Transcript by Callie Sullivan

DESTINY. MESS HALL. Pvt. Darren Becker brings a plate over to a table. He puts it down in front of Ronald Greer, who looks down at the oblong, dark-red object on it and then picks up a knife and fork. A Kino is on the table recording him and nearby Jeremy Franklin, Adam Brody and Eli Wallace are watching him closely. He looks down at the object on the plate again.

GREER: Looks like a sweet potato.

BRODY: That is so not gonna be sweet!

(He, Franklin and Eli chuckle.)

GREER: How do you know?

FRANKLIN: Analysis we did on the planet when we dug the first ones up, just to make sure it was safe.

WALLACE: It's safe.

(Greer looks at him suspiciously.)

WALLACE: It's safe!

(Taking a deep breath and blowing it out again, Greer cuts into the object and forks up a small piece. The others watch him intently as he puts it into his mouth. He chews it carefully for several seconds, then turns and leans forward towards the Kino, looking directly into its lens.)

GREER: Now that is one sweet potato!

(Everyone laughs in delight.)

WALLACE: Really?

(Greer gets up from the bench and steps back.)

GREER: Everybody try it! Dig in!

(Franklin grabs the knife and fork and cuts several small pieces from the potato as Greer walks over to Becker. Franklin, Brody and Eli each grab a piece and put it into their mouths. Instantly their faces crumple in shock.)

WALLACE: Oh my God.

(Brody grabs for a glass of water while Franklin spits his piece into his handkerchief.)

FRANKLIN: Oh my God, I'm gonna be sick!

(Becker laughs at them.)

GREER (sternly): It is food, people. It will keep us alive! Becker - boil 'em up, mash 'em up and serve 'em up.

BECKER: Yes, sir.

(He and Greer knock fists. Eli is drinking water and trying hard not to vomit. Franklin is rubbing at his tongue with his handkerchief, trying to get the taste out of his mouth.)

GREER: Who's on K.P. duty?

BECKER: Uh, Sergeant Spencer, but he should have been here an hour ago.

(Sighing in irritation, Greer takes his radio out of his pocket and activates it.)

GREER: Sergeant Spencer, you have K.P. duty and you are late.

(There's no reply. Greer sighs again.)

CORRIDOR. Shortly afterwards, Greer storms towards the doors of Spencer's quarters.

GREER: Spencer, get your sorry ass out of bed! You have K.P. duty!

(When there's no reply from inside, he presses the wall panel control and the doors slide open. The room inside is dark and Greer activates the lights.)

GREER: I do not have time for this, Sergeant. Let's go!

(Spencer is lying on his side on the bed but Greer's attention is caught by a large amount of blood spatter on the wall near the bed. Looking around cautiously to check that nobody else is nearby, he walks over to the bedside and pushes Spencer's shoulder.)

GREER: Spencer.

(The push rolls Spencer onto his back. Greer backs away a little at the sight that confronts him.)

YOUNG'S OFFICE. The Colonel is talking with Camille Wray.

YOUNG: What was wrong with the old schedule?

WRAY: I'm worried that we may be pushing them too hard. It's not boot camp.

YOUNG: No. In boot camp you have plenty of opportunity to learn from your mistakes.

GREER (over radio): Colonel Young, this is Sergeant Greer.

YOUNG (activating his radio): Go ahead.

GREER (flatly, into radio): I'm in Sergeant Spencer's quarters. He did not show up for duty. I came by to check up on him.

(Young looks concerned at the tone of Greer's voice.)

YOUNG: Greer, what is it?

(Greer looks down at a single bullet hole in the side of Spencer's head.)

GREER: He's been shot, sir. He's dead.

LATER. Spencer's body is being zipped into a body bag. A group of marines and technicians carry him away while other members of the crew hang around outside the open doors, murmuring to each other. Inside the room, Young turns to Tamara (T.J.) Johansen who has been examining the body. Camille and Greer are also there.

YOUNG: When did it happen?

JOHANSEN (checking her watch): Rigour's set in pretty good but not completely, so I'd guess an hour either side of oh-two-hundred.

WRAY: And no-one heard the shot?

GREER: He chose to have his quarters away from everybody else.

JOHANSEN: Based on the blood spatter on the wall and the position of the body, I'd say he was ... (she mimes shooting herself in the head) ... sitting on the edge of the bed.

YOUNG: Suicide?

JOHANSEN: Well ...

WRAY (interrupting): Why was he even allowed access to a gun?

YOUNG: He was a highly trained N.C.O. ...

WRAY (angrily): No, he was unstable and you know it.

YOUNG: ... for duties that required him to be armed.

WRAY: Oh, it was required of him?

YOUNG: Yes.

GREER: 'Scuse me, ma'am?

WRAY (to Young): You know, I have said it from day one, that if ...

GREER: It wasn't suicide.

(She turns to him.)

WRAY: What are you talking about?

GREER (angrily): Do you see a gun?

(He quietens down as Wray lets this information sinks in.)

GREER: It was gone when I got here. I checked the whole compartment. Whoever did this took the weapon with them.

CONTROL ROOM. Later, Young, T.J., Eli and Matthew Scott are in the Control Room and reporting the circumstances to Nicholas Rush.

RUSH: So, any suspects?

(He looks up at Scott who gazes back at him silently.)

RUSH: Well, excuse me for being blunt, but there is a killer on board the ship. Do we have any idea who did this?

YOUNG: I don't know. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

WALLACE: It-it's unbelievable.

RUSH: Is it? You put ordinary people under enough stress, I think you'll find they're capable of just about anything. Add to that the fact he was hoarding water and food, involved in several confrontations, I doubt you'll find many tears shed over this man.

SCOTT: He was one of our own, Rush.

RUSH (sarcastically): I'm sorry, Lieutenant. Was he your friend?

(Scott tries to meet his gaze but eventually looks down. Rush looks round at the others.)

RUSH: Did he, in fact, have one single friend aboard this ship?

WALLACE: James hung out with him.

JOHANSEN: She tolerated him.

SCOTT: All right, so no-one could stand the guy. It does not make it OK.

RUSH: I didn't mean to suggest that it did. What I do suggest, however, is that, Colonel Young - you should try and find out who this killer is as quickly as possible.

GATE ROOM. The entire crew has been summoned and has gathered there. Young and several other members of the military contingent come in. The soldiers, carrying weapons, spread out around the room while Scott and Young go partway up the staircase so that they can be seen. A few people in the crowd shush the others as Young turns to face them all.

YOUNG: As I am sure many of you have already heard, Sergeant Spencer was killed last night. He signed the weapon out of the equipment lock-up yesterday, and the nine millimetre handgun was not returned and is still missing.

(Concerned murmuring breaks out.)

YOUNG: I'm aware of how extremely disturbing this is for all of us, so this is what we're going to do. Lieutenant Scott, Eli, Mr. Brody, Lieutenant James and Doctor Park were together playing cards in the Mess at the time of the murder. They can all corroborate each others' stories, which gives them an alibi.

(Immediately everyone starts providing their own alibis to each other. A couple of them call out to Young.)

WOMAN: Hey, I was in the Control Room all night.

MAN: Yeah, I was in the Hydroponics Lab.

WOMAN: Check the Kino footage!

YOUNG: Listen, I'm sure others will have alibis, but some of us won't. I can tell you for a fact that I was in my bunk sleeping at the time, but I can't prove that, and that makes me as much of a suspect as anyone. That is why I am turning over full control of the investigation. Lieutenant.

(He steps down off the stairs and Scott takes his place.)

SCOTT: All right. We are going to do a room by room search, starting with quarters, until the weapon is found. Now, everyone needs to stay here until that search is complete but, in the meantime ...

(Franklin steps forward and interrupts.)

FRANKLIN: You are not searching my room without me there.

SEVERAL OTHERS: Yeah!

SCOTT: Anybody who wants to be there when their room is being searched can come along when their name is called. That fair?

(The crowd nods.)

SCOTT: OK. Doctor Franklin, you can be first. Who else would like to be present when their ...?

(He trails off as over half of the crew raise their hands.)

SCOTT: All right, OK, I ... it'll ...

(He looks round to Eli who shrugs at him in a "What can you do?!" kind of way. He turns back to the crew.)

SCOTT: It'll take all day that way but we can, uh, we can do two at a time. (He sighs.) If that's what you want.

(He points at Franklin and a woman nearby who had raised her hand.)

SCOTT: You two, follow me.

(The two of them follow him from the Gate Room. The crew start talking amongst themselves as Greer and Camille exchange a long distrustful look.)

CORRIDOR. Shortly afterwards, the alibied group is escorting Franklin and the woman along the corridor. Scott and Eli stop outside Franklin's quarters with him.

SCOTT: All right. Doctor Franklin, stay near the hatch please.

(He hits the wall panel and the doors slide open. He and Eli start looking around the room as Franklin stands just inside the room.)

FRANKLIN (sarcastically): Guess I should be thankful there's no cavity search.

SCOTT: That can be arranged, Franklin.

WALLACE (to Franklin): Hey, we don't like this any more than you do.

FRANKLIN: Right(!)

ELSEWHERE. Brody and Park have escorted the woman to her quarters. They are looking around while she watches them nervously from the doorway. After a while Brody shakes his head at Park.

PARK: Yeah, there's nothing here.

(She turns back to the woman.)

PARK: You can just stay here now until the all-clear.

(She and Brody leave the room. Immediately the woman presses the wall panel to close the doors.)

LATER. Scott and Eli are searching Camille's room while she stands at the doorway.

WRAY: You know, Lieutenant, I understand the need for a thorough investigation, check all possibilities, but you shouldn't lose sight of the obvious.

SCOTT: What are you talking about?

WRAY: Sergeant Greer has to be your number one suspect.

SCOTT: So he killed Spencer, ran away to hide the gun, then went back and called it in?(!) Besides, if he did do it, you'd have no evidence at all.

WALLACE: Not helping your argument!

SCOTT: I'm just saying, he's one of the few people we can eliminate as a suspect.

(Wray doesn't look convinced.)

GATE ROOM. Young looks up in surprise as Rush's voice comes over his radio.

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

YOUNG (into radio): What is it?

RUSH: I've found some new information regarding the Ancient Chair interface.

YOUNG: Have they checked your quarters?

RUSH: Well, I don't know, actually. I've got work to do.

YOUNG: Where are you?

RUSH: The control interface room. Look, I've come across some very interesting data ...

YOUNG: You're supposed to be here, waiting with the rest of us.

RUSH: Colonel, obviously neither one of us has anything to do with this business.

YOUNG: Well, that's not the point.

RUSH: I thought, while all this was going on, it might give us the opportunity to keep working. (Tetchily) Obviously I was wrong. Rush out.

YOUNG: Rush, get your ass back to the Gate Room. Rush?!

SCOTT (over radio): Colonel Young, this is Scott, come in?

YOUNG (into radio): Go ahead, Lieutenant.

SCOTT (as he and Eli approach Young's quarters): You're up, sir. D'you wanna be here, or ...?

YOUNG: No, no, you go ahead. I'll, uh, I'll wait here.

(Scott nods to Eli, who punches the wall panel. The doors open and they go inside. Scott takes a cursory glance around the room, not even bothering to lift the mattress.)

SCOTT: Uh, all right, there's obviously nothing here. Let's move on.

(Just then Eli happens to shine his flashlight up one of the walls. He stops, shining the light towards an air vent. Scott, already halfway out of the door, turns back to him.)

SCOTT: Eli, come on.

(Eli has noticed that there appears to be an object inside the vent.)

WALLACE: Uh ...

(He climbs onto the bed and reaches up to the vent.)

SCOTT: What is it?

(Eli pulls the vent cover off and puts it down. He can't see inside the vent from that close because it's higher than his head, but he reaches carefully inside and then pulls out a nine millimetre handgun. Scott activates his radio.)

SCOTT: Colonel, this is Scott. I need you to get down here right away.

YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Shortly afterwards, Young walks into his quarters.

YOUNG: Where was it?

WALLACE: In the air vent.

YOUNG: The vent. That's imaginative(!)

WALLACE (apologetically): I didn't mean to look that hard.

YOUNG (chuckling): That's OK. I was the one who authorised the search.

WALLACE: Right.

YOUNG: You don't believe I put it there, do you?

SCOTT: No, sir. Of course not.

(Eli doesn't answer the question.)

YOUNG: Somebody's trying to frame me, Eli.

WALLACE (not completely convinced): Right.

(The two of them look at each other silently. Scott, oblivious to this, carries on talking.)

SCOTT: Right, so this is what I've been thinking. We say that we found it in a storage room. Only the person who hid it in there will know any better. Maybe we can smoke 'em out that way.

(Young has looked down, perhaps hurt that Eli could even consider that he might be guilty of the murder. Eli himself looks anxious and confused, perhaps fearful that the man he has trusted so far could have killed a member of the crew.)

WALLACE: Uh, are we sure that that's a good idea?

SCOTT (firmly): He did not kill Spencer, Eli.

WALLACE: I'm not saying that he did, but we ...

SCOTT (interrupting): Look, this is obviously someone trying to undermine the colonel's authority. We cannot let that happen.

YOUNG: Eli's right.

(The two of them look at him.)

YOUNG: I want you to take this gun to Wray, tell her where and how you found it. Leave nothing out. She'll know what to do.

SCOTT: Sir?

YOUNG: I can't investigate myself, Lieutenant. You can't be asked to investigate your immediate superior officer. That leaves Wray. We're gonna have to play this by the book.

SCOTT: Well, with all due respect, sir, if the book covers this, I missed it.

YOUNG: Lieutenant, I need you to listen to me. Something's going on here, and if we get caught in a lie now, this is gonna turn into a bigger mess than it already is, right? So I need everything above board, out in the open. That is an order.

(Unhappily, Scott nods.)

LATER. Scott and Eli are reporting to Camille and Rush.

RUSH: Well, this looks bad.

SCOTT: It doesn't prove anything.

WRAY: That's not the point. This is a question of morale. A lot of people on board are going to have doubts.

SCOTT: Eli, you were flying a Kino in everyone's face last night.

WALLACE: Just until the poker game, then ... (he raises his head as he realises something important) ... then I put it in a search mode.

RUSH: Well, maybe it caught something - something that might indicate that Colonel Young had nothing to do with this.

(Eli and Scott start to hurry away. Rush stands up.)

WRAY: Or that he did.

(Rush snorts.)

RUSH: I find that hard to believe. Have you contacted Earth yet?

WRAY: I was just about to use the communication stones.

RUSH: Well, whatever your superiors advise, we are on our own out here. Best we handle this ourselves.

YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Young is under house arrest in his quarters but has asked for Chloe Armstrong, who has come to the doorway which is being guarded by a marine. The doors open and Young is just inside.

YOUNG: Thanks for coming.

(He gestures into the room and she walks inside. He closes the doors.)

YOUNG: I need a favour. Obviously you've heard about what's been going on.

ARMSTRONG: Yeah. It's pretty hard to miss.

YOUNG: I didn't do it.

ARMSTRONG: ... OK.

YOUNG: Unfortunately, it looks like I'm going to have to clear my name before I can find out who did.

ARMSTRONG: Uh, I don't understand.

YOUNG: Wray used the stones ... (he gestures towards the sofa) ... please ... (they sit down) ... to talk to her I.O.A. superiors. She came back authorised to hold an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

ARMSTRONG: That doesn't sound so bad.

YOUNG: Don't kid yourself. She's gonna come after me.

ARMSTRONG: Why?

YOUNG: Well, the I.O.A.'s been chomping at the bit to have one of their own in charge. This is the best shot they've got.

ARMSTRONG: Or you ... you could talk to General O'Neill.

YOUNG: Yes, I'm sure I could stay in charge without having to run to General O'Neill if that's what I wanted to do. This is about more than that. But the point is, if she's going to be the de facto prosecutor, I'm gonna need a defence, so ...

(He looks at her pointedly. Her eyes widen.)

ARMSTRONG: Me?!

YOUNG: You went to Harvard.

ARMSTRONG: Political science!

YOUNG: This is more politics than law.

ARMSTRONG: I-I would think Lieutenant Scott ...

YOUNG: I don't want it to seem like the military against the civilians.

(He looks at Chloe as she gazes nervously back at him.)

YOUNG: Please.

EVIDENTIARY HEARING. In a room somewhere on the ship, the hearing is taking place. Camille and Chloe sit side by side at a small table and a single chair has been placed in front of it for witnesses to sit in. A Kino is on the table looking towards the witness chair. Other seats have been placed around the room for onlookers, and about thirty people have gathered in the room. Colonel Young is standing in the doorway at the back of the room. Jeremy Franklin is currently in the witness chair.

WRAY: Doctor, have you ever seen Colonel Young attack one of his own men before?

FRANKLIN: I-I wouldn't call it an attack. (He looks nervously across the room to Young, then looks back to Camille.) He was defending me.

WRAY: Have you ever seen Colonel Young have any kind of physical confrontation with one of his men?

FRANKLIN: No ... but I'm not military.

WRAY: You did serve at Icarus Base for a period of six months, which was under his command.

(Young has had enough, and turns and leaves.)

FRANKLIN: Look, Spencer was out of control. He had to do something.

WRAY (pointedly): Did he?

(Later, Dale Volker is in the chair.)

VOLKER: I was in the Control Room running a test. Uh, Colonel Young and Doctor Rush were ... were talking. I don't think they realised that I could hear them.

WRAY: And what were they saying?

VOLKER: Uh, Colonel Young was complaining about Sergeant Spencer; said that he had gotten out of hand and if the situation didn't improve, he might have to take, uh, drastic measures.

ARMSTRONG: But you have no way of knowing what he meant by that, do you ... assuming you heard correctly?

VOLKER: No, not at the time I didn't.

(Now Rush is in the chair.)

RUSH: I don't remember the exact details of the conversation.

WRAY: But you do remember speaking with Colonel Young about Sergeant Spencer?

RUSH: Well, the colonel was doing most of the talking. I think he just wanted to let off steam.

WRAY: Do you remember him saying that if things didn't improve, he was going to have to take drastic action?

RUSH: I'm not sure he used those exact words.

WRAY: Do you agree that Sergeant Spencer was a disruptive force; that his attitude was damaging to morale and was only getting worse?

RUSH: Yes.

WRAY: Then would you say that his "removal" from the situation has been a net benefit or a detriment?

RUSH: I know what you're trying to do. You want me to suggest that we're better off without him, therefore implying that Colonel Young may have drawn the same conclusion: that as commander he may have believed he had no choice.

(Camille raises her eyebrows at him expectantly.)

WRAY: Well?

RUSH: Well, that would be pure speculation and I'm having none of it.

ELI'S QUARTERS. Eli and Scott are either watching a recording of the hearing or are able to pause the live feed temporarily. Whichever, Eli stops the footage at this point, shaking his head.

WALLACE: Didn't stop him from saying it out loud, did it?

SCOTT: You're sure there's nothing on the Kino footage?

WALLACE: I-I've confirmed alibis for half a dozen or so people, but I haven't found anything that helps the colonel.

(Sighing, he restarts the footage.)

HEARING. T.J. is now in the witness chair.

ARMSTRONG: You found an empty bottle of sleeping pills in Sergeant Spencer's quarters, didn't you?

JOHANSEN: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: Did you know he was taking them?

JOHANSEN: I wish I had. I might have been able to help him.

ARMSTRONG: You're suggesting that he had a dependence, and as a result, that he was suffering from withdrawal?

JOHANSEN: It would explain a lot of things.

WRAY: But you don't know that for a fact.

JOHANSEN: No.

ARMSTRONG: Hypothetically, if he was suffering from withdrawal, it could have caused him anxiety, depression, even suicidal tendencies.

JOHANSEN: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: In fact, all the physical evidence - the blood spatter, the angle of the wound, the position of the body - it was all consistent with suicide.

JOHANSEN: Yes.

WRAY: But you're not a forensic scientist.

JOHANSEN: No, but I've seen gunshot suicides before.

WRAY: And in those cases, was the gun ever absent when the body was found?

JOHANSEN: No, but it's obvious that someone planted the weapon ...

WRAY (interrupting): It's not up to you to speculate ...

ARMSTRONG (interrupting): Isn't it true, Lieutenant, that if we were on Earth, there is a simple test you could do to determine if Sergeant Spencer had fired that gun?

JOHANSEN: I suppose we could test his hand for powder residue, and properly test the weapon for fingerprints, but we don't have the necessary equipment on board.

WRAY: Is it possible that a forensic scientist from Earth, say using the communication stones, might have been helpful even without the special equipment you're talking about?

ARMSTRONG: Miss Wray ...

JOHANSEN: If we hadn't handled the weapon or contaminated the crime scene ...

WRAY: Yeah, but whose decision was it to have us investigate this ourselves?

ARMSTRONG: Miss Wray, I think it was my turn to ask questions.

WRAY (quietly): What are you doing?

ARMSTRONG (quietly): Taking my turn as we agreed.

(She turns back to T.J.)

ARMSTRONG: Lieutenant, would a proper autopsy be able to determine if he was, in fact, suffering from withdrawal?

JOHANSEN: Yes.

ARMSTRONG: Expert or no expert, without any actual forensic equipment or facilities, is it possible to know for certain what really happened?

JOHANSEN: I don't think so.

(The onlookers murmur quietly amongst themselves.)

WRAY: I think it's time that, uh, we take a short recess. We'll resume in an hour. Thank you.

(The crew members start to wander out of the room. Camille stands up and leans over Chloe.)

WRAY: I need to talk to you. Now.

LATER. Shortly afterwards, Camille leads Chloe through a doorway and slams the wall panel to close the doors behind them. She turns angrily to Chloe.

WRAY: What was that? We're trying to get to the truth here.

ARMSTRONG: I don't think that's even possible.

WRAY: We can't afford to have an unsolved murder hanging over our heads.

ARMSTRONG: So forget about the possibility that the colonel is being framed and just get this over with?!

WRAY: I don't think Colonel Young is so far above reproach as you seem to think he is.

ARMSTRONG: Oh, well, you're the human resources person. You would know all about that. In fact, you probably know more about every person on this ship than anyone. (Angrily) If we're throwing due process out the window, who do you think did it? We'll just go with that(!)

CORRIDOR. Elsewhere, Young is walking along a corridor with a guard. He pauses as he reaches the open doorway of a room where several members of the crew are discussing the issue. He listens to the conversation without the group being aware that he's outside.

WOMAN 1: You don't think he really did it?

WOMAN 2: I'm not so sure what to think any more.

MAN 1: Spencer was a menace, though. We all know it.

MAN 2: Well, maybe it's just like Rush said. Maybe he thought he had no other choice.

WOMAN 1: No, that's crazy.

MAN 2: Well, let's face it: how well do any of us really know the man?

(Young turns and walks away.)

LATER. Chloe is in a room where Vanessa James and several other Marines are cleaning the weapons. Scott and T.J. are also there.

ARMSTRONG: She wants to gather all the evidence she can and then put it to a vote.

JAMES: What, like a jury?

ARMSTRONG: No. Everyone.

GREER: I say we handle this right now.

(He has just finished putting a rifle back together again and now he turns to the others angrily.)

GREER: I say we go in there, tell 'em that the party's over and get back to work. Who's with me?

(All the military crew in the room immediately rise to their feet. Greer heads towards the door but Scott jumps up and stops him.)

SCOTT: All right, take it easy, Greer.

GREER: This is my rule.

SCOTT: Sergeant ...

GREER: Lieutenant, this is what they used to do to guys like me for looking at white women the wrong way. Now, d'you think I'm gonna hang back and let this go ...?

(The doors open and Colonel Young is standing outside. The military jump to attention.)

YOUNG: Am I interrupting something?

JOHANSEN: No, sir.

YOUNG (walking into the room): At ease.

GREER: This has gone on long enough, Colonel. We're ready to back your play.

YOUNG: That won't be necessary.

SCOTT: Sir?

YOUNG: Miss Wray and I have already come to an agreement. She's going to close the investigation for lack of evidence against me. I, in return, will be stepping down. From this moment on, she is in command.

CAMILLE'S QUARTERS. Some time later, Rush goes to Camille's room where she is studying some paperwork.

RUSH: I hear congratulations are in order.

WRAY: Really? I was just wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

RUSH: An opportunity to do things differently, perhaps?

(Camille walks over to where he is rather blatantly trying to read some papers on her desk. She equally blatantly moves them out of his eye line.)

WRAY: What do you want, Nicholas?

RUSH: Control over my science team, including Eli.

WRAY (sternly): But you report to me.

RUSH: Of course!

WRAY: That's it?

(Rush laughs.)

RUSH: You sound surprised.

(Still smiling, he turns and leaves the room.)

LATER. CHAIR INTERFACE ROOM. Not long afterwards, the doors to the Chair Room open and Rush leads his team inside. Franklin takes his first look at the Chair.

FRANKLIN: This is it?

RUSH: This is it.

VOLKER: Very impressive - I mean, as far as chairs go.

RUSH: Well, time will tell, I suppose.

PARK: So you sit in the Chair and it downloads the secrets of the universe into your head?

WALLACE: And then you die.

RUSH: Not necessarily, Eli.

BRODY: Every time it's ever been tried ... (he holds his finger and thumb a short distance apart) ... this close to death.

FRANKLIN: Who's tried it?

RUSH: General O'Neill, for one.

FRANKLIN: And he survived.

BRODY: We don't have a little grey alien to set things right this time.

RUSH: No, we don't, but this is an earlier model of that same device, possibly a prototype built very early in their evolution.

WALLACE: In my experience, the 1.0 version's usually the most bug-y.

RUSH: It's also the simplest.

FRANKLIN: Maybe it's really simple. Maybe it just tells you how to fly the ship.

RUSH: Well, I'm sure it's a bit more than that, but your point is well made. It's knowledge of the ship we need. If we're to survive - or, for that matter, get back to Earth one day - then I'm convinced that this Chair is the only way to do that.

PARK: Maybe there's a way of choosing what information gets downloaded.

BRODY: Or maybe it's just a matter of slowing down the download so it can be cut off.

RUSH: There's only one way to find out.

(He walks over to the Chair and puts his fingertips onto the back of the headrest.)

RUSH: This is our priority now.

YOUNG'S QUARTERS. Young is sitting on the sofa trying to read a book while Scott paces around nearby.

SCOTT: All right, I don't get it. If Wray admits that there's not enough evidence against you ...

YOUNG: Well, there may not be enough to convict, but there's plenty to cast doubt. You know, if I force the issue, we risk dividing the crew. We can't afford that.

SCOTT: These people need a real leader.

YOUNG: Whether they like it or not?

SCOTT: Maybe.

(Young stands up and walks closer to Scott.)

YOUNG: Lieutenant, nobody signed up for this, and I can't just assume they're gonna follow my orders, and I can't rule this ship by force.

(Scott opens his mouth but Young talks over him.)

YOUNG: I mean, I won't.

(Scott thinks about it for a second, then nods.)

SCOTT: All right. You tell us that Wray's in charge, then it's fine, but as far as me and Tamara and the enlisted personnel are concerned, you are still our commanding officer, and nothing is gonna change that.

(Young nods gratefully at him.)

LATER. CHAIR INTERFACE ROOM. Some time later, Eli walks into the Chair Room and finds that only Jeremy Franklin is there.

WALLACE: Still here?

FRANKLIN: Yeah, I got stuck with the late shift.

(The two of them walk over to the console where a laptop and other equipment have been hooked into Destiny's own equipment. They tinker with various bits as they talk.)

WALLACE: How's it coming?

FRANKLIN (sighing): It's not. We've run every Ancient systems diagnostic we've got. Nothing. Rush has tried to write a new programme but it seems like this thing ... (he gestures toward the Chair) ... is designed to prevent any kind of access except through the Chair itself.

WALLACE: Which would prevent an alien species who doesn't happen to share Ancient physiology from trying to hack in, I guess.

FRANKLIN: Maybe Rush is right. Maybe we're close enough for it to work.

(Eli snorts.)

WALLACE: Believe me, if Rush thought it was safe, he'd be sitting there right now.

FRANKLIN: Yeah. Maybe.

(He rubs his neck and grunts in pain.)

WALLACE: You should get some rest.

FRANKLIN: Naah. Rush is due to relieve me at twenty-three hundred. If I wasn't here, I'd never hear the end of it. Maybe you could go to the Mess and get me some of Becker's alien mashed potatoes?

(Eli looks across to him in surprise.)

WALLACE: Really?!

FRANKLIN: I'm starving.

WALLACE: OK. You've got it.

(He leaves the room. Franklin looks thoughtfully at the Chair.)

LATER. Young is alone in his quarters, reading his book. It may be that he has borrowed the "truly mediocre" book that Rush had been reading during the events of "Light" but he doesn't look like he's enjoying it much. Eventually he turns it over on the table in front of him and looks at his watch. Just then Eli's voice comes over the radio, filled with panic.

WALLACE: This is Eli. Anybody on this channel? I-I need help.

(Young gets up and hurries over to another table to get his radio.)

YOUNG (into radio): Eli, this is Young. What is it?

WALLACE (over radio): I have a medical emergency. I need help now!

CORRIDOR. Shortly afterwards Young runs down a corridor and meets T.J. running towards the same junction as him, her medical bag over her shoulder.

YOUNG: What's going on?

JOHANSEN: I don't know yet.

(In the Chair Room, Franklin is seated in the Chair. His eyes are open but unseeing and he is convulsing and whimpering. The headpiece of the Chair has flipped over the top and, on either side, one of the prongs in the side clamps is embedded in the side of his head. Eli is trying to unscrew one of them with his fingers but breaks away from the Chair and heads for the control panel just as Young and T.J. run in.)

JOHANSEN: What happened?

(Nobody answers as both Eli and Rush - working on a wall panel - try to shut the Chair down. T.J. runs over to the Chair and looks at Franklin helplessly. His hands and feet are held by clamps and blood is running from the wounds in the sides of his head. He continues to whimper and convulse.)

JOHANSEN: How long's he been in here?

(Finally - either because the programme has finished or because Rush or Eli have found the off switch - the prongs withdraw from Franklin's head and the clamps release him. As the headpiece flips back over the top of the Chair, he slumps forward. T.J. and Young catch him and stop him from tumbling to the floor.)

WALLACE: I-I went to the Mess for five minutes and when I got back he was already in the Chair.

(Young glares suspiciously across at Rush who - as always - looks inscrutable as he gazes back at him.)

LATER. INFIRMARY. Franklin has been moved to the Infirmary and T.J. is cleaning the wounds in the sides of his head. His eyes are open but he is clearly not conscious.

JOHANSEN: Well, the convulsions have stopped but he's completely unresponsive. He's basically in a deep catatonic state.

WRAY: Is there anything you can do for him?

JOHANSEN: We could try a high dose of lorazepam, see if it'll bring him out of it, but I'm flying blind here.

WRAY: Do it.

(Uncertain, T.J. looks across to Young but he deliberately doesn't answer or comment, waiting for her to remember that Camille's in charge now. Eventually she gets it and looks back to Camille.)

JOHANSEN: Yes, ma'am.

(As she gets to work, Camille and Young leave the room. Rush, who had been standing nearby, follows them. At the doorway, Scott and Eli are waiting.)

WALLACE: How is he?

(Young walks a few paces away, then turns back to Rush.)

YOUNG: You just couldn't wait, could you?

RUSH: Anyone who had access to that room was under strict orders not to sit in that Chair.

YOUNG: You knew. You knew the intention was there. In fact, you made sure of it by telling them it was our only chance.

RUSH (simultaneously): We were there to determine the feasibility of accessing that information ...

YOUNG (talking over him): You wanted somebody there BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T HAVE THE GUTS TO DO IT YOURSELF!

(By now he is right in Rush's face and, as usual, Rush looks down, embarrassed. Camille gets in between them.)

WRAY: Both of you stop.

(Young continues to glare at Rush, who stares at the floor like a little boy who has just been told off by his angry dad.)

WRAY: It was under my authority, so ultimately it's my responsibility.

YOUNG (turning and glaring into her eyes): I know.

(He holds her gaze for a bit longer, then turns back to Rush who still won't meet his eyes. He glares at him for a long moment, then turns and walks away. Rush throws a long dark look at his back, then also walks away. As Camille tries to take in the mess that she has to deal with, Scott walks over to Eli.)

SCOTT: All right, we need to talk.

(Eli obediently follows him back to his own quarters. Scott walks over to the Kino screen.)

SCOTT: You've got those things running day and night all over the danged ship and you are telling me not one of them saw something ...

WALLACE: No!

SCOTT: ... anything out of the ordinary?

WALLACE: No! I've been over it twice. There's nothing there!

SCOTT: Look again.

WALLACE: Matt ...

SCOTT: He was framed, Eli. We are gonna find out by who, and we're gonna put a stop to it.

WALLACE: OK.

(Sighing, he sits down at the screen. Scott pats his shoulder and leaves him to it. Shaking his head as if believing that it's a waste of time, Eli activates his screen.)

CAMILLE'S QUARTERS. Some time later, Destiny bursts out of F.T.L. flight and enters normal space. In her quarters, Camille looks down at her hands, which are shaking slightly, then looks at her reflection in a wall mirror. Her radio activates.

BRODY (over radio): This is Brody in the Gate Room.

(Rubbing her hands together to try to steady them, she goes over to her radio and activates it.)

WRAY: Go ahead.

BRODY: We have an active Gate and we sent through a Kino. Atmosphere is nominal; temperature is in the green. We're good to go.

WRAY: I'll be there in a minute.

(Picking up her jacket, she walks to the doors and hits the wall panel to open them. She starts to shrug herself into her jacket as the doors open, then looks in surprise as she sees someone standing on the other side.)

WRAY: Sergeant Greer.

GREER: Ma'am, may I have a moment of your time?

WRAY: I have to get down to the Gate Room. We're ready to send a team to the next planet.

(She steps forward but Greer steps into her way. She stops again.)

GREER: That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I noticed that myself and a few other marines were taken off the away team duty list.

WRAY: Yes.

GREER: May I ask why?

WRAY: Call it a temporary adjustment.

GREER (quietly, ominously): You thought it was me who killed Spencer at first, didn't you?

WRAY: You were a valid suspect. If you can't deal with that, it's your problem, not mine. Now get out of my way.

(Keeping his gaze locked on hers, Greer steps a tiny bit to his left, leaving her just enough room to pass him.)

GREER: Yes, ma'am.

(Slapping the door panel to close the doors to her quarters, Camille glares at him and walks away. Once she has passed him, she closes her eyes briefly in relief. He waits until she has walked a short distance away, then calls after her softly, just loud enough for her to hear.)

GREER: But I'm not going anywhere.

GATE ROOM. In the Gate Room, someone is helping Dale Volker into a large backpack. Standing next to him is Doctor Caine who is wearing a less laden backpack but who is now handed a large case. Camille has been brought up to date by Brody and now walks over to the other two men.

WRAY: All right, it doesn't look like there's much vegetation around the Gate, so you may have to widen your search.

(She looks round as Vanessa James and a male marine, both geared up, walk over.)

WRAY: Lieutenant James and Airman Rennie will be providing security ...

(She looks at Volker and offers him the remote control for the offworld Stargate.)

WRAY: ... but you're in charge.

(Volker takes the remote and turns towards the Gate. Beside him, Caine also turns.)

CAINE: Congratulations.

VOLKER (sarcastically): Yay!

(He looks round nervously at James who appears to be awaiting his instructions but eventually gets fed up with waiting and heads for the Gate with Rennie. Volker and Caine follow them.)

ELI'S QUARTERS. In Eli's quarters, he has apparently summoned Scott who hurries in.

SCOTT: Hiya. What?

WALLACE: Sorry. I shoulda caught it.

SCOTT: What?

WALLACE: You have to look close.

(He activates the screen. There are three sub-screens on it with text scrolling across one of them. Eli watches for a few seconds, then turns to Scott expectantly.)

SCOTT (confused): Th-there's nothing there.

WALLACE: Look at the time codes.

(Scott looks at the screen again.)

SCOTT: They don't match.

(He watches as one of the sub-screens highlights a different line of text.)

SCOTT: So wait-wait-wait. What's that?

WALLACE: That is a deletion. I wouldn't have even noticed it, except it caused a minor glitch in the code. It's from the exact time that Spencer was shot.

SCOTT: So the Kino did pick up something.

WALLACE: It must have.

SCOTT: Yeah, but if it's deleted, how does that help us?

WALLACE: Because whoever did this was good, but not good enough.

(Standing, he goes across the room and picks up a laptop.)

WALLACE: What ...

(Looking at the open door, he lowers his voice as he comes back to the seat.)

WALLACE: What they couldn't have known is that I always back up the last two days of footage on the hard drive.

SCOTT: Why?

WALLACE: My documentary. I have to download it to my computer before I can edit it. If there's an Ancient version of iMovie in the database, I haven't found it.

(While he has been talking he has also been typing on his laptop and now he finds the missing footage.)

WALLACE: There.

(They look at the footage for a moment, then Scott activates his radio.)

SCOTT: Colonel Young, go to channel two.

(There's a brief pause while Young adjusts his radio.)

YOUNG (over radio): What is it, Lieutenant?

SCOTT (quietly into radio): I've got something you need to see.

PLANET. On a rocky barren world, the away team trudges away from the Stargate. Steam is venting from various areas around them, but it doesn't appear to be threatening or dangerous. They walk for quite a distance, and Caine stumbles and sighs.

CAINE: Oh God!

(He looks around for a fairly flat area and sits down.)

CAINE: I tell ya, if I could change one thing about the day we escaped from Icarus, I would have worn better shoes.

(He takes off his right shoe and shakes a stone out of it.)

VOLKER: Really? Those are nice shoes.

(He carries on, following Rennie. James stops near Caine and he looks up at her.)

CAINE: Seriously, how much longer do we have to keep this up? There's obviously nothing here.

(She turns and walks over to where Rennie and Volker have stopped and are staring in amazement at something ahead of them. As she catches sight of what they're looking at, she stops and then turns back to Caine.)

CAINE: What?

JAMES: Spoke too soon.

(Smiling, she trots over to join the other two. Caine gets up and walks after them, staring in equal amazement at the sight of what appears to be an alien shuttle craft half buried in the side of a nearby hill.)

DESTINY. The away team has radioed back to Destiny and reported their discovery. Brody, in the Gate Room, has radioed the news to Rush in the Chair Room, and Rush is almost bursting with excitement.

RUSH: An alien ship?! Are you sure?!

BRODY: That's what he said.

RUSH: How long 'til we jump?

(Brody looks at the countdown above the door to the Gate Room.)

BRODY: Just over two hours.

RUSH: I'm on my way.

(He hurries out. Shortly afterwards, geared up for an offworld expedition, he is walking towards the Gate Room when he meets Young.)

YOUNG: I was just coming to get you.

RUSH: Not now. I have to get to the planet.

YOUNG: It can wait.

RUSH: Look, they found the remains of a crashed alien ship. There's very little time before we jump back to F.T.L.

(He tries to walk past Young but the colonel takes his arm firmly.)

YOUNG: It can wait.

(Rush looks at him nervously.)

ELI'S QUARTERS. Shortly afterwards, the two men have arrived at Eli's quarters. Camille is also there and they are all watching the newly discovered missing Kino footage. Bare-chested, Spencer is sitting on the side of his bed. The lights in the room are out and the only illumination is coming from the F.T.L. vortex shining in through the windows.

SPENCER (into the Kino): It's been about a week since I ran out of pills. Haven't slept much since. I can't think. Everything's ... I don't know. (He sighs heavily.) These people don't even realise they're inside a big floating coffin. I wish I could come up with something better to say.

(He looks away from the Kino for a moment, then looks back into it again.)

SPENCER: I'm sorry.

(He raises the pistol to his head and shoots himself. Camille jumps and Rush cringes away from the sight. Young watches him closely. Eli switches off the recording.)

WALLACE: The Kino kept recording but the file must have gotten corrupted in the transfer. This is all I could get.

SCOTT: The point is, it wasn't there when Greer found the body, so we know someone took it along with the gun.

YOUNG: Who would have the skills to delete the file from the mainframe?

WALLACE: It's not that hard, really. Anyone with basic knowledge of the ship's computer. Uh, at least a dozen people, if not more.

(Camille clears her throat.)

WRAY: Colonel, I'm sorry. (She turns towards Young.) I, uh, I-I don't know what to say. Obviously we need to re-think our situation.

SCOTT: Obviously.

WRAY: We should recall the team from the planet.

RUSH: No, no, we can't do that. In over a dozen planets we haven't had a single indication of advanced technology up until now.

(He gestures to the Kino screen.)

RUSH: Well, this mess isn't going anywhere.

YOUNG: He's right. The ship could be important. I'm going too.

WRAY: If you think it's really ...

YOUNG (talking over her): I'm not asking permission. I'm telling you.

(Camille tries to maintain her dignity as she nods and effectively cedes the leadership back to him. Young looks across at Rush.)

YOUNG: Let's go.

BARREN PLANET. Later, the two of them are making their way across the planet. Rush drinks deeply from his water bottle as they go, then stops and stares in amazement as he sees the half-buried ship ahead of them. They continue onwards and walk over to where Volker is standing underneath the hull of the ship as it sticks out from the rock. There seems to be a hatch on the underside of the ship just above his head. He looks round as Rush trots over.

VOLKER: Well, it's not Ancient. That much we figured out. The material; the design - it's completely different.

CAINE: It's not emitting any radiation or E.M. fields. It's basically dead.

(Rush goes over to Volker as he comes down from the slope. Volker hands him a small hand-held computer or scanner.)

RUSH: Have you been inside?

(He scrambles up the slope.)

VOLKER: We've located what looks like a hatch but we haven't figured out how to get in. We'll probably have to cut it open.

YOUNG: How much time would that take?

VOLKER: More than we have.

(Young looks at his watch.)

YOUNG: We're pushing it as it is. (He looks at James.) Lieutenant, let's pack it up.

JAMES: Yes, sir.

(Rush is holding a lead up to the hatch and looking at the computer.)

RUSH: No, just-just give me a couple of more minutes.

YOUNG: A few minutes is gonna make a difference?

RUSH: Well, it might.

YOUNG: All right, I'm willing to push it if you are.

(He looks at Volker.)

YOUNG: Take your team and head back to the Gate.

(Volker looks at Rush, who is scrambling around under the hatch and trying to find a way to open it.)

VOLKER: Are you sure?

(Rush glances at him briefly.)

RUSH: Yeah, we'll be right behind you.

VOLKER: Whatever you say.

(He, Caine and the marines head off. Rush continues tinkering with the hatch.)

RUSH: You know, Volker was right. This is unlike any other kind of alien technology we've encountered before. If they're indigenous to this part of the universe, they might be willing to trade - knowledge, information. There has to be a way in.

YOUNG: I know it was you.

(Rush freezes. Trying to look and sound nonchalant, he half-turns towards him.)

RUSH: I'm sorry?

YOUNG: The files were not corrupted. The Kino kept recording until you came into the room.

(Rush sags.)

YOUNG: So let's hear it. Let's hear how you lie your way out of this one.

(Slowly Rush turns and walks down the slope towards him.)

RUSH: I heard a shot. I went to investigate and I found him.

YOUNG: And then you, uh, you decided to frame me for murder.

(He grins unpleasantly at him. Rush also smiles.)

RUSH: That's a bit melodramatic. No - I knew there wouldn't be any real evidence against you. The idea was to create just enough doubt to get you to step aside.

YOUNG: I see. (He grins again.) That was the idea.

RUSH: Well, you're the wrong man for the job, Colonel. I'm sorry to have to be the one to say it but I think you know it's true.

YOUNG: Do I?

RUSH: You don't believe in the mission. You resigned your position as S.G. leader because you didn't wanna make the hard decisions, the life and death decisions. Well, that makes you a liability. I'm not proud of what I did, but I did it for the benefit of everyone on board.

YOUNG: The end justifies the means.

RUSH: Yeah, something like that.

(Abruptly and without warning, Young punches him in the face. Rush stumbles back, clutching his face in pain. As he straightens up, Young punches him again, then a third time. Rush falls to the ground. As Young stands over him, waiting for him to get up, Rush picks up a small rock and throws it at him, hitting him in the face, then jumps up and hurls himself at the colonel. They fall to the ground and roll down the hillside, struggling with each other but the military man knows what he's doing and quickly gets the upper hand, bundling Rush over onto his front, punching him in the kidneys and then lifting his head off the ground before slamming it down again. Before Rush can recover, he drags him to his feet and stares into his bleeding face.)

YOUNG (quietly, ominously): Are we done?

RUSH (viciously): We'll never be done.

(Young headbutts him in the face and drops him to the floor unconscious. He stands over him for a long moment, then turns and walks away.)

DESTINY GATE ROOM. In Destiny's Gate Room, Camille is pacing while the team waits anxiously in front of the open Stargate.

JAMES: We shouldn't have left them there.

VOLKER: What, so we could get stuck there too?

SCOTT: No-one is stuck. Not yet.

(He looks anxiously round at Brody.)

SCOTT: How much time?

BRODY: Twenty seconds.

(Biting his lip, Scott turns back towards the Gate and everyone continues to wait nervously. About fifteen seconds later, Colonel Young finally trots through the event horizon. He walks through the group silently.)

SCOTT: Colonel?

WRAY: Where's Rush?

YOUNG: He didn't make it.

(The Stargate closes down. Young keeps walking and leaves the room. The group stares after him in shock.)

Moments later, Destiny leaps back into F.T.L.

INFIRMARY. Later, in the Infirmary, T.J. is treating the wound on Young's head where the rock hit him. He is telling the others his version of what happened.

YOUNG: So, uh, we just stayed too long. On the way back, Rush tripped himself up, started a rockslide. I was ahead but I just ... I barely made it through.

WRAY: I just wanted you to know, Colonel, that I've informed the crew of the new evidence that's come to light. Since you've been completely exonerated, obviously you should resume your duties as commander.

JOHANSEN: Tomorrow. (She looks at Young.) You need to rest. She can be in charge one more day.

(Young looks at Camille, who smiles briefly as she accepts the medical opinion. She and Scott leave the room.)

YOUNG: Thanks.

(T.J. collects her things and leaves and Eli starts to follow her but Young calls him back.)

YOUNG: Eli.

(Eli turns back in the doorway.)

YOUNG: Shut the door.

(Eli taps the wall panel to close the doors, then walks back to Young.)

YOUNG: The rest of the Kino footage?

WALLACE: Even Scott didn't see it.

YOUNG: I want you to make a copy for me. Put it on this ... (he hands Eli a memory stick) ... and then delete it from your hard drive.

(Eli looks at the memory stick for a long moment, then takes it.)

WALLACE: OK.

(He looks down at the stick. Young looks at him.)

YOUNG: Anything else?

WALLACE (meeting his eyes as innocently as he can): No.

(He turns and walks to the doors, half-glancing over his shoulder as he goes. Opening the doors, he walks away.)

BARREN PLANET. Night has fallen when Nicholas Rush slowly begins to regain consciousness. Grimacing and clutching his head in agony, he rolls over onto his front, pushes himself painfully onto his knees and then straightens up. He looks around in horror as he realises that it is now dark and that a lot of time must therefore have passed since his fight with Young. Slowly he hauls himself to his feet and stares up into the night sky in despair.