Sunday, December 03, 2006
When Fiction Meets Reality - Pt. 5
He left the studio and went back out to his car where he used the on-board computer to download a blueprint of the building to his PDA. He spotted a security guard and called him over. The guard showed him the office of the head of security and Jack thanked him, locked up his car and headed over to the office the guard had pointed out.
Two guards tried to stop him, but his badge got him past this obstacle and into the reception area. The receptionist wasn't much harder to convince and she called her boss, Mr. Lyland, informing him there was a federal agent requesting to see him. Lyland let him into his office less than five minutes later.
"What can I do for you?" Lyland asked a little dryly.
"I'm agent Bauer, I work with the counter terrorist unit right here in Los Angeles. At this time we're looking into a number of threats issued against Mr. Sutherland and the Fox network."
"I wasn't informed of that." Lyland replied.
"I didn't think you were, which makes the issue even more troublesome."
"What issue?"
"The fact I was waved through the main gate. The guards never checked their log and they hardly looked at my badge.If there is a threat against the network, I would expect your people to be a little more vigilant, especially since you weren't informed of CTU's involvement in this investigation."
"I'll check who was at the gate. What time was this?"
Jack checked his watch. "An hour and a half ago."
"I'll look into it."
"Make sure your people are aware of their responsibilities. It's a lot easier to contain a situation at the gate rather than having a hostile or hostiles on the loose inside the compound."
"I know. I'll make sure everybody's up to speed on this."
"Thank you."
"Will you be coming back?"
"I've been assigned to Mr. Sutherland's security until the problem is solved."
"I'll make sure to have a badge ready for you. I'll have it dropped off at the main gate."
"How long will it take?"
"About two hours. I'll need a picture ID."
Jack handed him his CTU ID card. "Let me just scan that."
Lyland went to his computer and inserted the card in a digital card reader. He hit a few keys and the card reader lit up, scanning the card and transferring the image to the computer. Once the image was on his computer, Lyland handed his ID card back.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I'm going to need clearance for one of our technical teams."
"Sure, how many on the team?"
"Two."
"CTU people?"
"Absolutely."
"So they'll have an ID card looking like yours?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'll make sure the main gate is informed."
"Thank you."
They shook hands and Jack left the office. Once outside, he called CTU to request a team for a sweep. He went back to the building and into the studio, noticing the red light above the door and he went in quietly, staying close to the wall to make sure he stayed out of everybody's way. He came up behind the producer's station and watched the scene they were currently shooting. It involved Kiefer and he was getting his butt whipped. One thug held him while another one threw a few punches at him with a third one looking on.
"Cut!" Jon yelled at a certain point, startling Jack.
The thug that had been holding Kiefer let go of him at once and he straightened.
"That sucked." he exclaimed at once.
"You're not leaning your weight into it." he continued, addressing the man who had been punching him. Jon joined them and confirmed Kiefer's words.
"I don't want to risk hurting you." the man replied.
"We're not asking you to hurt him," Jon interjected, "we're asking you to make it look real." The other hesitated, his eyes shooting back and forth between Kiefer and Jon.
"If you can't do it, we'll have to find someone who can." Jon warned.
"I'm not an actor, I'm a stuntman." the man replied.
"That's a lame excuse." Kiefer said coldly. "You knew what the job was when you accepted it, you shouldn't have accepted it if you didn't think you could do it."
He turned and addressed the man who had been holding him. "Do you think you could pull it off?"
"Sure. I've done it before."
"That's wasting time Kiefer." Jon said.
"Not necessarily. We can use the scene where they grab me but when he comes at me, I kick him down, pull loose and turn on him. You land one to the face and follow in with one to the gut and then he can grab me again and we pick it up from there."
"Sounds good to me." Jon agreed.
Both stuntmen nodded and they decided to rehearse the scene. Kiefer talked the others through it and the second stuntman did a much better job at beating him up than the first one. They went over it twice more to allow Jon to reposition some of the cameras. Once everybody was ready, Jon counted down and they started taping. Seconds into the scene, Jack's cellphone started to ring, startling not only him, but Jon and the actors on the set as well.
Jon yelled an aggravated "Cut!" and gave him a cold stare while he plucked his phone out of his pocket. Jack apologized and answered the call, heading for the door. It was Nina and she had the information he asked for.
"Send it to my PDA."
"It's on its way."
"Okay, thanks."
Jack ended the call and turned off the ringer volume; he wouldn't interrupt another take. Seconds later, his PDA chirped and he turned off the volume on that too. Both devices would only emit their buzzing warning from this point on. He checked the list Nina had sent him. Four names were on it, one female, three male. He would have to run the names by Kiefer to see if he remembered anything about them. He went back inside and found them in the middle of a new take of the same scene. This time everything ran smoothly and Kiefer seemed satisfied when they were done. He joined Jon and the others at the screens to have a look at it and Jack took the opportunity to apologize to him personally.
"I'm sorry about that."
"That's okay." Kiefer replied lightly, "Just make sure to turn it off."
"I did." Jack assured him. "Nina sent me a list I would like you to have a look at when you have a chance."
"We're kind of busy here." Jon interrupted, "Can't it wait?"
"I did say ‘when you have a chance'." Jack replied calmly, "I was merely passing on some information."
"Let me just check if this scene is any good and we'll have a look at your list in a minute."
They all gathered around the screens and discussed the scene, deciding they would have to try it again. "But maybe you'd better have a look at his list first." Jon said bluntly.
"Jon, he's trying to do a job just like we are." Kiefer replied, getting a little aggravated at the situation. He turned to Jack and saw the cold gaze directed at Jon.
"I think you just turned into a suspect." Kiefer chuckled, "I think you'd better keep a low profile before he takes you in for questioning." he added, slapping Jon on the shoulder. "We need to give this another go." he said, addressing Jack this time.
"I don't mind, I'm not going anywhere and neither is that list." Jack replied, shifting his gaze to Kiefer, the coldness seeping out of it.
"Good. Heads up everybody, we're rolling." Kiefer called, getting everybody's attention.
They spent another half hour on the same scene before they were satisfied with the result and wrapped it. The cast took a break while the crew kicked into action to set up for the next scene and Kiefer took Jack outside for a smoke. Jack showed him the four names Nina had sent him and Kiefer remembered 2 at once. The first one was a stuntman, the second a sound engineer.
"The stuntman only worked here for three days." Jack said, "Why was he fired?"
"He got killed." Kiefer replied, "It happens a lot on this show." he added with a grin.
"Did you kill him?" Jack asked, referring to the character Kiefer played. He didn't even know which name he used on the show.
"I'm not sure, but his contract was only for the duration of those specific scenes, there wasn't any trouble."
"And the other guy? The sound engineer?"
"If I remember correctly, he didn't meet the profile. We gave him the benefit of the doubt but he didn't meet the standards and we had to let him go."
"Any problems there?"
"No, he knew he wasn't up for the job. He actually appreciated the chance we gave him, but he had to acknowledge the fact he couldn't live up to the standards. Everybody tried to make it work, but it just couldn't."
"And what about the others?"
"I don't remember them. Could you find out what they did? Maybe if I knew where they worked."
"We could check with your personnel department."
"They would know for sure. Let's go." Kiefer said, flipping his cigarette away and going back into the building.
Jack followed him into an office to the left of the hall where two ladies greeted them with bright smiles. Again, Kiefer gave both ladies a peck on the cheek before getting down to business. Within minutes, they had found the files on the two remaining names and Kiefer remembered the faces. One of them had been in wardrobe but he didn't like the work and had left after about three weeks. The last one, the only woman on the list, was a technician but she had quit because of personal issues. There had been no problems with any of them, but Jack sent the names back to Nina, requesting she do a complete background check on all four of them.
"I'd rather be safe than sorry." Jack explained when he noticed Kiefer's questioning look. "I try not to let appearances deceive me."
"Is there anything else we can do now?"
"I'm still waiting for the team to sweep your dressing room, they should be here soon. And once they're done and the place is clean, I'd like to have a look at those letters you've been getting."
"I think we'll be quitting for lunch after this next scene." Kiefer replied, checking his watch. "Linda, could you prepare that file for us?"
"Sure Kiefer, I'll have it ready and waiting for you."
"You have those letters here?" Jack asked.
"Copies." Kiefer replied, "The originals were given to the proper authorities, but they've given us copies of every single one of them."
"Good. I'll check into that as soon as I've set the team to work in you dressing room. I hope they'll be done before you take your lunch break. I don't want them to bother you."
"Oh, don't worry about that, I don't usually spend my lunch break in my dressing room, I probably won't be in there until we're done for the day."
Jack suddenly felt his cellphone vibrate and he excused himself to take the call. It was the technical team and they had just cleared security. "Well, speak of the devil." he said after ending the call, "The team just passed security. I'd better let you get back to work and I'll get them started in your dressing room."
Kiefer thanked the ladies and went back to the studio while Jack went out to meet the team. They parked next to his car and got their gear out. Jack led them into the building and straight to Kiefer's dressing room.
"I want to know if there's any kind of surveillance in here. There are 3 cameras that were put up by their own security people and connected to the monitoring room. I want to know if anybody could tap into that and if there's anything else in here that shouldn't be."
"Can those cameras be switched off while we sweep the place?" one of the men asked.
"I'll see what I can do." Jack promised.
He picked up the phone and hit the speed dial button for security. That wasn't bad thinking, if something happened, help was only one button away. The phone rang only twice before someone picked up. "Security."
"This is agent Bauer, I need to know if you could shut down the cameras in Mr. Sutherland's dressing room while we sweep it for surveillance. The signal might throw our equipment off."
"Agent Bauer? Special Agent Bauer from CTU?"
"That's right."
"Can I have your ID card number sir?"
"Hang on." Jack fished his badge out of his pocket and checked the ID card number. "613-551-Bravo India"
"Thank you sir, we'll shut the cameras down until we hear back from you."
"Thank you." Either these guys were more professional, or Lyland had already given instructions.
The readings went down on one of the displays and the technician nodded to his colleague. "The cameras are down."
"I want you to check every square inch, use the finest brush you can find and keep me posted if you find anything."
"Where will you be?"
"You can call me on my cell if you need me."
"Okay."
Two guards tried to stop him, but his badge got him past this obstacle and into the reception area. The receptionist wasn't much harder to convince and she called her boss, Mr. Lyland, informing him there was a federal agent requesting to see him. Lyland let him into his office less than five minutes later.
"What can I do for you?" Lyland asked a little dryly.
"I'm agent Bauer, I work with the counter terrorist unit right here in Los Angeles. At this time we're looking into a number of threats issued against Mr. Sutherland and the Fox network."
"I wasn't informed of that." Lyland replied.
"I didn't think you were, which makes the issue even more troublesome."
"What issue?"
"The fact I was waved through the main gate. The guards never checked their log and they hardly looked at my badge.If there is a threat against the network, I would expect your people to be a little more vigilant, especially since you weren't informed of CTU's involvement in this investigation."
"I'll check who was at the gate. What time was this?"
Jack checked his watch. "An hour and a half ago."
"I'll look into it."
"Make sure your people are aware of their responsibilities. It's a lot easier to contain a situation at the gate rather than having a hostile or hostiles on the loose inside the compound."
"I know. I'll make sure everybody's up to speed on this."
"Thank you."
"Will you be coming back?"
"I've been assigned to Mr. Sutherland's security until the problem is solved."
"I'll make sure to have a badge ready for you. I'll have it dropped off at the main gate."
"How long will it take?"
"About two hours. I'll need a picture ID."
Jack handed him his CTU ID card. "Let me just scan that."
Lyland went to his computer and inserted the card in a digital card reader. He hit a few keys and the card reader lit up, scanning the card and transferring the image to the computer. Once the image was on his computer, Lyland handed his ID card back.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yes, I'm going to need clearance for one of our technical teams."
"Sure, how many on the team?"
"Two."
"CTU people?"
"Absolutely."
"So they'll have an ID card looking like yours?"
"Yes."
"Good, I'll make sure the main gate is informed."
"Thank you."
They shook hands and Jack left the office. Once outside, he called CTU to request a team for a sweep. He went back to the building and into the studio, noticing the red light above the door and he went in quietly, staying close to the wall to make sure he stayed out of everybody's way. He came up behind the producer's station and watched the scene they were currently shooting. It involved Kiefer and he was getting his butt whipped. One thug held him while another one threw a few punches at him with a third one looking on.
"Cut!" Jon yelled at a certain point, startling Jack.
The thug that had been holding Kiefer let go of him at once and he straightened.
"That sucked." he exclaimed at once.
"You're not leaning your weight into it." he continued, addressing the man who had been punching him. Jon joined them and confirmed Kiefer's words.
"I don't want to risk hurting you." the man replied.
"We're not asking you to hurt him," Jon interjected, "we're asking you to make it look real." The other hesitated, his eyes shooting back and forth between Kiefer and Jon.
"If you can't do it, we'll have to find someone who can." Jon warned.
"I'm not an actor, I'm a stuntman." the man replied.
"That's a lame excuse." Kiefer said coldly. "You knew what the job was when you accepted it, you shouldn't have accepted it if you didn't think you could do it."
He turned and addressed the man who had been holding him. "Do you think you could pull it off?"
"Sure. I've done it before."
"That's wasting time Kiefer." Jon said.
"Not necessarily. We can use the scene where they grab me but when he comes at me, I kick him down, pull loose and turn on him. You land one to the face and follow in with one to the gut and then he can grab me again and we pick it up from there."
"Sounds good to me." Jon agreed.
Both stuntmen nodded and they decided to rehearse the scene. Kiefer talked the others through it and the second stuntman did a much better job at beating him up than the first one. They went over it twice more to allow Jon to reposition some of the cameras. Once everybody was ready, Jon counted down and they started taping. Seconds into the scene, Jack's cellphone started to ring, startling not only him, but Jon and the actors on the set as well.
Jon yelled an aggravated "Cut!" and gave him a cold stare while he plucked his phone out of his pocket. Jack apologized and answered the call, heading for the door. It was Nina and she had the information he asked for.
"Send it to my PDA."
"It's on its way."
"Okay, thanks."
Jack ended the call and turned off the ringer volume; he wouldn't interrupt another take. Seconds later, his PDA chirped and he turned off the volume on that too. Both devices would only emit their buzzing warning from this point on. He checked the list Nina had sent him. Four names were on it, one female, three male. He would have to run the names by Kiefer to see if he remembered anything about them. He went back inside and found them in the middle of a new take of the same scene. This time everything ran smoothly and Kiefer seemed satisfied when they were done. He joined Jon and the others at the screens to have a look at it and Jack took the opportunity to apologize to him personally.
"I'm sorry about that."
"That's okay." Kiefer replied lightly, "Just make sure to turn it off."
"I did." Jack assured him. "Nina sent me a list I would like you to have a look at when you have a chance."
"We're kind of busy here." Jon interrupted, "Can't it wait?"
"I did say ‘when you have a chance'." Jack replied calmly, "I was merely passing on some information."
"Let me just check if this scene is any good and we'll have a look at your list in a minute."
They all gathered around the screens and discussed the scene, deciding they would have to try it again. "But maybe you'd better have a look at his list first." Jon said bluntly.
"Jon, he's trying to do a job just like we are." Kiefer replied, getting a little aggravated at the situation. He turned to Jack and saw the cold gaze directed at Jon.
"I think you just turned into a suspect." Kiefer chuckled, "I think you'd better keep a low profile before he takes you in for questioning." he added, slapping Jon on the shoulder. "We need to give this another go." he said, addressing Jack this time.
"I don't mind, I'm not going anywhere and neither is that list." Jack replied, shifting his gaze to Kiefer, the coldness seeping out of it.
"Good. Heads up everybody, we're rolling." Kiefer called, getting everybody's attention.
They spent another half hour on the same scene before they were satisfied with the result and wrapped it. The cast took a break while the crew kicked into action to set up for the next scene and Kiefer took Jack outside for a smoke. Jack showed him the four names Nina had sent him and Kiefer remembered 2 at once. The first one was a stuntman, the second a sound engineer.
"The stuntman only worked here for three days." Jack said, "Why was he fired?"
"He got killed." Kiefer replied, "It happens a lot on this show." he added with a grin.
"Did you kill him?" Jack asked, referring to the character Kiefer played. He didn't even know which name he used on the show.
"I'm not sure, but his contract was only for the duration of those specific scenes, there wasn't any trouble."
"And the other guy? The sound engineer?"
"If I remember correctly, he didn't meet the profile. We gave him the benefit of the doubt but he didn't meet the standards and we had to let him go."
"Any problems there?"
"No, he knew he wasn't up for the job. He actually appreciated the chance we gave him, but he had to acknowledge the fact he couldn't live up to the standards. Everybody tried to make it work, but it just couldn't."
"And what about the others?"
"I don't remember them. Could you find out what they did? Maybe if I knew where they worked."
"We could check with your personnel department."
"They would know for sure. Let's go." Kiefer said, flipping his cigarette away and going back into the building.
Jack followed him into an office to the left of the hall where two ladies greeted them with bright smiles. Again, Kiefer gave both ladies a peck on the cheek before getting down to business. Within minutes, they had found the files on the two remaining names and Kiefer remembered the faces. One of them had been in wardrobe but he didn't like the work and had left after about three weeks. The last one, the only woman on the list, was a technician but she had quit because of personal issues. There had been no problems with any of them, but Jack sent the names back to Nina, requesting she do a complete background check on all four of them.
"I'd rather be safe than sorry." Jack explained when he noticed Kiefer's questioning look. "I try not to let appearances deceive me."
"Is there anything else we can do now?"
"I'm still waiting for the team to sweep your dressing room, they should be here soon. And once they're done and the place is clean, I'd like to have a look at those letters you've been getting."
"I think we'll be quitting for lunch after this next scene." Kiefer replied, checking his watch. "Linda, could you prepare that file for us?"
"Sure Kiefer, I'll have it ready and waiting for you."
"You have those letters here?" Jack asked.
"Copies." Kiefer replied, "The originals were given to the proper authorities, but they've given us copies of every single one of them."
"Good. I'll check into that as soon as I've set the team to work in you dressing room. I hope they'll be done before you take your lunch break. I don't want them to bother you."
"Oh, don't worry about that, I don't usually spend my lunch break in my dressing room, I probably won't be in there until we're done for the day."
Jack suddenly felt his cellphone vibrate and he excused himself to take the call. It was the technical team and they had just cleared security. "Well, speak of the devil." he said after ending the call, "The team just passed security. I'd better let you get back to work and I'll get them started in your dressing room."
Kiefer thanked the ladies and went back to the studio while Jack went out to meet the team. They parked next to his car and got their gear out. Jack led them into the building and straight to Kiefer's dressing room.
"I want to know if there's any kind of surveillance in here. There are 3 cameras that were put up by their own security people and connected to the monitoring room. I want to know if anybody could tap into that and if there's anything else in here that shouldn't be."
"Can those cameras be switched off while we sweep the place?" one of the men asked.
"I'll see what I can do." Jack promised.
He picked up the phone and hit the speed dial button for security. That wasn't bad thinking, if something happened, help was only one button away. The phone rang only twice before someone picked up. "Security."
"This is agent Bauer, I need to know if you could shut down the cameras in Mr. Sutherland's dressing room while we sweep it for surveillance. The signal might throw our equipment off."
"Agent Bauer? Special Agent Bauer from CTU?"
"That's right."
"Can I have your ID card number sir?"
"Hang on." Jack fished his badge out of his pocket and checked the ID card number. "613-551-Bravo India"
"Thank you sir, we'll shut the cameras down until we hear back from you."
"Thank you." Either these guys were more professional, or Lyland had already given instructions.
The readings went down on one of the displays and the technician nodded to his colleague. "The cameras are down."
"I want you to check every square inch, use the finest brush you can find and keep me posted if you find anything."
"Where will you be?"
"You can call me on my cell if you need me."
"Okay."
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