State of Affairs (2014) s01e02 Episode Script
Secrets & Lies
Previously on State of Affairs - I remember Aaron dying.
- Charlie! Aaron! Charlie, I think we found Fatah.
This might be the opportune moment to kill this bastard to avenge her son and your fiancé.
No one wants this guy dead more than I do except for her.
Charleston, are we going to get Abdul Fatah? What is the world gonna do when they find out the man who may have killed the president's son was a CIA asset, that he worked for us? No, no, no, sweetheart.
He was your asset.
He worked for you.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Hands.
Dear lord, we hope our son is currently entertaining you and keeping you as filled with laughter and joy as he did us in his brief time on this earth.
We do miss him so, especially on this day when his memory plays across our thoughts Things that were and were never meant to be.
Hold him and love him as we did.
Amen.
Since Aaron isn't here to make one himself, let's do birthday wishes.
Charlie, you go.
I guess I hope to not lose that feeling that he's near me Hey, babe.
That sense that he's still here.
That's comforting.
So I guess my wish is to not lose that.
That's good.
That's a good wish.
And you? What do you wish? My wish is for justice, that those who took him violently and way too soon are held accountable.
I just want the truth.
I want to know how my son died and what happened the last moments of his life.
You've been told and told, Marshall.
Secondhand accounts, Cece.
I wasn't there.
I wasn't on hand.
I don't know the truth of what really happened, and I can't live with that.
Guys, I promise to get you the truth and to get you justice.
But until then, a toast.
To Aaron.
To Aaron.
__ Hang on, Charlie.
Hang on.
This is Nick.
You know what to do.
Nick, this is five-alarm.
There's a photo, a photo no one should have.
Call me back as soon as you get this.
__ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ Capitan Capitan, capitan, capitan __ This is Nightfall reporting tragic.
I repeat, Nightfall reporting tragic.
Copy.
- Earl.
- Mm.
Oh, vodka.
You can't smell that.
Langley can smell it.
- Top drawer.
- Oh, God bless you.
I'll buy you another bottle, promise.
You bought me that one.
Sir, I've got a coded call.
Potential distressed asset.
Throw it over to me.
Put it up on my monitor.
Reporting tragic.
I repeat, Nightfall It's coming through our secure emergency frequency.
Someone's calling the home line.
Nightfall respond - Tragic.
- Let's authenticate.
- Nightfall.
- Nightfall.
Sounds like an asset cryptonym.
Nightfall reporting tragic.
Designation Nightfall, Anatoly Simonov, intelligence officer, Russian Navy.
He's been an asset since 1986.
Nightfall, this is Hilltop Proper.
State your mission.
You are secure.
Situation report.
I'm in a Soviet Piranha-class sub experiencing complete system loss near the bottom of the Bering Sea.
We're dead in the water at crush depth.
I've killed two of the officers on board this vessel and locked myself in the comms room.
It'll be a matter of time before I'm discovered.
This is Nightfall, standing by.
We're running back through sat images to see what was going on there the time the sub sank.
We don't know what that is Some type of storm front, but as you can see, that vessel's gone.
How far into U.
S.
waters are they? Too far to be an accident.
Does anybody wonder what the hell they were doing down there? It's gotta be the fiber optics.
We have fiber optic cables throughout that part of the ocean floor that carry our entire intelligence apparatus.
Were they cutting in then, trying to siphon the signals? Can you find out exactly what those cables hold? - POTUS will want specifics.
- On it.
Let's test-fire this guy and make sure he's legit.
Could be an FSB dangle.
If he's ours, make him tell us what they're doing down there.
Nightfall? Yes.
Yes, I'm here.
Who am I speaking to? This is Hilltop Proper.
What is your mission? I'm an intelligence officer with the Soviet Navy.
That's your backstop cover.
What are your mission protocols? I volunteered for this duty suspecting a covert detail against the U.
S.
Did you contact your handler? I've reached out, but I haven't heard back.
I undertook this operation alone.
And what did you find out? What were they doing down there? Tapping the cables, cutting into them and recording every piece of data.
Were they successful in the tapping? They were changing recording devices.
We have approximately six months of siphoned intel on board.
What kind of intelligence? Significant.
The GRU was very excited for me to bring the device.
So they know it was retrieved.
But they don't know about the storm.
This is the only communication possible.
Our cover story was a lost oil vessel.
We were searching for signs of it when we were blown off course.
We'll be back with you, Nightfall.
Stay patient.
Hilltop, we're presently exceeding crush depth.
- I don't - Nightfall, we're working the problem.
Keep your comms open.
Patience.
Okay, everything we had teed up for the book that isn't a top-five draft pick moves to tomorrow.
Nightfall is now page one.
Mo, you're ex-Navy.
Find out anything you can on the type of sub that would be used for skunk works spy craft and any probable personnel numbers.
Michelle, do I have that file that I called for This is Maureen James on the seventh floor.
Kurt, let's dig into Nightfall himself, his asset history, how we recruited him, any work he's done that I can actually brief POTUS on.
I already spoke with the Russia House.
Their clandestine services officer is on his way in.
They don't usually work at this hour.
Yeah, no one sane works at this hour.
Sorry I'm late.
I had a flat tire.
Is my fly open? I thought Skinner got fired.
He did.
His office is all cleared out.
So? When did Skinner and I become a package deal? Well, the CIA director was fired.
Were you not his briefer? Okay, and? Well, why would you need to be here if there's - No one here to brief? - Wow Guys, why don't you just come out and tell me to eff off? I'd prefer that over whatever the hell this is.
So the Agency asked you to come in? No one told me not to.
So what's up? Well, we have a Russian submarine that's compromised our fiber optics array, dead at the bottom of the Bering Sea, with one of our assets on board begging us to save him.
Well, we could get Jack Ryan on a helo, drop him into the Bering Sea This guy.
That's good.
You're serious? Guys, it's bad.
One of the lines in that cable bundle was highly classified D.
O.
D.
It carries all of our sensitive military communications to our bases in Europe and Asia.
That's war plans, weapons systems specs.
Worse.
What's worse? The Agency has its own highly secure line in that bundle.
They could access the identities of all of our station chiefs, undercover nocs, and foreign assets worldwide.
I'm talking names, addresses, everything.
And they're holding that intel on that submarine, six months' worth of transmissions.
If Russia finds out who are assets are They'd kill every one of them.
And their families and extended families.
And then they'll shop the rest of that intel to Iran, to North Korea.
All right, I'm calling the chief of staff, asking him to move POTUS's briefing - up to as soon as possible.
- This is urgent.
That means we basically have zero time Let's work.
Backup satellite shows a surface weather anomaly.
It's called a Sudden Arctic Cyclone, which we believe caused the accident.
We've got playback satellite imagery.
The sub has apparently fallen deeper than the craft was manufactured for.
They've compromised hull integrity and are taking on water.
How many personnel? Anywhere between 10 to 20 Russian Navy and at least one intelligence officer, our asset.
Our asset? CIA penetration inside the GRU, Russia's main intelligence directorate, code name Nightfall.
Do we know what they were doing on our side of the Bering? There's a highly sensitive fiber optics array in that region.
They tapped in.
The asset says they've already retrieved six months' worth of data.
It's on board now.
What kind of data? Madam, the information on that submarine could be devastating to national security for years to come.
Can they transmit back to Russia? No, we are jamming all outgoing transmissions except for the Agency's uplink to the sub itself, but our asset is running on borrowed time.
He's barricaded himself in the sub's comm room and has killed two Russian sailors.
We've redirected the Coast Guard icebreaker The Healy to that location.
How long before they get there? About 10 to 12 hours out.
It's the closest thing we have.
Get the joint chiefs to the situation room.
Let's step through this.
Okay, Charlie, you keep me apprised.
I need updates on the hour.
Of course, madam.
Oh, anything new on Fatah? No, ma'am, but ground branch is still beating the bushes.
Very well.
I don't like this submarine thing.
If it starts to smoke It'll burn.
I understand.
We need to announce the new CIA director today.
We can't have the Russians thinking that there's There's a vacuum in that post any longer.
Are you sure about our candidate? We announce this morning.
Make the call.
I'm shocked the SPOs let you through the front door.
God, I hate this place.
Such a pain in the ass here.
The parking sucks.
So you gonna tell me what's so DEFCON you had me coming down to Langley during midmorning gridlock? I got another text, this one with a photo.
__ - Huh.
- There were less than five people on that ship, Nick.
Two of them knew about Fatah, the same two sitting in this office.
I'm gonna say it again.
This all started when you got back to D.
C.
And I'm gonna say it again.
I'm not behind this.
Then I'm not letting whoever is burn me down with POTUS.
I feel like I'm lying to her, and I hate it.
All right, tell her about Fatah.
And violate my oath to the CIA? Find a way to get her to ask you about it.
No, not until I can piece it all together.
Piece what together? Kabul, the attack.
I have fragments, shards of memories that I-I can't fully trust, and until I can, I'm just chasing shadows.
I can't help you with that.
Then help me find out who's sending these texts and who took that photo Assuming, of course, it wasn't you.
Mo, Russia House just kicked up Nightfall's personnel sleeve.
It's a little late.
You want to take a look? Uh-huh.
Wait, what? Our asset on the sub, Simonov.
Right, yeah.
You find a new place yet? Yeah, Georgetown.
Waterfront? Key Bridge.
That's my hood.
I know bars.
I know restaurants, liquor stores, pie shops.
Who's that with Charlie? Nick.
Did you tell anyone, any living soul, about Fatah? And totally destroy my life as I know it? Then someone else is onto this.
Yeah, Fatah.
He knows that if news leaks that the biggest bad guy since Osama Bin Laden was actually a defunct CIA asset, it is going to be a nuclear winter for you.
And him.
Mutually assured destruction.
The same jihadists he's crawling around caves with, men like his boss, Sheikh Hakam, would leave him buried in one.
Charlie, I told you on the boat we didn't have him.
We never had him.
It's a fantasy.
He wanted off that ship.
He wanted those interrogations to stop.
No.
No, Fatah is the highest ranking terrorist this agency has ever turned.
There is an operational need for that intel.
What happened and why? Was he even behind the attack in Kabul? And if not, what was he doing in Kabul? And why was my fiancé killed? Once I hear that from him, I'll put a bullet in his head myself.
Let me know.
I'll meet you somewhere close.
Heard through my old grapevine we got an icebreaker on the way.
Wish it were a freighter, something big enough to winch them up.
Yeah, no kidding.
Was that, uh, Nick Vera in your office? You know it was, nosy.
So he's back from deployment, huh? Back from his busy life of corrupting the hearts and minds of female analysts abroad to doing so domestically.
All right, I know you were never a big fan.
On your list of understatements, that one is top three.
You hate him.
I got it.
I despised him, and I still do, especially after he met with my customer yesterday.
- What? - Yeah.
Nick Vera sat with the Defense Secretary? I was dropping off some reports at the end of the day, and he was leaving the office.
- What was he doing there? - I don't know yet.
But when he left, the Secretary pointed to the door and said, "there goes one scary son of a bitch.
" I wanted to say, "sir, you don't even know the half of it.
" There's no way that that Piranha-class submarine is holding up down there.
- No - It's a matter of time.
- Yeah.
- Where's Lucas? Haven't seen that guy in a while.
Maybe the hammer came down.
- He didn't even say good-bye.
- Oh.
Okay, we've got a Coast Guard icebreaker, the USCG Healy, headed in from the Kotzebue Sound area.
It's gonna take at least half a day to get there.
Yeah, only vessel in the region officially.
Hey, Dash, can you get on the phone and find out what covert ops we're working - in the Arctic region? - Yep.
From what we can tell from the scans, they're sitting right at the precipice of a deep water trench.
If it slides any deeper, the pressure will implode the sub.
How much air would they have with all their systems down? POTUS is meeting with the joint chiefs.
Let's see if a plan emerges.
Charleston Tucker? You had a 50/50 shot.
You're, uh, from Russia House.
Yeah, Garret Hansen.
Garret, can you download us a little? We're trying to figure out who Nightfall's handler is and why we haven't buttoned this guy.
Well, that's the unfortunate thing.
His handler was Martin Canfield.
That's why Simonov never heard back.
God, Marty died in a car accident like a month ago.
He worked for my father.
Do you want to take over communications? He is your House's asset.
No, no, my director said that if you've already established rapport, I'm to let you continue.
Did he speak Russian or something? No, he's speaking English.
Why, do you speak Russian? No.
Cool.
Okay, that's useful.
Mr.
Simonov? Mr.
Simonov? Yes, I'm here.
Listen, I can't imagine how alone you must be feeling right now, but I wanted you to know that I knew Marty Canfield very well.
He worked for my father.
I hope that's at least a little comforting.
He's a good man.
Yes, very.
Is he well? Actually, no.
Marty passed about a month ago.
He was in a car accident.
I mean your father.
Excuse me? Marty's boss was a man named Oliver Tucker, if memory serves, which makes you Charlie.
I'd heard you'd joined the Agency, but no one confirmed, of course.
Charlie, this is you? This is me.
I met you once.
You were 13, 14.
It was in a park near the Potomac.
You were playing with my daughter, Sabina.
Mr.
Simonov.
Anatoly, please.
Anatoly.
That means "sunrise," doesn't it? Yes, it does.
Anatoly, I've met with my superiors, and we're formulating a strategy.
A strategy? A possible rescue effort.
We have an icebreaker inbound.
Wow.
We're gonna get you out of there.
The temperature is dropping here.
The aft compartments are likely flooded from the damage, and our ballast pumps have no power.
I'm running out of time.
Anatoly! Anatoly! Anatoly __ _ __ Hey, guys, see those? Those are fast moving vessels headed toward that sub from the Gulf of Anadyr, from Russian waters.
Judging by that speed, they're gonna get there a lot faster than our icebreaker will.
__ Anatoly? Anatoly, can you keep them out? Are you armed? - I have a seven-shot pistol.
- Stay calm.
I'm gonna take this information to my principle.
Anatoly! That's where we're at right now, madam.
A rescue effort gets a lot less likely with Russian destroyers in the water.
I spoke with the Russian president.
He says they were simply blown off course.
That's what the asset said their cover story would be.
Are you suggesting the Russian government lies? They're carrying six months' worth of covert communications.
We cannot let the Russians retrieve that sub.
They won't get the sub.
We're working the angles with State here.
Northern Command is getting involved as well, so it won't be much longer.
- Thank you, ma'am.
- Oh, one more thing.
I'm announcing a new permanent CIA director.
You're announcing the new CIA director? - When? - Today.
We can't have our most Important intelligence arm appear rudderless, and without a strong successor in that post It's more brinkmanship than anything else, but with this Russian sub in play, it's It's perfect timing.
May I ask who? Ambassador Raymond Navarro.
The former governor of Wyoming, Raymond Navarro? The very same.
He'll take office immediately, pending, of course, his permanent confirmation.
This is an important agency announcement, and I'd like you on hand.
Starts in an hour.
Of course, madam.
Ray Navarro is the new director? Isn't he from the other party? He is.
But POTUS likes that, empowering her former enemies, making them allies.
It's smart politics.
She wants me there now.
What? Is she not aware that we have a CIA asset dying at the bottom of the Bering Sea? She is, but she is the president of the United States.
The bottom of the Bering Sea is a couple thousand miles away from the Rose Garden.
Touché.
Okay, look.
Just keep an eye out on those ships and keep Simonov on the phone.
All right, keep him talking, keep him calm, and let him know that I stepped away, but I will be back as soon as I can.
Ray Navarro.
- Navarro.
- Yeah.
He's a stud.
Good boy.
- Yeah, good boy.
- Hi.
You have such a beautiful dog.
Oh, thank you.
Good boy.
What can I do for you, Charlie? I've been receiving texts, cryptic texts, like, "they know what you did.
" What do you need to know? Sender, point of origin, names, addresses, everything.
But not why, right? You already know what they think you did.
Is that Omar Fatah and Nick Vera? I need the information as soon as possible, Syd.
Give me a few hours.
I'll explain when I have more time.
Don't really care, kiddo.
Doesn't concern me.
Come on, Wild Bill.
Let's go.
All of a sudden, I hear a bear growl.
We both hear it, and I grab my tennis shoes.
I start lacing 'em up, and he says, "hey, you can't outrun a bear.
" I says, "well, hell, I only have to outrun you.
" You should tell the story about the Bangladesh couple in Macaw and that spider monkey.
I'm not gonna no, I'm not gonna tell that story.
Okay.
- Lucas.
- Charlie.
What are you doing here? Coronation.
New CIA chief.
And you're You've got to be kidding me.
I was put into the briefer's job for Ray.
Skinner's days were already numbered.
Ray First name basis, huh? I was posted with him overseas.
I was, uh, low profile.
So you knew all about this.
- Most of it.
- And you didn't think to tell the rest of the team? Oh, now we're a team? Just this morning, I was a leper who was late for a job that the team was convinced I no longer had.
- Charleston Tucker.
- Director Navarro.
- Such a pleasure.
- So nice to meet you.
I look forward to working with you, sir.
Yeah, no, I've heard quite a bit about you.
Well, I will do my best to overcome that.
No, no, not at all, no.
Lucas says nothing but good things.
I have no doubt.
So going from ambassador to CIA director, it's quite a leap, huh? Well, I've always felt diplomacy is the art of saying, "nice doggy," to a wolf until you find a big enough stick, and, um, I'm happy with my stick.
I would like to talk to you about something, uh, privately.
- Yeah? - Privately? It's operational.
- Mr.
Ambassador, we're ready.
- Yeah, right away.
Well, why don't you set it up with Lucas, and then we'll talk right after, Charleston.
- Okay? - Okay.
- It was lovely to meet you.
- You too.
Only, you won't be working with me.
You'll be working for me.
Hey, I'll see you out there.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you could follow me out to the Rose Garden, we can get started.
There are tape marks on which you are to stand.
If you do not like your spot, please do not complain to me.
I did not pick them.
I absolutely picked them.
Charlie.
The situation with the Russian sub You know we're not gonna get there in time.
I know.
The math doesn't make.
The Russians have threatened to fire on the Healy if we interfere with the reclamation of that sub in any way.
They're testing me.
Well, I certainly am not going to sit by while they hijack six months of our most sensitive intel.
You know, it occurred to me, none of this would be happening if that sub had sank altogether.
You want me to ask our asset to sink the sub.
I don't want you to.
I need you to.
He has performed almost on behalf of this nation, madam.
This sounds like a lecture.
No, ma'am.
But the truth is The truth, Charleston, is what we determine it to be, and it lies not in the facts but in the telling.
No, no, no.
I couldn't find anything.
I don't think I've ever heard you say that.
Because I never have.
Whoever's sending you these texts has real resources, someone like Nick Vera.
Are you saying Nick is doing this or speculating as much? He's poison.
Cut this guy loose, Charlie.
I can't.
He's linked to those texts that you've been receiving, isn't he? That's the only reason you haven't blown this bastard out of the airlock by now.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
I'm not gonna let you implicate yourself out loud or lie to me, so let's just do this the old-fashioned way.
He was there with you when you met Fatah, right? Let three seconds pass if I'm right.
How? Look at the photo.
A better question is, "why?" Why would he send you a photo with him in it? He's playing you to some end.
So watch out.
He's a liar and a manipulator, and if you let him, he will take you down.
Thanks, Syd.
Charlie, watch your back.
You've wandered into a world I can't protect you from.
I know.
Back already? I didn't attend the announcement.
Why not? The president asked me to do something.
We're not gonna save him, are we? Is he still talking? They've almost cut in with the torches.
He was frantic a few minutes ago, but he's gone quiet.
You guys read his file.
I need something Something that I can key in on.
How was he recruited? It was a sense of self-worth.
He told his handler, Canfield, that he wanted to be essential, someone important.
He believed the world was on the verge of a nuclear war, and he realized while he was here in college that the U.
S.
might be the reasonable ones.
Thank you.
Anatoly? Anatoly? Anatoly? I'm here.
They're getting through.
They'll soon open it.
Sir, I have a mission for you.
- A mission? - Yes.
Directly from the president of the United States.
The president? She knows who I am? Absolutely.
I just left her at the White House.
It's a mission only you can do.
I-I don't understand.
There are two Russian cruisers less than half an hour from your position.
We have an icebreaker sailing in, but the Russian ships are gonna beat us there.
If we fire on the cruisers, your country will respond.
Soon there will be war.
You and I have devoted our lives to avoiding a war between our nations.
I couldn't tell you this before, but I do remember you from the day in the park.
I-I remember playing with your daughter, and when you left, I asked my father who you were, and he said, "honey, that man is a hero.
" He never explained, but I remember thinking as I watched you walk away with your little girl how lucky she was that my own father thought of hers as a hero.
What is it that the president wants? Anatoly, that sub can't be recovered, those men can't be rescued, and that intel cannot be turned over to the Russian government.
Those secrets Your secret Must stay hidden for all time.
My daughter, Sabina, is at university, a freshman, premed.
Can you take a message to her? Yes, of course.
I know, guys.
Just let this one go.
Go ahead, Anatoly.
Sabina, my angel, I'm seeing you now, waving to me from the window of the cab when I last saw you.
I had the best time.
We talked, uh so much.
I will not see you graduate or become a doctor.
I will never meet my grandchildren, of which I wish you many.
But I have spent these last hours imagining the long life that awaits you.
And it was wonderful.
I'm in the last moments of my life, but I'm not sad.
I'm relieved.
I've done things in my time, treacherous, unforgivable things.
I've engaged in the most nefarious of professions out of a profound sense of duty.
For the lies I told and the lives I've taken, I ask only forgiveness from you, my love.
No matter what is said about me after I'm gone, know that I always, always loved you, my darling.
You were the only good, true thing in my life.
I will miss you.
Anatoly, is there anything you would like me to pass on to the president? No.
I said what I had to say.
Whatever last words I have I'll keep to myself.
Charlie, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
You know you can't play her the content of that recording.
I know.
Bury me under the sea.
I'm burning.
Carry me off in my dreams.
I am screaming.
Bury me under the sea.
Erase all that I see.
Sabina, my angel, I've done things in my time, treacherous, unforgivable things.
I've engaged in the most nefarious of professions out of a profound sense of duty.
For the lies I told and the lives I've taken, I ask only forgiveness from you, my love.
No matter what is said about me after I'm gone, know that I always, always loved you.
I lied.
What? I lied To Anatoly Simonov, Nightfall.
I don't remember him from the park when I was a kid.
What do you mean, Charlie? I told him my father said he was a hero, that I remember them walking away that day.
It's not true, Mo.
I have no memory of that moment at all.
I lied.
Well, he died a hero.
No, he didn't.
He died a spy.
- To Anatoly.
- To Anatoly.
- Charlie! Aaron! Charlie, I think we found Fatah.
This might be the opportune moment to kill this bastard to avenge her son and your fiancé.
No one wants this guy dead more than I do except for her.
Charleston, are we going to get Abdul Fatah? What is the world gonna do when they find out the man who may have killed the president's son was a CIA asset, that he worked for us? No, no, no, sweetheart.
He was your asset.
He worked for you.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ Hands.
Dear lord, we hope our son is currently entertaining you and keeping you as filled with laughter and joy as he did us in his brief time on this earth.
We do miss him so, especially on this day when his memory plays across our thoughts Things that were and were never meant to be.
Hold him and love him as we did.
Amen.
Since Aaron isn't here to make one himself, let's do birthday wishes.
Charlie, you go.
I guess I hope to not lose that feeling that he's near me Hey, babe.
That sense that he's still here.
That's comforting.
So I guess my wish is to not lose that.
That's good.
That's a good wish.
And you? What do you wish? My wish is for justice, that those who took him violently and way too soon are held accountable.
I just want the truth.
I want to know how my son died and what happened the last moments of his life.
You've been told and told, Marshall.
Secondhand accounts, Cece.
I wasn't there.
I wasn't on hand.
I don't know the truth of what really happened, and I can't live with that.
Guys, I promise to get you the truth and to get you justice.
But until then, a toast.
To Aaron.
To Aaron.
__ Hang on, Charlie.
Hang on.
This is Nick.
You know what to do.
Nick, this is five-alarm.
There's a photo, a photo no one should have.
Call me back as soon as you get this.
__ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ __ Capitan Capitan, capitan, capitan __ This is Nightfall reporting tragic.
I repeat, Nightfall reporting tragic.
Copy.
- Earl.
- Mm.
Oh, vodka.
You can't smell that.
Langley can smell it.
- Top drawer.
- Oh, God bless you.
I'll buy you another bottle, promise.
You bought me that one.
Sir, I've got a coded call.
Potential distressed asset.
Throw it over to me.
Put it up on my monitor.
Reporting tragic.
I repeat, Nightfall It's coming through our secure emergency frequency.
Someone's calling the home line.
Nightfall respond - Tragic.
- Let's authenticate.
- Nightfall.
- Nightfall.
Sounds like an asset cryptonym.
Nightfall reporting tragic.
Designation Nightfall, Anatoly Simonov, intelligence officer, Russian Navy.
He's been an asset since 1986.
Nightfall, this is Hilltop Proper.
State your mission.
You are secure.
Situation report.
I'm in a Soviet Piranha-class sub experiencing complete system loss near the bottom of the Bering Sea.
We're dead in the water at crush depth.
I've killed two of the officers on board this vessel and locked myself in the comms room.
It'll be a matter of time before I'm discovered.
This is Nightfall, standing by.
We're running back through sat images to see what was going on there the time the sub sank.
We don't know what that is Some type of storm front, but as you can see, that vessel's gone.
How far into U.
S.
waters are they? Too far to be an accident.
Does anybody wonder what the hell they were doing down there? It's gotta be the fiber optics.
We have fiber optic cables throughout that part of the ocean floor that carry our entire intelligence apparatus.
Were they cutting in then, trying to siphon the signals? Can you find out exactly what those cables hold? - POTUS will want specifics.
- On it.
Let's test-fire this guy and make sure he's legit.
Could be an FSB dangle.
If he's ours, make him tell us what they're doing down there.
Nightfall? Yes.
Yes, I'm here.
Who am I speaking to? This is Hilltop Proper.
What is your mission? I'm an intelligence officer with the Soviet Navy.
That's your backstop cover.
What are your mission protocols? I volunteered for this duty suspecting a covert detail against the U.
S.
Did you contact your handler? I've reached out, but I haven't heard back.
I undertook this operation alone.
And what did you find out? What were they doing down there? Tapping the cables, cutting into them and recording every piece of data.
Were they successful in the tapping? They were changing recording devices.
We have approximately six months of siphoned intel on board.
What kind of intelligence? Significant.
The GRU was very excited for me to bring the device.
So they know it was retrieved.
But they don't know about the storm.
This is the only communication possible.
Our cover story was a lost oil vessel.
We were searching for signs of it when we were blown off course.
We'll be back with you, Nightfall.
Stay patient.
Hilltop, we're presently exceeding crush depth.
- I don't - Nightfall, we're working the problem.
Keep your comms open.
Patience.
Okay, everything we had teed up for the book that isn't a top-five draft pick moves to tomorrow.
Nightfall is now page one.
Mo, you're ex-Navy.
Find out anything you can on the type of sub that would be used for skunk works spy craft and any probable personnel numbers.
Michelle, do I have that file that I called for This is Maureen James on the seventh floor.
Kurt, let's dig into Nightfall himself, his asset history, how we recruited him, any work he's done that I can actually brief POTUS on.
I already spoke with the Russia House.
Their clandestine services officer is on his way in.
They don't usually work at this hour.
Yeah, no one sane works at this hour.
Sorry I'm late.
I had a flat tire.
Is my fly open? I thought Skinner got fired.
He did.
His office is all cleared out.
So? When did Skinner and I become a package deal? Well, the CIA director was fired.
Were you not his briefer? Okay, and? Well, why would you need to be here if there's - No one here to brief? - Wow Guys, why don't you just come out and tell me to eff off? I'd prefer that over whatever the hell this is.
So the Agency asked you to come in? No one told me not to.
So what's up? Well, we have a Russian submarine that's compromised our fiber optics array, dead at the bottom of the Bering Sea, with one of our assets on board begging us to save him.
Well, we could get Jack Ryan on a helo, drop him into the Bering Sea This guy.
That's good.
You're serious? Guys, it's bad.
One of the lines in that cable bundle was highly classified D.
O.
D.
It carries all of our sensitive military communications to our bases in Europe and Asia.
That's war plans, weapons systems specs.
Worse.
What's worse? The Agency has its own highly secure line in that bundle.
They could access the identities of all of our station chiefs, undercover nocs, and foreign assets worldwide.
I'm talking names, addresses, everything.
And they're holding that intel on that submarine, six months' worth of transmissions.
If Russia finds out who are assets are They'd kill every one of them.
And their families and extended families.
And then they'll shop the rest of that intel to Iran, to North Korea.
All right, I'm calling the chief of staff, asking him to move POTUS's briefing - up to as soon as possible.
- This is urgent.
That means we basically have zero time Let's work.
Backup satellite shows a surface weather anomaly.
It's called a Sudden Arctic Cyclone, which we believe caused the accident.
We've got playback satellite imagery.
The sub has apparently fallen deeper than the craft was manufactured for.
They've compromised hull integrity and are taking on water.
How many personnel? Anywhere between 10 to 20 Russian Navy and at least one intelligence officer, our asset.
Our asset? CIA penetration inside the GRU, Russia's main intelligence directorate, code name Nightfall.
Do we know what they were doing on our side of the Bering? There's a highly sensitive fiber optics array in that region.
They tapped in.
The asset says they've already retrieved six months' worth of data.
It's on board now.
What kind of data? Madam, the information on that submarine could be devastating to national security for years to come.
Can they transmit back to Russia? No, we are jamming all outgoing transmissions except for the Agency's uplink to the sub itself, but our asset is running on borrowed time.
He's barricaded himself in the sub's comm room and has killed two Russian sailors.
We've redirected the Coast Guard icebreaker The Healy to that location.
How long before they get there? About 10 to 12 hours out.
It's the closest thing we have.
Get the joint chiefs to the situation room.
Let's step through this.
Okay, Charlie, you keep me apprised.
I need updates on the hour.
Of course, madam.
Oh, anything new on Fatah? No, ma'am, but ground branch is still beating the bushes.
Very well.
I don't like this submarine thing.
If it starts to smoke It'll burn.
I understand.
We need to announce the new CIA director today.
We can't have the Russians thinking that there's There's a vacuum in that post any longer.
Are you sure about our candidate? We announce this morning.
Make the call.
I'm shocked the SPOs let you through the front door.
God, I hate this place.
Such a pain in the ass here.
The parking sucks.
So you gonna tell me what's so DEFCON you had me coming down to Langley during midmorning gridlock? I got another text, this one with a photo.
__ - Huh.
- There were less than five people on that ship, Nick.
Two of them knew about Fatah, the same two sitting in this office.
I'm gonna say it again.
This all started when you got back to D.
C.
And I'm gonna say it again.
I'm not behind this.
Then I'm not letting whoever is burn me down with POTUS.
I feel like I'm lying to her, and I hate it.
All right, tell her about Fatah.
And violate my oath to the CIA? Find a way to get her to ask you about it.
No, not until I can piece it all together.
Piece what together? Kabul, the attack.
I have fragments, shards of memories that I-I can't fully trust, and until I can, I'm just chasing shadows.
I can't help you with that.
Then help me find out who's sending these texts and who took that photo Assuming, of course, it wasn't you.
Mo, Russia House just kicked up Nightfall's personnel sleeve.
It's a little late.
You want to take a look? Uh-huh.
Wait, what? Our asset on the sub, Simonov.
Right, yeah.
You find a new place yet? Yeah, Georgetown.
Waterfront? Key Bridge.
That's my hood.
I know bars.
I know restaurants, liquor stores, pie shops.
Who's that with Charlie? Nick.
Did you tell anyone, any living soul, about Fatah? And totally destroy my life as I know it? Then someone else is onto this.
Yeah, Fatah.
He knows that if news leaks that the biggest bad guy since Osama Bin Laden was actually a defunct CIA asset, it is going to be a nuclear winter for you.
And him.
Mutually assured destruction.
The same jihadists he's crawling around caves with, men like his boss, Sheikh Hakam, would leave him buried in one.
Charlie, I told you on the boat we didn't have him.
We never had him.
It's a fantasy.
He wanted off that ship.
He wanted those interrogations to stop.
No.
No, Fatah is the highest ranking terrorist this agency has ever turned.
There is an operational need for that intel.
What happened and why? Was he even behind the attack in Kabul? And if not, what was he doing in Kabul? And why was my fiancé killed? Once I hear that from him, I'll put a bullet in his head myself.
Let me know.
I'll meet you somewhere close.
Heard through my old grapevine we got an icebreaker on the way.
Wish it were a freighter, something big enough to winch them up.
Yeah, no kidding.
Was that, uh, Nick Vera in your office? You know it was, nosy.
So he's back from deployment, huh? Back from his busy life of corrupting the hearts and minds of female analysts abroad to doing so domestically.
All right, I know you were never a big fan.
On your list of understatements, that one is top three.
You hate him.
I got it.
I despised him, and I still do, especially after he met with my customer yesterday.
- What? - Yeah.
Nick Vera sat with the Defense Secretary? I was dropping off some reports at the end of the day, and he was leaving the office.
- What was he doing there? - I don't know yet.
But when he left, the Secretary pointed to the door and said, "there goes one scary son of a bitch.
" I wanted to say, "sir, you don't even know the half of it.
" There's no way that that Piranha-class submarine is holding up down there.
- No - It's a matter of time.
- Yeah.
- Where's Lucas? Haven't seen that guy in a while.
Maybe the hammer came down.
- He didn't even say good-bye.
- Oh.
Okay, we've got a Coast Guard icebreaker, the USCG Healy, headed in from the Kotzebue Sound area.
It's gonna take at least half a day to get there.
Yeah, only vessel in the region officially.
Hey, Dash, can you get on the phone and find out what covert ops we're working - in the Arctic region? - Yep.
From what we can tell from the scans, they're sitting right at the precipice of a deep water trench.
If it slides any deeper, the pressure will implode the sub.
How much air would they have with all their systems down? POTUS is meeting with the joint chiefs.
Let's see if a plan emerges.
Charleston Tucker? You had a 50/50 shot.
You're, uh, from Russia House.
Yeah, Garret Hansen.
Garret, can you download us a little? We're trying to figure out who Nightfall's handler is and why we haven't buttoned this guy.
Well, that's the unfortunate thing.
His handler was Martin Canfield.
That's why Simonov never heard back.
God, Marty died in a car accident like a month ago.
He worked for my father.
Do you want to take over communications? He is your House's asset.
No, no, my director said that if you've already established rapport, I'm to let you continue.
Did he speak Russian or something? No, he's speaking English.
Why, do you speak Russian? No.
Cool.
Okay, that's useful.
Mr.
Simonov? Mr.
Simonov? Yes, I'm here.
Listen, I can't imagine how alone you must be feeling right now, but I wanted you to know that I knew Marty Canfield very well.
He worked for my father.
I hope that's at least a little comforting.
He's a good man.
Yes, very.
Is he well? Actually, no.
Marty passed about a month ago.
He was in a car accident.
I mean your father.
Excuse me? Marty's boss was a man named Oliver Tucker, if memory serves, which makes you Charlie.
I'd heard you'd joined the Agency, but no one confirmed, of course.
Charlie, this is you? This is me.
I met you once.
You were 13, 14.
It was in a park near the Potomac.
You were playing with my daughter, Sabina.
Mr.
Simonov.
Anatoly, please.
Anatoly.
That means "sunrise," doesn't it? Yes, it does.
Anatoly, I've met with my superiors, and we're formulating a strategy.
A strategy? A possible rescue effort.
We have an icebreaker inbound.
Wow.
We're gonna get you out of there.
The temperature is dropping here.
The aft compartments are likely flooded from the damage, and our ballast pumps have no power.
I'm running out of time.
Anatoly! Anatoly! Anatoly __ _ __ Hey, guys, see those? Those are fast moving vessels headed toward that sub from the Gulf of Anadyr, from Russian waters.
Judging by that speed, they're gonna get there a lot faster than our icebreaker will.
__ Anatoly? Anatoly, can you keep them out? Are you armed? - I have a seven-shot pistol.
- Stay calm.
I'm gonna take this information to my principle.
Anatoly! That's where we're at right now, madam.
A rescue effort gets a lot less likely with Russian destroyers in the water.
I spoke with the Russian president.
He says they were simply blown off course.
That's what the asset said their cover story would be.
Are you suggesting the Russian government lies? They're carrying six months' worth of covert communications.
We cannot let the Russians retrieve that sub.
They won't get the sub.
We're working the angles with State here.
Northern Command is getting involved as well, so it won't be much longer.
- Thank you, ma'am.
- Oh, one more thing.
I'm announcing a new permanent CIA director.
You're announcing the new CIA director? - When? - Today.
We can't have our most Important intelligence arm appear rudderless, and without a strong successor in that post It's more brinkmanship than anything else, but with this Russian sub in play, it's It's perfect timing.
May I ask who? Ambassador Raymond Navarro.
The former governor of Wyoming, Raymond Navarro? The very same.
He'll take office immediately, pending, of course, his permanent confirmation.
This is an important agency announcement, and I'd like you on hand.
Starts in an hour.
Of course, madam.
Ray Navarro is the new director? Isn't he from the other party? He is.
But POTUS likes that, empowering her former enemies, making them allies.
It's smart politics.
She wants me there now.
What? Is she not aware that we have a CIA asset dying at the bottom of the Bering Sea? She is, but she is the president of the United States.
The bottom of the Bering Sea is a couple thousand miles away from the Rose Garden.
Touché.
Okay, look.
Just keep an eye out on those ships and keep Simonov on the phone.
All right, keep him talking, keep him calm, and let him know that I stepped away, but I will be back as soon as I can.
Ray Navarro.
- Navarro.
- Yeah.
He's a stud.
Good boy.
- Yeah, good boy.
- Hi.
You have such a beautiful dog.
Oh, thank you.
Good boy.
What can I do for you, Charlie? I've been receiving texts, cryptic texts, like, "they know what you did.
" What do you need to know? Sender, point of origin, names, addresses, everything.
But not why, right? You already know what they think you did.
Is that Omar Fatah and Nick Vera? I need the information as soon as possible, Syd.
Give me a few hours.
I'll explain when I have more time.
Don't really care, kiddo.
Doesn't concern me.
Come on, Wild Bill.
Let's go.
All of a sudden, I hear a bear growl.
We both hear it, and I grab my tennis shoes.
I start lacing 'em up, and he says, "hey, you can't outrun a bear.
" I says, "well, hell, I only have to outrun you.
" You should tell the story about the Bangladesh couple in Macaw and that spider monkey.
I'm not gonna no, I'm not gonna tell that story.
Okay.
- Lucas.
- Charlie.
What are you doing here? Coronation.
New CIA chief.
And you're You've got to be kidding me.
I was put into the briefer's job for Ray.
Skinner's days were already numbered.
Ray First name basis, huh? I was posted with him overseas.
I was, uh, low profile.
So you knew all about this.
- Most of it.
- And you didn't think to tell the rest of the team? Oh, now we're a team? Just this morning, I was a leper who was late for a job that the team was convinced I no longer had.
- Charleston Tucker.
- Director Navarro.
- Such a pleasure.
- So nice to meet you.
I look forward to working with you, sir.
Yeah, no, I've heard quite a bit about you.
Well, I will do my best to overcome that.
No, no, not at all, no.
Lucas says nothing but good things.
I have no doubt.
So going from ambassador to CIA director, it's quite a leap, huh? Well, I've always felt diplomacy is the art of saying, "nice doggy," to a wolf until you find a big enough stick, and, um, I'm happy with my stick.
I would like to talk to you about something, uh, privately.
- Yeah? - Privately? It's operational.
- Mr.
Ambassador, we're ready.
- Yeah, right away.
Well, why don't you set it up with Lucas, and then we'll talk right after, Charleston.
- Okay? - Okay.
- It was lovely to meet you.
- You too.
Only, you won't be working with me.
You'll be working for me.
Hey, I'll see you out there.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you could follow me out to the Rose Garden, we can get started.
There are tape marks on which you are to stand.
If you do not like your spot, please do not complain to me.
I did not pick them.
I absolutely picked them.
Charlie.
The situation with the Russian sub You know we're not gonna get there in time.
I know.
The math doesn't make.
The Russians have threatened to fire on the Healy if we interfere with the reclamation of that sub in any way.
They're testing me.
Well, I certainly am not going to sit by while they hijack six months of our most sensitive intel.
You know, it occurred to me, none of this would be happening if that sub had sank altogether.
You want me to ask our asset to sink the sub.
I don't want you to.
I need you to.
He has performed almost on behalf of this nation, madam.
This sounds like a lecture.
No, ma'am.
But the truth is The truth, Charleston, is what we determine it to be, and it lies not in the facts but in the telling.
No, no, no.
I couldn't find anything.
I don't think I've ever heard you say that.
Because I never have.
Whoever's sending you these texts has real resources, someone like Nick Vera.
Are you saying Nick is doing this or speculating as much? He's poison.
Cut this guy loose, Charlie.
I can't.
He's linked to those texts that you've been receiving, isn't he? That's the only reason you haven't blown this bastard out of the airlock by now.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
I'm not gonna let you implicate yourself out loud or lie to me, so let's just do this the old-fashioned way.
He was there with you when you met Fatah, right? Let three seconds pass if I'm right.
How? Look at the photo.
A better question is, "why?" Why would he send you a photo with him in it? He's playing you to some end.
So watch out.
He's a liar and a manipulator, and if you let him, he will take you down.
Thanks, Syd.
Charlie, watch your back.
You've wandered into a world I can't protect you from.
I know.
Back already? I didn't attend the announcement.
Why not? The president asked me to do something.
We're not gonna save him, are we? Is he still talking? They've almost cut in with the torches.
He was frantic a few minutes ago, but he's gone quiet.
You guys read his file.
I need something Something that I can key in on.
How was he recruited? It was a sense of self-worth.
He told his handler, Canfield, that he wanted to be essential, someone important.
He believed the world was on the verge of a nuclear war, and he realized while he was here in college that the U.
S.
might be the reasonable ones.
Thank you.
Anatoly? Anatoly? Anatoly? I'm here.
They're getting through.
They'll soon open it.
Sir, I have a mission for you.
- A mission? - Yes.
Directly from the president of the United States.
The president? She knows who I am? Absolutely.
I just left her at the White House.
It's a mission only you can do.
I-I don't understand.
There are two Russian cruisers less than half an hour from your position.
We have an icebreaker sailing in, but the Russian ships are gonna beat us there.
If we fire on the cruisers, your country will respond.
Soon there will be war.
You and I have devoted our lives to avoiding a war between our nations.
I couldn't tell you this before, but I do remember you from the day in the park.
I-I remember playing with your daughter, and when you left, I asked my father who you were, and he said, "honey, that man is a hero.
" He never explained, but I remember thinking as I watched you walk away with your little girl how lucky she was that my own father thought of hers as a hero.
What is it that the president wants? Anatoly, that sub can't be recovered, those men can't be rescued, and that intel cannot be turned over to the Russian government.
Those secrets Your secret Must stay hidden for all time.
My daughter, Sabina, is at university, a freshman, premed.
Can you take a message to her? Yes, of course.
I know, guys.
Just let this one go.
Go ahead, Anatoly.
Sabina, my angel, I'm seeing you now, waving to me from the window of the cab when I last saw you.
I had the best time.
We talked, uh so much.
I will not see you graduate or become a doctor.
I will never meet my grandchildren, of which I wish you many.
But I have spent these last hours imagining the long life that awaits you.
And it was wonderful.
I'm in the last moments of my life, but I'm not sad.
I'm relieved.
I've done things in my time, treacherous, unforgivable things.
I've engaged in the most nefarious of professions out of a profound sense of duty.
For the lies I told and the lives I've taken, I ask only forgiveness from you, my love.
No matter what is said about me after I'm gone, know that I always, always loved you, my darling.
You were the only good, true thing in my life.
I will miss you.
Anatoly, is there anything you would like me to pass on to the president? No.
I said what I had to say.
Whatever last words I have I'll keep to myself.
Charlie, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
You know you can't play her the content of that recording.
I know.
Bury me under the sea.
I'm burning.
Carry me off in my dreams.
I am screaming.
Bury me under the sea.
Erase all that I see.
Sabina, my angel, I've done things in my time, treacherous, unforgivable things.
I've engaged in the most nefarious of professions out of a profound sense of duty.
For the lies I told and the lives I've taken, I ask only forgiveness from you, my love.
No matter what is said about me after I'm gone, know that I always, always loved you.
I lied.
What? I lied To Anatoly Simonov, Nightfall.
I don't remember him from the park when I was a kid.
What do you mean, Charlie? I told him my father said he was a hero, that I remember them walking away that day.
It's not true, Mo.
I have no memory of that moment at all.
I lied.
Well, he died a hero.
No, he didn't.
He died a spy.
- To Anatoly.
- To Anatoly.