Transcript

Summary | Production | Transcript | Fan Reviews

Colonel Young sees a recurring vision of Destiny being attacked and destroyed by hostile aliens, causing him to fear he is losing his mind.

EPISODE #206
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 11.02.2010
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 10.17.2011
WRITTEN BY: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
DIRECTED BY: Andy Mikita
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Transcript by Callie Sullivan

DESTINY. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM. A communication stone is lying on the activation box. Seated at the table, Colonel Everett Young opens his eyes as his consciousness returns to its own body. Looking rather scruffy and unshaven, he looks around the room a little blearily as someone takes the stone off the box and puts it back into the case. Young puts his hand over his mouth for a moment as if he is still in shock over something he has recently learned, then he stands and leaves the room without a word.


INFIRMARY. Later, Colonel Young is in the Infirmary as Tamara Johansen brings him up to date. She is sitting at a laptop and looking at the results of some tests on the screen.

JOHANSEN: We've run a series of comparative blood tests using various pathogens we've encountered and isolated along the way.

(Sitting on the side of a bed behind her, Young doesn't appear to be paying much attention to her but is instead fiddling with his wedding ring which he has taken off his finger.)

JOHANSEN: While Chloe's blood continues to show atypical antibiotic properties ...

(She looks around and sees what he's doing. She hesitates for a moment but continues when Young lifts his head.)

JOHANSEN: ... Lieutenant Scott's seems to have gone back to normal.

(He lowers his head again.)

JOHANSEN (sternly): Sir.

(His head snaps up at her tone and he looks at her vaguely.)

JOHANSEN: I'm just saying I think it's safe to let him out of isolation.

YOUNG: That's fine. I'll, uh, I'll have him released.

(He grins awkwardly at her. She frowns.)

JOHANSEN: You OK?

YOUNG: Emily wants a divorce. I just got back and ... I dunno, I guess I, uh, I should have seen it coming but ...

(He forces a smile.)

YOUNG: Is it even legal to sign papers in someone else's body?

JOHANSEN: I-I ... I wouldn't know.

YOUNG: Well, I guess it doesn't matter.

(Gesturing towards the laptop and indicating her results, he gets off the bed.)

YOUNG: Thanks.

(He turns and starts to leave the room. T.J. closes her eyes momentarily, then jumps up.)

JOHANSEN: Wait.

(He turns back to her.)

JOHANSEN: Maybe we should talk. After everything that's happened, we ... haven't had the chance.

YOUNG: Well, is there anything that you and I could possibly say that's gonna make it any better?

JOHANSEN: Maybe that's not the point.

YOUNG (quietly): Well, then, what is?

(She opens her mouth but can't find the words. After a moment he turns and walks away. She closes her eyes sadly.)


ELSEWHERE. Camille Wray leads Ginn towards Eli Wallace's room where he is - as usual - working at the Kino console. Ronald Greer tags along behind.

WRAY: Eli.

WALLACE (not looking round): Hey.

WRAY: I don't know if you've met Ginn, one of our guests from the Lucian Alliance?

(Eli straightens up and looks at Ginn a little wide-eyed.)

WRAY: She's been co-operating ...

WALLACE (to Ginn): Hi.

WRAY: ... providing intel on Alliance activity in the Milky Way, but I think she may be able to help us on the ship as well.

(She smiles at Eli as Ginn turns to him.)

GINN: I spent over a year studying Ancient systems to prepare for the trip. I was particularly interested in some of your theories on dialling while inside a star.

(Eli looks at her in flattered surprise.)

WALLACE: Wow.

GINN: Do you still think there's a chance you could make it work?

WALLACE: To be honest, I wasn't really making much progress, so I kind of put it aside.

WRAY: Well, maybe with Ginn's help, that can change.

WALLACE: I guess it's worth a shot!

(The women both smile.)

WRAY: Good! I'll leave you to it.

(She walks away. Eli looks at Ginn for a moment and then gestures to his stool, smiling.)

WALLACE: Have a seat!

GINN: Thanks.


SCOTT/ARMSTRONG QUARTERS. Chloe Armstrong is standing at the window watching the F.T.L. vortex whirl past. The doors to the room open and Matthew Scott walks in. She turns to him in surprise.

ARMSTRONG: They let you out!

SCOTT: Yeah.

ARMSTRONG: So, you're not changing.

SCOTT: Well, T.J. says I'm pretty much back to normal.

ARMSTRONG (bitterly): I guess everyone was a little afraid I'd poisoned you with my alien blood.

SCOTT (walking closer to her): You're not contagious. We're just keeping you here because ...

(He can't bring himself to finish the sentence, so Chloe does it for him.)

ARMSTRONG: ... because I might black out and sabotage the ship without even knowing it.

SCOTT (softly): You saved my life. If you were just an alien monster, you would have left me to die out there and no-one would have known any better.

ARMSTRONG: My skin's changing. Look.

(She bends down and pulls her right trouser leg up. Below her knee the skin on the right-hand side of her leg is discoloured, raised, silver-coloured and, let's be honest, alien-looking.)

ARMSTRONG: It's coarse, like it's getting hard.

(She rolls the trouser leg down again and straightens up.)

ARMSTRONG: And it's growing.

SCOTT: It doesn't matter.

(He steps closer and takes her face in both his hands.)

SCOTT: Listen. Hey. We're gonna find a way out of this. I promise.


OUTSIDE. Not long afterwards, he leaves the room. The guard standing outside closes the doors. Matt walks a few yards away, then stops, worried out of his mind about his girlfriend.


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. In his quarters, Young is sitting on one of the sofas. He puts his wedding ring on its edge onto the table in front of him and sets it spinning like a coin. As it continues to spin he picks up his metal mug, no doubt filled with alcohol rather than water, and takes a long drink from it. As he grimaces and puts the mug down again, his radio activates.

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, come in?

(The ring finishes spinning and topples over.)

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room. Please respond.

(Young lifts his head and gazes into the distance as if wondering whether he can be bothered to go to the radio on the nearby desk, but eventually he walks across and activates it.)

YOUNG: This is Young. Go ahead.

BRODY: We've got a bit of a situation here.

YOUNG: I'm on my way.


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM. As he walks into the room, he sees Adam Brody and Eli looking intently at the holoscreen. Destiny is depicted in the centre of the screen but there are nine identical and distinctive shapes spread out around her.

YOUNG: What have we got?

BRODY: Nine alien ships. They just dropped out of hyperspace. They've got us surrounded.

WALLACE: Looks like the same ones that took Rush and Chloe.

YOUNG: We left them behind in another galaxy. How the hell'd they find us out here?

(Eli's console beeps.)

WALLACE: We're getting a message.

(He looks down at the text message on his screen.)

WALLACE: Oh my God. They want us to hand over Chloe.

BRODY: What if, all this time, they were slowly changing her to one of them and now they want her back?

WALLACE: She's not one of them.

YOUNG: She was gathering intelligence. She may not have known it, but that's - that's what she was doing.

WALLACE: All the more reason not to let them anywhere near her!

YOUNG: How long 'til we jump?

BRODY: Forty-four minutes.

YOUNG: Power weapons.

(Adam hurries across to the appropriate console, and shortly afterwards Destiny's weapons begin to deploy. Instantly the alien ships start firing at her, sending blast after blast to impact her shields. Everyone in the Control Room looks up as the ship shakes.)

BRODY: I don't think that's the response they were looking for.

YOUNG: Return fire.

(All around the ship the weapons fire towards the aliens as they continue to pound Destiny's shields. In a corridor, Scott is running with a group of civilians as he escorts them to safety. The leading people in the group cringe as sparks shower down from the ceiling.)

SCOTT: Watch your heads. All right, let's move! This is not a drill!

(The civilians head aimlessly down the corridor. Greer, coming in the opposite direction, holds his arms out to stop them and to corral everybody together into a tighter group.)

GREER: Stop, stop.

SCOTT: Sergeant, get these people to the designated areas. I'm gonna go and check the Observation Deck.

GREER: All right. (To the civilians) Come on, come on, come on, let's go, let's go, come on!

(He leads them away as Scott heads back the way they just came.)

(Nicholas Rush arrives in the Control Interface Room.)

RUSH: What are you doing?

(He cringes away from a shower of sparks.)

YOUNG: We're under attack.

RUSH: I can see that!

(He looks at his console as another shower of sparks erupts and the holoscreen fritzes and shuts down.)

RUSH: We can't take on this many ships!

BRODY: They want Destiny more than anything. They wouldn't destroy us.

RUSH: Well, not intentionally, but they'd have to collapse the shields in order to board us, and that's a risky proposition.

(Elsewhere, Scott ducks away from exploding power conduits as he makes his way along. As he reaches the doorway to the Observation Deck, all the lights go out in the area. He punches the wall panel to close the doors but nothing happens. He walks onto the deck and stares at the sight of at least five of the alien vessels scattered around the front of Destiny, taking it in turns to send their single pulses towards her. The shields have clearly failed in at least the front of the ship and each blast hits Destiny full-on. As the impacts keep coming, debris begins to fly upwards as those areas are demolished. After one blast, a massive chunk of the ship is thrown upwards, heads straight towards the Observation Deck windshield and smashes into it. Scott automatically ducks, then straightens up as the debris skitters away again. He stares as the windshield creaks ominously and a network of tiny cracks begins to spread outwards from the impact point. As Destiny continues to vibrate under the blasts from the other ships, the cracks get larger and spread wider. Scott activates his radio.)

SCOTT: Colonel, this is Scott. You need to seal the entire section around the Observation Deck.

YOUNG (into radio): Why?

SCOTT (yelling): Seal it now! NOW!

(The cracks spread onwards. Scott closes his eyes briefly, knowing what's going to happen to him, and turns his back to the windshield in resigned readiness. Young shouts over the radio to him.)

YOUNG: Scott! What's going on?

(The windshield ruptures and the glass and Matthew Scott are blown out into space. In the Control Interface Room the crew ducks as more explosions go off around them. Alarms are sounding. Eli checks his console.)

WALLACE: We've got secondary explosions in the engineering area.

(Young yells into his radio again.)

YOUNG: Scott, come in!

BRODY: Power's overloading the sub-light drive. It's going critical.

RUSH: Emergency shutdown!

(The crew works frantically for a few moments, then Adam looks up, his face full of dread.)

BRODY: It's too late.

(Young looks round at him just as the Control Interface Room begins to explode. Everyone shields their eyes uselessly as the entire area goes up in a ball of flames. All around the ship massive explosions erupt from Destiny's surface and eventually she succumbs and the entire ship goes up in a huge fireball.)


Young opens his eyes to find himself lying on his sofa, gasping at the horror of his nightmare. Groaning, his face covered with sweat, he sits up and tries to catch his breath.


MESS. Lisa Park and a group of scientists are meeting with Young and Camille.

PARK: The plan is to get the repair robot working on the large domed room we found when we first came aboard the ship. If the structural integrity can be restored, it can be used as a new home for hydroponics.

WRAY: Do we know how long it would be before the room can hold atmospheric pressure?

PARK: Well, we've crunched some numbers and we think ...

YOUNG (interrupting): What about the weapons systems? There's still half a dozen gun batteries that are offline.

PARK: Well, you told us to postpone the work until we had a greater understanding of the grid that powers the systems.

YOUNG: With that many positions down, entire sections of the ship are vulnerable to attack.

WRAY: Wasn't Doctor Kemp recently injured working on this problem?

PARK: Yeah. There was an unexpected surge in one of the conduits. There's also the risk of a much more catastrophic overload ...

YOUNG (interrupting): Irrelevant. Fix it.

PARK: We don't even know what's wrong with it.

YOUNG: Weapons are a priority. A new home for hydroponics can wait.

(He looks round at the entire group.)

YOUNG: Dismissed.

(Muttering amongst themselves, the scientists leave the room. Young goes over to the water dispenser and empties out a beaker. Camille waits until everyone else has left and then tackles him about his attitude.)

WRAY: What was that?

YOUNG: Don't start, Camille.

WRAY: That work is dangerous. You shut it down for a reason.

YOUNG: We need to be able to defend ourselves. After everything that we've been through, that should be obvious.

WRAY: Yeah, you know what? You're right.

(She walks closer to him.)

WRAY: We have been through a lot ... you especially.

YOUNG (sarcastically): Is this you acting as ship's therapist now?

WRAY (smiling sympathetically at him): I know you, Everett. You hold yourself responsible for everything - including what happened to T.J. and the baby. But if it's starting to cloud your judgement, I need to know.

(He looks back at her flatly.)

YOUNG: I'm fine.

(He stands up and walks away.)


SCOTT / ARMSTRONG QUARTERS. Sitting on top of the bed, Chloe looks up as the doors unlock and slide open. Nicholas comes in with a tray of food and drink.

RUSH: Brought you some food.

ARMSTRONG (looking away): Not hungry.

RUSH: OK, then. How about some company?

(Without waiting for a reply, he punches the wall panel and the doors close behind him. He walks deeper into the room and puts the tray down.)

RUSH: I've been working on some fairly interesting equations. I thought you may wanna take a look.

(He starts shuffling through his notebook to find the right page. Chloe laughs ruefully.)

ARMSTRONG: You've gotta be kidding me.

RUSH: I'm not the one keeping you in here. I tried to help you.

ARMSTRONG: What, with the Chair?

(Nicholas lowers his head, trying not to look guilty.)

ARMSTRONG: Was that even real, or was it just for show?

RUSH: Of course it was real. You know, it's pointless trying to deny the advantages of your situation. I mean, just ask Lieutenant Scott. If the Chair had worked, well, he'd be dead right now.

ARMSTRONG: Do you even know what's really happening to me?

RUSH: Obviously you're undergoing quite significant physiological changes, most notably in your brain.

(He sits down on the edge of the bed.)

RUSH: I haven't given up hope of finding a solution, but in the meantime, I would have thought you would at least wanna try and keep yourself occupied.

(Chloe looks a little guilty.)

RUSH: My research has taken a very interesting turn. I may be on the verge of discovering the true nature of Destiny's mission.


ELI'S ROOM. In Eli's room, he and Ginn are sitting side by side at the console. Greer is pacing about outside the room, bored but forced to stay to keep an eye on her. The other two are engrossed in their discussion of what's on the console screen.

GINN: See, here - these numbers haven't been corrected for gravitational time dilation. Obviously it depends on the size of the star, but it could make a pretty big difference.

WALLACE: Huh! How'd I miss that?

GINN: Well, your math is always perfect, but sometimes you lose sight of the context.

(Eli gazes at her. She grins.)

GINN: Like I said, I've been studying your work.

(They both laugh.)

WALLACE: You didn't have anything better to do?!

GINN (smiling): I like numbers and equations. I always have, ever since I was little.

(She looks at him more seriously.)

GINN: They don't lie.

(Eli looks back at her, smiling softly. Greer looks at the pair of them thoughtfully.)

WALLACE: When I was a kid, I wanted to be a vet.

(He realises that she may not know the term.)

WALLACE: Animal doctor.

(Bored again, Greer turns away and sits down on one of the seats in the corridor.)

WALLACE: So, uh, my mom bought me a hamster - you know, to teach responsibility. I left the cage door open and my dad stepped on him. (He laughs.) That was the end of that career!

(Ginn puts her hand onto his.)

GINN (smiling): Well, I'm sure you would have made a very good doctor.

(She and Eli both look down to see how her hand is resting not only on his hand but on his leg. Awkwardly she pulls back.)

GINN: Anyway, um, if it wasn't for the, uh ... "hamster"?

WALLACE: It's like a small rodent.

GINN: Well, if it wasn't for him, none of us would be here.

WALLACE (reflectively): I never thought of that! That's ... really ... weird!

(They both chuckle. Greer smiles affectionately at them.)


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Young drains another mug of alcohol, then stumbles across to his bed and lies down on top of it. Blowing out a long breath, he gazes up at the ceiling for a moment and then closes his eyes and draws in a deep breath, trying to calm himself enough to sleep. Almost immediately his radio activates.

BRODY: Colonel Young, come in?

(Young opens his eyes, frowning.)

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room. Please respond.

(Young gets up, walks across the room and activates the radio.)

YOUNG: This is Young.

BRODY: We've got a bit of a situation here.

(Young frowns. This is sounding all a bit too familiar.)


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM. Not long afterwards, in the Control Interface Room, Eli looks up from his console screen.

WALLACE: They want us to hand over Chloe.

BRODY: What if, all this time, they've been slowly changing her into one of them and now they want her back?

WALLACE: She's not one of them.

(Again Young frowns, recognising the words from his nightmare. Adam looks at him.)

BRODY: Colonel, what should we do?

WALLACE: Maybe we should power the weapons?

YOUNG: No, that won't work.

BRODY: We've still got forty-four minutes until the next jump. We have to do something.

(One of the ships parked outside fires a single shot, which whizzes across Destiny's nose but doesn't impact the ship.)

BRODY: That was a warning shot.

(Eli's console beeps.)

WALLACE: We're getting another message.

(He looks at it.)

WALLACE: It says if we don't comply, they'll destroy us!

BRODY: They're bluffing. They want Destiny more than anything.

(Rush hurries into the room.)

RUSH: What's happening?

WALLACE: We're surrounded by alien ships. They want us to hand over Chloe.

RUSH: I suggest we shut down all non-essential systems, devote every scrap of power to the shields.

YOUNG (nodding): Let's do that. Let's do it.

(The team get to work on their consoles. Almost immediately the alien ships begin to bombard Destiny, blasting her over and over again.)

BRODY: I don't think that's the response they were looking for.

RUSH: It doesn't matter. The shields are holding.

(Elsewhere, Scott makes his way to the Observation Deck. Standing in the doorway, he watches through the windshield as the alien ships send their repeated single shots into the front of Destiny, but so far the blasts are bouncing fairly ineffectively off the shields. Scott punches the wall panel and the Deck's doors close and lock. He walks away.)

RUSH: They don't have enough fire power. We're gonna make it to the jump.

(Adam's console beeps.)

BRODY: We've got more ships incoming.

(All around Destiny, more of the alien ships jump out of hyperspace and join their colleagues.)

BRODY: I'm now reading fifteen ships total. They're all firing!

(The first wall panel explodes in the room. Eli cringes from the sparks.)

WALLACE: I thought we agreed that they didn't wanna destroy us!

RUSH: Not intentionally. They'd have to collapse the shields in order to board the ship.

(More consoles and panels explode. Young paces around slowly, watching his nightmare start to come true.)

WALLACE: We have secondary explosions in the engineering area.

BRODY: Power's overloading in the sub-light drive. It's going critical.

RUSH: Emergency shutdown, now!

BRODY (quietly): It's too late.

(And the entire room goes up in a ball of flames. All around the ship massive explosions erupt from Destiny's surface and eventually she succumbs and the entire ship goes up in a huge fireball.)


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Everett wakes up in his quarters, breathless and with tears on his face. He sits up and stares around the room desperately.


SCOTT / ARMSTRONG QUARTERS. Shortly afterwards, Camille jolts awake as somebody knocks loudly on her doors. She gets up and pushes the wall panel and the doors slide open to reveal Young standing on the other side.

WRAY: Colonel.

YOUNG (a little slurred): Hell, you wanted to be a shrink. Now here's your chance.

WRAY: What are you talking about? What's going on?

YOUNG (nonchalantly): Oh, I think I might be going insane.

(He comes into the room and she closes the doors behind him.)

WRAY: You've been drinking.

YOUNG: Well, that's, uh, that's not the problem. That's just one of the symptoms.

WRAY: No, what I'm saying is maybe now's not the best time.

YOUNG (chuckling): Yeah, right. Well, I, uh ... I've been having this recurring dream, only it's more than a dream. It's real. It's about as real as it gets.

(He sits down and puts his hand over his face.)

WRAY: OK. What's it about?

YOUNG (lowering his hand and looking up at her): The aliens from the other galaxy, they catch up to us, they surround the ship and then they ask me to hand over Chloe. And now, the first ... the first time I try to, uh, fight them off, the ship gets destroyed. The second time, I go into a defensive shell but the, uh, ship still gets destroyed.

WRAY: Wait a minute. Is that why you ordered Park and her team to resume work on the weapons grid - because of this dream?

(She sits down beside him. He looks at her urgently.)

YOUNG: Listen, there's something else going on here. I mean, this is like no dream I've ever had before. I mean, I can - I can - I can feel the floor under my feet. I can smell the sweat of the people around me, Camille.

WRAY (awkwardly): Yeah, yeah. It's a no-win scenario. It seems like the only way out would be for you to do the one thing that you don't want to do.

YOUNG: I don't ... I don't think it's that simple.

(Camille sighs.)

WRAY: Have you, um, even spoken to Chloe since you've confined her in her quarters?

YOUNG: No.

WRAY: Well, maybe that would be a good place to start.


As the doors to Chloe's room open, she is busy writing complicated calculations in a notebook. Young walks in.

YOUNG: Hey.

ARMSTRONG: Wow. Another visitor. (She chuckles.) I've never been so popular!

YOUNG: Well, listen, you know, I'm sorry that I haven't come to see you before. I've been ... I've been busy.

(Chloe nods. He looks at her awkwardly.)

YOUNG: Also, it's, uh, it's hard for me.

ARMSTRONG: Because of what you might have to do.

(He looks a little wide-eyed for a moment, then sits down on the side of the bed.)

ARMSTRONG: You know, I ... I was feeling sorry for myself, being stuck in this room, but then I remembered how everyone looked at me when they found out I was still infected. I think I'm better off in here.

YOUNG: Well, you know that the people on this ship care about you.

ARMSTRONG: They're afraid of me.

(Young lowers his head momentarily.)

ARMSTRONG: I'm afraid of me.

YOUNG: Nobody's giving up hope here.

ARMSTRONG: I know. But if there's no solution, if I keep changing, sooner or later you won't have a choice.


MESS. Greer strolls over to the table which Eli is sitting at. Even though Eli is on the left-hand side of the bench and there's space to his right, Greer pointedly stands at his left and shoves him to the right with his shoulder, forcing Eli to shuffle sideways so that the soldier can sit down.

WALLACE (insincerely): Hey. I'm sorry.

(Greer looks at him pointedly before starting to spoon through his bowl of rations.)

GREER: So.

WALLACE: So, what?

GREER: When're you gonna make a move?

WALLACE: What are you talking about?

GREER: Ginn. The girl's into you.

WALLACE: And you know this from watching us work together for, what, two days?

GREER: I knew after ten minutes. The girl loves math, Eli.

(Eli makes an incoherent "so what?" type of noise.)

GREER: And if ever you are gonna have a chance with anyone, this is probably it!

WALLACE: Thanks(!)

(Greer looks sideways at him, then laughs.)

GREER: Tell you what: next time we're together, I'll arrange to get called away.

(Eli's face is a fascinating combination of hopefulness, embarrassment and awkward excitement. Eventually he settles on a cheesy grin.)

WALLACE: OK. ... But don't make it too obvious.

GREER: Obvious is good!

(He nods encouragingly to Eli, who laughs, then takes a thoughtful drink from his mug. Greer promptly slaps him firmly on the back and he nearly chokes. Greer leans into him.)

GREER: Time to man up.

(He gets up from the table and strolls away.)


YOUNG'S OFFICE. Sitting at his desk, Young tries to concentrate. He puts on his reading glasses and turns to the first sheet of paper in front of him. Almost immediately his eyes start to close and his head begins to droop, but he jolts upright again as his radio activates.

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, come in?

(Young frowns, unable to believe that this is happening again.)

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room. Please respond.


LATER. Not long afterwards, one of the alien ships fires a shot across Destiny's nose. Rush hurries into the room.

RUSH: What's happening?

WALLACE: We're surrounded by alien ships. They want us to hand over Chloe.

RUSH: I suggest shutting down all non-essential systems, devote every scrap of power to the shields.

YOUNG: Well, that's not gonna work. More ships are coming.

RUSH: Well, how could you possibly know that?

(Young turns to him and looks at him intently.)

YOUNG: If we power the weapons or the shields or provoke them in any way, they will open fire and destroy all of us.

WALLACE: So what do we do?


SCOTT / ARMSTRONG QUARTERS. Shortly afterwards, the doors to Chloe's quarters open. Sitting on the end of the bed, she looks at Young standing there and then lowers her head briefly.

ARMSTRONG: I guess it's time.

(He nods. She stands up and walks out of the room and Young follows her. As they walk along the corridor, Brody radios.)

BRODY: Colonel, this is Brody. You were right. Another half dozen ships just dropped out of hyperspace.

YOUNG (into radio): Are they sending over a shuttle?

BRODY: It's on its way.

YOUNG: Dial back the shield strength over the hull breach.

(Outside the ship an alien shuttle craft makes its way towards the round hole which the aliens had bored last time they took Chloe. It lands directly on top of the hole. At the nearest bulkhead, Young types in a code to free up the lock, then pushes the wall button and the doors open. With little hesitation, Chloe walks through the doorway, then stops and turns to look back at the colonel, her face terrified. He gazes back at her with no remorse on his face, then pushes the wall button and the doors close again. Fighting back tears, Chloe turns towards the hole in the ceiling as a bright white light shines out of it. She walks underneath the hole and stops, staring up into the shuttle.)

(Young has already turned and is walking away. Scott storms towards him from down the corridor.)

SCOTT (furiously): What did you do?!

YOUNG: I didn't have a choice.

SCOTT: You son of a bitch!

(He reaches the colonel and punches him viciously in the face. Greer charges towards him from down the corridor.)

GREER: Lieutenant, no!

(Scott grabs Young by the jacket and punches him in the face again, sending him crashing to the floor.)

GREER: No!

(He wraps his arms around Scott from behind and swings him around before shoving him away. Brody's voice comes over the radio.)

BRODY: Colonel, we've got a problem. More alien shuttles are approaching - a lot more.

(Young starts to laugh. As he lies on the floor cackling, the lights go out in the corridor.)

BRODY (over radio): Colonel Young, are you reading me? Colonel!

(As Young continues to giggle, Scott activates his own radio.)

SCOTT: This is Scott. What's happening?

RUSH (over radio): This is Rush. Power's down all over the ship, including shields. We can't restore them. Chloe must have discovered how, and passed along the information.

(Greer stares down at his commanding officer in disappointment as he continues to lie on the floor chuckling. Scott turns to his colleague.)

SCOTT: Get down to the Armoury, break out every weapon we got, organise defence teams. We are about to be boarded.

GREER: Yes, sir.

(He heads away. Scott looks down at Young as he cackles hysterically, his mouth bleeding. Scott looks at him with disgust, then walks away.)

(Later, Young is back on his feet and wandering aimlessly through the dark corridors. Gunfire can be heard in the distance and over the radio as reports come in.)

GREER (over radio): We've got another hull breach near the Infirmary.

SCOTT (over radio): Fall back to my position!

RUSH (over radio): This is Rush. We have to defend the Gateroom at all costs.

JAMES (over radio): There's too many! We can't hold it ...

(Young can't stand it any more and puts his hands over his ears. Instantly the radio reports and the gunfire stop. He lowers his hands again and looks around in the silent darkness. He turns around and sees one of the blue aliens standing a short distance away. It raises its weapon and fires at him. The energy blast hits him full on.)


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Young lifts his head from where it has been resting on his folded arms on the desk in his room. He blinks and looks around the room for a moment, then goes over to the table and snatches up his water bottle.


LATER. The Colonel is alone in the bar, slumped across the bar itself and sloppily drinking from a mug. T.J. comes in.

JOHANSEN: Colonel?

YOUNG: Hey. (He straightens up.) Hey, what are you doing here?

JOHANSEN: Picking up a batch Brody made for me - extra strong. I use it for disinfectant.

(He smiles, while she looks back at him in concern.)

JOHANSEN: You don't look so good.

YOUNG (chuckling and slurred): Yeah, I know. I guess it's that obvious, huh?

(T.J. hesitates for a moment, then continues in a soft voice.)

JOHANSEN: Everett, what if I told you that the baby ... our baby ... is still alive?

(He scowls in confusion.)

YOUNG: I mean, I don't know - why ... why would you do that?

JOHANSEN: Because I saw her.

(She leans closer to him. He flinches away.)

JOHANSEN (tearfully): Because I held her in my arms, and she's beautiful.

YOUNG: T.J., T.J. ...

(He walks a few paces away from her.)

JOHANSEN (intently): It's like nothing you can imagine.

(Young begins to pace around. She raises her voice.)

JOHANSEN: We were on the planet where we left Caine and the others; and the aliens there, they said that they would take care of her. Caine promised me.

(He stops and turns to look at her.)

JOHANSEN: Then they sent me back here.

YOUNG: You never left the ship.

JOHANSEN: I know.

(She grimaces, marshalling her thoughts.)

JOHANSEN: Look, I know, I know what it sounds like, and that's why I didn't say anything before, because I knew that you would think I was crazy. But I'm not.

(Young struggles to look at her but finally meets her eyes.)

JOHANSEN: I'm not crazy. And it wasn't a dream. Why is it so hard to believe after everything that we've seen since we've been here?

(Young slams his fist angrily down on the bar.)

YOUNG: Hey! Listen to me! Just because you want something to be true, it doesn't mean it is, T.J., OK?

JOHANSEN (softly, intently): OK, you listen to me. I can see where you're going. I know because I almost went there. And I'm afraid that you won't come back.

(Young picks up his mug and water bottle, shaking his head at T.J., unable to continue the conversation.)

YOUNG: I'm sorry.

(He walks away, leaving T.J. in tears.)


ELI'S ROOM. Sitting with Ginn at the console, Eli frowns at the screen.

WALLACE: That's weird.

(Ginn has been looking at the wall in front of them, which is covered with photographs of Destiny crew members which have been taped up there. Now she looks across to Eli.)

GINN: What?

WALLACE: The computer's using a ton of memory running a programme I've never even seen before.

(As he types on the console, Ginn's eyes lift to the photographs again.)

WALLACE: Maybe some kind of auto diagnostic? I don't ...

GINN: I have to ask. What are all these pictures?

WALLACE: Uh, just stills from my movie ... my documentary.

(Ginn smiles, not understanding.)

WALLACE: Uh, I've been trying to keep a record of everything that's been happening to us, using the Kino. Here ...

(He stands up and goes over to the laptop on the other side of Ginn. He pulls up a random chapter, which shows Brody.)

WALLACE: Huh. See?

(He starts the chapter running.)

BRODY (onscreen): Nobody wants to see this.

WALLACE (onscreen): No, no, it's the little things that make all the difference.

BRODY (onscreen): Fine. (He looks into the Kino.) Ancient toilets. (Awkwardly) Here we go.

(Looking a little uncomfortable, he pushes open a nearby door. Ginn and Eli laugh and Eli pushes the pause button just as the Kino footage shows a close-up of the "unisex toilets" diagram (i.e. the male and female figures side by side) that someone has drawn on a piece of paper to stick on the door of the toilet. Eli grins down at Ginn.)

WALLACE: Anyway, you get the idea.

(Outside the room, Greer's radio activates and Vanessa James' voice comes over it.)

JAMES: Sergeant Greer, come in.

GREER (into radio): Go ahead.

JAMES: There's a problem in the Mess. We need your assistance.

GREER: On my way.

(He lowers his radio and turns to the other two.)

WALLACE: Leavin'?

GREER: Could take a while.

(He walks away. Ginn turns and looks at Eli, who gazes down at her for a moment, then frowns.)

WALLACE: One second.

(He hurries away. Ginn looks at the photographs on the wall for a moment, then turns her attention back to the laptop. She notices that beside the main footage which Eli just paused, there are four smaller screens showing the current chapters available. The first one shows a freeze frame of Young and is labelled "Colonel Young". The second is labelled "Chloe" and the third - the chapter currently on the main screen - is labelled "Facilities". The bottom chapter shows a freeze frame of Eli and is labelled "Mom". Ginn moves the cursor down to that chapter.)

(Nearby, Eli catches up with Greer.)

WALLACE: Whoa, whoa! Uh, I'm not so sure about this.

GREER: You'll thank me later.

WALLACE: But what am I supposed to say? The girl's from another planet!

(He looks nervously back down the corridor. Greer stops and strolls back to him.)

GREER: I guess I'm supposed to tell you to be yourself but, in your case ...

(Eli holds his hand up as if to say, "Don't go there!")

(In Eli's room, Ginn activates the chapter. Eli is sitting on his bed and talking into the Kino.)

WALLACE (onscreen): So my mom just left. It was good to see her, even though she was in Park's body ... A little weird. Anyway ... I think it helped.

(He pauses momentarily, then continues a little tearfully.)

WALLACE: ... at least, I hope so.

(In the corridor, Eli is trying to psych himself up.)

WALLACE: OK, I got this.

GREER: You got this!

WALLACE: How long are you gonna be?

GREER: How long are you gonna need?

(Eli shrugs. Greer grins.)

GREER: I'll take my time!

(Laughing evilly, he strolls away.)

(Back in the room, the footage continues.)

WALLACE (onscreen): It's hard, you know? I mean, I know that we're several billion light years apart and, well, that may never change. (He draws in a shaky breath.) But I ... I just need to know that she's still there ...

(Eli arrives back and stops in the doorway, appalled. Unaware of this, Ginn continues to gaze at the screen.)

WALLACE (onscreen): ... you know, 'cause if she's not, I-I don't have ...

(Finally Ginn realises that Eli is behind her and she stops the footage as he walks in, his face full of despair.)

GINN: Sorry. I-I didn't know that it was gonna be anything that personal.

WALLACE: No, no, that's not your fault.

(He jerks his head to the screen, forcing a smile.)

WALLACE: Real smooth, though, huh? A grown man crying about his mom. Suave(!)

(He shrugs.)

WALLACE: I might as well just get Greer to come back.

GINN: What do you mean?

WALLACE (sighing sadly): Never mind.

(He shakes his head and turns away. Ginn stands up and walks over to him just as he turns back. She steps close to him, gently takes hold of his jacket and kisses him. As she pulls back a little, he gazes at her for a moment, then smiles, leans in and they kiss again. Just as the kiss begins to become more intense, Destiny's engines change tone and a shimmer envelops the ship as she comes out of F.T.L. The couple break the kiss and smile at each other.)


CORRIDOR. Scott walks to the closed doors of Young's quarters and knocks on them.

SCOTT: Colonel?

(He waits for a few seconds, then knocks again.)

SCOTT: Colonel, you in there?

(The doors slide open and Scott looks at his commanding officer as he slumps drunkenly against the door post.)

YOUNG: Yeah? What - what do you need?

SCOTT: Uh, the ship: it's dropped out but there's no Gates in range. Brody says we're just drifting.

YOUNG (slurred): Well, that doesn't sound so bad.

SCOTT: Except there's no countdown clock. We have no idea how long it's gonna last.

YOUNG: You figure it out.

(He hits the wall panel and the doors begin to close.)

SCOTT: Sir?

(The doors slam shut between them.)


BRIDGE. Rush is sitting at one of the consoles looking at the screen worriedly. Jeremy Franklin's ghost, or image, or whatever-it-is, stands nearby.

FRANKLIN: Problems?

RUSH: Well, the ship doesn't drop out of F.T.L. for no reason.

FRANKLIN: Unless you tell it to.

RUSH: Yeah, well, this time it wasn't me and I can't find anything wrong with navigation or propulsion.

FRANKLIN: Maybe you need to look somewhere else.


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM. Camille is consulting with Lisa, Adam, Eli and Dale Volker.

BRODY: As far as I can tell, there's nothing interfering with the normal operation of the F.T.L. drive. The ship just doesn't wanna go anywhere.

VOLKER: What about a dial-in?

PARK: The Gate's quiet.

(Scott arrives.)

WRAY: Where's Young?

SCOTT: He's not feeling well.

(Camille's expression shows that she knows exactly what he means. Ignoring her, he turns to the scientists.)

SCOTT: All right, what's new?

BRODY: So far, we've got nothing.

(Irritably, Scott turns to Eli who is gazing at his screen.)

SCOTT: What about you?

(Eli doesn't respond, obviously miles away.)

SCOTT: Eli?

WALLACE (raising his eyes): Well, I've been working with that Lucian Alliance girl, Ginn.

(He smiles.)

WALLACE: Actually, it's gone a little bit beyond just working together. I don't wanna jinx it, but she's ...

SCOTT: Eli.

(He pulls a face, reminding him of where he is. Eli looks vaguely round at the others. The boys are frowning at him, but Lisa smiles.)

WALLACE: ... Anyway, we've been running a series of programmes that were designed for modelling ... simulation. It was really sluggish and I couldn't figure out why, and then I realised that the computer was running a simulation of its own.

SCOTT: What kind of simulation?

WALLACE: I just figured that out now. It's a battle scenario. The Destiny drops out of F.T.L. and then it's immediately surrounded by alien ships. It's run through several different variations, different scenarios, but it always ends badly.

(Camille frowns as she realises the significance.)

WRAY: Oh my God. Are you talking about the aliens from the other galaxy - the ones that took Chloe and Rush?

WALLACE: Yeah. Same guys.

SCOTT: Camille, what is it?

(She turns and looks at him in shock.)


BRIDGE. Nicholas has found the same programme.

RUSH: A battle simulation.

FRANKLIN: Exactly.

RUSH: Extremely complex, modelled down to the last detail and always with an unfortunate result. Well, it's interesting, but what's it got to do with the ship dropping out?

FRANKLIN: Look closer.

(Nicholas glances up at him for a moment, then looks back to the screen. Shortly afterwards he frowns and adjusts the settings.)

RUSH: Something about this programme's over-riding normal operations.

FRANKLIN: Which leaves only one question.

RUSH (softly): "Why?"


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM.

SCOTT: OK, so you're telling me the ship is affecting the colonel's dreams?

WRAY: It's the only explanation.

VOLKER: It's not impossible. Brainwaves are just electrical impulses, so theoretically they-they could be manipulated if you knew how.

(Adam blows out a surprised breath.)

BRODY: Maybe it's Destiny's way of warning us. What if it knows the aliens are coming?

WALLACE: No. There's no way they could have followed us.

(Scott looks thoughtful.)


SCOTT / ARMSTRONG QUARTERS.

ARMSTRONG: No, I told you already. I don't remember anything about the blackouts.

SCOTT: I need you to think, Chloe. This is very important.

(Chloe sighs, trying to concentrate.)

SCOTT: When James was under the influence of those aliens, she managed to send them some kind of a signal. Is it possible you could have done the same thing?

(She sits down, trying to bring her memories back.)

ARMSTRONG: I don't remember.

(He looks down at her for a moment, then activates his radio.)

SCOTT: Eli, this is Scott. Prep the weapons. Bypass any batteries that aren't a hundred percent, devote the remaining power to the rest, shut down all non-essential systems and put everything you can into the shields.

WALLACE (over radio): Understood.


LATER. Shortly afterwards, the military crew are loading their weapons as Scott briefs them.

SCOTT: We're going on patrol in teams of three. Lieutenant James here has your assignment. Now, if they do come, it's a pretty safe bet they're gonna try and board the ship. That makes us the last line of defence. Any questions? All right, dismissed.

(As the teams head away, Scott turns to Camille and Nicholas who are standing nearby.)

SCOTT: Camille, I need you to organise the civilians. I want everyone in designated areas 'til further notice.

WRAY: There's something else we need to talk about.

SCOTT: Can it wait?

WRAY: No.

(Matt waits until everyone else has left the room, then looks at her unhappily.)

SCOTT: I know what you're gonna say.

WRAY: Where is he?

SCOTT: I can handle this.

RUSH: Well, that's the point. You can; evidently he can't. You have to assume command officially.

(Scott scoffs.)

SCOTT: I can't do that.

RUSH: Well, what if this is a test, these dreams the colonel's been having - a test of his emotional stability?

WRAY: A test he's failing.

SCOTT: All right, where is this coming from?

WRAY: Think about it. What is the colonel doing right now? He's locked himself away; he's shut down. And at the exact same time, the ship came to a dead stop and now we're floating aimlessly in empty space.

RUSH: Destiny is beginning to understand us: who we are, what makes us tick.

SCOTT: What, you're telling me the ship wants me to replace him?!

RUSH: No, no. It's not as if it has desires or emotions. It has no personality. But it is capable of analysing all manner of sensory input. It knows we're here. It's beginning to understand what effect we might be having.

SCOTT: Why not one of you?

RUSH: Well, we've been down that road before, none too successfully.

(Scott blows out a breath and turns away, struggling to take it all in.)

SCOTT: I thought this was about aliens; I thought this was a warning to prepare us for an attack ...

WRAY: Either way - a warning, a test - we need a strong leader right now. I don't like it any more than you do, but I don't think you have a choice.


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Scott bangs angrily on the closed doors.

SCOTT: Colonel!

(When there's no reply, he thumps repeatedly on the doors. Young, lying on his side on the bed, rolls over onto his back as Scott yells through the doors at him.)

SCOTT: Colonel, I'm not goin' away 'til you open this door.

(A few seconds later the doors open. Scott looks at Young standing there looking at him blearily, and storms inside carrying a mug.)

SCOTT: I've brought you some tea. It's really strong stuff - closest thing to coffee we have.

(He puts it down on the table.)

YOUNG: Well, thanks, Lieutenant. I'll pass on the tea.

(He reaches for his water bottle but Scott grabs it and wrestles it out of his hand.)

SCOTT: Sir, we have a situation here. You need to clean yourself up and get back out there.

(Angrily Young goes to the doors and pushes the wall panel to close them before turning back to the younger man.)

YOUNG: Wait a minute. Are you giving me an order, Lieutenant?

SCOTT: Sir, these dreams you're having, the battle scenario: it's this ship. It's affecting your brainwaves; it's a simulation.

YOUNG: "It's a simulation." What does that even mean?

SCOTT: Eli found the programme. It is the exact same thing you described to Camille. It can't be a coincidence.

YOUNG: Well, I guess this ship has some sense of humour, Lieutenant.

(He walks over to the table and sits on the edge of it. Scott turns and speaks to him sternly.)

SCOTT: She thinks your reaction ... the fact that you've ... well, you've given up, it's the reason why we have dropped out, why we are stuck out here in the middle of nowhere. Now if you pull yourself together, you start acting like a real commander, maybe we can get going again.

YOUNG: Or maybe that's just Destiny's way of telling me that I need to be replaced.

SCOTT: That's what Rush said.

(Young chuckles ironically.)

YOUNG: Is that what Rush said?!

SCOTT: And I'm not gonna do that.

(Young stands up again and walks closer to Matt.)

YOUNG: Are you in love with Chloe?

(Scott looks at him, not understanding why he would ask such a question at this time.)

YOUNG: A simple question. Do you love her?

SCOTT: Yes.

YOUNG: Yes. So how're you gonna feel when I have to drop her off this ship and put her on some rock ... and you know that's coming. She knows it's coming. We all know it's coming. But I gotta do it.

(He glares into Scott's face mockingly, almost encouraging him to lose his patience with him.)

YOUNG: Are you still gonna look up to me then? Are you still gonna think, "Heyyy!" and tell everyone what a great commander I am? Are you, Lieutenant?

SCOTT (softly): Don't. Don't do this.

YOUNG: I'm sorry that you didn't have a father growing up, but I didn't volunteer for that, either.

(Angrily, Matt puts both hands on Young's chest and shoves him backwards.)

YOUNG: There you go. Now we're talking.

(Scott storms towards him and shoves him back a second time, slamming him into the doors.)

YOUNG: Go on, hit me! HIT ME!

(Matt has already backed up a couple of steps, and glowers at him furiously.)

SCOTT: No-one asked for this, but you are the commanding officer. You don't get to feel sorry for yourself, and if you don't like it, too bad.

(Young stares back at him for a long moment, then speaks more softly.)

YOUNG: I killed Riley.

SCOTT: That wasn't your fault.

YOUNG: I know it wasn't my fault. I mean, he knew it. That's ... He didn't wanna die alone; that's why he asked me, but I killed him. I suffocated him with my own hands.

(He bites his lip as the memories smash in on him. Matt sags, beginning to understand why his commanding officer is in so much pain.)

YOUNG: On top of everything else, it's just ... you know, it adds ... it adds up.

(He straightens up and walks across the room, jerking his thumb towards the doors.)

YOUNG: I need you to leave.

(He walks over to the sofa and slumps down onto it, sprawling back clumsily. Scott turns and steps towards him, his face more sympathetic.)

SCOTT: Look, you're right. I couldn't do it; live with the burden every day. That is not me, or T.J., or Camille.

YOUNG: Rush could do it.

SCOTT: For Rush, it wouldn't be a burden. And that is why we need you - because you feel it; and not so much you can't get up and do it all over again the next day.

(Young laughs bitterly.)

YOUNG: Really?! You sure?!

(He gestures down at himself.)

YOUNG: You-you sure about that, Lieutenant?

SCOTT (sternly): You know, a real leader, a good commander is not so callous that he stops caring; just enough that he can keep on going.

(Young stares up at him as the words begin to hit home. Matthew continues to look down at him sternly.)

SCOTT: We both know you are a good commander.

(He turns and walks towards the doors, then turns back to face Young again.)

SCOTT: It is never gonna stop hurtin'. That's the whole point.

(Wide-eyed, Young begins to sit up.)

SCOTT: For the sake of everyone on this ship, you are gonna have to live with it.

(Young looks down reflectively and begins to nod gently. Scott turns, opens the doors and leaves as Everett begins to fiddle with the dog tags which are lying on the table in front of him. As the doors close, leaving him alone in the room, he looks thoughtfully across to the desk and begins to make the decision whether to go and drink the alcohol, or the tea.)


LATER. Not long afterwards, he leans over a bowl of water and sluices his face, then brushes his hair back more tidily with his fingers. He puts his watch back on, shrugs himself into his uniform jacket and dusts it off with his hands. Shortly afterwards the doors to his quarters open and Colonel Everett Young walks out and heads off, geared up and ready for action.


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM. Scott is discussing arrangements with Vanessa.

SCOTT: Well, we've got five down by the Mess, so ...

(As he continues talking, Volker looks around and sees Young approaching. He steps away as Young walks over to Adam.)

YOUNG: Mr. Brody, what's our status?

(Adam looks nervously across to Scott, who nods back to him. Adam turns to Young.)

BRODY: Uh, well, uh, still no sign of the aliens. The ship's main weapon is online and we diverted as much power as we can to the shields.

SCOTT: Sir, we have all available military personnel patrolling the gaps between the active weapons batteries, but it's a lot of real estate.

JAMES: We could go to two-man teams, cover a little more ground, but we'll be stretching ourselves pretty thin.

YOUNG: Well, let's do it. If there is a breach, I would rather be on it fast with a little less fire power than the other way around.

(Scott holds back a proud smile as he realises that his commander is back on the case.)

YOUNG: Also, let's break out whatever spare ordnance we have from the Lucian Alliance and arm as many civilians as possible.

SCOTT: Well, they don't have a lot of training.

YOUNG: No, I'll command them myself. We'll stick to defensive positions between here and the Gateroom.

(He smiles reassuringly at his officers.)

YOUNG: They'll be fine.

JAMES: Yes, sir.

(She heads out. Young looks at Scott.)

YOUNG: Anything else?

(Before Scott can answer, Destiny's engines hum and begin to power up. As everyone looks up in puzzlement, she surges forward and leaps into F.T.L. Adam looks across to Dale, who checks his console.)

VOLKER: We just jumped. We're back in F.T.L.!

(Scott walks closer to Young.)

SCOTT: It's good to have you back, sir.


MESS. Eli, Ginn, Lisa, Adam and Dale are sitting at a table.

WALLACE: Hey, I'm happy as the next guy that we're back on track. I'm just saying that I'm not so comfortable with knowing that ...

(He lowers his voice and looks up nervously.)

WALLACE: ... Destiny can get in our heads like that. I don't wanna start second guessing my own dreams!

PARK: Whoa. What have you been dreaming about?

(Eli looks at Ginn for a long moment, then drags his eyes away.)

WALLACE: That's not the point.

BRODY: Well, at least now we know once and for all that we've got the right man in command.

(The others frown. He looks across to Dale.)

BRODY: I mean, you were there. Tell 'em.

VOLKER: Young showed up and started giving orders and the ship just went.

BRODY: If someone has a better explanation, I'd like to hear it.

(The others look thoughtful.)


BRIDGE.

FRANKLIN: Congratulations.

RUSH: I don't feel much like talking right now.

FRANKLIN: You managed to bypass the simulation and get the ship going.

RUSH: Well, what choice did I have? Lieutenant Scott wasn't gonna step up. I couldn't leave us just sitting there.

FRANKLIN: But you haven't solved the problem and yet you're pressing ahead. Isn't that a little dangerous?

RUSH: Destiny was evaluating Colonel Young's ability to command the crew but ultimately, I control this ship.

FRANKLIN: And the aliens?

RUSH: They were never a threat. If Chloe had managed to send a signal telling them our position, it would load on that screen right there.

(He points to a screen at the front of the room.)

FRANKLIN: Maybe. But just because one threat is behind you doesn't mean there isn't another ahead.

(Nicholas looks round to him, but the space is now blank and he's alone in the room. He closes his eyes and lays his head back on the headrest.)