Airdate: Sunday.07.March.2004
Blowback

Vaughn, unable to sleep, stares at his father's watch, which stopped the
day he met Sydney. As Vaughn leaves, Lauren's phone rings. At the CIA,
Dixon presents the team with a new mission: The Shining Sword, a Filipino
terrorist organization, has acquired a next-generation bomb called a plasma
charge, which they're shipping to Europe. The CIA has traced a Shining
Sword transmission from a digital storage facility in Vancouver. Syd and
Vaughn are to rent vault space at the facility and search for a detailed
archive of the shipment. Someone within the Agency, Dixon adds, may be
leaking info to the Covenant.

Syd and Vaughn, posing as astronomers, arrive at the facility. They secretly
download the shipping info and pinpoint location of plasma charge. Their
uplink to Marshall, however, is sabotaged by a virus. Suddenly, they're
attacked by a facility employee, who is mysteriously shot dead. Syd and
Vaughn lose the murderer after a car chase through a parking garage. Back
in LA, Marshall tells them he received 63% of the data; he'll need 12 hours
to extrapolate the rest. Sydney recalls the previous day was the
anniversary of Vaughn's father's death. Lauren calls, interrupting their
conversation.

In Zurich, Sloane apologizes to Barnett and asks her out to dinner. She
agrees "for professional reasons only." She thinks his transformation from
spy to humanitarian is remarkable and asks about the secret he's harboring.
He's offended and explodes at her, so she walks out on him.

Marshall's data reveals the plasma charge is on a Liberian freighter in
Lisbon. Once on the boat, Syd and Vaughn, using a tracking device, are
again fired upon.

We go back to the opening— after Vaughn leaves, Lauren receives a call from
Sark. He wants the plasma charge and tells her to get a lock on it, which
she does via Dixon's team meeting. Syd tells Lauren that's she's not
responsible for the problems in Lauren's marriage. Lauren then meets Sark
at the Vancouver facility, where they plant the virus and force the
employee to fire at Syd and Vaughn. When he misses, Lauren kills him and
flees. After escaping, Lauren and Sark get shagadelic.

Sloane apologizes to Barnett. He tells her his secret — he had a one-night
affair with Irina Derevko. Jack and Emily never knew. Though he's never
tried to prove it, he believes Syd is his daughter.

Back to the gun battle on the boat — Syd finds the plasma charge. Vaughn
stops Lauren, who's wearing a mask, and demands that she show herself.
Before she does, Sark corners Syd and threatens to kill her unless Vaughn
drops the gun. "If you love her, you'll drop the gun," Sark says. Vaughn
drops it. Lauren punches him and runs. Syd breaks away from Sark and chases
Lauren while Vaughn goes after Sark, who has the charge. He engages the
timer and tosses it to Vaughn, who, with Marshall's aid, stops the countdown
with seconds left.

Later, Lauren meets Vaughn at a bar. Sark calls to goad her. She kisses
Vaughn at Sark's behest. At the office late, Jack takes Syd out to dinner.