NCIS s22e04 Episode Script

Sticks & Stones

1
Somebody better be dead or dying.
When?
Has it been confirmed?
Are you sure?
Okay. Okay, got it. Understood.
McGee, get your ass into the office.
Wake everyone up.
Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
I'm not entirely sure,
but from what I just heard,
I-I, uh
I think World War III is about to start.
All right, we'll hold the fort
down until you get here.
You got it, Director.
Isn't he on his way to Venezuela?
They're turning the plane around.
Oh, that doesn't sound good.
Then you're gonna love this.
NCIS Naples just intercepted
an encrypted message
out of Belarus.
Looks like Belarus is
planning a surprise attack.
Well, finally making a move on Ukraine.
No, no. Targets are all over Europe.
- What?
- Yeah.
But what's the surprise?
I mean, NATO will know
the second that Belarus
starts moving any ground troops.
Belarus isn't using ground troops.
They're using ballistic
missile launchers.
The mobile kind.
Clearly a gift from the Russians.
Finally making good on their
threat to bring the fight to Europe.
And using Belarus as a proxy.
Intel says they could
launch at any moment.
Are we gonna talk about
what Kasie is wearing?
I was at an all-night D&D session.
I'm missing the final showdown.
Yeah, sucks. I know you spent
weeks collecting healing potions.
You know the barbarian's gonna eat
all the pizza while I'm gone.
Hmm. I'm 10% nerdier
just for listening to that.
Hey, has anyone heard from Jess?
She's not answering her cell.
She's off for a couple days.
She's camping.
Yeah, I already sent someone
to go find her.
Okay, so if Knight is busy
roasting marshmallows,
what are we doing?
I mean, stopping missile launches
isn't exactly our department.
Actually, in this case, it is.
Apparently, Naples picked up
the Belarus transmission
using a an algorithm created
by someone in your office.
A shocking display of competence.
As a result, NSA feels your
team is the best shot we have
to decode the rest of message.
The rest of the message?
NSA thinks the location
of those missile launchers
is embedded in the transmission.
If we can find out where Belarus
is hiding those launchers
We can take them out before
they can do any damage.
And kill this baby in the crib.
Not my favorite idiom, but okay.
I just finished briefing
the President on Air Force One.
I impressed upon him the need for speed.
He ordered a carrier strike group
to haul ass to the Baltic Sea.
When we find those launchers,
we blast them to hell.
Uh, just throwing it out there,
maybe talk to Belarus's ambassador?
Let them know that we know
about the attack?
Negative. CIA feels if
Belarus even gets whiff
that we're onto them, they'll launch.
And we have no idea how big
this attack is going to be.
And our embassies, our bases,
they're already in enough danger.
Excuse me, gentlemen.
Should we prepare our
Naples office for evacuation?
Negative. Belarus might notice.
We could still give our
embassies a warning on the D.L.
Are you listening?
We can't risk this getting out.
Our people are sitting ducks out there!
Can you please play 3D chess for once?
Can you please get
your head out of your ass?!
Hold it, hold it.
I take that back.
Let's, uh, slow the roll.
We're all on the same team.
Now is not the time
to be fighting each other.
No, it's not.
That was Command Center at NORAD.
They find out where those
missile launchers are?
No.
They just lost contact
with Air Force One.
Air Force One, as in?
Air Force One.
I think I'd better get my team started
on finding those missile launchers.
Good idea.
Jimmy?
Ow Ouch.
What are you doing here?
I was checking your pulse.
I meant in my RV.
Well, McGee sent me to check on you
because you weren't
answering your phone.
That's because I turned it
Why were you checking my pulse?
To see if you're still alive.
And why wouldn't I be alive?
Because you weren't snoring
and I-I got worried.
And Will you please let go?
Please? Please? Ah!
Ooh.
- I don't snore.
- Of course you don't.
Except for all the times that you snore.
Agree to disagree.
But why are you in my RV?
I'll explain on the way back to NCIS.
I need a lift anyway.
How'd you get here?
The Man Van, but it's not
really built for offroad.
Flat tire. I get it.
Two.
Well, so much for my time off.
How soon will you be back?
We're an hour away.
I already brought Jess up to speed.
Did NORAD actually lose contact
with Air Force One?
Yeah, apparently it was
just a technical glitch.
But their entire comms system is down.
Right before Belarus is about
to launch a surprise attack?
That can't be a coincidence.
No one thinks it is.
So what is it?
We have to assume
it's some kind of Russian cyberattack
to degrade our command
and control capabilities
before Belarus launches those missiles.
So Air Force One is
operationally dead in the water?
At least until they can land.
And when is that gonna be?
Just shy of an hour.
We might not have an hour.
That's the best we can
do right now, Senator.
Have you heard anything new
from the NCIS office in Florida?
Florida?
Didn't NCIS Naples intercept
the original transmission?
Um, NCIS Naples is in Italy.
Who is this idiot?
This idiot
is the President Pro Tempore
of the United States Senate.
Which makes me the fourth
in the line of succession.
Which, given the fact
the Speaker of the House
is also on Air Force One,
makes me in charge.
Um, I think you might've
skipped the Vice President.
Uh, colonoscopy.
I'm sorry, what?
Who gets a colonoscopy at 3:00 a.m.?
Emergency colonoscopy.
As a result of
"life-threatening GI distress."
So the entire chain of command
is out of commission,
just as we're about to be attacked?
That can't be a coincidence, either.
No, and we have people working on it.
But our job right now
is to focus on Belarus.
Once we figure out where they're hiding
those missile launchers,
what are our options?
We drop a cluster of MOABs, sir.
Then we send ground troops in to
No ground troops.
Sir, it's the only way to verify
those launchers are out of commission.
What about tactical nukes?
What about them?
With that kind of firepower,
we won't need ground
troops to verify crap.
Plus, it'll make anyone think twice
about attacking us again.
Or, uh, backfire
and start World War III.
Belarus started this.
If we fire first,
we'll be the ones starting it.
Okay, Smarty Pants,
you got a better idea?
Yeah. Something else.
Like?
Okay, this is the part
of the Belarus transmission
that's left to decrypt.
Hopefully, it tells us the location
of their missile launchers.
All right, did-did Curtis
really write the code
that intercepted the original message?
Yeah, the guy makes one hell
of a Dungeon Master, too.
Wow. All right, where do we start?
I say we warm up with
a little frequency analysis.
- Hmm.
- After you.
Don't touch that!
It's already running my custom
ultra-wideband demodulator.
I mean, you can touch it if you want.
Thank you.
You'll just mess everything up!
Forget I said that.
Touch whatever you'd like.
- Appreciate the help.
- Thank you.
Team work makes the dream work.
I'm just a little shook up
about the rumor we might drop a,
you know nuclear bomb.
Well, it's a small,
low-yield nuclear bomb.
Is that supposed to make me feel better?
Well, the other option is a massive
spread of conventional MOABs.
And supposedly they'd cause
more collateral damage
than a single tactical nuke.
Wait. Am I pro-nuke?
Hello! Pandora's box, anyone?
I'm sure once we open that door again,
we will not be the only ones
to walk through it.
And will anyone care about
collateral damage at that point?
I think the people who aren't
killed by the MOABs might care.
And I feel really silly
having this conversation
in my Dungeon Master outfit.
Do you have any
- Overalls, back office.
- Thank you.
Okay. What are we doing, McGee?
Uh, not sure, but
But I think we're doing it.
Looks like Curtis's program
found the locations to
those missile launchers.
Oh.
Wait. What's happening?
I don't know.
Looks like some kind of secondary
System alert.
System alert.
Don't touch anything!
Don't touch anything!
- What did you touch?!
- What?
Get the general on the horn.
You have locations
on those missile launchers?
We do.
I'm logging into the
Pentagon's secure server
as we speak.
But I got good news.
Our Orion satellite cluster
just picked up
a second transmission out of Belarus.
Well, Space Force
hasn't reported anything.
Well, our tech's algorithm found
it hiding in a chirp signal.
Huh. What's the transmission say?
We've got people decoding it now.
But it was sent the moment that one
of our sub attack groups started moving.
Belarus must know we're on to them.
Which means the transmission
could be a stand-down order.
Maybe.
I'll order a tactical pause.
Give your people enough time
to finish decoding the message.
In the meantime,
what we need is
Stand by.
This is General Bran
Yes, sir.
Of course, sir.
Well, if you have been listening
you know that
there's a second transmission.
Yeah
Yes, sir, I understand.
Sir.
Godspeed.
Let me guess. Naples, Florida?
Good guess.
We're not pausing our attack, are we?
No.
We are not.
Okay, maybe we should just, uh,
take a second
and slow everything down here.
I agree.
Unfortunately, we're out of time.
- General
- We have been given a direct order.
My team just needs another half an hour
to decrypt that second message.
You don't even have another minute.
Curtis, have you started uploading
those target coordinates yet?
I was just about to.
Don't.
- Excuse me?
- Excuse me?
General, the stakes
are too high to rush this.
Upload those coordinates now.
Look, man, I'm not gonna do that!
Yes, Director.
Agent Parker is uploading
the missile locations
to the Pentagon as we speak.
We'll, uh, we'll keep you posted.
Why is no one talking?
You're Agent McGee, correct?
Yes, sir.
Arrest Agent Parker.
- Excuse me?
- Excuse me?
And then upload the locations
of those missile launchers immediately.
Well, what is happening?
Agent Parker is refusing a direct order.
Well, sir, technically, NCIS agents
aren't in the chain of command
and don't have to follow
Enough of this.
They're not giving us time to decrypt
the new message before they attack.
That's crazy.
Agent McGee, are you going
to arrest Agent Parker
or not?
That's gonna be a hard pass.
Cut it, Curtis.
Thanks for the quick vote of confidence.
Figure you know what you're doing.
You do know what you're doing, right?
I guess we should
call Vance back and brief him.
- You want to flip for it?
- Yeah, I got it.
That's weird, I'm not getting a signal.
I think I know why. We got company.
Agents on every floor.
Cell jammer stays on
until you hear from me.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. What
are you guys doing here?
Arresting you both.
- What?
- You gotta be kidding.
Cuff 'em. All communication
in and out of this building
has been cut off.
If you don't want to stay at your desks,
we are happy to arrest you
for interfering with an FBI operation.
Wait a minute. Have you guys been hiding
in the parking lot or something?
Actually, yes. When I saw you hesitate,
I requested authority
to take over
in case you dropped the ball.
And you did!
Now, where are the launcher locations?
No. Not until we decode
that second message.
- What if Belarus is standing down?
- What if they're not?
Well, don't you think we should find out
before we, you know,
drop a nuclear bomb?
That's not your call. You've
been given a direct order.
I'm not required to follow
an order I deem illegal.
And facilitating the
release of a nuclear weapon
under these circumstances
feels a little illegal to me!
Well, even if the message
contains a stand-down order
- The timing of the message
-it could be
- tells me that Belarus knows
- It could just be a decoy
- to delay the counterattack!
- that they lost
- the element of surprise!
- And you're falling for it!
- Every blood is on your hands!
- They haven't launched yet!
They might be calling off the attack!
But we don't know that!
I just told McGee that!
Well, then I'll wipe
the blood on your shirt.
Why don't you go ahead?
Let's see what happens.
I'll make sure the FBI director knows
when the world blows up,
it's your fault!
Go ahead!
Why don't you tell him?!
- Oh, you don't think he knows?
- No, I'll wipe the blood
Hey!
Over there with the others.
I said move, Tiny.
- Still nothing?
- Nope.
Everyone's cell is going
straight to voicemail.
Yeah, well, I'm sure
they're all really busy.
So
So
This is silly.
- It's silly, right? Yeah.
- Just
I mean, we never had
a problem talking to each other
before we started dating.
No, never had a problem.
Though, to be fair, uh,
we haven't really talked
since we stopped.
What are you talking about?
I've been back for weeks.
No, I mean a-alone. Just the two of us.
I thought you were avoiding me.
I thought you were avoiding me.
Uh, it's fine.
- It's You-you can just leave that.
- Okay. Hey, hey,
- someone is calling.
- Oh. No, no, it's No, it's-it's fine.
- It's fine. It's fine.
- Got it, got it, got it.
And it's, uh
MateQuest.
You are on MateQuest?
I-I just, um It's a, uh
Dating app. Yeah, I know. It's
It's fine. Because
we broke up.
Yeah, I remember.
If you could just go ahead
and toss that out the window, please.
- Or I could answer it.
- No, you cannot.
I mean, don't you want to know
who's calling you?
- Mm-mm.
- I could just kind of, like
Oh.
I'm so sorry. I-I answered it.
I don't think That's rude.
Sorry.
Hello, this is Jimmy.
Hello. Hello? Anybody there?
Hey, Romeo. Relax. It's me.
- Nick?
- Yeah. Are you guys headed back to NCIS?
It's Nick. Agent Torres
Nick. Uh, uh, yeah.
- Hey, we're headed back right now.
- Don't come in.
Wait, did you and Jimmy
match on MateQuest?
No, Nick's my MateQuest WingMan.
What's a MateQuest Wingman?
No, it's fine. I don't want to know.
Phones are blocked.
For some reason, this app is the
only way I could get a call out.
Why are the phones blocked?
No time.
I'm worried they're gonna
track me if I stay on too long.
And pretty soon,
they're gonna find out
one of their guys is missing.
Pull over. Don't come in.
I'll call you as soon as I can.
Hopefully.
I'm at three percent.
This should keep you warm.
But never call me Tiny again.
Yes, sir, Parker and
McGee are being debriefed
and then I'm taking them
in to be formally charged.
And you should have the location
of those Belarus
missile launchers any second.
Starting upload now.
- What's going on?
- I-I don't know.
I just got booted from the system.
- Well-well, get back in.
- I'm trying,
but every time I open a port,
s-someone's locking me out.
Board says it's coming
from inside this room,
but that-that's impossible.
Everyone, quiet.
Oh, hi.
I just thought maybe
we all should take a time-out.
You know, see what
that second message says.
Get him out of here.
- Yes, sir.
- All right, look out, boys.
- I've been taking tae kwon do.
- On your feet.
Come on.
And checkmate.
Pizza, anyone?
Why would the phones be blocked?
Not my department.
And I don't think well when I'm hungry.
Someone even blocked access
to our email server.
Yeah, probably has something
to do with, uh, Belarus
and the attack.
Well, I'm guessing we're
just gonna have to wait
for Torres to call us back.
Yeah. Hopefully soon.
If you're bored, you can
kill time on MateQuest.
- Look, Jess, I-I
- Relax.
I'm teasing.
It's not like I didn't already
know you're seeing other people.
Yeah?
What makes you say that?
Well, last month,
you accidentally sent me a text
that was clearly meant
for somebody else.
You're teasing me again.
Jennifer.
Uh
Oh. Well, the app says you have a
JoyJingle.
If I even want to know what that means.
It's just It's a it's a message.
Hopefully it's from Torres.
Well, in case it's from Jennifer
It's from Kasie.
Is everybody on this app?
You've been gone a while.
What's it say?
I think she wants us to check my laptop.
Okay. Picking up on that.
Oh.
I think she's trying
to send us something.
Picked up on that, too.
Why is Kasie connecting my laptop
to the NCIS security cameras?
And why all the FBI?
Maybe they're trying to help
with the Belarus thing?
I don't think they're helping.
What the hell is going on?
Look, pal, your boss
is making a mistake.
- A big one.
- I don't know.
I think maybe we're the ones
making a mistake.
McGee, we got to give our people time
to decode that second message.
It could be a stand-down order.
Well, what if it's just a trick,
like Sweeney said?
All the more reason to see what it says!
Before Sweeney starts World War III!
Well, what if we're the ones
that start World War III?!
Hey, man!
I was hoping you kept your
spare key in your back pocket.
Never get arrested without it.
Yeah, I couldn't reach mine.
I lost a few pounds, you know?
My-my pants were riding low on my hips.
- Yeah. I noticed. You look good.
- Oh, thanks.
All right.
This elevator's not going anywhere.
What now?
Now
we take our agency back.
Could you have made even more noise?
I'm not the one that was
sneezing every other second.
I'm allergic to dust mites, okay?
I don't hear Kasie.
Wonder if the FBI's got her.
Kasie! Whoa!
Oh, thank God.
I-I heard a crash back there,
and then I thought
Actually, I don't know what I thought,
but I was about to hit something
with a bat.
Hey. Where'd you two come from?
Well, we, uh, came up the elevator shaft
and through the ventilation ducts.
That's badass.
Yeah, we left an FBI agent
tied up in the elevator.
Hopefully, nobody notices.
Oh, no, they're all over the building.
I actually watched Torres
duct tape one to a freezer tray
on the security cameras.
That was fun.
Where's Torres now?
Mm, don't know.
That guy moves pretty fast.
Please tell us
that you were able to decode
that second message from Belarus.
Still working on it.
Then we're too late.
The FBI must've uploaded the location
of those missile launchers by now.
Actually, no. It looks like
someone locked them out
of MTAC's systems.
Then cut all internal access
to the security cameras.
- Who?
- Don't know.
Someone loyal to the mutiny.
By the way,
we're all going to jail, right?
Kasie, we can't ask you to get
- more involved in
- Oh, please. Don't insult me.
Okay? Plus, I have been dying to write,
"Stopped World War III"
on my résumé for years.
Okay, now look, the problem is,
the FBI's gonna get back
into MTAC's systems pretty soon.
Okay, what if we cut the power?
How? Main conduit is-is
down in the evidence garage.
We got FBI crawling all over the place.
Yeah, without security cameras,
we'd be flying blind.
Oh, ye of little faith.
You got something up your sleeve?
You really don't think that
I've just been sitting here
letting you guys
have all the fun, do you?
Come on.
Okay, this guy keeps doing a loop.
He leaves the back stairwell open,
for about 20 seconds.
No way, barely 15.
And that is why
you would always burn
the microwave popcorn.
Okay, guys, please stop fighting.
Is it 20 or is it 15?
When the FBI first locked down
the building,
I quietly opened an outside TCP portal
in an app I knew they'd never notice.
This MateQuest app?
Oh, you're not on it?
'Cause everyone else is.
Okay, can we just focus? Can we do that?
Uh, I figured it might be handy
to have a portal to the outside world,
so when internal access
to the security cameras
went down, it was pretty easy to
reroute them to Jimmy's laptop.
I figured the cameras
might come in handy, too.
You figured right.
You sure there's
no one in the evidence garage?
We don't have a camera in there,
but, uh, we haven't seen anyone
go down yet.
All right, thanks.
If, uh, if Torres calls again
We haven't seen Torres in a while,
so he's either been captured
or his cell phone died.
Well, if he does, please tell
him what we're trying to do here.
Speaking of which,
we should probably brief Vance.
He's not on this app, is he?
No, but I'm sure the FBI
has already told him what's happening.
He's got to be losing
his mind right now.
Yeah. It's probably better
if we can't get ahold of him. You ready?
Oh. Electrical blueprints. Yeah.
Have fun storming the castle.
Aka committing treason.
Okay, they are gonna
be off the radar for a few minutes.
And we are back to just sitting here.
Awkwardly.
No, no. We agreed that, uh,
feeling awkward is silly.
- Right?
- Right. Very, very silly.
Yeah.
I think we-we said we were
gonna talk about something.
Sounds vaguely familiar, yeah.
Yeah. About what?
I'm not exactly sure, but, uh,
just off the top of my head,
we broke up when
you were across the country,
but now you're back
and we're working together,
so has anything really changed?
And we should probably
establish some ground rules
because everyone around us
is walking on eggshells.
Oh.
Could you have made
any more noise coming in?
I'm not the one with squeaky shoes.
I'm still breaking them in.
All right, where's that
electrical conduit?
We got to move fast.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hey, you can relax.
Hey, I didn't hear any squeaky shoes,
but I did hear the two of you
fighting, like, a mile away.
Good to see you, too, brother.
Look who's here.
I love this team.
What're you doing down there?
It's kind of like magic.
My phone died.
I thought I could find
a charger in evidence.
Okay, or a coincidence. I still love it.
What's the plan?
We're cutting the power to MTAC.
It'll stop the upload
and give Kasie time to decrypt
that second message.
It's a good plan.
Blueprints.
All right.
Main power line is here,
branches off to the J box here,
which means the MTAC conduit
there.
Not behind that concrete, I hope.
No, exactly behind that concrete.
What is MTAC's electrical line
doing behind a giant chunk of concrete?
Probably so nobody does
what we're about to do.
You don't think this is
something you should've, uh,
I don't know, mentioned?
I just found this out myself.
I mean, I would've remembered
to bring my sledgehammer.
Wait, wait.
Do you remember that smash-and-grab case
that Sawyer was working on?
Bad guys used sledgehammers.
They're not slated for
destruction until next week.
Okay, here we go.
Here we go.
Game on.
Here.
What about the noise?
There's no way
the FBI's not gonna hear us.
Well, they can't hear us
if they can't hear us.
Which means what, exactly?
Another minute,
we'll be back in the system.
As soon as you find out where
those Belarus missile launchers are,
upload the data
directly to the Pentagon.
And you, find out
where Agent Yarketti is.
- He hasn't reported in.
- 30 seconds.
I finally got you right
where I want you, Parker.
Almost there.
Come on, feel the noise ♪
- What the hell is that?
- I think it's Quiet Riot, sir.
Oh, thanks, genius. Where
the hell is it coming from?
Wild, wild, wild ♪
I've always wanted to do this.
I don't know why ♪
I don't know why ♪
It makes me money ♪
Shut it down.
I don't care what you have to do
to do it, just shut it down!
Sir, I'm back in the system.
Can you shut the music off?
No, but I got the launch coordinates.
Upload them now.
So come on, feel the noise ♪
Girls, rock your boys ♪
We'll get wild, wild, wild ♪
Wild, wild, wild ♪
Come on, feel the noise ♪
- No, no, no!
- We'll get wild
Wild, wild ♪
I have no idea what just happened.
I do.
It's Parker.
He's still in
the damn building. Let's go.
- Yes, sir.
- Go, go, go!
Fan out! Find him!
Did we do it?
I'm gonna say yes.
We did something, that's for sure.
- McGee?
- Uh
We didn't just cut the power to MTAC.
We blew everything. Power's out
probably in the entire building.
That's good, right?
No. No. If there's no power
in the building
Kasie's not gonna be able to
finish decrypting the message.
Yeah, and Sweeney probably knows
that we're still here.
The FBI cell jammer must be down, too.
Um, it's Director Vance. What do I do?
Don't answer it.
Well?
All right, I think I found
the feed to Kasie's lab.
Just need to reconnect it
to the main power line.
Not gonna happen.
The electrical panel is toast.
We melted almost every breaker.
Maybe we hot-wire the lab and
feed it another power source.
Like what?
This.
The backup to the doors.
The emergency batteries.
They power the roller doors
in case of an outage.
We can use that to restore
the power to the lab.
Great idea.
I think I'll steal it.
Hands on your heads.
You're all really, really under arrest.
- Sweeney.
- Not
another word.
- Does MTAC have power?
- Affirmative.
Forensics and autopsy, too.
Let me know the second
you're ready to upload
- those target coordinates.
- Copy that.
Sweeney.
So I say, "Not another word,"
and you just keep on talking.
If you give up those launch coordinates,
we're dropping a nuke.
Your guy just said
the power is on in forensics.
Please give Kasie more time
to decrypt the message.
If this is really a stand-down order,
we can call off our attack.
You think I don't know that?
But Air Force One has been compromised,
the V.P. is unconscious
in a surgical suite,
and the decision to launch
a nuclear attack
has been made by
the Acting Commander in Chief.
He's shooting from the hip
with the nuclear football.
We don't have the luxury
of taking our time on this.
It could take another hour
to decrypt this tr
Um, hi. Is this thing on?
Um, I heard all that "We don't have
the luxury of second-guessing" business,
but I thought you should know,
my babies are breathing again,
and I am really close
to decrypting that second message.
Sir, we have the target coordinates.
Like really, really close.
Should we upload?
No.
Hold the upload.
Kasie, you got three minutes.
Yes, sir.
You better be right, or
we're both in a lot of trouble.
If I'm wrong, the whole world's
in a lot of trouble.
- What do you think's happening?
- I don't know.
But McGee and Parker were
clearly able to cut the power.
So we'll just have to wait to find out.
Do you have any cards around here?
I feel like maybe we could play
some Go Fish or something.
Actually, um
I'd like to circle back
to something you said before.
About
About how if anything has changed
now that I'm back in D.C.
Right.
Well has anything changed?
Do you want anything to change?
Well, one thing I know
hasn't changed is, uh
I still love you.
I was going to say
we both have things
we need to work out, but
yeah.
That hasn't changed, either.
I still love you, too.
Wouldn't it be nice if that were enough?
Someone should write a song.
But you're right.
We both have things
that we need to work out.
Jess, you deserve someone
who will chase down
future job opportunities
around the world with you,
you know, like Indiana Jones.
Leave at a moment's notice.
Someone who'll give you
everything that you want.
And that's not me.
I mean, at least not right now.
And you deserve that stability
that you so badly need.
That I want you to have, and
I wish I could give it to you.
But, hell, maybe there's a
a checkbox on that on MateQuest?
You trying
to replace Nick as my WingMan?
Is that what we're saying here?
I mean, what do I got to do?
You just got to say nice things
about me in my profile.
Oh, I could do that all day.
Not gonna happen.
No, of course not.
Time's up.
- You are clear
- Wait!
Wait! Wait.
I just Oh.
Give me. Wait. Give me give me a sec.
Okay. Elevator was out.
- Kasie!
- I have to
Kasie! Did you decode the message?
- Yeah.
- Let's see!
Tell the chairman of the Joint
Chiefs I need to talk to him.
According to the second transmission,
Ukrainian Special Forces
took out the Belarus launchers
30 minutes ago.
Pentagon needs to task a satellite ASAP
to confirm, but
We need to call off our attack.
Yes!
Yes! Yes!
Yes!
Hello!
Is something happening?
Hello!
Details are scarce,
but sources in Brussels
have now confirmed
that a major terrorist attack
was thwarted by Ukrainian Special Forces
three days ago.
While the specifics of the operation
are yet to be fully disclosed
Sir, the troublemakers are here.
All right, send them in.
I know you both have a
classified Department of Defense
hearing to attend,
so, I won't keep you.
You know, I'd be more than happy
to pay for
Oh, I don't think
you can afford what you broke.
And the extra three minutes
you gave Ms. Hines
that didn't come cheap, either.
Ignoring direct orders
from the CJCS is a good way to lose
not only your job but also your freedom.
Both of you.
Gentlemen,
does the year 1956 ring a bell?
- Do we get a hint?
- No.
1956,
the United States received
simultaneous reports
of an unidentified aircraft
flying over Turkey,
followed by a report that a British
bomber was shot out of the sky.
Our top analysts believed
that this was the start
of a Soviet offensive.
We were minutes away
from launching a nuclear attack
against Moscow, but do you know
why we didn't it?
Yes, Agent Sweeney?
That British bomber wasn't
actually shot out of the sky.
It was just a mechanical failure.
And the unidentified aircraft
over Turkey was actually
a wedge of swans.
Cygnus olor,
if I'm not mistake
- We can just say swans.
- Correct.
Those events were simply
ill-timed coincidences,
and they almost started World War III.
Funnily enough,
we had a few of our own
ill-timed coincidences this week.
The communications failure
aboard Air Force One
was not the result of a cyberattack.
Sir?
It was the remnant
of a malicious code
that Leonard Rish's daughter uploaded
- last year.
- Apparently,
it wasn't thoroughly purged
from the system.
And the Vice President?
Bad chicken. In fact,
an entire delegation
from China went down.
- But the Belarus attack that was real.
- Yes.
Yes, it was.
And Ukrainian Special Forces did
destroy those missile launchers.
But apparently,
before Naples had even
decoded that very first message.
So by the time we got to the party,
it was already over.
Gentlemen,
the reason we didn't attack
the Soviets in 1956
wasn't because the system worked.
The system failed.
The reason we didn't attack
was because of individuals
who rose above their station,
at great personal risk
to do what they believed was right.
Thus,
it is my honor
to inform both of you
that myself, along with the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,
are recommending to the President
that you both be awarded
the Distinguished Medal
of Public Service
for your exceptional efforts
in protecting your country
and our NATO allies.
Just don't do it again.
At least not in my building.
- So.
- So.
You see that coming?
I didn't see that coming.
No, I did not.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
But really
if there are any honors
being given out
FYI, that's not a complete sentence.
You can be such a bastard sometimes.
You're really gonna make me say it?
Yup.
Damn you, Parker.
You were right.
I was wrong. Okay?
Was that supposed to be a compliment?
Don't get used to it.
Well, you're being too hard on yourself.
If you didn't give Kasie
those extra three minutes
- to decode that message, then it was
- Don't remind me.
I've been up the past two nights
thinking about it because, um
I almost didn't.
So why did you?
I don't really like
to talk about it, but
I'm very much
a man guided by my faith.
Uh, my father preached
the gospel every Sunday,
my mother led the church choir.
And
when it came down to the wire,
my faith told me
that a shoot-first,
ask-questions-later mindset
isn't such a good idea when
it comes to nuclear weapons.
How about you? Why'd you do it?
Something Einstein said.
"I don't know what weapons World
War III will be fought with,
but World War IV will be fought
with sticks and stones."
And one day,
my soul will be judged, too.
And I just couldn't let someone
who is that bad at geography
play footsie with Armageddon.
I'll drink to that. In fact,
if we're both free men
after the hearing,
want to grab a beer?
Eh. You buying?
Don't push your luck.
Previous EpisodeNext Episode