Quickly leaving the barn, the group stood still on the other side of the door.  It was as if they had entered another world, going from the earthy, practical barn into a building that from the outside had looked like just another modern Arab building.  Now, they stood in a sterile, white and uncomfortably well-lit corridor.

Coming to mind for Danny was a scene from Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise's character was stealing the NOC list from Langley.  It had been a white room just like this ... he wondered if CJ would be impressed with him hanging from ceilings like that ... abruptly, he chastised himself a bit ... "Get your head into THIS, Danny ... no room for mistakes or you might lose CJ altogether!"  And yet, the scene kept playing in his mind.

They no longer had any chance of remaining unseen should anyone enter this hallway; Jerry and Mike drew their guns.  Signaling to move on, Jerry and Mike carefully inspected the corridors for cameras as they moved silently toward what directionally should have been the front of the building. They needed to find a directory that would identify the location of Al-Benzat's lab. As they moved along the corridor, staying close to the walls, Jerry checked the doors to each of the individual labs and offices, turning the door handles just enough to see if they were locked or unlocked.  He needed to know which doors might quickly produce unwelcome visitors or alternatively hiding places.  Danny, observing Jerry's actions, took on the same task for the opposite wall, freeing Mike to turn around, walk backwards and cover them against anyone approaching to the rear.  The only unlocked door along the entire hallway was the first one checked, the entry to the stairwell.

The main lobby was a spacious room with high ceilings and lots of marble.  Near the middle of the room sat a security guard in front of a small bank of television monitors, reading a magazine.  For a moment, the men worried that they had missed the cameras and that they were in fact on Candid Camera.  But the guard just kept reading his magazine, totally unprepared for what would happen next.  Jerry stowed his gun in the back of his waistband and removed the taser.  Then he walked calmly to the counter and fired it.  Mike caught the guard before he hit the ground, tied him up and gently hid him out of sight behind the counter.

Studying the monitors and the computer at the guard's station, Jerry discovered the explanation for not being caught on camera.  All the cameras seemed to be focused on the interior of the laboratories, particularly the animal housing rooms.  Fortunately he saw no living creatures that didn't have four legs.  He wondered which laboratory was Al-Benzat's.  He would have to look for cameras inside the lab.  Below the monitors was a set of four lights, all glowing solid red.  Jerry suspected these were silent alarms, perhaps for laboratories with the more valuable equipment someone might have found worth it to steal?  Or perhaps additional security added by Al-Benzat if he were more cautious than simply hiding behind the anonymity of veterinary virology lab.  If he disconnected them, it might trigger an audible alarm.  Best to just leave them connected.

Using the low-end computer on the guard's desk, Mike found a directory and called everyone over because it displayed pictures of all the scientists, including Al-Benzat.  "Second floor.  Down at the same end of the building as the barn.  This is our guy.  Don't forget him ... he is likely to be hostile if he is around.  Intel didn't say anything about his whereabouts at the moment."

"We'll take those stairs," suggested Jerry, pointing back the way they came. "See what our exit route is like."

--------------------

CJ was doing one of her least favorite things ... proofing the press package for the day.

"Carol?"

"Yes ...?"

"I have to congratulate you, Carol. I was afraid I was going to see Saudi Arabia spelled with a 'Y.'"

"CJ, I'm a much better speller than you give me credit for."

"Yes. One 'L' in Tel Aviv."

"Okay.  Hmmm.  CJ?"

"Yes ...?"

"Haven't we done this before?"

--------------------

Standing outside of the targeted lab, the group did a last-minute equipment check.  Danny tried to steel himself against nerves ... what if something went wrong, what if there were people in the lab, what if ... well, what if they didn't find the antidote.

Jerry provided specific instructions to Danny.  "I believe that if this room is alarmed, it's silent. And if so, we've removed the guard that was watching for it.  But I don't know that.  If there's an audible alarm, the only objective will be to get any computers, notebooks or other documents.  If there's a safe, Mike and I will have to blow it because I won't have time to crack it.  In that case, guard duty will fall solely to you.  Find a hiding place with a reasonable view of the door and draw your gun.  Also in this case, we'll be going out via the window, if there is one," he smiled at having to use the word 'if.'  "Okay?"

Danny nodded.

Mike moved to the door with his gun drawn.  He would enter first.

"Okay, time for gloves and masks." Jerry said donning a pair of latex gloves and a surgeon's mask.  It wasn't likely that this virologist would be careless with this bug, but they decided better to be safe than sorry.  Lastly they put on small headlamps.  There'd be no turning on overhead lights.

The guard's master building key provided quick access to Al-Benzat's lab.  There was no noise from an audible alarm.  Quickly flashing around the room, they were relieved to see that unlike many labs in the West, nobody was burning the midnight oil.

On the other hand, unlike many labs in the West, the door to this one was wired to a silent alarm that sent a signal to a beeper.  This beeper happened to be on Al-Benzat's headboard shelf in the overnight quarters on the outskirts of the lab compound, about 500 yards away.  And it also sent a signal to a beeper much farther away.

--------------------

At the time the silent alarm went off, Ahmed had boarded his flight in Dulles. His minimal luggage was stowed in the overhead compartment ... it was amazing how little of all the stuff that had surrounded him for the past four years actually had enough value to make it out of the country with him.

The beeper in his carry-on bag went off.  However, having been set to vibrate only, it went unnoticed while he slept, letting the tension of the past week drain off him.  He was after all still recovering from a bad virus.

--------------------

Keeping his voice to a near whisper, Jerry gave directions to his crew.  "I'm going to start with the safe.  Danny, take the torch to cut the cable lock and get that laptop,"  he said pointing to a laptop on a cart in the corner.  "Keep an eye open for my signal.  At that point, you'll need to stop because I'll need quiet to get into the safe.  Once you've got the computer, start looking for samples and especially any notebooks.  Mike, you can concentrate on the explosives."

Jerry headed first to the window.  He removed a chain ladder from his pack and a small metal hammer.  He set them on the sill in case they needed to exit that way.  Then he went directly to the safe that Mike had found beneath the desk.  He was thankful; it was nothing fancy.  He picked the key lock component in under a minute and took a stethoscope from his pocket and raised a hand to signal Danny he'd need quiet to get the combination.

When Jerry raised his hand a second time, it meant he'd accessed the safe, which contained a notebook and a second laptop.  Danny finished cutting through the cable lock on the laptop and stowed it in his backpack.   The torch would be abandoned.  Before starting a systematic search of the lab for vials labeled with any of his memorized words, he grabbed any notebooks in plain site.

Jerry moved to his next job, the desktop computers.  He downloaded the contents of the hard drives of the two computers onto a portable drive. Things appeared to be going remarkably smoothly.

Opening a cabinet to the right of lab door, Danny found what he thought he was looking for--vials of lyophilized material labeled in Arabic with 'oligonucleotide' as part of the label.

--------------------

Al-Benzat slept in his clothes.  The last few months had been a blur of activity and this was the first night in almost a year that he was going to get more than a couple of hours sleep.  He had heard from Ahmed who had successfully completed his mission, people at the White House were getting sick.  He was heading out of the United States. The stolen information on creating the cancer virus had been a gift from Allah, none too soon in coming   Now, he too could return to his homeland and leave this wretched country. In fairness to the Saudis, they had provided him the opportunity to create his weapon, to serve his cause, but ultimately the Saudis were a poor excuse for Muslims ... they were nothing more than American lapdogs.

Lapdogs with money and technology... and nice overnight quarters.  He drifted deeper into sleep.

Suddenly, his beeper started to vibrate.  Its owner didn't react at first, buying precious moments for the group of men that were in his lab across the compound.  But as it kept vibrating, it eventually fell of the shelf and landed on Al-Benzat's head.  Startled, he shot out of bed.  With an oath, he read the message and grabbed his gun, charging out of the building towards his lab.

Abandoning all but his burning desire to reach the lab and protect his creation, his approach to the lab was far from quiet.  Had he been more awake, he would have remembered to approach quietly, to protect himself as he entered the door and most of all to have called for backup! 

Danny was packing up the samples from the cabinet at a lab bench next to the door when he thought he heard running footsteps in the hall.  Almost instinctively he crouched down behind between the door and cabinet and drew his gun.  He opened his mouth to warm the others, but Al-Benzat burst through the door with his gun drawn.  He didn't see Danny, but surprised both Jerry and Mike.

Al-Benzat said something in Arabic understood only by Mike, who was standing by a computer at the far end of the lab holding explosives and a detonator. Jerry saw Danny behind the man who was clearly Al-Benzat if the directory photo had been telling the truth.  Ignoring Danny, he kept his eyes on Al-Benzat, watching him raise the gun to aim it directly at his head.  "Sorry, mate ... I don't speak any Arab."

Nodding almost imperceptibly, signaling Danny to fire, Jerry stood stock-still. Al-Benzat caught the signal and started to swing around when Danny fired.  The shot found its mark with no hesitation and Al-Benzat dropped to the floor.

Danny should have quit when he was ahead.  Without Al-Benzat's body to stop it, the bullet from his second shot hit the desk and ricocheted hitting Jerry in the hip, just below the vest.

--------------------

"Eeooooow."

Danny set the gun on the bench and moved toward Jerry.  As he passed Al-Benzat, the scientist whispered in English, "Too late, it's in motion ... we are going to ..." before expiring.  Unnerved, Danny stopped.

Jerry unzipped his jacket and felt some blood.

"Thank you."  Jerry was quite genuine.

"But, I think I shot you."

"Yes, but I'm okay. It's just a flesh wound." Jerry said as calmly as if being nearly killed and then shot was an everyday occurrence.

Mike placed two fingers on the neck of Al-Benzat and nodded at Jerry.

"You killed the guy that would was about to really kill me," he continued.  "The gunshots may bring us more company.  We need to get out of here.  Mike?"

"I think I've got about three-quarters of it set, Jerry.  It's not what we planned, but it'll flatten this room and a few adjoining."

"Danny?"

"I think I've found the oligonucleotide ... nothing else."

"We can live with that.  Stow the samples, get your gun and let's go."

--------------------

The airplane was flying over the Atlantic Ocean when Ahmed got up to use the restroom.  When he was returning to his seat, he remembered that he had put his beeper in the carry-on bag before boarding.  He opened the overhead compartment and grabbed it, just as the repeat signal went off. Staring at the message, his heart froze.  Not only was someone entering the lab in Jeddah, he had no way of warning Al-Benzat or the others.

Abruptly, he sat down in his seat and closed his eyes.  This could not be happening.  Who was in the lab?  What were they after?  Was this just a coincidence?  Or, was it a thing?

"Are you okay?  You look pale.  Don't like airplanes or are you coming down with something?"  The elderly woman in the seat next to him looked genuinely concerned for him.  He wanted to scream at her.  Instead he managed a smile.

"Yes, I'm fine, thank you.  I am just getting over the flu and I think that this journey is perhaps taxing my stamina."

He closed his eyes again, and quietly started to run through the people who knew about the lab ... and then he started to pray.

--------------------

They took the stairs at the end of the building by the barn.  Cracking the door, the animal caretaker from the barn was not in sight.

Jerry directed them, "quiet."  They walked quietly toward the other end of the barn and the exit to the paddock, checking each stall and office. 

Jerry pointed, "He's there, in the paddock.  Guess he didn't like that the one horse decided to put on it's own saddle."  He smiled. 

"We could take the horses from in here?" Mike suggested.

"Perhaps they're stabled for a reason.  I think we should still take the ones we bridled earlier."

"Smoke?" said Mike.

"Smoke?" Danny repeated looking at Jerry.

"Smoke." Jerry agreed.  "The two central stalls open directly into the paddock.  We can open the outside doors, let those horses out, and set them off in there."

They were about to set off the smoke canisters, when Danny put his hand on Jerry's arm.  "What about the animals?  When the explosives go, the barn could catch fire.  It's filled with straw, Jerry, any spark."

Jerry paused for a brief moment, then answered "okay,"  he nodded to Mike, "but be quick and quiet."  They moved quickly and quietly to open the door of each stall that contained an animal.  If the barn did catch fire, at least they weren't trapped with a certain death sentence.  Most of the animals didn't seem to care that they were free and just remained in their stalls, where they felt the most comfortable. 

The men reconvened at the central stalls. Danny inadvertently bringing with him an uninvited guest, a small but intrepid goat that followed him despite a decided limp from a full forelimb splint.  The goat was chewing on his pant leg in lieu of the midnight snack he really wanted.

Danny looked imploringly at Jerry.  "Even if he escapes the fire, he can barely walk.  He'll get eaten by a tiger."

"They don't have tigers in Saudi Arabia," he paused a long time to consider the request which was, although bizarre, coming from the man who'd just saved his life.  "Mike, can you carry it?"

"Not a problem, Jerry."  

Danny and Jerry took one stall each, opening the door and giving their respective horses a slap on the hind end to encourage their escape outside to the paddock.  They returned to barn, headed back to the far end of the barn and main paddock entrance as Mike tossed a smoke canister into each stall.  It didn't take long for the caretaker to see what he assumed was a fire and return to the barn.

Danny mounted his horse easily.  Nothing like adrenaline to motivate you.  Jerry opened the far gate.  Mike retrieved the bits they had hidden earlier, slowed only slightly by his bewildered passenger.  They led their horses to a fence, which they used as a step up, mounted their horses and they were off.

Once they were 400 yards away, Mike stopped, flipped a switch to detonate the explosives and the second floor of the veterinary lab was history.  They stopped for only a moment to examine their work.  They could not afford to wait to see if the barn caught fire.

--------------------

On the other side of the world, Jed Bartlet and Leo McGarry were taking a quick short-cut through the communications bullpen, running late for a couple of photo opps in the Oval Office.

"I do so like it when Charlie is not in and I have to brief you on your schedule, Mr. President," Leo quipped. "First up, Katha Black, National PTA Outstanding Teacher of the Year ... this should be right up your alley."

"Leo, you know, I think that what I like best about you filling in for Charlie is the attitude!"

"I do try.   After Ms. Black, you will meet with the World Boxing Association Heavyweight Champion, Johnny Ruiz."

"What? That seems somehow like a cosmic joke ... is this why Charlie isn't in today?   A boxer?   I get a teacher whom I will be nice to because I do believe in education, and I get a BOXER whom I will have to be nice to because it seems unfair to torture the unarmed with obscure trivia pop quizzes?"

"Ruiz is bringing his children.   Perhaps you can ask Ms. Black to stay and help you teach them ... something."

"Mmm.   I hope Charlie is back tomorrow."

The President and Leo nearly ran down Margaret who joined the entourage, heading into the Oval Office for the first meeting.

--------------------

When they arrived back at the clearing, Jerry signaled Jax as planned.  Mike and Jerry stopped smoothly and dismounted.  Danny said "Whoa" to the horse, who did not understand English, and pulled back on the reins, with quite a bit too much force.  The horse stopped very abruptly pitching Danny forward.  Danny's reaction was wholly opposite of what would have been correct. He squeezed his legs together hard and kicked the horse swiftly with the stirrups.  The startled horse leaped up, took off just as abruptly as it had stopped and deposited Danny rudely on the ground.  Danny landed squarely on a rock with a thud, simultaneously being attacked by the branches of a nasty, and sharp, bush.

Jerry would have laughed at the sight, had he seen it in a movie, except for the fact his new friend might be hurt. Jax, Jerry and Mike all rushed to help him.  He was stunned, but mostly his butt hurt. "I think I landed on a rock."

Warm blood began to run down his face about the same time that someone pointed out "you've got a cut above your eye."

Mike dropped the goat, gently, and grabbed a cloth from his pack and placed pressure above Danny's eye.

"Can you get up if we help you?"  Jax and Jerry helped him up and into the helicopter.

"I guess they got even."

"What, Danny?"

"The horses ... they got even with me for hitting them with a bucket and an apple."

Jax turned to Jerry.  "Did he just land on his butt or was it his head?"

TBC