Whispers

"Whispers" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Synopsis
Carson Beckett is called in to help a team investigating a lab that once belonged to Michael. But soon, they realise that a group of experiments that even Michael couldn't control are hellbent on killing the team.

Plot
In another planet, two men are walking down a dark, swampy, misty landscape, where they notice a darkened figure nearby. They come towards the figure, wondering if he or she is OK. As they approach the figure, a ticking sound can be heard from it. Despite being scared, the two men still walk towards it anyway, until it turns around, revealing something that startles the couple enough to run. One falls to the ground as the figure comes towards him, while the other runs into the forest. When he thought it was all clear, a figure wearing a gas mask appears from behind and attacks him.

About one year later, a team of women from the Atlantis Expedition enter a mysterious cave on the same planet. Captain Alicia Vega finds a gas mask on the ground of the cavern, when they enter a room, which is actually a lab. They decide to contact Atlantis. Meanwhile, Doctor Rodney McKay is talking to Carson Beckett, who only just got back after six months of leaving, and was packing to leave back to Earth again, after realising that his place is not Atlantis, since he helped Michael with the Hoffan drug, even though he did it against his will. However, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard walks in the room, and wants Beckett's expertise, since a team discovered a lab that was operated by Michael.

Sheppard and Beckett have a long trek through the heavily forested planet and rendezvous with the other team, commanded by Major Anne Teldy, and composed of herself, Captain Alicia Vega, Sergeant Dusty Mehra and Doctor Alison Porter. The guys at first, find it odd to come across a whole team of women, but later proceeds to follow the team to the underground lab. There, they see a Wraith lab hidden inside a network of underground caves. In the lab is a computer terminal and a dozen hidden, obscure figures in stasis along the wall. Beckett discovers that the "test subjects" were the first experiments conducted by Michael, before his creation of the bug people.

While they examine the computer, Vega suggests they check out a village a few kilometers way. Sheppard, Vega and Teldy decide to interact with the locals for some intel on the caves. They leave behind Mehra, who is ordered to stay with Porter and Beckett. Beckett has become fond with Porter, who tells him to call her Alison. While they strike up a conversation, the rest of the team arrive at the village, only to find it has been deserted for some time. They search the village for any signs of life. But unknown to them, they are being followed by someone. They eventually know this and confront the person who is following them, a native called Mirellus. He explains that about a year and a half ago, the villagers started to disappear in the forest, and eventually happened in the village. The remaining villagers thought the village was cursed, and moved to the neighbouring village.

Sheppard then gets a radio call from Beckett, and Mirellus suddenly leaves them. Beckett says that they will have to stay overnight and requests to stay in the village for the night. Sheppard grants it, and the team moves out of the cave. On the way there, Beckett wonders what brings Mehra to the Pegasus Galaxy. She says that she wants the chance to fight "bad guys that need killing", since the Ori "had their butts kicked" in the Milky Way.

During the night, the team reside in an abandoned house, where Sheppard, Teldy and Vega decide to go to the next village for some supplies. However, on the way there, the flashlights on their P90s die out, most likely due to the collecting fog. They then hear a noise, and deduce that a someone, or something is stalking them. Suddenly, they encounter Mirellus again, who says demons are hunting him and they are all in danger. Vega is skeptical and moves away from the team. Suddenly, she gets dragged, but no one can see by whom, since the fog is getting so thick. They follow her screams until they see Vega lying on the ground, dead. Sheppard notices a ticking noise and is nearly attacked by a humanoid creature but kills it. Soon, more appear and they decide to fall back.

Meanwhile, Mehra not knowing the situation, throws a rock into a nearby well and exams it until her flashlight dies out. She moves out, not noticing smoke emitting from a well behind her. When she returns, she notices Beckett and Porter flirting further until gunshots are heard. Beckett attempts to contacts the rest, but could only get static. Mehra decides to go to them, and orders Beckett and Porter to stay.

Sheppard, Teldy, and Mirellus head back to the cave and find the pods are open. Mirellus reveals he released the hybrids because his wife was among the missing. When he saw the pods, he believed he could save her. Sheppard tries to contact the others but get only static; it seems the mist is interfering with the radio. They decide to head back to the village and return with Beckett and Porter.

Beckett decides to leaves Porter alone, while he looks around through the thick fog. On the way, he hears a ticking noise and moves towards it thinking Mehra has returned. Soon he discovers it is not Mehra but Michael's experiments. He attempts to slowly return to the house when he steps on a twig, alerting the hybrid. He runs for it and takes cover, only to find the hybrid observing him through hearing. Carson takes a good look at the creature, and notices that it is blind and is emitting the "fog" through the gills in its neck. After it leaves, he makes another noise, alerting the creature again, which was about to attack Beckett, when he is saved by Mehra. She escorts him back to the shelter, when they notice Porter is missing.

They hear another noise, only to find Teldy and Sheppard, who tells them that Vega is dead. Beckett tells them what he saw, and realized that the mist was used by the creatures to make them unseen, unlike a defense mechanism, and more like a predatory mechanism and since they are blind, they use sound to track and attack their prey. They decide to split up again, and search the village for Porter and use hand-held glow sticks. Beckett is left alone with Mirellus who starts yelling and making a lot of noise, insisting they go to the next village. Beckett tells him to remain quiet, but still makes enough noise to get attacked through the window and dragged away. Beckett starts to freak out and tries to use an old cupboard to seal the broken window. However, mist begins to leak into the house as the door opens.

Meanwhile, Sheppard finds Porter, and takes her back to the shelter. On the way, he sees Mehra's glow stick, and they find each other. Meanwhile, Teldy gets ambushed. But later, the rest of the team sees her glow stick and calls for her, but does not answer. They head to the light and find a hybrid which Mehra kills. They return to shelter, where they find Teldy, alive, but no Beckett. In fact, Beckett is alive and running outside.

The team realizes that since there were twelve stasis pods, and three hybrids were killed, there must be nine left. This gives Porter a plan. Teldy found out that the cave network from the lab spans for miles, and one goes to the well in the center of the village. They decide to use the hybrids dependence for sound against them, by using a computer tablet to emit a high-frequency noise, to attract the creatures. There, Sheppard will plant C-4 explosives to detonate and kill the creatures, whilst the women take posts above ground to pick off the remaining creatures.

Sheppard manages to place the tablet to the well and lowers it through the bucket. He then plants the C-4, when he gets attacked by a creature. Beckett comes out of hiding and kills the creature. However, due to the thick fog, Sheppard can't find the C-4. Eventually, the explosive detonates and the women manages to kill all of the creatures. They believe they are now safe, and they decide to go back to the lab to download all of Michael's research and send it back to Atlantis. However, Sheppard finds a hidden door in the complex leading them a room with more open stasis pods. This only means one thing: there are still more out there.

Mehra and Porter hear ticking noises, and begins to investigate. Sheppard, Teldy, and Beckett sees mist, and sees an army of creatures charging for them. However, they are able to hold off the entire force and killed them all. They then find Porter and Mehra, who are unharmed. They decide to retreat to Atlantis, where Beckett is continuing to pack again and Sheppard comes in. Beckett wonders if he needs his help again when Sheppard says he came to help pack. McKay overhears them with the name Porter, and wants to know who she is. When they ignore him, he claims to not wanting to know, until the two leaves, where a door slams shut in front of him.

Notable quotes
Beckett: I wish you'd told me we'd be doing so much walking. Sheppard: Did I forget to mention that? Beckett: Aye, you did. You also forgot to mention the fact that we'd be rappelling down the side of a mountain! My legs are seizing up. Sheppard: Well, that's what happens when you do nothing for six months R&R. Beckett: Not to mention two months in a stasis pod, thank you. Sheppard: Two months? Try 800 years. That'll give you rubber legs.

Sheppard: All right, we're going over to the next village to talk to some locals. You guys need anything, want anything? Porter: Yeah. If you happen to pass a Starbucks, I'll take a grande triple sugar free vanilla latte.

Beckett: Anyway what brings you here to the Pegasus Galaxy? Porter: Well... you can just chalk that up to my sense of adventure... A desire to visit strange unexplored worlds... meet new and interesting people...

Teldy: Where's Porter? Beckett: We don't know. Sheppard: That's great! All we need now is for the Prom Queen and the kid in the wheelchair to wander off and we're all set.

After Teldy's team supposedly killed all of Michael's experiments Teldy: Is that all of them? Mehra: Eight, nine, plus the other three, that makes twelve. ''An experiment charges in front of them. The women fire simultaneously and guns it down'' Mehra: Sorry. That's nine. Plus the three, makes twelve.

Background notes

 * It is implied that the figure in the beginning of the episode was a hybrid and the figure with the gas mask was Michael.
 * Ronon Dex, Teyla Emmagan, Jennifer Keller and Richard Woolsey do not make an appearance in this episode.
 * The episode takes place approximately six months after "The Seed".
 * This is the first Stargate Atlantis episode to mention the defeat of the Ori, which occured nearly two years ago.

Production

 * Doctor Alison Porter, which was originally the name for Captain Alicia Vega, makes her debut in this episode. She is played by Nicole de Boer, best known for playing the character of Ezri Dax in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, yet another Trek veteran to appear on Stargate.
 * Carson Beckett appears in this episode.
 * The script for "Whispers", written by Joseph Mallozzi, started on the week of February 18, 2007 with Act III nearly completed by February 22, 2008. The first draft was completed on February 29th.
 * The writer's draft for "Whispers" was completed on March 5th.
 * This episode shares its name with a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode.