The disappearance of a Navy commander reveals a plot to compromise a highly classified security project.Just an hour after Lt Commander Alex Tanner is reported missing, Gibbs and his team spring into action.Tanners six-year-old son, Zach, had been at a funfair with his father when two strangers came and took him away it was Zach who contacted NCIS.As the agents arrive on the scene, Zach is cautious of Tony but has an immediate affinity with Gibbs.He is able to provide detailed descriptions of the two strangers he saw kidnap his father: they had military haircuts, wore dark glasses, and appeared to have headphones in their ears.Tony thinks the men must have been from the FBI, but Gibbs points out that no federal agent would leave a young boy alone.It seems that Zach has no family other than his father, so the boy is left under the temporary care of NCIS.Back at HQ, McGee reveals that Tanner something of an academic high-flyer had been working on a highly classified project called Honor for Department of Defence contractor Q&R Software.
The details of the project, however, remain elusive, so McGee and Tony head to the company to investigate.
Navy Commander Harry Wilder and Frank Connell of Q&R Software greet the agents and express surprise that they arrived so quickly just an hour ago, it emerges, they had reported a break-in.
At 3am, the Q&R computer network was breached and viruses were placed in the system.
The Honor project seems to have been the target of the theft, but any data that may have been stolen is useless without the key.
Wilder and Connell seem relieved as they explain that the key is a code that exists only in the memory of one man: Alex Tanner.
Their relief is short-lived as McGee and Tony divulge the real reason for their visit and the true gravity of the situation becomes clear.
Honor is a software project designed to crack any method of encryption.
Id say that sounds like a problem, reflects Gibbs when he learns the truth.
Meanwhile, Zach is taken away by social services but soon escapes their care in dramatic fashion.
Phoning the number Gibbs had given him from a booth on the street, Zach explains that he has spotted one of the men from the fair and intends to follow him.
Gibbs swings his car around and rushes to the scene, arriving just in time to see Zach being dragged towards a vehicle.
As Gibbs pulls out his gun, the quick-thinking Zach punches his wouldbe kidnapper and escapes to safety.
As the vehicle screeches away, Gibbs fires off a few rounds, injuring the kidnapper and smashing some of the cars windows.
On returning to HQ, now with Zach safely by his side, Gibbs assigns Tony the thankless task of tracking the vehicle, while he talks to NCIS Director Jenny Shepard.
Tonys job is made a lot easier by Zach who remembers the registration plates of the vehicle.
Shepard, meanwhile, explains that she has been in conference with the FBI and homeland security, both of whom wanted to take control of the case because of its security implications.
When asked how she responded, Shepard expresses some rare faith in Gibbs: I told them I have my best agent working it, she explains.
Despite Gibbss belief that the lieutenants kidnapping was genuine, it begins to look like Tanner himself may be responsible for the security breach the virus that brought down the Q&R system originated from his computer, and he appears to have emptied his bank account before disappearing.
Things look even worse when the agents track the vehicle and discover one of the henchmen dead at the wheel.
Could a Navy Lieutenant Commander be so consumed by greed that he would fake his own kidnapping, leave his child alone and kill, all for financial gain?
Or is Gibbss famous gut instinct correct once more, despite the mounting evidence to the contrary?
Tagged in NCIS