Transcript

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Members of the crew left behind in another galaxy make a shocking return to Destiny, while Chloe deals with the inevitable consequences of her transformation.

EPISODE #209
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 11.23.2010
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 11.07.2011
WRITTEN BY: Rémi Aubuchon
DIRECTED BY: William Waring
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Transcript by Callie Sullivan

DESTINY. In the bar, Nicholas Rush has his laptop open and is showing a group of the crew - including Doctor Morrison and Vanessa James - the footage of the background radiation and the structure buried inside it. Morrison looks at it, unimpressed.

MORRISON: Hmm. Not much to look at, is it?

RUSH: Well ... well, it depends what you see. I see a sign of intelligence that cannot possibly have been there by any current description of the universe - and yet there it is. I see the greatest mystery of all time.

JAMES: Really?

(Morrison is far more interested in the fact that Adam Brody, standing behind the bar near the still, is now pouring some alcohol into a mug.)

MORRISON: Look, if you can't fix that thing, I don't know what we're doin' here!

BRODY: Keep your pants on.

(He takes a drink from the mug.)

BRODY: OK, I got it this time.

(As he starts to pour more drinks, Morrison hurries over to the bar. Nicholas closes the lid of his laptop, shaking his head in exasperation.)

MORRISON: What?

RUSH: Nothing. Cheers.

(He stomps out of the room.)


YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Everett Young is in his quarters sorting through paperwork as a shimmer envelops the ship. He picks up his radio and activates it.

YOUNG: Brody, looks like we just came out of F.T.L. What's going on?

VOLKER (over radio): Uh, this is Volker.

(Dale Volker is sitting alone on the Bridge.)

VOLKER (into radio): Brody had to fix the still, so we switched shifts.

(He grimaces apologetically.)

VOLKER: I know you hate that.

YOUNG: I don't care. Speak.

VOLKER: OK. Well, we've got a couple of Gate addresses popping up ... Holy cow, do you see that?

(Suddenly there is the sound of engines outside Young's window. He turns and sees a familiar - and impossible - vessel flying alongside Destiny.)

YOUNG (into radio): Yeah, I do.

(Dale runs to another window to get a better view.)

VOLKER (into radio): That looks like our shuttle.

YOUNG (into radio): Yes, it does. Rush, this is Young. Meet me on the Bridge, now.

(As the shuttle continues to fly alongside, Young hurries to the Bridge.)

YOUNG: What's it doing?

VOLKER: Nothing. It's just matching our velocity off the right side.

YOUNG: Where did that thing come from?

VOLKER: I don't know! I mean, one minute it wasn't there, the next minute it was.

(Nicholas comes onto the Bridge, followed by Adam.)

RUSH: What's happened?

(Young points out of the window.)

YOUNG: Just came out of nowhere.

BRODY: Is that the shuttle?!

YOUNG: Yeah, seems like it.

(He looks round at Adam pointedly.)

BRODY: Uh, no, I wasn't drinking, I was fixing it.

(A man's voice comes over the comms.)

VOICE: Hello? Can anyone hear me? Hello?

(The men stare in amazement.)

RUSH: That sounds like Caine!

VOLKER: Caine's more monotone than that.

YOUNG: Yeah, he's also in another galaxy.

VOICE (sounding uncertain and bewildered): Hello? This is Robert Caine. Um, we can see the Destiny. What should we do?

YOUNG (to his crew): How?!

(Nicholas shakes his head. Young walks over to the central command chair and activates the comms.)

YOUNG: This is Colonel Young. As far as we know, Doctor Caine and a number of other people are on a planet thousands of light years away.

CAINE: And as far as we remember, Colonel, that is where we still were when we went to sleep last night.

(Nicholas walks closer to the chair so that his voice can be heard over the comms.)

RUSH: Look, the shuttle we left you wasn't capable of leaving the atmosphere, let alone fly between galaxies.

CAINE: We understand that, Doctor Rush, but here we are.

YOUNG: The others are with you?

CAINE: Yes, all of us.

YOUNG: Which brings me back to "how?"

CAINE: Honestly, I have no idea.

(On the shuttle, Robert Caine is sitting in the pilot's seat looking thoroughly bewildered. Behind him the rest of the crew who chose to stay behind on the planet in "Faith" are standing or sitting around looking equally confused.)


BRIDGE. Later, Eli Wallace has joined the others on the Bridge. Young activates his radio.

YOUNG: Lieutenant Scott, report to the Bridge.

SCOTT (over radio): Yes, sir.

WALLACE: How could they have known when or where we were gonna come out of F.T.L. - or, for that matter, drop them right beside us? This is impossible.

YOUNG: And there they are.

BRODY: If it's them.

YOUNG: That's a fair question. Do you think that we could electronically compare the voice we are getting from the shuttle to an old Kino recording of Caine?

WALLACE: OK, trust me: these aliens built a planet from scratch and can just throw a shuttle between galaxies. I'm pretty sure they could impersonate Caine if they wanted to!

VOLKER: Boone used to do a pretty good Caine.

BRODY: I thought it was the other way around.

YOUNG: So, what? We take them for their word? They are who they say they are and ignore the possibility that this could be a ruse to get by our defences?

WALLACE: Like a Trojan horse?

RUSH: The truth is, with aliens that can do this, defences are meaningless.

YOUNG: Wouldn't mind having a working shuttle again.

RUSH: Well, there is that. I suggest we invite them on board, take every precaution.

(Nodding, Young re-activates the comms.)

YOUNG: Sorry for the delay, Doctor Caine. I've asked Lieutenant Scott to come and help talk you through the docking procedure.

CAINE: I don't even drive a car.

BRODY: Just what a Trojan would say!

WALLACE: The guys in the horse were Greek!

BRODY: Well, then, why's it Trojan horse, then? Beause they're from Troy!

WALLACE: Because ...

YOUNG: You guys done? (Into comms) Don't worry, Doctor Caine. We'll take it nice and slow.


ELSEWHERE. Later, Ronald Greer - his left arm in a sling - leads a team of soldiers towards the docking bay. They take up positions by the bulkhead door and Greer activates his radio.

GREER: This is Greer. Ready and standing by.

YOUNG: I am on my way.

(As he walks along the corridor, Tamara Johansen bounces excitedly towards him.)

JOHANSEN: Is it them?! I just ran into Eli!

YOUNG: Well, Eli has got a big mouth. You don't need to be here.

JOHANSEN: Try and stop me.

(Young stops and turns around to her.)

YOUNG: Listen to me, T.J. I know what you must be thinking.

JOHANSEN (angrily): You should have told me.

YOUNG: What you experienced was a simulation. We know that.

JOHANSEN: No, you know that. Look, I'm just saying: if they can send our people back to us, don't you think it's possible they could save our daughter?

YOUNG: Nobody mentioned a child. I don't want you to set yourself up.

(She stares back at him frantically.)

JOHANSEN (softly, urgently): I need to know.


LATER. The shuttle descends towards the docking platform and briefly fires its underside thrusters to slow its momentum. Matthew Scott is sitting on the Bridge talking to Caine over comms.

SCOTT: All right, Doctor Caine, what we want now is one short burst from the forward manoeuvring thrusters, just to set her down, and we are home. Just a kiss, now.

(He watches the screen in front of him, and a moment later the console beeps.)

SCOTT: All right, good! Good job! You've got it. We can lock you down from here. Stand by for egress.

(He flicks a switch and the docking clamps rise up and attach themselves to the shuttle. Scott reports over radio to Young and T.J. who are standing by the bulkhead door. Tamara is anxiously chewing her fingernails as she waits impatiently.)

SCOTT: Docking clamps in place, sir.

YOUNG (into radio): Thank you, Lieutenant.

(He nods to Greer who is standing nearby. Greer activates the wall panel and the locks on the bulkhead spin before the door rises out of sight. The shuttle doors open and reveal Caine and the rest of the crew standing at the rear of the ship. T.J. cranes her head, trying to see if anyone is holding a baby. Caine walks hesitantly towards the exit, smiling nervously.)

CAINE: Hi. Colonel Young. This must be just as much a surprise to you.

YOUNG: You have no idea!

(As Caine smiles at T.J., Young's voice becomes stern.)

YOUNG: You will exit the shuttle one person at a time. Sergeant Greer and members of his team will escort you to a holding area. Move quickly, talk to no-one, touch nothing.

CAINE: I don't understand. You know us. We're not a threat.

YOUNG: And I'm glad to hear that. Sergeant.

(Greer locks his eyes onto Caine.)

GREER: After you, sir.

(He steps back to allow Caine room to leave the shuttle. As Caine walks past, a soldier falls in behind him. The other people on the shuttle start to walk forward together.)

GREER: One at a time, please.

(The crew get into single file and follow each other out in a line. Including Caine, there are eight of them, and the fifth person in line produces much squeeing as it is the long-awaited return of Balding Asian Guy, the character much loved by the Gateworld Forum. T.J. calls out excitedly as she recognises the penultimate person in the line.)

JOHANSEN: Peter!

(Peter, who was one of the people who came to visit Caine's cabin while T.J. was there with her baby, nods to her as he walks past. A woman follows him.)

JOHANSEN: Val!

(Val smiles at her and follows the others. She is the last to leave the ship and T.J bites her lip and hurries into the shuttle, looking around anxiously. Her face crumples as she realises that there's no baby there. Young walks inside and watches her with concern as she cries silently.)

YOUNG: You all right?

JOHANSEN (shakily): I'm fine.

(She turns and leaves the shuttle.)


ELI'S ROOM. Eli is sitting in his room making a Kino recording.

WALLACE (tearfully): I'm losing Chloe.

(He looks into the camera.)

WALLACE: I mean, she's losing herself and we can't stop it.


CHLOE'S QUARTERS. The doors unlock and open and Scott walks in to where Chloe Armstrong is standing looking out of the window. She looks around as he walks in.

ARMSTRONG: Hi.

SCOTT: Hey.

(He punches the wall panel as he passes and the doors close behind him.)

SCOTT: Did you hear the news?

(She walks closer to him, looking at him blankly.)

SCOTT: Uh, Doctor Caine and the bunch that stayed back on that planet - they came back!

ARMSTRONG: What, how?

SCOTT: Hell if I know! They don't even know! I guess we'll find out. Um, we've got a shuttle again, though, so we've got, like, that.

(He shrugs awkwardly, having already run out of things to say.)

SCOTT: Um, can I get you anything?

ARMSTRONG: No.

SCOTT: OK.

(She laughs, then shakes her head ruefully and lowers it briefly.)

ARMSTRONG: You're trying so hard, but every time I look at your face you can't hide it.

SCOTT: What?

ARMSTRONG: That you're not looking at me any more - at least, not as the person I used to be. You see the other ...

SCOTT: Chloe ...

ARMSTRONG: No, it's just your inability to lie, Matthew. It's one of the best things about you, but I know what you see. I see it too.

(Looking down, she pulls up the sleeve of her cardigan to reveal new rough-looking alien growths on her arm just below the elbow.)

ARMSTRONG: This is new this morning.

SCOTT: We're gonna fix this.

ARMSTRONG: I don't even know if I want you to.

SCOTT: Yeah, you do.

ARMSTRONG: I'm hardly blacking out any more, and part of me is just there in the foreground. I'm not afraid of it any more.

SCOTT: You have to fight it.

ARMSTRONG: I think we're past that.


HOLDING AREA. The new arrivals have been taken to a small holding cell. A Kino is floating above their heads and Young, Eli and Camille Wray are watching the live footage from Eli's room. The comms are open so that the two groups can talk to each other.

YOUNG: So that's the last thing you remember: going to sleep in the shuttle.

CAINE: And that it was cold. It was winter. We were using it as a shelter. I remember closing my eyes, and then we were delivered here by a greater power.

YOUNG: The aliens who created the planet, you mean.

CAINE: Or by providence.

WRAY: Are you suggesting that God did this?

CAINE: Is that you, Camille?

WRAY: Yes.

CAINE: It's nice to hear your voice. Uh, well, of course there's no way of knowing His will, but I do know that I prayed every night before I went to sleep that He would keep us safe.

WALLACE (cynically): So ... magic, then.

CAINE: You have to admit that our arrival here is nothing less than miraculous, Eli.

(Eli, who has been looking increasingly uncomfortable as the conversation has progressed, now shuts off the comms and talks over his shoulder to Young.)

WALLACE: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke.

YOUNG: "Turn the mic back on." Winston Churchill.

WALLACE (frowning): Really?

(Young gestures towards the screen, where Peter is shouting at the Kino. Eli turns the sound back on.)

PETER: ... are you gonna keep us here?

VAL: We haven't done anything.

YOUNG: Try to be patient. You'll be released once you've all undergone a physical examination one at a time.

CAINE: But we're perfectly fine.

YOUNG: Well, forgive me if I don't take your word for that. The more answers we have, the less precautions we'll have to take.

(He switches the comms off, and looks at Eli.)

YOUNG: Let's keep an eye on 'em.

(Eli nods, and Young leaves the room.)


SHUTTLE. Young walks in to where Nicholas, Scott, Brody and Volker are checking out their shiny new ship. And it is a shiny new ship, unlike the battered old vessel which Young had flown down to the Faith planet a year ago.

YOUNG: What do you think?

RUSH: Well, it appears to have been completely restored.

SCOTT: Brand spankin' new, more like it.

RUSH: Every part, every system, every square inch of this thing's in perfect factory condition.

BRODY: Even has that new shuttle smell(!)

(He smiles brightly at Young.)

YOUNG: Again, how?

RUSH: I don't know, but it could be invaluable to the mission.

YOUNG: So, nothing to be concerned about, no ticking timebombs, alien transmissions?

SCOTT: No, sir. At least, not yet, anyway.

YOUNG: Let's keep lookin'.


INFIRMARY. As a soldier escorts Balding Asian Guy from the room, T.J. reports to Young.

JOHANSEN: They're all in perfect health - no trace of disease or malnutrition, just like the day we left them.

YOUNG: What are the odds of that?

JOHANSEN: Eight adults who've been through what they've been through?!

YOUNG: You know, not one of them remembers a damn thing about the planet or how they got here.

JOHANSEN: Well, Caine believes that's God's way of telling them they've been reborn.

YOUNG (cynically): Was that before or after He gave them amnesia?

JOHANSEN: The others think that maybe the aliens discovered them and returned them to us as an act of benevolence.

YOUNG: Well, that's nice(!)

JOHANSEN: You're not buying it.

YOUNG: Nah. These aliens are too damn powerful. Building planets, rebuilding shuttles - they could ... they could squash us like ants if they wanted to.

JOHANSEN: That scares you?

YOUNG: Yes! But what scares me even more is the feeling I got when I looked them in the eye.

JOHANSEN (frowning): I thought it was just me.

YOUNG: I should be welcoming them with open arms, but I can't be in a room with any of them for more than a minute before I wanna get the hell away.

JOHANSEN: Why?

YOUNG: I don't know ... but I wanna find out.


CHLOE'S QUARTERS. Eli has brought a Kino to the room and it is hovering in front of Chloe as she sits on a chair.

WALLACE (offscreen): Go ahead.

ARMSTRONG (looking into the camera): OK. Um, I don't know how much longer I'm going to be me. It's kind of hard to explain.

WALLACE: You don't have to. Everybody understands.

ARMSTRONG (looking at him): So I should just do this?

WALLACE: Yeah.

ARMSTRONG: Who should I start with?

WALLACE: Somebody easy. I'm right here. Start with me.

ARMSTRONG: OK.

(She looks into the Kino.)

ARMSTRONG: Um ... Eli ... you've been the most ...

(She stops, swallowing back tears.)

ARMSTRONG (angrily): Wait ... what do you mean start with someone easy. You're the hardest to say goodbye to out of everyone!

WALLACE: OK, OK! Pick somebody else.

(Chloe's face goes blank and she stares sightlessly into the distance.)

WALLACE: Chloe?

(She doesn't respond to him.)

WALLACE: Chloe?


HOLDING AREA. The doors to the temporary holding cell open and the new arrivals look at Young as he stands outside.

YOUNG: You can all return to your original quarters. You will be given a list of duties to help carry your weight as members of this crew.

CAINE: Is this as close as we're gonna get to "welcome aboard"?

YOUNG: Yeah, it is. Right now I don't have any reason to treat you like prisoners.

PETER: Thank you.

YOUNG (sternly): Don't give me a reason.

(He steps aside and the crew members walk out. Caine is the last to leave and he looks at Young unhappily as he passes him, sad that the colonel isn't more happy that they're home.)


OBSERVATION DECK. Later, one of the new arrivals, Rachel, walks onto the Observation Deck. She sees Morrison sitting opposite a woman at the bar at the rear of the room and hurries over to them excitedly.

RACHEL: Hey!

(She sits down next to Morrison, smiling happily at him.)

RACHEL: Young finally let us out.

(He lowers the lid of the notebook he has been working on. Opposite him, the other woman continues to read her book as if pretending that Rachel doesn't exist. Morrison looks at Rachel awkwardly.)

MORRISON: Yeah, that's good. I-I've got a shift in Hydroponics.

(Rachel reaches out to put her hand over his, but he snatches it away as if she's contagious.)

RACHEL: What-what's wrong?

MORRISON: Don't touch me.

(Picking up his notebook, he hurries away. Distressed, she watches him go. At the front railing, Greer is standing with Lisa Park and they also watch Morrison's rapid departure.)

PARK: What was that all about?

GREER: I see you haven't spent time with the new arrivals.

PARK: No.

(As Rachel looks around the room, bewildered by the hostility, the woman on the other side of the bar picks up her book and hurries away.)

GREER: Eight science types, no survival skills. I've seen a lot of people go in my time and I know I'm gonna see more before I'm done here.

(Pulling her cardigan closer around her, Rachel unhappily stands up and leaves the room.)

GREER: I have never seen anyone come back - until now.

PARK: OK, you're being too deep again.

(She nudges his arm flirtatiously.)


MESS. The new arrivals are all sitting together at a table, being ignored by the rest of the crew. T.J. walks in and goes over to their table.

JOHANSEN: Hi.

CAINE (smiling up at her): Hey. Good morning. We were just remarking at how different the food tastes here than on Eden.

(T.J. frowns questioningly.)

CAINE: That's what we called the planet.

JOHANSEN: Ah. I hope you stayed away from the apples!

CAINE: Right!

JOHANSEN: We're actually, um, growing more and more of our own food. If you like, I could, uh, show you.

CAINE: Yeah!


HYDROPONICS. The new Hydroponics garden is well underway in the domed room which had been mentioned a couple of episodes ago. Up on the outside of the dome, the repair robot is beetling around welding joints between the glass sections but clearly the room has been airtight for some time because it's already full of plants. Caine and T.J. are standing on a balcony looking down at the new growth.

CAINE: Incredible!

JOHANSEN: It's a start.

CAINE: Soon it'll be a garden.

JOHANSEN: I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something. I ... have a memory.

CAINE: Well, lucky you!

JOHANSEN: A vivid memory that I visited you on the planet ... with my daughter.

(Caine frowns, puzzled.)

CAINE: Your daughter?

JOHANSEN: When we first arrived at the planet I was pregnant, remember?

CAINE: I do remember.

JOHANSEN: It was winter and you were living in cabins. You told me that they were provided by the aliens who created the planet.

CAINE (frowning): I told you?

JOHANSEN (fighting back tears): And that my daughter was safe and you would take care of her.

(Caine shakes his head apologetically.)

CAINE: Um, I don't remember anything like that, Tamara. I'm sorry. I wish I did.

JOHANSEN (tearfully): It was so real.


KINO FOOTAGE. Kino footage is showing Camille interviewing Peter in her office.

WRAY: How about the day before that? Um, let's say in the morning when you woke up. Was it raining, snowing?

PETER (shrugging): I don't know.

WRAY: Doesn't it bother you that you don't remember anything but the most generic things from your experience on that planet - just gathering food and fuel?

(Peter sighs and lowers his head.)

PETER: Maybe that's all we did.

WRAY (exasperated): Oh, come on, Peter, you have to remember more than that. You were there for months!

(Again Peter shrugs. Sitting on the sofa beside Young in his office, Camille reaches out and stops the footage that she has been showing him on a laptop.)

WRAY: I could show you some of the others, but the conversation is more or less the same.

YOUNG: So you think their memories have been tampered with.

WRAY: I guess it could be a side effect of whatever mechanism transported them here, but I'm starting to think that maybe the aliens didn't want our people to remember something.

YOUNG: The whole thing to me feels like a damned science experiment.

WRAY: They're still our people.

YOUNG: They don't creep you out, even a little?

WRAY (smiling): Well, a lot of people creep me out a little, so I'm not the best person to ask.

YOUNG: Really?

WRAY (standing up and walking a few steps away): A little.

YOUNG: Me?

WRAY (turning back to him with a smile): Not as much now.

YOUNG: Oh, that's good! Progress! Well, keep at it. I mean, they've gotta remember something.


CORRIDOR. Scott is strolling along a corridor when Greer meets him.

GREER: Oh, hey, brother!

SCOTT: Hi!

GREER: Off duty?

SCOTT: Yeah. Long day.

(They bump fists.)

GREER: Ooh! Long day. You, uh, you gonna go see Chloe?

SCOTT: Yeah. Yeah.

GREER: OK.

(Matt knows his friend better than that and recognises his tone of voice.)

SCOTT: What's wrong with that?

GREER (nonchalantly): I'm not stoppin' you.

(He deliberately steps aside and jerks his head in the direction of Chloe's quarters.)

GREER: Go.

(Still Matt hesitates, feeling that he needs to explain himself.)

SCOTT: All right, look, she's alone in there all damned day. The only time she's got company is when I come to see her.

GREER: That must be hard for her.

SCOTT: I'm just sayin' it wouldn't hurt, you know, if people went to see her.

GREER: She's alone for a reason, and whether you want to admit it or not, there's a freak show going on in there.

(Matt makes an angry noise.)

SCOTT: You are out of line, Greer.

(He beings to walk away.)

GREER: No, sir, I'm not ...

(Matt stops again.)

GREER: ... because it is part of my job as a master sergeant to see to it that butter bar lieutenants like yourself don't make mistakes.

(Matt turns and walks back towards him.)

SCOTT: What did you just call me?

GREER: You heard me.

(Matt licks his lips angrily and the two men lock eyes for a moment.)

SCOTT: OK, Master Sergeant, you tell me what is so wrong with giving that girl comfort in what might be her last few days.

GREER (softly): Because you don't know when that day's gonna be.

SCOTT: You don't know how much I care about her.

GREER: I think I do ... and you're not the only one. I pray for her every single night, but that girl is turning into the enemy ...

(Matt's gaze drops as he realises that his friend is telling the truth.)

GREER: ... and the day is gonna come.

(He turns and walks away.)


OBSERVATION DECK. Val is sitting alone on a sofa as other members of the crew sit at the bar or on other sofas, all chatting and pointedly ignoring her. Eli walks in, frowns at the sight of her sitting alone, looks round at the others and rolls his eyes angrily as he realises what is happening. He turns to her.

WALLACE: Hey. Mind if I ...

(He gestures towards the vacant spot on the sofa as he walks towards it. She smiles and straightens up as he sits down beside her.)

VAL: So many of you are keeping your distance from us, I guess I'd appreciate it.

WALLACE: Meh. They're all boring.

(She laughs.)

WALLACE: You're not missing a thing. So, the planet you guys ... I heard you called it Eden.

VAL (nodding): We did.

WALLACE: I never got to go. Everybody said it was amazing.

(He gazes wistfully into the distance for a moment.)

WALLACE: Do you miss it?

VAL: Honestly, my memory of it is just now coming back to me in pieces.

WALLACE: Hey, at least it's coming back!

VAL: Flashes - just moments, you know? In fact, um, the strangest memory came back to me when I was sitting here.

(She laughs.)

WALLACE: What?

(She giggles.)

VAL: I'd be embarrassed to say it.

WALLACE (grinning): Well, now I have to know!

VAL (laughing): Um, skinny-dipping. There's a lake ...

WALLACE: Yeah, I know. I've heard about it already. People were doing that before you guys decided to stay.

VAL: Ah, that's right.

(She pinches the bridge of her nose, then presses her fingertips to her forehead as if in pain.)

WALLACE: What about when you were alone? You must have checked out the obelisk, right?

VAL: Uh, I don't, um ...

(Grimacing, she moves her hand under her nose.)

WALLACE: It was there the whole time.

VAL: Uh, I ...

(She briefly turns her head towards Eli, who looks at her in concern.)

WALLACE: Woah. Oh, your nose is bleeding.

(Wiping the blood from under her nose, she puts the fingers of both her hands to her eyes, grunting in pain.)

VAL: Oh, what's happening?

(As Eli continues looking at her, worried, she cries out in agony and then rises to her feet, her hands over her face as she screams. Eli calls out to the others.)

WALLACE: We need help over here.

(Everybody looks round as Val continues to scream. Her hands move away from her face and we can see that blood is pouring from her eyes and nose. She drops to her knees, still screaming, as Eli yells at the dumbfounded crew.)

WALLACE: Somebody get help!

(Someone raises a radio to his mouth as Val rolls over onto the floor, her face covered with blood. Eli kneels helplessly beside her as she continues to wail.)


SHUTTLE. Caine walks in to where Nicholas is standing.

CAINE: Doctor Rush! Found you.

(He smiles happily at him and walks closer to the front windows.)

CAINE: Hey. I see we've come out of F.T.L. Anything interesting out there?

RUSH: Well, there's always something interesting out there.

CAINE: Yeah.

RUSH: I've just been going over the shuttle's navigational data, trying to figure out the path you took back to Destiny.

CAINE: And?

RUSH: Well, it seems you were there ... and then you were here. Nothing in between.

CAINE: I wish I could help you with that, but I fell asleep there and I woke up here.

RUSH: Yeah.

CAINE: Listen, I heard that you've learned what Destiny's original mission was.

RUSH: Yes, we have.

CAINE: In search of a message from the moment of creation?

RUSH: Oh, I don't know about "message". "Fingerprints" might be a better word - a sign that some intelligence may have had a hand in all of this.

CAINE: The hand of God?

(Nicholas laughs.)

RUSH: I don't know about that either, I'm afraid. I'm a scientist. I'd go so far as to call it evidence of an intelligence having existed prior to its own potential to exist.

CAINE: Ah, you just can't bring yourself to call it a miracle, can you?

RUSH: No, actually.

CAINE: Well, I'd like to hear more.

RUSH: Oh, why bother? Call it God's will and you needn't give it another thought.

CAINE: He must have brought us here for a reason. He must have saved us for a reason.

RUSH: Yeah, saved from what? Do you remember? I mean, the burning bush spoke to Moses. Gabriel, was it, spoke to Abraham? Yet you - you've returned here with no proof of your saviour one way or the other.

(Caine can't take his cynicism any longer.)

CAINE: I'll leave you to your work.

(He turns and heads towards the rear of the shuttle. Nicholas hesitates for a moment, then calls after him.)

RUSH: Let me ask you ...

(Caine stops and turns back.)

RUSH: The shuttle was restored to its original condition by the aliens who sent you here - better than it was before, even.

CAINE: Well, that sounds to me more like the work of God than aliens.

RUSH: Well, if this shuttle has been restored so perfectly, then why weren't all of you?

(Caine frowns.)

RUSH: I mean, Norris wasn't born with astigmatism, was he? Mr. Chan surely had a full head of hair at one time. All of you have enormous gaps in your memory.

CAINE: What's your point?

RUSH: Well, either He's lost His touch, or God's got nothing to do with this.

(Caine looks utterly uncomfortable but before he can even think about arguing his side, Young's voice comes over the radio.)

YOUNG: Rush, this is Young. Is Caine with you?

RUSH (into radio): Yeah, go ahead.

YOUNG: Tell him to come to the Infirmary. Val is dead.

(Caine's face fills with shock and he turns and leaves the shuttle.)


INFIRMARY. Val's body has been laid on a bed. There is blood under her nose, around her ears and in her hairline. T.J. has uncovered her to show Caine but now pulls a sheet over her again.

JOHANSEN: It was a severe head trauma - as bad as if she was struck with a sledgehammer. There's nothing anyone could have done.

CAINE: What happened?

YOUNG: Nothing. She just grabbed her head and her nose started to bleed.

CAINE: Are you sure?

WRAY: She was just talking with Eli in the Observation Room. There were witnesses.

YOUNG: She was already dead when we got there.

JOHANSEN: And still there's evidence of skull fracture, haemorrhage, brain swelling ...

CAINE: I don't understand.

YOUNG: Neither do we.

JOHANSEN: Something caused this. A blunt force injury doesn't happen spontaneously.

WRAY: Something that happened on the planet?

CAINE: I don't know. I wish I did, I swear.

WRAY: Look, this might be a long shot, but I'd like to put you and the others from the shuttle under hypnosis - see if I can stimulate memories from your subconscious.

YOUNG: Hey, the I.O.A. teach you that?

WRAY: Yeah, they did.

YOUNG: Anything else I should know about?

WRAY (smiling wryly): That I was a little over-qualified for H.R.

(Young smiles briefly.)

YOUNG: I say we do it.

CAINE: I'd like to tell the others about Val first.

WRAY: Uh, yeah, of course.

(She walks away and Caine follows her. T.J. turns to Young.)

JOHANSEN: In the meantime, I'll take a shot at an autopsy. Maybe I missed something in the Observation Room.

YOUNG: I don't think you missed anything.

JOHANSEN: I don't think so either, but I don't really know what else I can do.

YOUNG: Hey, listen. You're doing good.

JOHANSEN (in a whisper): Actually, I'm not.

(He looks at her sympathetically. She holds his gaze for a moment, then turns away.)


CHLOE'S QUARTERS. Chloe is sitting in a chair and writing in her notebook when somebody knocks on the doors.

ARMSTRONG: Come in.

(The doors open and Greer is standing there. Putting his uninjured hand behind his back in a sort of coming-to-attention way, he steps into the room as she puts her notebook down and sits up. All through the following conversation Greer's voice is soft, sympathetic and full of regret. It is an awesome performance by Jamil Walker Smith and one which your transcriber found very hard to write through her tears.)

GREER: How are you?

ARMSTRONG: Still me ... mostly, anyway.

GREER: Good to know.

ARMSTRONG: Once I've changed completely, the colonel will see me as a threat, won't he?

GREER: I think so.

(Chloe looks up at him nervously.)

ARMSTRONG: What will he do?

(Greer lowers his head momentarily but then meets her eyes again.)

GREER: Remove the threat, one way or another.

ARMSTRONG: Will it be you?

GREER: Yes, ma'am. I think so.

(Chloe lowers her own head.)

ARMSTRONG: I'm sorry.

GREER: Don't be. I couldn't let it be anyone else.

(Chloe looks up at him again.)

ARMSTRONG: Is that what you came to tell me?

(He is unable to meet her eyes.)

GREER: I came to ask for your forgiveness for when the time does come.

ARMSTRONG (softly): Of course.

GREER: If I could please hear you say it.

ARMSTRONG: I forgive you, Ronald.

(He raises his eyes to hers.)

GREER: Thank you. That's important.

ARMSTRONG (fighting back her tears): Take care of Matt.

GREER: You don't even have to ask me to say it. (He half laughs, half cries.) I already tried once to keep him from coming to see you but you know how stubborn he is.

(Chloe lowers her head again.)

ARMSTRONG: I could tell him to stay away.

GREER: That might be a good idea - I mean, for him.

(Chloe nods, then looks up at him.)

ARMSTRONG: Will I see you again?

GREER: It would be better for me if I say goodbye now.

ARMSTRONG (softly): OK.

(She stands up and steps towards him, presumably with the intention of hugging him, but he holds his hand out to prevent her from approaching.)

GREER (tremulously): I'm sorry, but I can't do that.

(She nods her understanding.)

ARMSTRONG: Goodbye.

GREER: Goodbye, Miss Armstrong.

(He looks at her for a moment longer, then turns on his heel and leaves the room.)


KINO VISION. Chloe looks into the Kino as it records her.

ARMSTRONG: I love you, Matt. Know that. I wish that I could have shown you off to my friends and hear you say "Dang" in front of my mom. (She smiles.) I wish we could have grown old together and had a family. (Her smile fades.) But I'm grateful for what we had. Please take care of everyone. You're far more important to holding this place together than you know. Take care of Eli, because he's gonna take care of you in his own way. (Her eyes fill with tears.) And forgive Ronald. He did what he had to do and if it was going to be anyone, I am glad it was him. OK? (She sighs and gazes intensely into the camera.) I love you.


PETER'S QUARTERS. Peter is sitting on a chair with his eyes closed as Camille walks quietly around him and speaks softly.

WRAY: Just relax. Breathe deeply, slowly. You're on the planet now, Eden.

PETER: Yes.

WRAY: What do you feel?

PETER: There's a nip in the air. I can see my breath.

WRAY: It's morning?

PETER (smiling): Yes. The sun is out.

WRAY: Tell me what you see.

(We see inside Peter's head. He is standing at the edge of the lake, looking at the mountains in the distance.)

PETER: The lake outside camp. It's beautiful.

(He turns away from the lake.)

PETER: Val is here.

(Smiling, Val walks towards him.)

WRAY: What is Val saying?

PETER: She's just smiling.

(He smiles happily as Val walks towards him.)

PETER: We spent the night together under the stars. The others don't know. It's our secret.

WRAY: Where are the others now?

PETER: Working.

(Now, in his memories, Peter is digging the ground.)

PETER: We're always working.

(In his mind, he digs angrily into the ground as Caine stands nearby.)

CAINE: It's just too late in the season. It's a waste of time.

PETER: Well, we need to try.

CAINE: And we will, OK? We'll try again in the spring. For now, we should just gather what we can.

PETER: We've picked most of this area clean.

(He is speaking out loud in his quarters on Destiny as well as talking in his memories.)

CAINE (upset, frustrated): Well, then, at least gather some firewood, all right? I mean, there's no way of knowing how long this winter will last. It's just getting colder every night.

(He walks away. Angrily, Peter stabs his spade into the ground.)

PETER (on Destiny): He's afraid.

WRAY: Who is?

PETER: Caine. Winter is coming.

WRAY: All right. It's another day; the afternoon.

PETER: Yes.

WRAY: Where are you now?

PETER: In the forest ...

(In flashback, Peter is hacking into the trunk of a slender tree with an axe.)

PETER: ... chopping trees for firewood.

WRAY: With Caine?

PETER: No.

(In the flashback, Val walks into view, smiling at him.)

PETER (on Destiny): No!

(In the flashback, Peter strikes the tree one more time and it creaks and begins to fall.)

PETER (on Destiny): Val!

(The tree continues to fall. Peter grimaces on his chair.)

WRAY: Peter?

PETER: No!

(In the flashback, Peter runs along the side of the fallen tree.)

PETER (in the flashback): Val!

(He plunges to his knees near the top end.)

WRAY: Peter, what's happening?

(On Destiny, Peter surges to his feet, his eyes open and the hypnosis broken. He stares at Camille in horror.)

PETER: She died on the planet.

WRAY: Are you sure?

PETER: I remember now.

(He starts pacing frenetically.)

PETER: It was before winter came. I was falling a tree. I didn't see her coming. She couldn't get out of the way!

(He stops and stares at Camille frantically.)

PETER: I saw her die months ago! How is that ...

(He stumbles, grimacing.)

WRAY: Peter! Peter!

(He collapses to the floor and lies on his back convulsing and flailing. Camille grabs her radio.)

WRAY: This is Wray! I have a medical emergency!

(Shortly afterwards, Young and T.J. are racing towards the room. T.J. calls out as they approach some crew members in the corridor.)

JOHANSEN: Make a hole!

(Everyone clears out of their way and they race on to the room. Young slaps the wall button and the doors open. T.J. goes around the bed to where Peter is lying but by now he is still and his eyes are open and fixed.)


INFIRMARY. T.J. pulls a sheet over Peter's body and turns to Young and Wray.

JOHANSEN: This time the symptoms are consistent with dehydration and hypothermia.

YOUNG (to Camille): You said the hypnosis was working; he was starting to remember?

WRAY: Yeah. The last thing he remembered was Val died on the planet.

JOHANSEN: Well, based on the condition of his body, I would say Peter died on the planet too - from extreme exposure.

WRAY: But he said Val died months ago - before the winter.

JOHANSEN (frowning): Months ago?

(Camille looks at her, wondering why she is querying the time period. T.J., realising that Camille doesn't know about her vision, shrugs.)

JOHANSEN: What if they're dying again - in order?

(As Camille tries to take that in, Young gets his radio out and activates it.)

YOUNG: Lieutenant Scott, I need you to locate Doctor Caine and the other members of the shuttle and escort them to the Infirmary now.


CORRIDOR. Shortly afterwards, Matt and Greer stand outside the closed doors to somebody's quarters. Matt knocks on the doors.

SCOTT: Rachel, open the door please.

(He gives it a few seconds, then nods to Greer, who hits the wall button. The doors open and they walk inside. Rachel is sitting on the side of her bed wrapped in her bed covers, shivering. Her face is covered with red sores. She stares at them pleadingly.)

RACHEL: Please, help me.

SCOTT: We're gonna help you.

(As he steps towards her, Greer holds out his hand.)

GREER: Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa. Maybe we shouldn't touch her.

RACHEL: I don't wanna die.

SCOTT: We need to get you to the Infirmary.

(He scoops her up in his arms and hurries out of the room. Greer follows him to the Infirmary.)

SCOTT (to T.J.): She was like this when we found her.

JOHANSEN: Put her over here.

(Scott lays Rachel on the bed that T.J. has indicated. Tamara glares at him sternly.)

JOHANSEN: Strip down and get your ass into decon. This could be anything.

GREER: I told him.

JOHANSEN: Go!

(The men head out of the room as she walks closer to Rachel, who is shaking and crying as she lies on the bed.)

RACHEL: Please.

(She holds her hand out.)

RACHEL: Help me.

(Caine comes to the doorway and looks in at her. She locks her eyes on him for a moment, then her eyes roll up into her head and she dies. Caine walks closer, staring at her in horror.)

YOUNG (sternly): Hey.

(Caine looks at him.)

YOUNG: I wanna know what the hell's going on.

CAINE: I swear I don't know.

YOUNG (storming over to him): Well you're gonna sit down with Wray until you figure it out, or I swear to God ...

CAINE: We are members of your crew.

YOUNG: No! You're former members. You left by choice - and if what's happening to you people spreads to the rest of us, you're gonna be dropped off on the next planet!

JOHANSEN: Sir, it's not his fault.

YOUNG: None of this would be happening if Caine had not talked those people into staying on that planet.

JOHANSEN: I wanted to stay too.

(Young points back to Rachel's body.)

YOUNG: And that's what would have happened to you.

(Glowering at Caine, he raises his radio.)

YOUNG: Camille, this is Young. Doctor Caine is your next volunteer.

CAINE: Colonel ...

YOUNG: Go. Now.

(He ushers Caine out of the room.)


CHLOE'S QUARTERS. Chloe is standing at the window with her back to the doors as someone knocks on them. She doesn't speak and a few seconds later the doors slide open and Matt walks in.

SCOTT: Chloe?

(She doesn't turn or respond in any way. Matt looks at her uncertainly, then speaks more firmly.)

SCOTT: Chloe.

(She blinks and turns her head to look at him.)

SCOTT: I thought you should know what's going on with those folks from the shuttle ...

ARMSTRONG: Go away, Matt.

SCOTT: What?!

ARMSTRONG: I said leave, now.

(He looks at her unhappily.)

SCOTT: I'll come back later, then, all right?

(She stares at him straight faced. He forces a smile, then turns and walks out, pushing the button to close the doors behind him. She looks down unhappily.)


INFIRMARY. It's pandemonium as all of the Eden crew are being brought in. T.J. is treating one of the men who is sitting on the bed wrapped in an insulating blanket and shivering. She calls out to the others.

JOHANSEN: All right, everyone. We know we're fighting hypothermia here, so let's keep their core temperatures up.

(Nearby, Lisa pulls a blanket around a woman.)


CAMILLE'S QUARTERS. In Camille's room, she has Caine under hypnosis. His eyes are closed. Young is standing nearby.

WRAY: What do you see?

CAINE: Snow is falling.

(Inside his head, he is standing about a dozen paces away from the rear of the shuttle. The snow has been falling for some time and he has left deep footprints behind him. Wrapped in a blanket, he gazes up at the sky, realising that it doesn't look like it's going to stop snowing any time soon. He lowers his head unhappily and turns back towards the ship.)

CAINE (on Destiny): The shuttle is our only shelter now.

(A couple of blankets have been hung over the doorway and Caine pushes through to where the rest of the crew are wrapped in more blankets and huddled around a tiny fire in a metal bowl. All of them are shuddering.)

CAINE (on Destiny): It's so cold. We lost power days ago.

(He looks around at his friends, who stare back at him as they tremble with the cold. All of them have sores on their faces. Peter's gaze is more than a little accusing.)

CAINE (on Destiny): Something vital has broken and none of us know how to fix it. It's airtight, so we have to leave the door ajar or we'll suffocate. We still have some food, and Peter has made some candles to keep us warm. They provide enough light to read and share our evening meal.

WRAY: Peter's still with you?

CAINE (nodding): In his heart, he's already left us. I try to tell him ...

CAINE (on the shuttle): ... it'll be all right, Peter.

PETER: No, it won't be all right. Nothing will be all right.

CAINE (on Destiny): But by morning he's gone.

(During the night, Peter stumbles out of the shuttle and wanders off into the snow.)

WRAY: OK, um ...

(Trying to pull her thoughts together, she sits down near Caine.)

WRAY: ... it's the last night; the night before you woke up inside the shuttle and Destiny was there.

CAINE: Yes. I remember.

WRAY: Tell me what you see.

(In flashback, Caine is visibly close to death as he gazes across the shuttle in despair.)

CAINE (on Destiny): It's very dark. There's no pain, just ... just the cold.

WRAY: Who else is there with you?

CAINE: Uh ...

(He shakes his head in distress as he sees the others sitting nearby in the shuttle, their eyes all closed.)

WRAY: What?

CAINE (on Destiny): They're all dead, frozen.

(He shudders in horror as he looks around the ship at his dead colleagues.)

CAINE (on Destiny): I'm alone.

WRAY: What are you doing?

CAINE (on Destiny): Nowhere for me to go.

(He sits silently in the shuttle with frost on his face, his expression hopeless.)

CAINE (on Destiny): Nothing to do now but pray.

(He jolts and opens his eyes, the hypnosis broken.)

CAINE: Next thing I remember is waking up on the shuttle and seeing Destiny out the window.

(He looks down and flexes his hands as if they're cold. Young walks closer to him.)

YOUNG: Is that all?

CAINE: I wish I had more answers for you.

YOUNG: Me too.

(He turns to walk away and Camille gets up to go and talk with him.)

CAINE: But you won't have to drop me off at the next planet, Colonel.

(They turn back to him.)

CAINE: I expect I'll be dead before you come back out of F.T.L.

WRAY: You don't know that.

CAINE: Yes, I do. Because now I remember something that no-one ever should.

(He sighs and looks up at the others, his face full of despair.)

CAINE: I'm already dead.


ELI'S ROOM. Vanessa comes to the doorway and holds up a Kino.

JAMES: Eli. You leave this in the shuttle?

WALLACE: No, why?

JAMES: Well, somebody did.

(She tosses it to him and he catches it. She walks away again.)


INFIRMARY. Camille and Young escort Caine into the room. T.J. is just pulling a sheet over the face of another of the Eden crew. Another covered body lies nearby.

JOHANSEN: They all died in their sleep.

CAINE: With symptoms of severe exposure?

JOHANSEN: Yeah. But I'm guessing whatever the aliens did to bring you back - it was only temporary.

WRAY: You're all just reverting back to the state they probably found you in.

JOHANSEN (to Caine): I'm sorry. I did everything I could think of.

(He forces a smile for her.)

CAINE: It's not your fault.

(Looking round at his dead colleagues, he sighs.)

CAINE: How much time do I have left?

JOHANSEN (softly): Not much.

CAINE: May I be allowed to see the stars one last time?

YOUNG: Yeah, of course. Go ahead.

(Caine suppresses a shudder and looks at T.J.)

CAINE: I would like very much not to be alone.

(T.J. glances across at her commanding officer, who looks unhappy but doesn't forbid her from going. She looks back to Caine and smiles softly.)


OBSERVATION DECK. Shortly afterwards, with a blanket around him, Caine walks onto the Observation Deck with Tamara. He gazes in awe at the F.T.L. vortex ahead of him.

CAINE: Wow.

(The two of them walk to the front bench and sit down on it.)

CAINE: I forgot how beautiful this view was.

JOHANSEN: Maybe they were just giving you the chance to see it one more time, or to say goodbye to all of us.

CAINE: This isn't me - at least, not the man I was. That's what Doctor Rush was trying to tell me in his own way. I just didn't believe him.

(He shudders repeatedly, unable to get warm.)

CAINE: This body's nothing but a shadow - not reborn but reanimated, and not by God but by beings who can rebuild a man's body ... but not his soul.

(He gazes out at the vortex.)

CAINE: Maybe that's what you and Colonel Young were sensing.

(He pulls the blanket tighter around him as T.J. smiles a little and looks at him.)

JOHANSEN: I don't feel that way now.

(Shivering, he looks across at her.)

CAINE: It's kind of you to say. But even though I have his thoughts, and some of his memories, I'm not the Robert Caine that God made.

JOHANSEN: After all of this, you still believe?

CAINE: That is faith, T.J. I believe that my soul has already moved on and is looking down, even now, marvelling at how kind you are to comfort a shadow.

(He shivers again, and T.J. puts a gentle hand on his back.)

CAINE: You have to believe with all of your heart that your daughter is in a better place. The greatest gift that you can give her - and to all of us - is to live your life, to fulfil Destiny's mission, and have faith in each other.

(He smiles gently at her. She returns the smile through her tears, and the two of them turn and look out at the vortex again.)


ELI'S ROOM. Eli has watched the footage from the Kino found in the shuttle, and has called Young, Camille and Nicholas to his room to watch. They stand nearby as he sets the footage going again. Inside the shuttle the Kino turns to focus on Robert Caine sitting on the floor.

CAINE (weakly): If anyone's listening, help us.

(He pulls in an agonised breath as the Kino draws closer to him.)

CAINE: Help us. Please. I don't wanna die. Help.

(Behind him, a bright glow appears outside the front window. Gasping, Robert brushes aside the blanket covering his head and turns to look out of the window. The glow becomes brighter and envelops the entire ship, and the screen fills with white light.)

(The footage ends. Eli switches off the screen and turns to look at the others. Nobody speaks, all of them lost in their own thoughts.)