
" I use hands also.
I am hoping so.
So what is in case? Chemical? - Chemical, yes.
- No.
Yes.
Something danger.
- In this? Danger? - Yes, in case.
- I don't believe.
- Yes, it's true.
Show me.
I want to see.
I want to see what you do.
What is so danger? What is inside can be used for good or evil.
Me too.
Open it.
I want to see everything.
Is isotope.
Unstable.
Yes.
What is it? - Here, turn up here! - What? The next street? Yes.
Left.
The alley! It's locked! It's locked! All right.
All right, at the very least, I deserve answers.
- We were compromised, Brodien.
- I figured that part out.
We were supposed to meet at 10:15, extract him by 10:25 - I was late.
- And I want to know why.
Watch the door, please.
There's a reason for protocol, you know that? Where were you? Can we save the debrief for the flight back? - Did you try to contact Agent Strum? - I told you, his life is at risk.
Look, he's in deep cover, Agent Bristow.
That's part of the job description.
Safety's on.
Mountaineer to Shopkeeper, please respond.
Mountaineer, this is Shopkeeper.
Shopkeeper, your cover's been blown.
We'll meet in the Minghang train yard.
Wait a second.
Wait, wait.
What are you How did you find me? - Shopkeeper, do you copy? - They know where I am.
They found me! What's happening? Hello, Sydney Bristow.
I heard about what you're wearing.
I like it.
But your work here in Shanghai is not so good.
You broke radio silence.
- Sloppy.
Disappointing.
- Who is this? What do you want? I got what I wanted.
We're tracking your radio signal right now.
- I know the building you're in.
- They just tracked your broadcast? - What? What are you doing? - Trust me.
No, I'm not just following you blind anymore.
- What's your plan? - I don't have time to type an itinerary.
You'll do what I say or you'll die.
Take off your shirt.
- That window's too small to climb out.
- I'm not climbing out.
- Close your eyes.
- What the hell for? - That burns.
- Better than a bullet.
Open.
- This part's gonna hurt more.
- No.
No.
I don't need that.
It's the details that matter.
Try not to scream.
- What is that for? - They'll be looking for two of us.
So we're both gonna walk out of here alone.
- They're gonna kill me, aren't they? - They might.
- You've gotta strut out of this club.
- I don't strut.
Look at yourself.
My ear hurts.
We'll meet at the Jing An station.
You won't need this.
What are you gonna do? They know what you look like.
In your complaint against Agent Bristow you stated that your pursuers tracked you to the restroom.
- Yes, ma'am, they did, when - When I made contact with Agent Strum.
I wanted to help him.
I made arrangements with Agent Strum to meet him at the closest LZ in Jing An.
- My intention was to extract him.
- That wasn't your purpose in Shanghai.
You were sent with one objective: Pick up surveillance photos from Agent Brodien Yes, ma'am.
Photos taken by Agent Strum, whose cover had already been blown.
That's presupposition.
A tip from an unauthenticated source and you opted to change the objective I made a judgment call.
You do understand that things don't always go as expected when you're in the field? I don't need a seventh-floor lecture from you.
I've read your report.
Even for you, Agent Bristow, your arrogance today is appalling.
It wasn't meant to be a lecture, Director Chase, just a reminder.
With all due respect, it's been 12 years since you've been field rated.
Your poor judgment apparently cost a man his life.
So, after dressing him up you violated protocol yet again by leaving your contact alone.
Mr.
Brodien would have been killed otherwise.
Miss Bristow, your record's a mess.
Your consistent disregard for protocol obviously speaks to some larger systemic dysfunction a psychological need to challenge authority.
If the Shanghai incident were an isolated one then perhaps a warning would suffice here.
But this is hardly the first time you've exhibited rogue behavior.
- What happened in Shanghai was not - Miss Bristow, it's my turn to talk.
I'm recommending to the board that you be stripped of classified clearance and assigned to the Dispatch Office at Langley.
You're transferring me to the mailroom? You'll report to Officer Hermelin 8am on Monday.
Let me get this straight.
- Is this a permanent reassignment? - Technically, that's what a demotion is.
I don't know exactly what you have against me, but my record has always been I resent you, and I'll tell you why.
It's conduct like yours that endangers the CIA.
It weakens us.
It forces us to take a defensive posture.
Wait a minute.
Am I supposed to defend my This is not a dialogue, Miss Bristow.
In Virginia, Monday morning.
If this is your decision, Director Chase I will no longer burden this agency with the hazard of my participation.
Are you opting to terminate your association with the CIA? I will say it in English for you.
I quit.
Yo! Vaughn, Vaughn! Bag's dead, man.
You can give it up.
- Thanks for coming.
- Thanks for sweating.
You all right? I think that a full month of psych evaluation is more than enough.
Really? For you? I don't know.
It was a little overkill, though.
- Come on, burning your house down? - It wasn't a happy home.
Still, fire.
Well, you kill your wife after learning she's a vicious, homicidal double agent and see how rational you are.
I just I want you to know that I'm there for you.
Whatever you need.
You know, if you need to stay with me for a while, 'cause your house is Ashes.
- I'm leaving.
- Leaving what? The agency? Is this because of Sydney? No, it's not because of Sydney.
It's because last year sucked.
It's because I don't have the desire to do not the desire, the need to do this job anymore, I don't have it.
So you're telling me that this stupid idea was all on your own? - Sydney didn't talk to you about this? - I haven't spoken to her this week, or last.
- You gotta talk to her.
- Well, I've already made my decision.
This isn't about you.
Her review was today.
Sydney quit.
Glad you found us.
Me too.
That wouldn't have been a very good start.
You did well with the committee.
Very convincing.
Thank you.
So were you.
I actually felt like I was in trouble.
Well, I can pull it out when I need to.
Come on, let me show you around.
How is that man's ear? Don't worry about Brodien.
He thinks he's a hero.
He has no clue Shanghai was a charade.
The agency's Pacific Rim surveillance worked out of this office until '98.
This place was dark until two months ago when Langley approved the division.
Miss Chase, I can't tell you what an honor it is to have been asked to be part of this operation.
I know you spoke of being hungry, looking for a fresh start.
That was nothing.
My father, Vaughn, irrelevant personal stuff.
I want to serve my country the best I can.
Well, this assignment will be a challenge for you.
More than you were led to believe.
The four of you were chosen, handpicked to help run this team.
The four of us.
Handpicked by whom? This is exciting.
Could I have a word, please? When I was approached about joining a black-ops unit within the CIA I thought I was doing the right thing.
While I appreciate the necessary protocol in assembling a new team, Arvin Sloane I understand you used to work for Sloane.
A criminal psychopath beyond verbal description.
I know all about Sloane.
Then allow me to ask the most obvious question in the history of time.
How can the CIA let that man, who ran what amounts to a terrorist cell within the borders of this country, run anything? You don't need me to explain the geopolitical landscape or to list this country's former enemies with whom we now collaborate.
- We have to draw the line somewhere.
- We can use him now.
His contacts, his expertise.
And he will be closely monitored.
I pity the man with that job.
Wait a minute.
With you here, Vaughn, Dixon and your father there's a built-in system of checks and balances.
If Sloane missteps you'll catch him.
Now, that's it.
This is your assignment.
I was just explaining how the CIA approached me.
Concerned that increased public scrutiny of the agency and the resulting red tape has impeded their ability to do their job what they asked me to set up for them was a covert unit one that is still governed by US laws but unhampered by bureaucratic chain of command with no accountability, except to ourselves.
That part was made clear.
Which part wasn't made clear? - That's me.
- No, it wasn't.
Well, quite frankly, I was surprised by their call, too.
Until I understood what it is they want.
Their own SD-6.
A unit that officially doesn't exist comprised of team members who have no apparent affiliation to the CIA.
They don't want to know how we do our day's work, only that it gets done.
And what is our day's work? His name is Yuri Komarov.
He's Russia's leading nuclear scientist.
Until last month when he disappeared with the only viable sample of Aurine-12 a deadly and highly unstable isotope.
Signal intercepts indicate that on Thursday Komarov will have a meeting on the train traveling between Belarus and Latvia.
We can assume he will be selling the isotope.
The CIA is unable to use that information, which is why we're here.
Sydney, Vaughn, you'll be on that train.
I can't believe this.
- I beg your pardon? - Nothing.
- The buyer, who is it? - We don't know yet.
But according to his grocery list, we can assume he's a serious threat.
We were able to intercept the protocol of the meet.
The buyer will be in the dining car at 8pm Greenwich Mean Time.
There will be a green fountain pen on the table.
He will ask Komarov if he would like some tea.
Komarov will reply that he prefers bourbon.
Dixon, you will be on point.
Sydney, you will recover Komarov and the isotope.
Vaughn, you will ID the buyer.
You will sell him a bogus isotope outfitted with a tracking device so that Langley can follow him back to his base of operations and grab him there.
Is that it? Komarov is known to rig his transport devices with self-destruct mechanisms.
Yes, that's correct.
So, Sydney, you'll need to get him to open the case for you.
Do you have any suggestions? I assume you'll come up with something interesting.
Jack, you'll set up the operational plan for wheels up 0600 hours.
- Are there any questions? - Besides "How did you get this job?" Sydney.
Syd.
What is this "APO"? It's the name of our new organization.
It's right on the door.
Authorized Personnel Only.
- I thought it was fitting.
- Excuse me.
I have to prep.
If I'd known Sloane was involved, not a chance.
It was a little deceitful, right? But then I thought if I refused the job, I can't watch over Sloane.
I'm having the same conversation with myself.
You know, I told Langley that I wanted to step down as director.
That life, that suit, was never for me.
I belong in the field.
- And then the offer came from Chase.
- "An elite, black-ops unit" speech? That's the one, and I was in.
Look, I understand your reluctance to work with me, given well, given everything.
Despite my former allegiance my betrayal of you and this country you can't deny it - we were a great team.
So I'll do this just once and ask you to please give me a chance.
One thing makes up for all this.
Having you as my partner again.
- Sorry to drop by.
- It's OK.
I miss you.
I wanted to say that I miss you.
I've been thinking - Obviously, about what - What you're afraid to - I'm not afraid, but I - You don't return my calls.
That's 'cause I could feel what was happening.
Can I come in? If you come in, we both know what's gonna happen.
I don't want that.
To jump right back in where we were, before everything.
To pretend like those years didn't happen.
Well, that would be nice, wouldn't it? But they did.
We need to take it slow, Vaughn.
You're probably right.
- You ready? - Ja, I think so.
You? Hello.
- Are you speaking English? - Yes, I speak.
See, for me.
This room.
Care for some tea? No, I prefer bourbon.
You're early.
I am eager to make exchange.
As am I, Mr.
Komarov.
I I am sorry.
- Ticket is good, no? - Yes, is good.
I was drink in dining car.
Too much.
I am for sleeping now.
Is there place for changing? Yes.
Bathroom.
Thank you.
You are cute.
I like these framings.
You want to do this in public? Mr.
Vadik is not afraid of the public.
And neither am I.
Is this OK for me? I just got it.
For you, yes.
For you is very OK.
You can't test power with toy from hardware store.
When the more comprehensive tests are done Mr.
Vadik will forward you the other half of your payment.
You're not very discreet.
Terror happens every day, around everyone.
And no one notices a thing until something detonates.
Mr.
Vadik and I rely on that.
What is your work? - I'm in chemical business.
- I knew something like that.
- You did? - Yes.
Because I look at your hands when I come in and I think: "He uses brain more than hands.
" You look familiar.
Sometimes people tell me I look like hockey player, Alexei Kovalev.
No.
That's not it.
Well, perhaps we have met before.
Maybe your boss, Mr.
Vadik, maybe I know him.
What is this? I don't know where you're from, but you're not Komarov.
Excuse me, this is me.
I'm getting off the train a little early.
Find out who he is.
Syd, they're on to us.
Get out of there.
There's one coming your way.
Move.
What is it? Get up.
Here.
Are you kidding? Syd, before we left, Jack came to see me with a message for you.
Your father wanted me to remind you that in Belarus we're not gonna have a tactical team.
So why is your father talking to you through me? When I was in D.
C.
, I know that you went to Wittenberg and I know your father was there.
What happened in Wittenberg? Sydney.
You were never supposed to have found this.
You wanna tell me what happened in Wittenberg? No, actually, I don't.
We now know the men on the train were working for Roman Vadik CIA's 26th most wanted.
Vadik's résumé has him responsible for the Chun Hai blast in '86, Mats Hu in '89 over 12,000 dead, total.
Close personal contacts of mine have confirmed Vadik's cooperation with known terrorist cells and planning a major attack within the next six months.
"Close personal contacts"? CIA wants Vadik.
- Yes, that's right.
- What's the move? Last year a foreign agent working on infiltrating Vadik's operation made particularly good progress.
She needs to be debriefed.
I'm sending you, Sydney.
I'll give you the details in my office.
Lucky me.
The agent working with Vadik's operation was with Argentine intelligence.
- Your daughter? - Your sister.
If Nadia's the one with intel on Vadik why not debrief her yourself? We went searching Nadia and I for an artifact built by Rambaldi its value immeasurable.
And we found it.
And we promptly handed it over to the US government.
That's how you got this position.
You bought it.
It turns out the pain that she felt as a result of her job was profound.
She chose to leave intelligence.
Are you sure she really left? Fake quitting seems to be all the rage.
She's out.
She's back in Argentina.
She wants nothing to do with me or this life.
You're awfully glib, Sydney.
Nadia left you on bad terms.
I suppose I have something to learn about being a father.
I can see why you don't want to go.
That wasn't meant to be glib.
I still don't know why you think she'll talk to me.
Because I see in her something I once saw in you: The need to work for what's right.
And because you know what it is to put aside personal issues.
And that That's a gift.
It's not a gift.
What it's been is a necessity, and it's become a burden and, quite frankly, something I have run out of patience for.
Vaughn, before she goes, you might tell her the truth.
No.
I'm not going to be a conduit to your daughter.
I've tried that before.
You can imagine how well that went over.
And no, she didn't say anything, if that's what you're asking yourself.
She hasn't said a word about anything that happened between the two of you which gives me an idea of what that is.
And, Jack, I hope for Sydney's sake that I'm wrong.

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