Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Jack reaches Norton Airfield expecting to recover the nuclear bomb, but the military operation already underway there has fallen apart. Roger Stanton admits that his allies allowed the weapon into the country and planned to seize it before detonation. His Coral Snake team has stopped responding. Jack finds the commandos dead, while Palmer learns that a seventh member remains unaccounted for. The apparent rescue operation now contains another unexplained betrayal.
CTU identifies the aircraft Omar intends to fly over Los Angeles. Jack pursues it along the runway, shoots its tyres and stops Omar before takeoff. Nuclear specialists inspect the device aboard the plane, only to discover that it is a decoy. Jack orders the search to continue because the real bomb is still missing. Stanton directs Palmer towards Sherry when the President demands to know where the actual weapon has gone.
At CTU, George Mason and Tony persuade Brad Hammond to keep the damaged office operating rather than transfer control to Division. Mason hides how badly radiation sickness is affecting him during the visit. Kim accepts shelter from Lonnie McRae, who learns that the police are looking for her. When radio static makes him claim that Los Angeles has been hit, he takes her underground. Kim enters his bunker without knowing that the city remains intact.