Transcript

Summary | Notes | Production | Transcript | Fan Reviews

Colonel Young's opponents launch a coup to take control of the ship, pitting the military against civilians.

EPISODE #112
ORIGINAL AIR DATE: 04.09.2010
SYNDICATION AIR DATE: 02.07.2011
WRITTEN BY: Joseph Mallozzi & Paul Mullie
DIRECTED BY: Felix Enrique Alcala
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Transcript by Callie Sullivan

DESTINY. Chloe Armstrong is walking along the corridors. It's unclear whether she is heading somewhere definite or is just strolling for the sake of it, and she meets no-one as she continues through the ship. Even the Mess is deserted as she stops at its entrance briefly, and she continues onwards. She makes her way into a dimly lit corridor, turns the corner and sees that a bulkhead is closed ahead of her, but a very bright white light is shining through the small window in the doors. She walks to the bulkhead, puts her hands onto the doors and looks through the window. On the other side of the doors, Chloe Armstrong gazes back at her for a few seconds, then lifts her head and looks up at the bright light coming from above her head. The first Chloe watches with horror, her face suddenly covered with sweat, as the second Chloe holds up her hands defensively against the light streaming down on her. The first Chloe shakes her head, appalled, as the second Chloe begins to lift off the ground and then rises quickly into what can only be the underside of the alien fighter ship which took her in the previous episode. The first Chloe silently screams, "Wait! No!" in anguish as her counterpart disappears up into the ship.


Without transition Chloe plummets into the water tank on the alien ship. She is not wearing a breathing mask and she pounds on the glass in panic. A few moments later she becomes still as she sees someone standing at the far end of the room. The figure moves closer and Chloe realises that it is her mother. Mrs Armstrong looks into the tank with concern as Chloe starts to pound on the glass again. Her eyes full of tears, Mrs Armstrong puts her hand onto the glass helplessly. Chloe puts her own hand against the other side of the glass and stares at her mother in desperation, mouthing, "Mom," to her. Air bubbles out of her mouth as she does so. The women hold each other's gaze for a while, then Chloe slowly begins to lose consciousness. Her head lowers and her hair billows around her. A moment later she raises her head again. The yellow thought transference device is once again on her left temple. Outside the tank her mother has gone and an alien walks forward and glares into the tank at her. Chloe screams silently at the sight of it.


In her quarters on Destiny, Chloe awakes with a gasp. Catching her breath, she sits up in bed. Beside her, Matthew Scott is woken by her movements and props himself up on one elbow.

SCOTT: Another nightmare?

(He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.)

ARMSTRONG: Every time I close my eyes.

SCOTT: Maybe you should talk to T.J.

ARMSTRONG: No, it's not the dream, it's ...

(She trails off.)

SCOTT: What?

ARMSTRONG: I ...

(She stops again, unable to voice her thoughts.)

SCOTT: Look, you're ...

(He too struggles for the right words.)

SCOTT: ... They're gone, OK? We got you back. You're safe now.

ARMSTRONG (bitterly): So, move on? Get over it, right?

SCOTT: That's-that's not what I'm sayin'.

ARMSTRONG (angrily): Oh, forget it.

(She starts to get out of bed.)

SCOTT: I wanna help you.

(She gathers her clothes and starts to leave the room.)

ARMSTRONG: I know. It's fine. I just ... I just need to clear my head.


LATER. DESTINY CORRIDORS. Shortly afterwards, Chloe is dressed and walking the corridors. There is nobody around but as she reaches the entrance to the Mess she hears a clinking sound. Walking into the room, she sees Nicholas Rush sitting alone at a table and drinking from a tin mug. She walks over and sits down opposite him.

RUSH: Same dream?

ARMSTRONG (sighing): Yeah.

RUSH: Me too.

ARMSTRONG: What did they do to us?

RUSH: I don't remember everything.

ARMSTRONG: Yeah, me neither. Maybe that's a good thing.

(She looks around the empty Mess for a moment.)

ARMSTRONG: Everyone thinks we're safe. They think that they'll never find us again.

(She grimaces at Rush.)

ARMSTRONG: We're not safe, are we?

(Rush looks down at the table as if loath to answer.)

RUSH (reluctantly): No.


LATER. Destiny has come out of F.T.L. Rush walks into the office of Colonel Everett Young.

RUSH: We need to talk.

YOUNG: I was thinking the same thing.

RUSH: Were you, now?

YOUNG: The communication stones.

RUSH (shrugging): What about them?

YOUNG: You took one. It's the only explanation. You were the first to open the box; you kept one for yourself.

RUSH: And why would I do that?

YOUNG: Maybe you thought it was some kind of insurance policy. I don't know. You probably thought it wasn't safe to keep in your room, especially after that whole incident with Spencer's gun, so you kept one with you.

(Rush has his looking-at-the-floor guilty expression on.)

YOUNG: That's how the aliens got hold of one and that's how I wound up on that ship.

(Still looking at the floor, Rush shrugs as nonchalantly as he can.)

RUSH: Oh well.

YOUNG: Doesn't sound like a denial, Rush.

RUSH: What we should really be worried about is how they found us in the first place.

YOUNG: Well, I figure they tracked a signal from the stone.

RUSH: We don't even know how that signal works.

YOUNG: Maybe they're smarter than us.

RUSH: Well, they're advanced, sure, but not as advanced as the Ancients. I suspect it's something much simpler.

YOUNG: Like what?

RUSH: A sub-space tracking device.

YOUNG: We took care of the ship you brought over.

RUSH: Yeah, but there may be another one attached to the outside of the hull.

YOUNG: Wait a minute - where is this coming from?

RUSH: I was in direct neural contact with one of the aliens for quite some time. Ever since, I've been having ... flashes, images.

YOUNG: Of what?

(Rush's face looks haunted. He shakes his head.)

YOUNG: You don't know?

RUSH: No, I don't know. But what I do know is they've been tracking this ship for some time - long, long before we got here. For them, Destiny's something like an obsession.

(He and Young look at each other for a moment, Young apparently biting back a comment about how Rush should know all about having an obsession with this ship.)

RUSH: Look, we're out of F.T.L. - will be for several hours. Now's a perfect time to take a look.

(He turns and strolls out of the room.)


CORRIDOR. Later, a Kino floats down a corridor following Scott to a closed bulkhead. Scott opens the doors and the Kino heads onwards.

SCOTT (into radio): Kino's through.

(He closes the bulkhead doors. In Eli's office, Eli Wallace is sitting at his desk watching the footage from the Kino. Young and Rush are standing behind him. Rush lifts his radio.)

RUSH (into radio): Mr Brody? Please dial back the tensile strength of the ship.

(In the Control Interface Room, Adam Brody lifts his own radio.)

BRODY (into radio): Roger that.

(He gets to work on a console. In the corridor, the Kino floats towards another bulkhead which opens in front of it. It floats towards a hole left in the ship's hull by one of the alien fighters. Although there is a forcefield over the hole, it apparently doesn't stop anything slow-moving and the Kino moves through the hole and soars out into space, floating along close to the hull. Eli watches its progress.)

WALLACE: You know, it's a big ship. This could take a while.

RUSH: You have something better to do?(!)

(Eli smiles with an ironic look on his face. He has probably got a few hundred other things he needs to do.)

YOUNG: Keep me posted.

(He walks away. Rush stays, watching the Kino footage over Eli's shoulder.)


MESS. Several people are there, eating and chatting, so presumably it's a set meal time. Ronald Greer walks over to Young who is pouring himself a mug of water.

GREER (quietly): Can I have a word with you, Colonel?

YOUNG: All right.

GREER (quietly): No, not here.

(Young leads him to the doorway where nobody can overhear their conversation. They speak quietly.)

GREER: I don't know exactly what happened on that planet between you and Rush, and maybe I don't wanna know.

YOUNG: Spit it out, Sergeant.

GREER: Well, we never did find out who put that weapon in your quarters, sir.

YOUNG: No.

GREER: There's been some speculation.

YOUNG: I bet.

GREER: As far as I'm concerned, we were better off without him. Just want you to know that, whatever happens ...

RUSH (over radio): Colonel Young, come in.

YOUNG (into radio): Go ahead.

RUSH: We've found it.

(Young nods to Greer, then turns and walks away.)


LATER. CORRIDOR. Later, Young, Scott and Eli are walking towards the shuttle.

WALLACE: It's on the underside of the ship. I just ... I fed the Kino track into the shuttle controls, so it should lead you right there.

(Scott stops as he sees Chloe and Rush talking intently a little distance down a side corridor. He stares at them as they continue to talk, oblivious to anyone else. Young turns and looks back at him.)

YOUNG: Any time now, Lieutenant.

SCOTT: Yes, sir.

(He follows Young and Eli as Chloe and Rush continue their discussion.)


SHUTTLE. Young is in the pilot's seat and activates the controls as Scott takes the weapons station.

WALLACE (over radio): All right, guys. The ship's jumping to F.T.L. in a little over one hour.

YOUNG: That's plenty of time.

(Eli chuckles as if to say, "Famous last words!")


ELSEHWERE. Elsewhere on the ship, Rush shines a torch down what must be a barely used corridor, as all the lights are off, although a few come on as he approaches. Camille Wray follows him with her own torch. Reaching some closed doors, Rush uses the wall switch to open them and leads her into a dark room. He begins to activate controls on the walls, and the lights come on.

WRAY: What is this place?

RUSH: Well, as far as I can tell, it's some kind of Ancient research lab. Not exactly ideal for our purposes, but the level of connectivity of the ship's main systems should be adequate.

(He continues around the room, activating consoles and panels.)

WRAY: Do we have to do it now?

RUSH: We'll never get a better opportunity. You should really get your people in position.

(Camille nods and leaves the room as Rush settles down at one of the consoles.)


SHUTTLE. Outside the shuttle, the clamps retract and the vessel lifts off, heading for the underside of Destiny. In the Control Interface Room and seated at a console, Eli looks up as Chloe walks in.

ARMSTRONG: Eli.

WALLACE: Hey. What are you doing here?

ARMSTRONG: I wanna see the alien ship.

WALLACE: You know it's just parked there to track us?

ARMSTRONG: I know, but I wanna see it.

WALLACE: OK.

(Chloe walks closer and he pulls up the Kino footage as it films the fighter ship stuck to the underside of the ship.)

WALLACE: There it is.

ARMSTRONG: How long has it been on the ship?

WALLACE: Rush says before we got here, although it's not entirely clear how he knows.

ARMSTRONG: He knows.

(Unseen by Eli, Rush's console activates and files begin streaming across it. In the Research Lab, the same files stream across the console at which Rush is sitting.)

(Outside, the shuttle is flying just above Destiny's hull and moving slowly towards the alien ship. Scott flicks switches on his console.)

SCOTT: Weapons hot. Target locked. Weapons firing.

(He pushes a button and a single blast emits from the shuttle, striking the underside of the alien ship. The blast breaks it free of Destiny and it drifts away from her. Scott fires three more shots at the alien ship as it floats away and, after a few seconds, it explodes. In the Control Interface Room, Chloe smiles as she watches the footage while, nearby and still unnoticed, files continue to stream across Rush's console.)

WALLACE: That's it. (He looks round at Chloe, whose smile has faded.) They can't get to us any more.


HYDROPONICS LAB. Adam Brody is spraying some of the plants with a hose as Dale Volker's voice comes over his radio which is standing on a table nearby.

VOLKER (over radio): Brody. Brody, where are you?

(Brody reaches over and grabs the radio.)

BRODY: Hydroponics.

VOLKER (over radio): All right, stay there. It's on.

(Brody turns the spray off.)

BRODY (into radio): What, now?

VOLKER (over radio): You signed off on this.

BRODY (into radio): Yeah, I know, I know. I just, um ...

(He looks around as T.J. Johansen walks in. He activates his radio urgently.)

BRODY (into radio): Uh, stand by.

(T.J. smiles as she walks past him.)

JOHANSEN: Hey.

BRODY: Hi! Uh, didn't expect to see you down here.

JOHANSEN: Yeah, I just wanted to check on some of the medicinals here.

(Smiling, she sits down. Brody nods nervously.)

BRODY: Right, sure.

VOLKER (over radio): Brody.

BRODY (into radio): Yeah, yeah, I'll, uh ... meet up with you in about half an hour, OK? Uh, bye.

(He deactivates his radio and switches it off. Picking up the hose again, he looks round at T.J. nervously.)

BRODY: That was ... that was just, um, Volker and his ... bridge club, so ...

(Nodding to her, he goes back to spraying the plants.)

JOHANSEN: OK.

(She gets back to her own work as Brody turns away, his eyes wide with panic.)


SHUTTLE. On the shuttle, Young brings the vessel back to its parking spot on Destiny's surface. It thuds down onto the surface. Young flicks some switches.

YOUNG: Docking procedure.

(He starts to undo his lap belt as Scott busies himself with other consoles. The younger man looks in concern at something he sees.)

SCOTT: Uh ...

(He pushes some buttons and looks at the schematic on the screen.)

SCOTT: Uh, sir, I'm reading a negative on the docking clamps.

YOUNG: Let's re-set.

(Scott types again but the console beeps.)

SCOTT: Still negative.

(Young activates the comms.)

YOUNG: Eli, we've got a problem. The docking clamps will not engage.

WALLACE: What? (He smiles disbelievingly.) That's impossible. Hang on.

(He activates his own controls, then his smile drops as the console beeps. He types again but gets the same beep. And all the while files are still streaming across Rush's console. Eli gets up and hurries over to another console. Chloe walks halfway round the room to keep him in her line of sight, and stops near Rush's console. Unsure of what she's seeing on his screen, she looks across at Eli.)

ARMSTRONG: Uh, Eli.

(He goes across to her and looks at Rush's screen.)

WALLACE: What the hell?

(He types on the controls but gets nothing but a beep.)

WALLACE: I'm locked out.

YOUNG: What do you mean, you're locked out?

WALLACE: Someone's transferring controls to another station. I-I ... I've got nothing.

(Scott finds another problem.)

SCOTT: Uh, sir, the door won't open either.

YOUNG: We jump into F.T.L. in about eight minutes. What happens if the ship's not locked down?

WALLACE: The-the shield won't envelop the shuttle.

YOUNG: And-and what?

WALLACE: I-I don't know for sure. Nothing good, I know that.

YOUNG (sternly): Eli.

WALLACE: The shuttle wouldn't go into F.T.L. with the rest of the ship.

YOUNG: Which means what?

WALLACE (nervously): I'm not sure, but I think the shuttle would be vapourised.

(Young looks round at Scott, who nods towards the countdown clock.)

SCOTT: Seven minutes.


LATER. Shortly afterwards, they are still discussing the problem.

YOUNG: All right, Eli, let's think this through. You said somebody was transferring controls.

WALLACE: Yeah, that's what it looks like from here.

YOUNG: Well, can you do something about it?

(Starting to panic, Eli stammers nervously.)

WALLACE: Uh, uh, if-if I ...

YOUNG: Just stay calm. Take your time.

SCOTT: Five minutes, sir.

(In the corridors, Chloe is running. In the shuttle, Young glares round at Scott.)

YOUNG: I'll bet you a buck.

(As Scott nods in agreement, Young pulls out his radio and activates it.)

YOUNG (into radio): Rush, this is Young, over.

(He deactivates his radio and waits for a moment. When there is no reply, he switches channel.)

YOUNG (into radio): Greer, this is Colonel Young.

GREER (into radio): Go ahead, sir.

YOUNG (into radio): Take a detail, find Rush now.

GREER (over radio): Yes, sir.

SCOTT: Four minutes.

(Chloe races into the Research Lab and runs over to Rush.)

ARMSTRONG: Stop it. Stop it now.

RUSH: Chloe, we've talked about this.

ARMSTRONG: The shuttle docking clamps won't engage.

RUSH: What?!

ARMSTRONG: You have to stop.

RUSH: But I can't.

ARMSTRONG: They're going to die!

RUSH: I can't stop in the middle of this.

ARMSTRONG: They are going to die!

RUSH: Damn it!

(They stare at each other for a moment, then Rush unhappily picks up his radio and activates it.)

RUSH: Eli, this is Doctor Rush, come in.

(In the Control Interface Room, Eli runs over to grab his radio.)

WALLACE (into radio): Go ahead.

RUSH: Now listen carefully. I'm in the process of transferring access to the computer away from the Control Interface Room. Now, there's nothing you can do to stop that. All you're doing is slowing it down. Let me complete the transfer and I'll lock down the clamps manually.

(With the comms still open between the shuttle and the Control Interface Room, Young and Scott have heard everything.)

YOUNG: Don't listen to him, Eli. Keep doing what you're doing.

(Eli nods.)

RUSH (over radio): Eli, we're in no-man's land here. Neither of us have control. Now let me finish before we jump to F.T.L.

YOUNG: Don't do it, Eli. That is an order.

SCOTT: Two minutes, sir.

(Eli flails, uncertain who to obey. Rush goes over to consult his notebook as Camille runs into the Lab.)

WRAY: What's going on?

ARMSTRONG: The shuttle can't dock and we're about to jump.

RUSH: I didn't know the transfer would cause this to happen.

(He goes back to his seat. Camille looks at Chloe's desperate expression and turns to Rush.)

WRAY: Shut it down.

RUSH: I don't have everything yet. If I stop now, Eli's gonna shut me out and our position will be compromised.

(Camille thinks urgently, unsure what to do. In the Control Interface Room, Eli looks at the countdown clock. Even to those of us who can't read Ancient, it looks like it's into the last minute of its countdown.)

WALLACE: Colonel?

YOUNG: Negative, Eli. Do not let that man take over a single system.

WALLACE: He's doing it anyway!

RUSH: The transfer's almost complete.

(Chloe leans down and stares urgently into his eyes.)

ARMSTRONG: I know why you're doing this. I also know you agreed that nobody should get hurt.

WRAY: We could lose everyone on our side. (Urgently) Shut it down.

(Rush thinks about it for a few seconds, then smiles in a resigned way and pokes the eraser end of his pencil down onto three buttons in quick succession. He raises the pencil and hesitates for a moment and then, with his lips pressed together in frustration, stabs it down onto the final button just as the countdown clock turns red.)

(In the Control Interface Room, Eli's console beeps positively.)

WALLACE: I got it! I got it!

(He activates controls and the clamps rise up and attach the shuttle to Destiny. With the shuttle clamped, the shield recognises it as part of the ship and loops over the top of it just as the ship jumps into F.T.L.)

(In the shuttle, as Scott nods in relief, Young heads for the rear bulkhead which opens.)

YOUNG: Let's go. (Into radio) Good work, Eli.

(Eli stifles a relieved sob and passes his hand over his face. In the Research Lab, Chloe is slumped with relief on a console. Camille walks over to Rush.)

WRAY: So, where do we stand? How much control do we have?

RUSH: We're about to find out.

(He activates the controls. In the corridors, Greer and his detail are hurrying towards the area where the Research Lab is. Bulkhead doors slide closed in front of them and a light on the wall panel turns red. Greer hits the panel a couple of times but it just beeps at him.)

GREER: What the hell?

(He looks around at the others.)

GREER: Come on.

(He leads his team away, looking for another route.)

(All around the area, bulkheads begin to close and lock. A bulkhead closes in front of Young and Scott as they make their way along. Young lifts his radio.)

YOUNG (into radio): Eli.

WALLACE: It's Rush. He's sealing off corridors all over the ship.

(Young turns and leads Scott back the way they came.)


HYDROPONICS LAB. Volker comes in.

VOLKER: Brody. Why is your radio turned off?

(Brody looks over to T.J. at the other side of the room. She frowns round at them as they look at her in a guilty way.)

JOHANSEN: Is there a problem?

(The boys won't answer her. She walks closer.)

BRODY (embarrassed): Sorry. Um, you weren't supposed to be down here.

JOHANSEN (concerned): Guys, what is it? What's ... what's happening?

(The men look at each other, both unwilling to be the one to have to tell her.)

(Out in a corridor, Airman Dunning is aiming a pistol at Lisa Park and two other civilians.)

DUNNING: Get out of my way.

PARK (sternly): Put the gun down.

DUNNING: I'm not gonna ask you again.

PARK: Just take it easy.

(Behind Dunning, T.J. hurries over, followed by Brody and Volker.)

JOHANSEN: Airman, what are you doing?

DUNNING: Something's going on, Lieutenant. We're cut off from the rest of the ship. I'm trying to report to the colonel, but these people won't let me through.

(Camille and another civilian approach from another corridor. Confused about who to aim at, Dunning lowers his pistol but still keeps both hands on it.)

WRAY: I'm sorry. It was inevitable that a few people would be stuck on the wrong side of the line.

(T.J. frowns round at Brody and Volker. Apparently they still haven't told her anything.)

JOHANSEN: What line?

WRAY: We've sealed off Colonel Young and most of the military personnel. To put it bluntly, we've taken the ship.

(She walks towards Dunning, who raises his pistol again and aims it at her. She stops and faces him.)

WRAY: Put the gun down.

DUNNING: Not a chance.

(T.J. walks over and talks quietly into Camille's ear.)

JOHANSEN: Camille, why are you doing this?

WRAY: Colonel Young's actions left me no choice. I'm doing this on behalf of all the civilians on board this ship.

DUNNING (to T.J.): What do I do?

(T.J. looks around at the determined expressions on the faces of the civilians surrounding them. She rolls her eyes and flaps her hand at Dunning.)

JOHANSEN: Well, we're not gonna go shoot anybody. Put the gun down.

(Dunning bends down and lays his pistol on the floor. One of the civilians picks it up.)

WRAY: Now, everyone just needs to remain calm. This will be over soon enough.


CONTROL INTERFACE ROOM. Young is looking at a schematic of Destiny on the holoscreen. He activates his radio.

YOUNG: Rush, this is Young. I know exactly what you're trying to do and there is no way in hell that I'm gonna let you get away with it.

RUSH (into radio from the Research Lab): I'm not acting alone, Colonel. Besides, what's done is done. I already have the food and water supplies; plus control of all accessible systems has been transferred over to the consoles on my side of the line.

(In the Control Interface Room, Eli looks at his consoles.)

WALLACE: Huh!

YOUNG: What is it?

WALLACE: That ...

(He stops, comes around his console and points to Young's radio to confirm that it isn't transmitting at that moment. Young nods.)

WALLACE: That's not entirely true. He stopped the transfer prematurely so I could lock down the shuttle ... (he looks round to include Matt) ... which saved your lives, by the way.

YOUNG: Moving on.

WALLACE: That left us control of one key system: life support.

GREER: So you mean that we can shut down their heat and air on the other side whenever we want.

WALLACE: We wouldn't do that!

(He looks round at Matt again, who shrugs.)

GREER: Do you have any idea of what's going on here?

WALLACE: No. As a matter of fact, I don't. Am ... am I the only one?

(Young reactivates his radio.)

YOUNG: You've got our attention. What do you want?

RUSH (into radio): All military personnel to hand over their weapons immediately and submit to civilian authority.

(Greer laughs sarcastically.)

YOUNG (into radio): Is-is that it?(!)

RUSH (into radio): Well, it does tend to be how civilised people structure their societies, Colonel, be that as in nations or in microcosm.

YOUNG (into radio): As opposed to what?

RUSH (over radio): Military dictatorship. That's gotta stop.

YOUNG (into radio): Well, Eli tells me there might be a problem with your plan - something to do with life support.

(Rush grimaces for a long moment, then forces a laugh as he reactivates his radio.)

RUSH: I was hoping that he wouldn't notice that!

(Eli rolls his eyes.)

RUSH (over radio): Anyway, I've done the calculations. We're occupying a much larger area, therefore we have a greater volume of air. Plus we have the hydroponics lab producing some oxygen.

(Young looks round at Eli, who shakes his head.)

YOUNG (into radio): Not enough to make a difference.

RUSH (into radio): If you cut us off right now, we'd have at least three days, which is around about the same amount of time you would have to go without water. If it comes down to a contest, I'm not sure what the final outcome would be. But it wouldn't be pretty.

WALLACE (under his breath): It's not pretty now.

YOUNG (to Greer): Sergeant.

(Greer follows him out of the room.)


RESEARCH LAB.

WRAY: What did he say?

RUSH: Nothing - but they're still pumping air in here.

WRAY: He'll give in. He's got no choice. We have the Gate Room and the Communication Room. He's completely cut off.

RUSH: Yeah, but he still has one thing that might make a difference.

(The one thing that might make a difference is busy working the consoles in the Control Interface Room. Checking his watch, Scott paces the room, sighing anxiously.)

SCOTT: All right, come on, buddy. You've got this.

WALLACE (condescendingly): It's a very complicated lockout programme, OK? I'm going to need some time.

(Young comes back in and hands a rifle to Scott.)

YOUNG: So, I've got a head count. Lieutenant Johansen and Airman Dunning are unaccounted for, so I think we can assume that they are on the other side.

WALLACE: Of course, just because someone's on the other side doesn't necessary mean they're, you know, on the other side.

SCOTT: Obviously not.

YOUNG: We have a half a dozen civilians, all of which claim to know nothing.

WALLACE: What about Chloe?

YOUNG: She's with them.

WALLACE: Like I said ...

YOUNG: How's it coming?

WALLACE: Slowly. It doesn't help that I'm starting to get hungry. Low blood sugar is not my friend. (He smiles cheesily at the others.)

YOUNG: It's not the food that I'm worried about, it's the water. If dehydration sets in, we're gonna be in a lot of trouble.

SCOTT: Is there anything we can do about it?

YOUNG: They've offered a trade: a limited amount of food and water in exchange for Eli.

(Eli stares at him wide-eyed.)

WALLACE: Me?

YOUNG: I've already agreed to it.

SCOTT: Sir, he's the only one who can get us around whatever Rush did to those computers.

YOUNG: I know that, and they know that, and that's why they want Eli. But there is another way in.


LATER. Followed by the inevitable Kino, Eli walks to a locked bulkhead door.

WALLACE: All right, guys, I'm here. And, as you can see ...

(He types on his handheld device and the Kino swings around to show the corridor behind it.)

WALLACE: ... I am alone.

(He swings the Kino back again and waves to the camera. In the Research Lab, Rush is watching the footage on his console.)

RUSH: Open the door.

(The doors slide open in front of Eli and he jumps as he sees a male civilian pointing a pistol at him. Chloe and another couple of civilians are also there. Eli raises his hands.)

WALLACE: Woah! Irony!

ARMSTRONG (sternly to the man): Put it down.

(He lowers the gun. Chloe looks at Eli.)

ARMSTRONG: Come on.

(As Eli walks inside, the other civilians take some containers of food and water and set them down outside the door. They walk back inside and the man with the pistol closes the doors again.)

WALLACE: So, here we are. I can't help but notice that you seem to be - well - working with these people.

ARMSTRONG: What did you think? I was a prisoner?

WALLACE: I was hoping the ...

(He stops and stares after her.)

WALLACE: Wait a minute.

(She turns back towards him.)

WALLACE: In the Control Room, when you came by, w-were you just trying to distract me so that I wouldn't notice what Rush was doing?

ARMSTRONG: What?!

WALLACE: Don't "What?!" me.

ARMSTRONG: No. Of course not. Look, I knew it was coming but I didn't know when.

(Eli puts his hands in his pockets, unsure of her. She shakes her head in frustration.)

ARMSTRONG: And believe me or don't believe me, it doesn't matter.

WALLACE: I guess I'm just a little surprised you're taking Rush's side against Young.

ARMSTRONG: Rush was an inconvenience, so Colonel Young left him on that planet to die - deliberately.

(She turns and walks away. Unhappily, but with nowhere else to go, Eli follows her.)


LATER. Destiny again exits into normal space. Inside, Young - with Scott's help - has got into one of the spacesuits. Greer comes into the room.

YOUNG: The hole the aliens cut in the hull's on the other side of the line, on their six. Suit up.

(Greer heads over to the other suit. Scott looks at Young unhappily.)

SCOTT: Sir ...

YOUNG: Lieutenant, I already told you: I want you here in case it doesn't work.


MESS. Many of the civilians have gathered there and are talking quietly in small groups. Camille stands alone but Brody is watching her. Eventually he stomps angrily over to a table.

BRODY: We shouldn't have given 'em food and water. It's just gonna give 'em more time.

VOLKER: That doesn't matter. They know they've got no choice.

BRODY: Then why don't they just give it up, then?

WRAY: He's a full-bird colonel in the United States Air Force. He's used to getting his way. But he also knows that every military in the free world takes orders from a civilian government. We just need to stick together until he remembers that.


RESEARCH LAB. Rush is jotting in his never-ending notepad as Chloe brings Eli in.

ARMSTRONG: I'll leave you to it.

WALLACE: To what?

(She leaves the room.)

RUSH: Once again, Eli, I find myself in need of your assistance.

WALLACE: What exactly are you doing?

RUSH: We're gonna squeeze every last ounce of power out of the ship's systems and then, when we're done, we're gonna find some more.

WALLACE: What for?

RUSH: The shields. We're gonna need them.

(Eli frowns, wondering why he thinks that.)


DESTINY HULL. On the external hull of the ship, Young and Greer are carefully making their way along. Their magnetised boots clang heavily with each step. In space behind Destiny, a vessel jumps into normal space from F.T.L. or hyperspace. Just as we realise that it looks the same as the main alien ship that attacked in the last episode, a second identical ship jumps into normal space near the first one.


RESEARCH LAB.

WALLACE: The tracking device was on that ship that we blew up.

RUSH (unhappily): One tracking device was on that ship.

WALLACE: There's another one?

RUSH: Surgically implanted in my chest, next to my heart.

(Eli stares after him in sympathetic horror as he turns and walks across the room.)

(On the hull, Greer turns and stares at the nearby ships.)

GREER: Colonel!

(As they look at the ships, a third one jumps in to join them.)

YOUNG: We've gotta go!

(They turn and head onwards as fast as they can.)

(In the Research Lab Rush is also watching the approach of the ships. Eli is still trying to take in what he has just been told.)

WALLACE: This is insane! Does anyone else know about this?

RUSH: Chloe. I had to be sure she wasn't implanted too.

WALLACE (his voice full of dread): And?

RUSH: There's no surgical scar.

(He looks at his console.)

RUSH: They're almost within weapons range. I'm dialling up the shield.

WALLACE: Wait!

(Rush stops, his hand just above the controls.)

WALLACE: Maybe ... maybe that's the wrong plan. I mean, maybe we should throw everything we have into weapons.

RUSH: We can't take on three ships at once!

WALLACE: Well, we can't run away from them either.

RUSH: That's exactly why I have to do this. If we can survive until the next jump, they're gonna realise they can't get past the shields and they're gonna give up.

WALLACE: You don't know that!

RUSH: That's the way it's been for a long time, Eli. They attack, they try and get on board, the ship's automated defences stop 'em. They're attacking us now because they're hoping we're gonna make a mistake.

(He reaches for the controls again.)

WALLACE (urgently): Don't!

(He reaches towards Rush's hand as if wanting to grab it and pull it away from the console.)

RUSH: Eli, do you wanna die?

WALLACE: No, but ..

RUSH: That's exactly what's gonna happen if you don't let me do this.

(Outside, Greer has reached the hole in the hull, has stepped onto the forcefield over the hole and has slowly sunk through it and dropped to the internal floor below. He turns and looks back up, awaiting Young. In the Research Lab, Eli pleads with Rush as he puts his finger onto the button.)

WALLACE: No.

(Rush presses the button anyway. Outside, Young steps onto the forcefield over the hole and begins to sink downwards. Rush looks at Eli in puzzlement.)

RUSH: What's the matter with you?

WALLACE: Right.

RUSH: What?

WALLACE: Sure.

(He turns away, unsure whether Greer and Young have made it to safety in time. Rush, unaware of the reason for Eli's behaviour, shakes his head and gets back to work.)

(In the corridors, Young has made it through the hull just in time and he and Greer walk to the nearest bulkhead and close it behind them. As it locks, they take their helmets off and Young starts helping Greer out of his suit.)

YOUNG: You'll open the door for Scott and his team, and I'll go find Rush.


BRIG. The doors to a temporary brig open and Chloe walks in to visit T.J. and Dunning.

ARMSTRONG: I just wanted to see if there's anything you need.

(Dunning rises to his feet, but T.J. remains seated on the wall bench.)

JOHANSEN: You can let us out of here.

ARMSTRONG: Don't worry. You won't have to stay in here for much longer.

JOHANSEN: I know, 'cause the colonel's gonna take back the ship. You don't have any idea what you're up against.

ARMSTRONG: I think we do.

JOHANSEN: Not a clue. (She sits up and glares at Chloe.) Sorry, but a bunch of civilians up against the colonel's training and experience?

ARMSTRONG: It's about listening to reason.

JOHANSEN (standing up): Not once you took this ship. That made it war, and that's what we do. It's not gonna make life on this ship any easier, and it's not gonna make what those aliens did to you any better.

ARMSTRONG: Neither will anything you could possibly say to me.

(The ship shakes and the lights flicker. Everywhere on the ship people look up in concern.)

JOHANSEN: What was that?

ARMSTRONG: They're back.

(In the Mess, people are afraid.)

PARK: What's happening?

WRAY: Stay here.

(She runs out of the Mess, activating her radio as she goes.)

WRAY (into radio): This is Wray. Report.

(Parked a short distance away from Destiny, the three alien ships are taking it in turns to fire single shots at her shields. Inside, Greer runs to a bulkhead and opens it. He looks through at Scott and his team waiting on the other side.)

GREER: We've got company.

SCOTT: That's what I figured. (To his team) Let's go.

(They follow Greer down the corridor and find a couple of civilians lying unconscious on the floor. Greer strolls past them, unconcerned, but Scott stops.)

SCOTT: Sergeant?

(Greer turns back.)

GREER: They're fine. I went easy on 'em.

(He turns and continues onwards. Scott's team follows.)

(In the Research Lab, Eli is looking at a wall screen.)

WALLACE: That's it. That's all the power we're gonna get.

(Rush looks concerned but tries to hide it.)

RUSH: The shields are holding.

(In the corridors, Scott is about to break his team into two groups.)

SCOTT: Listen up. If you have to use force, so be it, but we still have to live with these people tomorrow. Remember that. Go.

JAMES: Yes, sir.

(The teams separate and head off in different directions.)

(Camille hurries into the Research Lab.)

WRAY: What is going on?

(Rush shakes his head, exasperated at stupid questions.)

WALLACE: They found us again.

WRAY: How?

(Eli looks pointedly over at Rush. Camille looks at him as well. Rush looks up tetchily at Eli.)

(In the Brig, the impacts continue striking the ship as T.J. paces around Chloe.)

ARMSTRONG: We knew this was coming. We're prepared.

JOHANSEN: Who's "we"?

(Chloe opens her mouth, then closes it again.)

JOHANSEN: I know Rush is the only person on this ship who has any idea what you've been through, but it doesn't mean that you can trust him.

ARMSTRONG: He saved my life when Colonel Young was ready to sacrifice us both.

JOHANSEN: We can't afford to have a majority vote every time a decision needs to be made, Chloe! We need a leader.

SCOTT: Chloe?

(He and his team have just arrived at the doorway. He looks at her with hurt disappointment, but then gestures to one of his team who is pointing his rifle into the room.)

SCOTT: All right, put the gun down.

(He looks at T.J.)

SCOTT: You guys OK?

JOHANSEN: Yeah, we're fine.

SCOTT: All right, come on. (He gestures to her and Dunning.) Let's go.

(Ushering them out of the room, he directs another long disappointed look to what may soon be his ex-girlfriend, then follows the others away.)

(In the Research Lab, Rush has had no choice but to tell Camille the truth.)

WRAY: You were surgically implanted with a tracking device. Is that what this was all about? You thought that if Young was in command, he'd ... what? Throw you out of an airlock?

(Rush snorts.)

RUSH: Given my previous experience, it's hardly an unreasonable assumption - and remember, this was your idea.

YOUNG: It doesn't matter whose idea it was ...

(Camille turns, appalled, as Young strolls into the lab.)

YOUNG: ... it's over.

(Camille backs away nervously from him.)


MESS. Greer and his team run to the doorway and aim their guns inside.

GREER: Everybody down! Now! On the floor NOW!

JAMES: Get down!

(In typical civilian stupidity, several of the people just mill about protesting. As one of the men gets closer to Vanessa James, she cuffs him across the face with the butt of her rifle.)

JAMES: I said NOW!

(As he falls, she flips her rifle around and aims the business end at his head.)

VOLKER: Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait-wait-wait! Just wait!

(He holds his hand out placatingly to Greer, but Greer walks closer and aims his pistol at his throat, his face threatening.)

VOLKER: Greer.

(Greer pulls back the arming mechanism on the pistol, his eyes never leaving Volker's. Slowly Volker sinks to his knees and lies down on his front next to Brody and several others who have finally got the message. Greer checks around to see that everybody is down, then looks at James who trots away.)


RESEARCH LAB. Young looks at Eli.

YOUNG: Get the weapons online.

WALLACE (with an "about time too!" look on his face): Yeah!

(He turns to the wall panel behind him.)

RUSH: He can't.

YOUNG: Why?

RUSH: I created a separate lockout code for that system.

YOUNG: Give him the code.

RUSH: No.

YOUNG: We're under attack.

RUSH: I know. The best form of defence is to devote all of our power to the shields.

YOUNG: That's not your decision.

RUSH: It's already been done.

YOUNG: Really?

(He lifts his pistol and points it at Rush's head.)

YOUNG: Maybe I should just shoot you right now.

(Rush sits back from the console, genuine fear in his eyes. Just then, Scott and T.J. run into the room, with Chloe trailing behind them.)

SCOTT: Colonel?

(Still wide-eyed, Rush nevertheless looks a little more hopeful that Young won't kill him with military witnesses in the room. Confirming that hope, Young lowers his pistol.)

YOUNG: Get him out of here.

WALLACE: Wait. He has a transmitter planted in his chest.

RUSH (anguished): Eli, no!

WALLACE: That's how they've been following us.

(He looks at Rush, trying to make him understand why he must reveal this information.)

WALLACE: Even if we survive to the next jump, they'll just track us again.

YOUNG: T.J., take care of it.

(Rush and T.J. both frown at him.)

JOHANSEN: What?

YOUNG: Cut it out.

JOHANSEN: I can't just go digging around in his chest!

RUSH: She's not qualified for this!

YOUNG: We'll use the stones. We'll get someone who is.

RUSH: But we're not equipped for this. Are you crazy?! This is insane!

YOUNG: You know that we've gotta get that transmitter out.

SCOTT: Sir, I don't recommend giving up any military personnel at this particular moment.

ARMSTRONG: I'll do it.

(Young turns to her.)

ARMSTRONG: I don't need to know what I'm doing. It won't be me, right?

(Rush closes his eyes in dread.)


LATER. INFIRMARY. As the alien ships continue to bombard Destiny's shields, Nicholas Rush is lying unconscious on an operating table in the Infirmary. A drip is attached to his arm and he is wearing a nasal canula. As T.J. and Vanessa tend to him and Camille watches anxiously, Scott runs in with the woman who has taken over Chloe's body. "SG-1" viewers will remember her from the Season 8 episode "Lockdown".

SCOTT: T.J., this is Doctor Brightman.

JOHANSEN: Hi.

BRIGHTMAN: Lieutenant.

(T.J. hands her some medical gloves.)

BRIGHTMAN: Thank you. OK. What did you give him?

JOHANSEN: An anaesthetic I made from the venom of a creature we ran into a while back. In low doses it'll knock you out pretty good.

BRIGHTMAN: You gave him alien venom?! Is that safe?

WRAY: Without it, we'd all be dead right now.

BRIGHTMAN: OK!

(T.J. reaches to the tray of equipment that she has prepared.)

JOHANSEN: I thought at first we were gonna have to go in blind but then Eli - he's one of our people - came up with this.

(She hands Brightman a thin tube.)

JOHANSEN: It's a camera - he took it out of a Kino.

BRIGHTMAN: What's a ...?

JOHANSEN: It's like a video transmitter.

(Brightman holds the end of the tube near her face and looks in surprise at the image of Chloe looking back at her on a nearby monitor.)

JOHANSEN: Anyway, we took it apart and mounted it on that, and that way we can go in thoracoscopically.

(The ship jolts and the lights flicker.)

BRIGHTMAN: What is that?

SCOTT: Uh, yeah. (He smiles nervously.) We're under attack.

BRIGHTMAN: What?!

SCOTT: Shields are holding. We're good.

(Bewildered, Brightman looks at T.J. who smiles awkwardly at her.)

JOHANSEN: Welcome to Destiny.


RESEARCH LAB. Eli is working the consoles.

WALLACE: All right, that's it.

YOUNG: That's it? We've got weapons?

WALLACE: I found a way around the lockout, but I think ...

(He hesitates.)

YOUNG: What?

WALLACE: I think Rush might be right about this one. If I'm reading this correctly, the shields can't take much more.

YOUNG: All the more reason to shoot back.

WALLACE: We can't spare the power. Weaken the shields even a little and I think they might collapse completely.

YOUNG: Well that's what's gonna happen anyway, isn't it?

WALLACE: Yes - but maybe if we're lucky, not before we jump.

YOUNG: Maybe?

WALLACE: Yeah.


INFIRMARY. As the bombardment continues, Brightman makes a cut into Rush's chest. Close scrutiny shows that he is not a hundred percent unconscious and, although his eyes are closed, his head is moving slightly, perhaps in reaction to the pain of the incision. Brightman looks up at T.J.

BRIGHTMAN: You got something I can hold this open with?

(T.J. hands her a retractor.)

BRIGHTMAN: Thank you.

(She gently inserts it into the incision to hold the sides apart, then takes the camera with her other hand.)

BRIGHTMAN: Lieutenant, can you hold that, please?

(T.J. takes hold of the retractor to keep it in position.)

BRIGHTMAN: Thank you. Hold it up.

(T.J. adjusts the position.)

BRIGHTMAN: Thank you.

(She carefully feeds the camera into Rush's chest and they watch its progress on the monitor.)

(In the Mess, the military still have the civilians lying on the floor. They wait for orders as the ship's shields continue to be pounded.)

(Back in the Infirmary, Brightman moves the camera onwards.)

BRIGHTMAN: OK.

(The tiny transmitter device comes into view.)

BRIGHTMAN: OK, I see it.

(The device is attached dangerously near Rush's heart, which is beating just underneath the device.)

BRIGHTMAN: Digging it out's gonna be a bit tricky but ...

(The ship jolts again. Brightman closes her eyes briefly.)

JOHANSEN: Are you OK?

(But it's Chloe who looks up at her. She stares down at the camera tube in her hands.)

ARMSTRONG: Oh God. Oh my God!

(Gently she releases the camera tube and steps back.)

JOHANSEN: Chloe?!

SCOTT (into radio): Eli, this is Scott. We just lost the connection. What the heck is going on down there?

YOUNG (over radio): Say again?

SCOTT (into radio): We lost the connection. The doctor's gone.

(Young looks round at Eli.)

WALLACE: Maybe ... maybe there's too much interference with all the enemy fire on the shields?

YOUNG: Fix it.

(Eli laughs, a little high-pitched.)

WALLACE: What?! I'm guessing as it is!

(Young throws him a look, then lifts his radio.)

YOUNG (into radio): I'm sorry, you're on your own. T.J., you get that thing out of him.

WALLACE: Shields aren't gonna last much longer. There's nothing I can do.

YOUNG: How long 'til we jump?

WALLACE: Just over a minute.


INFIRMARY. Rush's head is beginning to move a little more.

SCOTT: T.J.

JOHANSEN: I can't!

SCOTT: You get that thing out of him right now or I'm gonna have to!

JAMES: He's coming to!

(Rush regains consciousness and, with his eyes still closed, drowsily props himself up onto his elbows as T.J. tries to keep the camera tube still.)

JOHANSEN: Hold him down! Hold him down!

(James, Chloe and Camille do their best to hold him still.)

JAMES: What do I do?

JOHANSEN: Give him another dose of anaesthetic.

(Rush's eyes have opened and he stares in horror at his chest.)

RUSH: What are you doing to me?

JOHANSEN: Hold him steady, hold him steady.

(James sends another dose of venom anaesthetic into his drip and a moment later he sinks back down and lapses back into unconsciousness. T.J. looks at the monitor again.)

JOHANSEN: OK, I can see it. Chloe, I need you to hold this.

(Nervously, Chloe takes hold of the retractor for her as T.J. guides the camera again.)

JOHANSEN: OK, there it is.

(There must be some kind of clamp on the camera tube as well, because apparently at this point she takes hold of the device.)

JOHANSEN: OK. All right, I've got it. Gonna pull it out.

(Slowly she tugs the device free, lifts it out of Rush's chest and drops it into a tray held by James.)

SCOTT: Here.

(James hands the tray to him and gets back to helping T.J. Scott takes the tray to a nearby table, gets out his pistol and smashes the butt down hard onto the device. The woman all jump and look round at him. He nods to them, then activates his radio.)

SCOTT (into radio): We got it.

(The ship jolts more violently than previously.)

(In the Research Lab, Eli watches his console.)

WALLACE: Shields are barely registering.

(As if to prove his words, the panels behind Young explode. More panels explode in the Mess where the crew cower from the sparks.)

WALLACE: We're jumping!

(The alien ships continue firing towards Destiny but a moment later she surges forward and leaps into F.T.L. Eli looks at the vortex streaming past the window in delight. In the Infirmary, the team sighs with relief.)

JOHANSEN: OK, we can close him up. Nice work.


LATER. Greer has allowed the civilians to get to their feet. Standing at the doorway, he glances over his shoulder as Young strolls in.

GREER: How'd we do, sir?

YOUNG: Well, the ship's taken some damage. Eli's looking into it. Anyway, we're still here.

(He walks a few paces forward and speaks louder.)

YOUNG: All right, everyone. I need all of you to head back into your quarters now.

(They look at him petulantly.)

YOUNG: Everyone.

GREER: Sir, we can't guard 'em all if we let them split up.

YOUNG: It's over, Sergeant.

GREER: All right, people. You heard the man. Let's go.

(Young turns and walks a few paces into the doorway, then turns and faces the civilians as they quietly begin to file out. Deliberately Young stands in the middle of the doorway so that they have to pass one or the other side of him to get out of the room. Few of them can meet his eyes. Once they have all left, Young turns and faces Camille who has walked up behind him. Bravely she steps closer.)

WRAY: So ...

YOUNG: I'm open to suggestions.

WRAY: Obviously we need to find a way to work together.

YOUNG: Pretend it never happened, you mean.

(Camille shakes her head ruefully.)

WRAY: You shouldn't have left him on the planet.

YOUNG (softly): You think I don't know that?

(She turns and walks away. Once she has gone, Greer comes over to him.)

GREER: It's not over, sir.

YOUNG: No, it isn't.