Transcript

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Rush uses the neural interface chair to try and access Destiny's systems, causing him to recall the events which led to his recruitment into the Stargate program.

EPISODE #114
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 04.23.2010
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 02.21.2011
WRITTEN BY: Jeff Vlaming
DIRECTED BY: Robert C. Cooper
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Transcript by Callie Sullivan

EARTH. In his home on Earth, Nicholas Rush lies in bed on a sunny morning as birds sing outside. Lying on his side, he fondly looks at his wife sleeping beside him. Eventually he props himself up on one elbow and looks over the top of her to see the clock on her bedside table. It reads 6:46. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he picks up his spectacles from his own bedside table and puts them on, then flicks through his ever-present notebook to find a blank sheet and writes himself a note. Standing up, he leaves the bedroom.

Later, his wife comes into the kitchen and finds him sitting at the table and scribbling in his notebook. Classical music featuring a single violin is playing on the stereo. He takes no notice of her as she picks up the kettle and fills it with water, puts it onto the cooker and lights the gas under it. She turns back to him.

GLORIA (in an English accent): Have you seen my glasses?

(He glances around the kitchen briefly.)

RUSH: Breadbox.

(Immediately he lowers his head and gets back to his writing. She looks at him for a moment, then turns to the breadbox, picks up her spectacles from the top of it and puts them on.)

GLORIA: You're up early.

RUSH: Am I?

GLORIA: I thought we'd sleep in.

RUSH: I've got things to do.

GLORIA: Four o'clock?

RUSH (finally looking up at her): What?

GLORIA: Doctor Browning.

RUSH: Oh yeah, that's today. Right.

(Turning to a new page in his notebook, he writes the number four in the middle of the page, then follows it with three question marks and double-underlines the note. Gloria stares in hurt disbelief, then turns away to look for something in a wall cupboard. Nicholas looks at her back for a moment, then stands up, gathers together the various papers and notebooks which he has spread over the kitchen table and walks towards the door.)

RUSH: Listen, I, um, I won't be able to make it today.

GLORIA (hurt): Nicholas.

(He looks at her and shrugs.)

RUSH: Nothing to worry about.

(As the kettle begins to whistle loudly as it boils, he leaves the kitchen and walks to the closed door of his office at the front of the house. He opens the door and steps inside. All four walls of the small room are covered with hundreds of overlapping sheets of paper which are covered with notes and scribbles and calculations. There is also a whiteboard which is full of calculations. He goes inside, closes the door, opens one of his notebooks and turns to the whiteboard.)


LATER. UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM. Nicholas is standing in front of a class of university students.

RUSH: OK, who can tell me the significance of Shor's Algorithm?

(He nods to a student who has raised his hand, and the young man stands up.)

STUDENT: Uh, it's a quantum algorithm used for integer factorisation. It's important because it can - in theory - be used to break the widely used public-key cryptography scheme known as R.S.A.

(As Nicholas looks at the student, his view of the room is overlaid with an illuminated stream of Ancient symbols swarming towards him. The boy's voice fades and echoes as the symbols continue to flood towards Nicholas.)

STUDENT: R.S.A. is based on the assumption that factoring large numbers is computationally infeasible.

(Nicholas closes his eyes in confusion and pinches the bridge of his nose. The boy's voice comes back into focus as he continues.)

STUDENT: This assumption is valid for classical computers; no classical algorithm is known that can factor in polynomial time.

(He stops and waits as Nicholas continues to stand there with his eyes closed and his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. After a moment he lowers his hand and opens his eyes.)

STUDENT (hesitantly): Professor Rush?

RUSH: Yeah. Very good.

(Putting his glasses on, he turns towards the blackboard.)


HALLWAY. Later, Nicholas is walking down a busy hallway in the university as students swarm all around him. He is writing in his notebook as he goes. A woman runs along to catch him up.

CONSTANCE: Nicholas? Nicholas? What are you doing here?

RUSH (continuing to write): I'm sorry, Constance, not now.

CONSTANCE: I thought you were taking Gloria to the oncologist today.

RUSH: She wanted to go by herself.

CONSTANCE: That doesn't sound like her. Are you sure she really meant it?

RUSH: Oh yes, quite sure.

CONSTANCE: Nick, what's wrong with you? I thought you'd be worried sick!

RUSH: I am. Very concerned.

(Appearing completely unconcerned, he continues down the corridor, not even noticing that Constance has stopped and is staring after him in disbelief.)


RUSH'S OFFICE. Later, Nicholas is sitting in his office at the university. This room is in the same state as his office at home: covered in notes stuck all over the walls, and the large blackboard on one wall is full of calculations. As Nicholas gazes at the blackboard, the shining Ancient symbols swarm towards him again. Pulling his eyes away from the blackboard for a moment, he looks through the open door of his office at a closed metallic-looking door on the other side of the corridor. Frowning as if there's something not quite right about the door, he looks away just as his phone rings. He picks it up.

RUSH: Yes?

(Gloria has just got home and still has her coat on. She hesitates for a long moment before she speaks.)

GLORIA: It's back.

(Glancing at the blackboard, Nicholas sinks back in his chair.)

RUSH: I had a feeling.

GLORIA: You did? You ... you never said so.

RUSH: No.

(Despite the shocking news, he is still constantly glancing at the blackboard and jotting notes. Unaware of this, Gloria fights back her tears.)

GLORIA: I can't go through this again. I can't.

(She sniffles.)

GLORIA: Nick?

(Nicholas is scribbling frantically in his notebook.)

GLORIA: Nick, are you there?

RUSH (hurriedly): Yes, yes.

(She looks hurt at his brusqueness.)

GLORIA: Are you coming home?

(He lowers the phone for a moment as he stares at the blackboard and the swarm of Ancient symbols sweeping towards him. He turns and looks out of the office door again. On the other side of the corridor is just a wall. At the other end of the phone, Gloria is still awaiting his answer.)

GLORIA: Nick?

(He looks in anguish at the blackboard.)

RUSH (into the phone): Yes, soon, soon.

(Quickly putting the phone down, he returns his gaze to the blackboard. Gloria lowers her head in despair.)


RUSH HOME. Some time later Nicholas finally returns home. Letting himself in the front door, he hears a sad lament being played by a solitary violin. It's the same tune that he was listening to - albeit in operatic form - at Icarus Base in “Air part 1”. Walking slowly to the doorway of the sitting room, he sees Gloria sitting in a chair with her back to him, playing the violin. Although she probably heard him come in, she continues playing. Nicholas stays at the door watching her - and the swarm of Ancient symbols rushing towards him. The swarm is coming faster and in greater intensity than before. He watches Gloria for a long moment, then turns without a word and goes into his office. As he slams the door behind him, Gloria stops playing and looks down sadly.


NEXT DAY. Nicholas is walking through the grounds of the university, jotting in his notebook. He looks around and stops near a car parked at the roadside. With a California license plate, its registration is 46YYR9P. He jots another note to himself. A man hurries out of the nearby building and trots towards him, and a certain faction of SG-1 fandom squees loudly in delight.

JACKSON: Professor Rush?

(Nicholas continues writing.)

JACKSON: Professor Rush!

(Nicholas finally looks up as Daniel comes closer and offers him his hand.)

JACKSON: Hi. I'm, uh, I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson.

RUSH (shaking his hand): So you are.

JACKSON: I'm sorry to accost you here. I dropped by your office and they told me that you hadn't come in for the day.

RUSH: D'you know, I really don't have time for this.

JACKSON: Actually, I think you're gonna wanna hear what I have to say. Is there some place more private we can talk?

RUSH: You're gonna tell me about the Stargate programme.

(As Daniel stares at him in surprise, Nicholas starts walking and Daniel has no choice but to follow him.)

RUSH: Your current dilemma: how to unlock the Stargate's ninth and final chevron ... specifically how much energy will be required.

JACKSON: How do you know that? Those details are highly classified.

RUSH: The project hasn't even been named yet, has it? How about ... Icarus?

(Daniel stops. Nicholas turns back to him.)

RUSH: I know because it's already happened, and you're just a figment of my imagination.

(He looks at their surroundings for a moment.)

RUSH: Re-living all of this is just a necessary evil; an unfortunate side effect of a process I can't control. (He raises his voice angrily.) And it keeps getting in the bloody way of what I need to do.

(He waves his notebook at Daniel.)

RUSH: You, the university, the clouds in the sky - all just a dream, a distant memory ...

(He grimaces ruefully.)

RUSH: ... and one I'd really rather went away.

(He turns and walks away.)


DESTINY INTERFACE ROOM. In the Chair Room on Destiny, Doctor Rush is seated in the Chair. His eyes are closed, his hands and feet are clamped and the headpiece of the Chair has flipped over the top and, on either side, two of the three prongs in the side clamps are touching the side of his head. However, unlike when Franklin was in the Chair, they are not deeply embedded into the skin, and Rush is quiet and unmoving. Everett Young and Eli Wallace come into the room.

YOUNG: What the hell's going on?

(Adam Brody, standing at the console behind the Chair, looks at him nervously.)


LATER. T.J. Johansen has arrived and is checking Rush's vital signs.

JOHANSEN: His pulse is strong. B.P.'s elevated but not dramatically.

(Young is pacing around behind Brody.)

BRODY: He didn't wanna involve anyone else.

YOUNG: I am in command of this ship, and that means you don't do anything without involving me. Do you understand?

(Eli is looking at a device at the side of the Chair, and the laptop attached to it.)

WALLACE: What is all this?

BRODY: We've modified the interface. We're hoping it will allow us to use the Chair without causing damage to the subject ...

YOUNG (pointedly): And?

BRODY: Rush is the first subject.

YOUNG: Let's wake him up.

BRODY: I can't. Severing the connection externally could be very dangerous. He has to do it himself.

(Young looks at T.J. who shrugs.)

BRODY: Look, with or without me, Rush still would have done it.

JOHANSEN: Even after what happened to Franklin?

BRODY: This is the only way to unlock control of this ship. The code has to be in the data bank somewhere.

YOUNG: Let's forget about Rush for a second. If he wants to kill himself, so be it. How do you know this modification you've made's not gonna backfire and put the whole ship in jeopardy?

BRODY: ... I don't.

WALLACE: How does this new interface work?

BRODY: We created a buffer to slow down the transfer of information. We also limited the connection to a narrow range of the subject's subconscious. That should protect the vast majority of his brain. Now, worst case, we hope only the memories that we targeted could be lost. If it works, the data stored in the ship's computer should be made available to Rush through a dream.

WALLACE: A dream?!

BRODY: A semi-lucid one; sort of a stimulated recall of the memories in question.

WALLACE: How does he wake up?

BRODY: There's a built-in trigger. It should appear to him as a distinctive door. All he has to do is open it and walk through.

JOHANSEN (to Young): He seems stable for now.

YOUNG: OK. Let's say this is working. Do you have any feedback? Do you know what Rush is actually doing in there?

BRODY: No.

YOUNG: If anything goes wrong, I'm pulling the plug.


RUSH'S MIND. Nicholas comes home and finds Gloria in the sitting room with Constance.

CONSTANCE: Get on a plane. Go!

GLORIA: I don't wanna go alone.

CONSTANCE: I'll go with you.

GLORIA: Thank you.

(Constance looks pointedly at Nicholas as he stands outside the room watching them.)

GLORIA: The truth is, as much as I'd like to, I ... I don't think I have the strength.

(Nicholas turns and goes into his office, shutting the door. Gloria turns her head and looks at the closed door sadly.)

(Inside his office, Nicholas starts transferring notes from his notebook onto the whiteboard. Without knocking, Constance opens the door.)

CONSTANCE: Nicholas?

(She stops and stares around the room at the state of it.)

CONSTANCE: My God, Nick!

RUSH (still writing): Don't worry. I haven't lost my mind - not yet, anyway. But as you can see, I am rather busy.

CONSTANCE: Ignoring it isn't helping anyone. Burying yourself in work this way ... She needs you.

RUSH: You know, thank you for your concern, but, you know, I really cannot deal with any distractions at the moment.

CONSTANCE (furiously): Is that what your dying wife is to you? A distraction?

RUSH (mildly): No, no, no, of course not.

CONSTANCE: She wants to go home one last time. You should take her.

(Finally Nicholas turns to her, unaware that Gloria is standing just out of sight in the hallway and listening to everything.)

RUSH: Constance, I know you mean well, I really do, but I can't go anywhere. Not now.

(Exasperated, Gloria turns and walks away.)


DESTINY MESS. Eli walks across the Mess with his tray and sits down at an empty table. Sitting nearby on a table with two other women, Chloe Armstrong looks across at him, hurt. She gets up, walks over and sits down opposite him. He glances up at her only briefly.

ARMSTRONG (smiling): Hey.

WALLACE (not meeting her eyes): Hey.

ARMSTRONG: Are we OK?

WALLACE (unconvincingly): Sure. Why not?

ARMSTRONG: You chose to sit here by yourself instead of with me.

WALLACE (nonchalantly): You looked busy.

(She is silent for a while. He looks up at her.)

ARMSTRONG: I need to know that we're going to be OK. I know you think that I betrayed you and I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you.

(She gazes at him anxiously.)

ARMSTRONG: It will never happen again. Your friendship means too much to me.

(He nods, not meeting her eyes and clearly not sure whether he can believe her. Just then Destiny's engines begin to power down and a shimmer briefly envelops everyone as the ship comes out of F.T.L.)

WALLACE: Never a dull moment! Shall we see where we are now?

(They leave the room and make their way to the Gate Room where several of the crew have already gathered and the Stargate has already dialled out.)

WALLACE: What have we got?

YOUNG: Take a look.

(Eli and Chloe go over to the portable remote showing footage from the Kino which has already been sent through the Gate. The Kino is hovering over the stone ruins of a city or town.)

ARMSTRONG: Are those buildings?!

WALLACE: Were. Look like ruins.

VOLKER: It's the first sign of civilisation on a planet out here.

ARMSTRONG: Human?

SCOTT: No signs of any life.

WALLACE: We should go check it out.

(Dale Volker looks round at the countdown clock.)

VOLKER: Six hours on the clock.

YOUNG (to Scott and Greer): You guys gear up.

SCOTT: Yeah.

WALLACE: I'd like to go.

ARMSTRONG: Me too.

(Everyone stops and turns to look at her. She looks awkward, realising she has no good reason to go. Eli jumps to her rescue.)

WALLACE: Chloe has been studying all of Doctor Jackson's work.

YOUNG (not believing it for a moment): Really?

SCOTT (equally dubious): You have?

ARMSTRONG: I have.

WALLACE (quietly): Say something archaeological.

ARMSTRONG: Stratification.

WALLACE (out of the corner of his mouth): That's good.

ARMSTRONG: Thank you.

WALLACE: Plus, didn't you say you took ancient history?

ARMSTRONG: I did.

WALLACE (to Young): At Harvard!

YOUNG: Well, I don't see how that helps us billions of light years from Earth, but I get it.

WALLACE: I'm pretty sure we've established that this ship is no safer than any planets.

ARMSTRONG: Kidnapped by aliens, right here!

YOUNG: I don't have a problem with either of you going. I never said I did. (He looks at Scott.) Just be careful.

SCOTT: Yes, sir.

(He leads the team out of the room to go and get geared up. Walking in front of Chloe, Eli holds his hand behind him, palm up. Chloe slaps it in a low version of a high five. Young chuckles.)


RUSH'S MIND. Nicholas is back in the classroom and has written a string of calculations in Ancient on the blackboard. Daniel Jackson is at the back of the room watching as Nicholas addresses his class.

RUSH: Every code that's ever been cracked, every cipher in the last two millennia has been based on those who came before them. (He gestures to the blackboard.) This code, however, is so old, there may be no known predecessor.

(The boy who spoke during the last class stares at him in shock.)

STUDENT: You're talking about a proto-encryption.

RUSH: Exactly, right.

STUDENT: Wh... How do we attack it with no basis, then?

(Nicholas looks round at his students, waiting for a moment to see if anyone else will offer anything.)

RUSH: None of you. Nothing. None of you see any pattern in this?

(He glares at them angrily.)

RUSH: So what good are you lot, then? Why are you here?

STUDENT (indignantly): There's symbols up there I've never even seen before!

RUSH: Yes you have! Yes you have, because I have, and you are all me!

(The students look round at each other nervously.)

SECOND STUDENT: What's he talking about?

(Nicholas glares at them all for a long moment, then loses his temper.)

RUSH: Get out! All of you - just get out!

(Murmuring indignantly to each other, the students gather their books and start to leave the room. At the back of the room, Daniel stands aside as they leave.)

JACKSON: It's not their fault.

(Nicholas sighs as the last of the students exits the room.)

RUSH: Yeah, I know.

(He sits down in one of the seats as Daniel comes to join him. They both look at the blackboard.)

RUSH: I'm the one who can't solve it, despite the fact it's right in front of me.

JACKSON: Have you given any thought to what we talked about?

RUSH: Oh yeah. (He snorts, then looks down sadly.) I'm gonna fail at that, too.

JACKSON: I'm sorry?

RUSH: Solving the issues of dialling the ninth chevron. I'll devote two and a half years of my life to that. Meanwhile my wife is gonna spend her dying days alone while I'm off, out, trying to solve that little problem.

(Daniel frowns as if he can't understand how Nicholas knows the future. Nick's voice becomes increasingly bitter.)

RUSH: And then some kid - some big child - with no meaningful education is gonna jump in at the last moment ... (he clicks his fingers angrily) ... and solve it just like that. No sense of ambition; spends most of his time playing ridiculous games, yet he's the genius I'll never be. He's the one that should be here now, seeing what I'm seeing.

(Daniel walks over to Nicholas' desk and sits down on it so that he can face him.)

JACKSON: Look, obviously you're not yourself right now. I do understand what it is you're going through.

RUSH (sarcastically): Yeah, I know.

JACKSON: I lost my wife. There was nothing I could do to save her. It's a terrible helpless feeling.

(Nicholas looks at him more sympathetically for a moment, then shakes his head.)

RUSH: Yeah, my wife's not the answer. Data does come quicker when I'm with her, but quick isn't gonna help me if I can't interpret.

(Standing up and putting his glasses on, he walks closer to the blackboard.)

RUSH: There's patterns I'm just not seeing.

JACKSON: I'm just saying: if you need time, take it. Be with her. That's more important right now. That's more important than anything.

RUSH (dismissively): Yes, thanks. You've been really helpful.

(He walks over to the blackboard and starts erasing part of the calculations. Drops of blood fall onto the chalk tray below the blackboard.)

JACKSON: Your nose is bleeding.

(Nicholas looks around, then goes over to the desk and picks up a paper tissue to wipe his nose.)


PLANET. The Kino records Scott, Greer, Eli and Chloe as they make their way from the Stargate to the ruins. The two civilians are now in uniform. Eli admires the ruins as the team approaches them.

WALLACE: Wow. The Kino really couldn't do this place justice.

ARMSTRONG: It's pretty incredible.

WALLACE: Uh, awesome!

(They giggle as they reach the edge of the ruins.)

GREER: Yeah, it doesn't look like anybody's been here for a long, long time.

SCOTT: Well, we have about six hours to figure out what happened. Let's look around.


DESTINY. In the Chair Room, T.J. gently wipes blood from Rush's nose. Young comes in.

YOUNG: Progress?

JOHANSEN: His nose was bleeding. It's stopped now.

YOUNG: What does that mean?

JOHANSEN: I don't know exactly, but it can't be good for him, the way this thing messes with the brain. His heart rate and B.P. have been fluctuating.

YOUNG: I thought you said he was stable.

JOHANSEN: I said “for the moment”. That was over an hour ago.

(Young walks over to Brody.)

YOUNG: No way at all to tell if he's having any success?

BRODY: No. All I'm able to monitor is the rate the data's flowing into his mind, and that's been fluctuating as well.

YOUNG: What are the odds that yanking him out of there will kill him?

(T.J. turns and stares at him. He looks evenly at Brody, who meets his gaze resolutely.)

BRODY (firmly): I wouldn't even hazard a guess.

(Young looks at T.J., then down at Rush thoughtfully.)


RUSH'S MIND. Nicholas and Gloria are eating a meal at their house. She looks down at her plate sadly.

GLORIA: I've spent most of the last twenty years watching what I ate, denying myself the things I most loved. And now, I could eat anything I want and nothing seems appealing.

RUSH (distractedly): Yeah.

(He is busy scribbling in his notebook. She looks at him unhappily.)

GLORIA: Why are you here, Nick?

RUSH (still writing): Because this is what happened.

GLORIA: You have work to do. Go and do it.

RUSH: I am doing it. Doesn't seem to matter where I am.

GLORIA: You have the chance to change so many things. The one thing you can't change is what's happening to me.

(Finally he lifts his head and looks at her.)

GLORIA: Don't let that hold you back.

(He watches her for a long moment as the glowing Ancient symbols scroll faster and faster towards him. Finally he looks down at his notebook where he - or possibly his subconscious mind - has written in the notebook, “YES!! WHY ARE YOU HERE?” He pulls the previous page back over to cover the note, picks up the book and another notebook, stands and walks around the table to Gloria. She raises her hand and he takes it.)

GLORIA: When the time comes, I know you'll be there.

(He stares down at their joined hands for a few seconds and then, fighting back his tears, walks away. She covers her mouth with her fingers, trying not to cry.)


PLANET. Eli is sitting at the top of a flight of steps which lead underground. He is watching the screen on his remote as the Kino travels down a dark stone corridor. He turns to Chloe who is standing behind him.

WALLACE: OK, every time I turn it, I see another wall, so what do you think that means?

(Scott walks over.)

SCOTT: What do you got, buddy?

WALLACE: Well, it's pretty cool. Looks like a network of underground tunnels. We should check it out.

SCOTT: Why?

ARMSTRONG: Don't you wanna know who once lived here?

GREER: How does that help us?

WALLACE: Hey, so far Destiny has stopped on planets that had something on them that we needed. I'm not saying it's always gonna be the case ...

SCOTT: Well, do you see anything on the Kino?

WALLACE: ... No, but we ...

GREER (interrupting): What could possibly be down there that we would need?

WALLACE: I don't know. How ‘bout a power source capable of dialling back to Earth?!

SCOTT: Oh, come on!

WALLACE: You never know!

SCOTT: These people don't look like they were that advanced.

ARMSTRONG: Actually, many advanced alien civilisations found in the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies lived in what appeared to be primitive stone architecture that concealed extremely powerful technology.

(Eli stares round at her, and Scott and Greer exchange a long look.)

ARMSTRONG: I admit, that was a big nerd moment but it's-it's true, isn't it?

SCOTT (to Eli): All right, you've got the Kino footage. Let's go.

WALLACE (awkwardly): Yeah, that's the thing. We don't ... have the Kino footage.

SCOTT: What do you mean?

(Eli stands up and steps closer to Scott, looking embarrassed.)

WALLACE: It's a bit of a maze down there.

SCOTT: You lost it?

WALLACE: No - I took a wrong turn trying to steer it out. I just need to take a look and get my bearings. (He looks more assertive.) The footage could be important.

(He types onto the remote for a moment, then makes an exasperated sound.)

SCOTT: OK, OK.

(He starts towards the steps.)

GREER: All right, I'm gonna stay up here and cover your backs.

WALLACE (quietly): Are you scared?

(Greer's head snaps around towards Eli. At the same moment Scott stops dead, his eyes full of dread. He looks back at a grinning Eli, whose smile very quickly fades as he turns to look at Greer who, despite his eyes being obscured by very dark sunshades, is clearly not a happy bunny.)

WALLACE: That was a joke!

(Greer turns to face him fully.)

WALLACE (sarcastically): I'm sorry - I must have mistakenly thought we were on that level now. (He smiles, trying to make light of the situation.) You know, friends who can kid each other like that!

(Greer takes his shades off and glares at him.)

WALLACE: Please don't kill me.

SCOTT: C'mon, Sergeant, you can take up the rear. We won't go far.

GREER: Yes, sir.

(Scott turns around and continues down the steps, Chloe and Eli following.)

ARMSTRONG: What's his problem? I didn't think anything scared him.

SCOTT: He's a little claustrophobic.

(They make their way into the very cobwebby tunnel, lighting their way with flashlights. Greer, bringing up the rear, looks round sharply as something wooden creaks behind them. Instantly he flashes back to himself as a young boy, looking up anxiously to a wooden floor above his head. He seems to be either hiding or incarcerated in the basement of what is presumably his house, and someone passes by overhead, reflected through the slats of the hatch above him. He keeps silent, clearly afraid of the person above his head. Snapping out of his memory, he follows the others deeper into the tunnels.)


RUSH'S MIND. Nicholas and Gloria are walking in a park. Although it's warm enough for Nick to be wearing just a shirt and an unbuttoned cardigan, Gloria is wearing a fairly heavy coat and she looks unwell. She looks around at Nicholas.

GLORIA: I need to sit down.

RUSH: OK.

(They sit down on a nearby bench. Nicholas immediately starts jotting numbers in his notebook. Nearby, a flock of pigeons takes off from the grass and heads up into the air. They both watch them, Nicholas frowning as if they might have some significance, then he lowers his head and gets back to his calculations.)


LATER. Some time later - days, weeks, it's unclear - Nicholas sits in a waiting room in a hospital, writing in his notebook. A board nearby shows that Gloria is in bay 46. A nurse wheels her out in a wheelchair, and looks round pointedly at Nicholas. He puts his notebook away, gets up and wheels his wife away.


Again some time later, the couple sit side by side in a church as a priest recites a psalm to the congregation.

PRIEST: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we shall not fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof.

(Nicholas looks up thoughtfully, then lowers his head and starts writing in his notebook. Beside him, Gloria looks at him in exasperation as she holds open her bible at the psalm which the priest is reciting.)

PRIEST: There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the most High.

(His recitation continues as a voiceover as, in the hallway of their house, Gloria kneels down in front of a young girl who is standing beside her mother. The girl has a violin case set down on the floor beside her and Gloria puts her own case next to it. She is obviously giving her own violin - probably far better quality and more valuable - to the girl because she will not need it herself for much longer.)

GLORIA: I want you to practise, OK?

(The girl nods.)

GIRL: OK.

(They embrace.)

PRIEST (voiceover): God is in the midst of her; she will not be moved. God will help her when the morning dawns.

(Gloria stands up and the girl and her mother pick up one case each.)

GIRL: Thank you.

GIRL'S MOTHER (smiling gratefully): This is really good of you.

(The girl and her mother leave the house. Nicholas, who has watched all of this from the other end of the hallway, walks away as Gloria turns back, fighting her tears.)

(Later, Nick sits on the side of the bed as, behind him, Gloria is packing a bag to take into hospital for her final days. Tears in her eyes, she looks at him as he continues writing, completely wrapped up in his own work. She sits down on the bed, silently weeping in anguish.)


PLANET. Team Scott is continuing through the tunnels. They stop and look around anxiously as a strange sound - a bit like a long whoosh of air - passes by for a moment.

WALLACE: What was that?

SCOTT: Probably wind.

ARMSTRONG (nervously): Anyone else think we've seen enough?

SCOTT: Weren't you the one hoping for dead bodies?

ARMSTRONG: As in evidence of human skeletal remains, actually, and there don't seem to be any. Oh well.

(Not looking where she's going as she tries to gaze in every direction at once, she walks into a cobweb strung across the corridor.)

ARMSTRONG: Oh. Oh God. Get it off.

(She flails as she tries to get free of the sticky webbing.)

ARMSTRONG: Eugh! Get it off! Get it off!

(She finally manages to pull most of it off her.)

ARMSTRONG: OK. That's it. I am out of here!

(Still making appalled noises, she heads back the way they just came as Eli tries not to laugh.)

SCOTT: Good idea. Let's go.

(Chloe storms around a corner. Greer, following behind her, calls out as he rounds the corner.)

GREER: Stop!

(She stops and turns back to him anxiously.)

ARMSTRONG: Why?

(He raises his rifle to aim it above her head just as Eli and Scott come around the corner and stop dead at the sight.)

GREER (to Chloe): Don't move.

ARMSTRONG (wide-eyed with terror): Oh my God. What? What? What is it?

(”It” is a spider of a size which arachnophobes like your transcriber just don't want to see ever. With a body that's at least two feet long and legs in proportion to its body, it is crawling upside down along the ceiling towards Chloe. It stops and hisses savagely. Scott holds out his hand to her, beckoning her forward.)

GREER: Run.

(Chloe lunges forward and Greer instantly opens fire on the spider. It tumbles from the ceiling, dangling from its web and Greer fires again. As it drops to the floor, the ceiling above it begins to disintegrate. Greer dives for cover around the corner as the entire ceiling in the area of the spider collapses and crashes to the floor. As the dust begins to clear and the team straightens up, Eli looks up at Greer sarcastically.)

WALLACE: I think you got it.


DESTINY GATE ROOM. In the Gate Room, Young has opened the Stargate and is on the radio.

YOUNG: Lieutenant Scott, this is Colonel Young, do you read?

(He deactivates the radio and listens for a response for a few seconds, then activates it again.)

YOUNG: Lieutenant Scott, Sergeant Greer, come in.

SCOTT (over radio): This is Scott, sir. (He coughs.) Glad to hear your voice, sir. We are in a bit of a pickle down here.

YOUNG: What's that?

(For the first time we see the extent of the ceiling collapse. The tunnel is completely blocked from top to bottom. Greer is trying to shift some of the stones.)

SCOTT: We are trapped in an underground tunnel. We were exploring the ruins; Sergeant Greer was forced to fire his weapon; uh, the tunnel collapsed on us. No-one is hurt. Eli and Chloe are looking for another way out but if they can't find one we're gonna need help getting out of here, sir.

YOUNG: Why was Sergeant Greer forced to use his weapon?

SCOTT (hesitating for a moment): There was a ... spider, sir. It was approaching Chloe.

YOUNG: A spider.

SCOTT: It was a sizeable spider, sir.

(Young chuckles.)

YOUNG: I'll send a team. Young out.

(At the console, Sergeant Hunter Riley - who has finally recovered from his injuries sustained in “Earth” - reports.)

RILEY: Less than two hours before we jump into F.T.L.

(In the tunnels, Scott shakes his head.)

SCOTT: This is my fault. We shouldn't have come down here.

(Eli and Chloe return.)

WALLACE: So, good news is we haven't run into any more spiders.

SCOTT: Did you find the Kino?

WALLACE: No. Unfortunately these tunnels seem to go on forever. We haven't found any other sort of exit or access to ground level.

SCOTT: We heard wind howling.

WALLACE: No. No. That's what you said it was. Me, I'm already having trouble breathing.

SCOTT: There's air down here.

WALLACE: Oh, the air is very hot.

(Making incoherent noises, he sits down.)

SCOTT: All right, calm down. There's gotta be more than one way in and out of here.

ARMSTRONG: I take it the digging is not going well.

GREER: We've got C4.

SCOTT: That's not gonna do anything but make this worse. Colonel Young just radioed through the Gate. They're sending a rescue team.

WALLACE: Ah! And what are they gonna do?

(Scott looks round at him, grimacing.)


PLANET. Above ground, the rescue team - headed by Vanessa James and Dale Volker - arrives at the ruins.

JAMES (into radio): Lieutenant Scott, this is Lieutenant James. Do you read?

SCOTT (into radio): James, we hear you. Where are you?

JAMES: We just found the tunnel entrance. Is everyone OK down there?

SCOTT: Yeah, we're fine. Look, uh, how bad is it?

(James looks across to Volker, who raises his eyebrows in a very unoptimistic way.)

JAMES (into radio): I'm, uh, not gonna lie to you. It does not look good.

(She looks down the steps to the large pile of boulders filling the entire entrance.)

JAMES: But we're gonna get you out of there.

(She deactivates her radio and looks round at the team.)

JAMES: OK, let's get to work.


RUSH'S MIND. Nicholas lies on the sofa in his office, gazing at nothing with his face full of memories as a song performed by The Jam plays, containing lyrics painfully appropriate to his situation. As the song continues, he has flashbacks to better times when Gloria was healthy, the two of them were happily in love and there was nothing more important in his life than gazing into her eyes as they laughed together, she stroked his face and they kissed.

SONG: # I've been to ancient worlds, I've scoured the whole universe
# And caught the first train home to be at her side
# No matter where I roam, I will return to my English rose
# For no bonds can ever keep me from she. #

(Someone knocks on the open door of his office. He looks over and sees Daniel Jackson smiling at him. Beside the open office door is a second, more metallic door which wasn't there before. It is closed, and Nicholas either doesn't realise that it's there or takes no notice of it.)

JACKSON: Doctor Rush? I'm - I'm sorry. I rang the bell several times. The, uh, the door was open.

(Picking up a remote from the floor, Nicholas switches off the music and sits up.)

RUSH: Yes.

JACKSON: Your, um ... (he gestures to the underside of his own nose) ... your nose is bleeding again.

(Putting his glasses on, Nicholas reaches down to the floor and picks up a tissue, then wipes his nose with it.)

JACKSON: I've got some great news. Our source inside the Lucian Alliance has come through. We've got the location of a planet that just might suit our power requirements.

RUSH (flatly): Ah, that's terrific.

JACKSON: Well, I thought you'd be more excited. I mean, it's gonna take some doing. There's a mining outpost being run by a small ...

RUSH (interrupting as he stands up): Doctor Jackson, do you understand anything on that board?

(He points to the whiteboard. Daniel looks at the figures on it while Nicholas wipes his nose again.)

JACKSON: No, not really. Why? Should I?

RUSH: No. I don't, either. I didn't expect it to just present itself. I mean, why should it? It's a code. It's meant to be hidden.

JACKSON: Code for what?

RUSH: Destiny.

(Daniel frowns at him, not understanding. Nicholas gestures around the room at all the papers pinned to the walls.)

RUSH: This is all information stored in her memory banks - at least, I suspect, a small fraction of it; all completely meaningless to me in this form without context. And unfortunately, I don't think staying here any longer is gonna make it much clearer.

(He turns and starts walking towards the new door in the office wall.)

JACKSON: Are you going somewhere?

RUSH: Yep. I'm done.

(He takes hold of the door knob.)

JACKSON: How's your wife doing?

(Nicholas freezes. He stays still for a long moment, then lets go of the door knob and lays his palm against the door, fighting his internal anguish.)

RUSH: She's dying. Today, actually.

JACKSON: I really am sorry.

RUSH (softly): Yeah, so am I.

JACKSON: Shouldn't you be with her?

(Nicholas turns to face him.)

RUSH: You keep saying that.

JACKSON: Yeah, well, it's true, isn't it?

(Nick frowns as he starts to realise something.)

RUSH: What's the date today?

JACKSON: You say your wife is gonna die today but you don't remember what day it is?

RUSH: No-no, please-please, just-just-just tell me.

JACKSON: April sixth.

RUSH (thoughtfully): April the sixth.

(His phone rings. He picks it up and starts speaking immediately.)

RUSH: She's taken a turn for the worse, the doctors say the situation's very grave, they don't think she's gonna make it through the day, thank you.

(He hangs up and turns to the board. Picking up the eraser, he wipes off a small area of calculations, then picks up a pen and writes “APRIL 6” in the space.)

RUSH: April sixth.

JACKSON: What does that mean?

RUSH: I dunno ... but Gloria didn't die on April sixth.

(He picks up the eraser again and erases “April”, then replaces the word with a “4” so that the new writing now reads “4 6”.)

JACKSON: Well, it's not the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything - that's forty-two.

(He explains the reference in case Nicholas doesn't get it.)

JACKSON: “Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy”.

RUSH: Yes, thank you. You've been very helpful.

(He turns and heads for the door - the office door, not the strange new one. Going into the hall, he walks to the front door, opens it and walks outside, then turns around to look at the house number beside the door. It's the same number that was there when we saw it earlier - 46. He walks back into his office thoughtfully.)

RUSH: The address of this house is number four, not forty-six.

(Daniel looks at him with a smug smile on his face.)

RUSH: Why does it say forty-six on the door?

JACKSON: Well, forty-six divided by two is twenty-three. I'm sure you've heard of the Twenty-Three Enigma.

(He sits down on the sofa.)

RUSH: Yeah, it refers to some ridiculous notion that everything and anything is connected to the number twenty-three.

JACKSON: Most rational people acknowledge the Enigma is merely evidence of the mind's power to perceive truth in almost anything.

RUSH: Yeah. If you look for it, you're gonna find it.

(He has a series of flashbacks: the bedside clock showing the time as 6:46; himself writing 6:46 in his notebook; the licence plate of 46YYR9P; Gloria sitting beside him in church with her bible open to the psalm which the priest is reciting - Psalm 46; he and Gloria sitting in the park as he finishes a line of calculations with the number 46; an itemised list of numbers on his desk at the university classroom which ends with item 46; himself writing “4n” on the whiteboard and “6n” underneath, then circling the two numbers. Back in the present, he picks up a piece of paper on which he has written various calculations and numbers and starts to circle all examples of the number on it.)

RUSH: So, what is this? Is this my mind playing tricks? Am I seeing something that's not there?

(Daniel sits quietly on the sofa, watching him thoughtfully.)

RUSH: ... convincing myself this is somehow signific ... (he grimaces in pain) ... significant?

(Gasping in pain, he clutches at his heart, or perhaps the recent wound near his heart.)

JACKSON: Doctor Rush?

(Nicholas collapses to the floor, holding his chest in agony.)


DESTINY GATE ROOM. In the Gate Room, Young looks at the countdown clock, then turns to the open wormhole and activates his radio.

YOUNG: Lieutenant James, this is Colonel Young, come in.

(Sighing wearily and covered in sweat, James comes up the steps of the tunnel and takes her helmet off. She wipes her forehead and then activates her radio.)

JAMES: I wish I had better news for you, sir. We're doing the best we can but ...

(She looks around to where her team of marines has formed a chain gang to hand rocks up from the pile at the bottom of the steps.)

JAMES: ... things are pretty slow-moving.

YOUNG: You're running out of time.

JAMES: Yes sir. We know.

(On the other side of the collapsed rocks, Young's and James' conversation has come over Scott's radio. Scott and Greer are trying to clear their side of the pile.)

WALLACE: OK. Can I panic now? (He hyperventilates.) We've got less than half an hour. We're not gonna make it.

(Scott and Greer pause in their efforts for a moment and look round at him.)

WALLACE: Seriously - what are we gonna do?


CHAIR ROOM. T.J. has a stethoscope to Rush's chest as Young comes in.

JOHANSEN: Sir, he just suffered some sort of cardiac event. He seems somewhat stabilised but I don't know how much more of this he can take.

YOUNG: Leaving him in there's gonna kill him?

JOHANSEN: I think so, sir. It's just a matter of time.

YOUNG (to Brody): And you said pulling him out could kill him too?

BRODY: I know I advised against it, but maybe it's better to opt for risk over certainty.

YOUNG: Unfortunately things are not going well on the planet. Looks like we're not gonna have enough time to dig ‘em out. However, if Rush can find the master code, we may be able to stall Destiny's jump into F.T.L.

BRODY: We risk sacrificing Rush?

YOUNG: According to you, he's choosing to stay connected to that Chair.

JOHANSEN: He may not be aware of the danger that he's in.

YOUNG: If we jump to F.T.L., Eli, Scott, Greer and Chloe are gonna be left behind, so right now it looks like their best chance is Rush.


PLANET. James and her team continue passing rocks up from the tunnel. Volker returns from searching the area. James looks round at her colleague a few steps lower than her and alerts him to the fact that she's going to leave for a while.

JAMES: Hey.

(Once he has acknowledged her departure, she trots up to Volker.)

VOLKER: We couldn't find any other access.

JAMES: Maybe it's time we made one.

(She radios down to Team Scott.)

JAMES (over radio): Lieutenant. We're running out of time.

SCOTT (into radio): Yeah, we know.

JAMES: We're gonna use C4 to try and blow a hole on top of the tunnel. How far back do you estimate you are from the collapsed opening?

SCOTT: Uh, not far. About ten metres.

JAMES: Move as far back as you can, and let me know when you're clear.

SCOTT: Copy that.

(Deactivating his radio, he looks round at the others.)

SCOTT: Let's go, guys.

(They gather their gear and head deeper into the tunnels. Shortly afterwards, sheltered behind a column, James looks at Volker as he returns from helping plant the explosives. She nods to him.)

JAMES: Good?

VOLKER: We'll see.

JAMES (into radio): We're ready up here.

SCOTT (into radio): Hopefully we're clear down here.

(James flicks up the switch on the detonator, then calls out.)

JAMES: Fire in the hole!

(She pushes the button and the C4 explodes. Volker cowers at the noise, then he and James look out from their cover. They watch in appalled horror as an enormous crater appears in the ground around the area of the explosion. Underground, Team Scott shine their flashlights through the cloud of dust and look at the solid wall of rock in their way.)

JAMES (over radio): Lieutenant, do you read?

SCOTT (into radio): Yeah, we're still here. It doesn't look like it had the desired effect.

JAMES: No sir. We just made things a lot worse. I'm sorry.

SCOTT: It's not your fault, el-tee. You did the best you could. Now, uh, get your team back to the ship.

JAMES: Sir, we still have time.

VOLKER (wide-eyed): Not much.

SCOTT: That was an order, Lieutenant. Go.

(Unhappily, James starts to collect her team together.)


RUSH'S MIND. Slowly and reluctantly, Nicholas walks along the hospital corridor towards his wife's room. He stops at the door as he sees her lying in bed, with Constance sitting at her side. Gloria looks round and sees him there, and Constance follows her gaze. Turning back to Gloria for a moment, she clasps her hand, then stands up and diplomatically leaves the room. Nicholas walks into the room and sits down at the bedside. She smiles at him tiredly.

GLORIA (quietly): You're not here for me.

(He sits with his head lowered.)

RUSH: I've already been through this.

GLORIA: No you haven't. You were running.

RUSH: I was here.

GLORIA: You can't lie to yourself.

(He lifts his head and looks at her.)

GLORIA: You chose this memory because it's one you'd rather just forget.

(He looks down again and takes his glasses off.)

GLORIA: What you need is here now. That's why you're here. It's not for me. You just want your answer.

(Nicholas forces himself to look at her.)

RUSH: I need an answer.

GLORIA (in a whisper): You're dying.

RUSH (looking down again): I know.

GLORIA: You'd rather die than fail? What have you become, Nicholas? The things you've done - it's not who you are; it's not you.

RUSH: I always had it in me ... to make the hard decisions. I have reasons ... good reasons.

GLORIA: To hurt people? Are you sure? You tell yourself my death gave you courage. In truth, it made you callous. You're not the man I loved.

RUSH (quietly, anguished): He died with you.

GLORIA: I was never your conscience, Nicholas. You still have one of your own. You just need to listen to it. Some people live their whole lives and never find what we had.

(Nicholas' face begins to crumple as he fights back his tears.)

GLORIA (softly): Don't let what happened to me change you this way. It's nobody's fault.

RUSH (softly, tearfully): I know. I know that.

GLORIA: It's one stupid gene passed on to me by my mother, incapable of performing its one simple function - to repair damaged D.N.A.

(Nick lifts his head, his eyes beginning to widen. As he looks round at her and the truth begins to dawn on him, she smiles in satisfaction.)

GLORIA: That's it, isn't it? That's why you're here.

(He looks across the room. The metallic looking door is in the wall opposite.)

RUSH (in a whisper): Of course!

GLORIA: Go.

(She reaches out her hand to him. Beginning to weep, Nicholas takes it in both hands and holds it up to his mouth, gazing into her eyes.)

GLORIA: I know how much you loved me. (She fights back her own tears.) Stop taking it out on everyone else.

RUSH (tearfully): I haven't forgotten you, Gloria. I never will.

(He gazes into her eyes, weeping.)

(In the Chair Room on Destiny, the prongs retract from the sides of Nicholas Rush's head. The clamps release his wrists and ankles and the headpiece flips back over the top of the Chair. His eyes open and he starts to sit up as T.J., Young and Brody hurry over to him.)

JOHANSEN: Doctor Rush?

(He tries to stand and stumbles. The others catch him.)

YOUNG: All right, listen to me. We've got five minutes to stop this ship from jumping into F.T.L.

RUSH (bewildered): What?

YOUNG: People's lives are depending on it.

RUSH (vaguely): I can't ... I can't get ... I can't do that.

(He sinks back down into the Chair.)

RUSH (vaguely): I can't do that. I can't do anything about that.

(As he buries his head in his hand, groaning with pain, Young hurries out and heads to the Gate Room where James and her team have returned and are watching the open Gate anxiously.)

YOUNG (into radio): Lieutenant Scott, can you hear me?

(Underground on the planet, Team Scott is still trying to remove stones from the blocked corridor. They stop as Scott activates his radio.)

SCOTT: Yes, sir.

YOUNG: We can't stop it.

(The team look around at each other. Eli, full of despair, sinks down into a sitting position on the floor; Chloe follows him down. The two soldiers remain standing.)

SCOTT: Understood, sir. (He pauses for a moment.) God be with you, Colonel. All of you.

YOUNG: It's not over, son. Don't give up.

(Deactivating the radio, he walks closer to the event horizon of the Stargate. In the tunnels, the team is silent as each of them tries to take in the horrific prospect of Destiny leaving without them even if they could escape their entrapment. In the Gate Room, the Stargate shuts down. Young turns and looks at the countdown clock, which has turned red and is into its last minute. A few seconds later it reaches zero and pings. Destiny leaps into F.T.L.)

(In the tunnels, Eli lifts his remote device, which must have a countdown clock on it.)

WALLACE (quietly): They just jumped.


LATER. INTERFACE ROOM. Young walks into the Control Interface Room and finds Rush at his normal console. Brody and Volker are also in the room.

YOUNG: What are you doing out of the Infirmary?

RUSH: I've got work to do, Colonel.

YOUNG: How ‘bout solving the access code that's gonna allow us to turn this ship around?

RUSH (snorting): Well, funnily enough ...

(He sits back and looks at Young sarcastically.)

YOUNG: I thought you didn't find anything.

RUSH: I didn't say that. I said I couldn't stop the ship then and there. Even though it nearly killed me, I managed to find a clue which may give us control of this ship once and for all.

YOUNG: “A clue”.

BRODY: Forty-six.

YOUNG: Well, that seems a little too simple.

RUSH: It's the number of chromosomes in human D.N.A. Genetic code.

YOUNG: This helps us how?

VOLKER: Well, we know in other cases with their later technologies that the Ancients used sensors that restricted access by detecting specific genetic markers.

BRODY: The access code to the Destiny's not like that. It's definitely numerological. The problem we've had cracking it is that we had no basis on where to start.

VOLKER: We were just taking wild shots in the dark.

YOUNG: And now?

RUSH: Now we know where to start! They used their own genetic code, likely a specific one, more evolved than ours, no doubt, but all we have to do now is run through the variations.

BRODY: We're still talking about billions of possibilities here.

RUSH: I've written a programme which is gonna go through the permutations.

YOUNG: So how long is this gonna take?

RUSH (shrugging): Several days.

YOUNG (disbelievingly): Really?

VOLKER (quietly): Or several years.

RUSH: Well, yeah. I was trying to be a little bit more optimistic!

YOUNG: That's a little different for you!

(He turns and walks away. Rush shakes his head in resignation. Young turns back at the doorway.)

YOUNG: Rush. All this - this was worth risking your life for?

RUSH (thoughtfully): We'll see.

(He scribbles himself a note, then looks down pensively.)