Message in a Bottle/Transcript

Episode Guide

 * Message In A Bottle

Transcript
TEASER

FADE IN

EXT&mdash;P5C 353

[SG-1 are on a moonlike surface in astronaut suits.]

O'NEILL Anybody home?

DANIEL Jack, it may as well be the moon out here. If there ever was anybody home, they've been gone a hundred thousand years or more.

INT&mdash;CORRIDOR LEADING INTO A HALL

[SG-1 enter.]

TEAL'C This world is definitely Tal'ac. Though it once supported life, it is now extinct.

CARTER Well, the probe picked up an EM source coming from something.

O'NEILL My guess&hellip;that thing.

[O'Neill's flashlight shines upon a small globe like structure on top of a pedestal. SG-1 approaches the pedestal to get a better look.]

CARTER It has the same EM frequency we picked up from the probe. Sir, this artifact or whatever it is, is definitely the source.

O'NEILL Are we in danger?

CARTER No sir, I don't think so. Not at the moment. But, I mean this is incredible. If Daniel is right, this artifact has been doing this since Neanderthals were still a dominant species on earth.

O'NEILL Ah, that takes me back.

DANIEL Look at this writing of some kind, it's so tiny.

O'NEILL What does it do?

CARTER Well, it's maintaining an interior temperature of thirty three degrees Fahrenheit, it's generating an electromagnetic field and emitting small amounts of alpha, gamma, and delta radiation.

O'NEILL Well, I know that. Why does it do that? I'm trying to make a threat assessment here, captain.

CARTER I don't know what it is, sir. But it's got a power source more advanced then anything we've come across, including the Goa'uld.

DANIEL It's a time capsule. Well, that's an educated guess, but imagine your civilization is facing a major cataclysm. The end is coming, you know it. Wouldn't you leave something behind? Something that told everyone that came after you who you were.

TEAL'C Or how you died.

DANIEL Yes. Imagine what you could learn about your own fate.

TEAL'C When a Goa'uld's world is taken by another in battle, he will sometimes leave behind the means to destroy the conqueror.

O'NEILL You think it might be a booby trap.

TEAL'C Booby?

DANIEL I don't think we're talking about the Goa'uld here. Whoever this civilization was went through great pains to leave this artifact behind. Like a message in a bottle.

O'NEILL You buying this, Teal'c?

TEAL'C The benefit may outweigh the risk.

CARTER The earth sure could use a power source that lasts for thousands of years.

O'NEILL Alright. Pack it up. Let's go home.

CARTER Yes, Sir.

[Teal'c takes the artifact off the pedestal and places it in a container on FRED. SG-1 turns and leaves down the corridor. The artifact begins to glow.]

END TEASER

OPENING CREDITS

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[SG-1 arrives through the gate back to earth. Hammond and Simmons are waiting at the bottom of the ramp.]

O'NEILL We acquired the package, sir. I recommend level three precautions.

DAVIS (over intercom) Wormhole disengaged. Support teams go.

O'NEILL Careful with it, it's heavy.

CARTER Sir, start spectral analysis right away.

DANIEL Oh, and input a detailed imaging of the outer surface into the computer.

HAMMOND Everything go as planned, Colonel?

O'NEILL Oh, one small step one giant leap, that kind of stuff, sir.

HAMMOND We'll debrief in one hour. Welcome home SG-1.

INT&mdash;LAB

[The artifact has been secured for analysis. Daniel and Carter are working in the lab with Simmons overlooking in the control booth.]

CARTER Well, we can add two more elements to the periodic table.Lieutenant, I'd like to record this.

SIMMONS Whatever you say, Captain.

CARTER Try to relax Graham or its going to be a long day.

DANIEL You know, I don't think it's the artifact he gets nervous like that every time he's around you. Maybe a crush.

SIMMONS Um, we're recording now.

CARTER Thank you, Lieutenant.

[Simmons pauses, gives Carter an odd look before glancing back down at the monitors.]

DANIEL Oops. Hey, the artifact. Notice the writing.

[A computer screen with the alien language comes on screen.]

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

[Hammond and SG-1 are debriefing on their latest trip through the Stargate.]

DANIEL So tiny it can be read by the naked eye. HAMMOND What does it say?

DANIEL We think it's a set of instructions.

O'NEILL On how to&hellip;?

DANIEL Open it. We think it&hellip;uh, we think it opens. Well, I'm sure there's much more to it than that. There's the equivalent of a thousand pages of alien text on the exterior surface alone.

HAMMOND What about the object's interior?

CARTER We know very little. Fraiser is supervising positron emission typography.

HAMMOND You know I have the highest respect for your abilities. But the NID wants a look at the thing.

O'NEILL Well, I recommend against shipping the artifact anywhere just yet General.

TEAL'C Since Daniel Jackson's theory on the orb's function has yet to be confirmed, it is best for it to remain in close proximity to the Stargate. At least for the moment.

HAMMOND You're scheduled to visit P4G-881.

DANIEL Which is a primordial world with absolutely no civilization whatsoever and therefore no need to bring along an archeologist.

HAMMOND I'm willing to delay that mission for twenty four hours in order to confirm your theory.

DANIEL That's not enough time.

CARTER But we'll take it. Thank you.

INT&mdash;LAB

[The artifact is hooked through a bunch of wires for observation. Carter and Daniel are working with Simmons looking in from the control room.]

CARTER Okay, let's try another X-ray series. Y axis this time.

DANIEL Sam.

CARTER Yeah?

DANIEL Okay. Up until now I've been sorta going on the assumption that this is a sort of page one. It's relatively isolated from the other groupings. Now I'm thinking it's numerical.

CARTER Well, maybe the basis of their mathematics.

DANIEL Right. That's what I thought. So if these smaller symbols would represent exponents.

CARTER So then this sequence grows exponential to become a very big number.

DANIEL Right. And that is information I can't use.

[O'Neill walks into the room, quite chipper]

O'NEILL Good morning campers! Sleep well? I did!

DANIEL Oh, it can't be morning.

O'NEILL Ah, but it is. We ship out at, oh, thirteen hundred hours.

DANIEL Okay, Jack, talk to General Hammond.

O'NEILL Nope. I want you both rested and ready to go. That's an order.

CARTER Yes, Sir.

DANIEL Jack, come on.

O'NEILL Daniel, SG-1 is a field until. You know that. Can't have it both ways. When we get back you can&hellip;visit.

SIMMONS We've got a spike. An EM spike across the Y band.

CARTER What?

SIMMONS Interior temperature is increasing forty degrees Fahrenheit.

O'NEILL Captain?

CARTER I don't know. I don't think we've done anything.

DANIEL Maybe we woke it up.

SIMMONS Sixty degrees.

CARTER Radiation levels?

SIMMONS Alpha particle radiation generation within the object's magnetic field is increased four&hellip;six hundred percent.

CARTER Sir, I recommend we return the artifact to P5C-353 now.

O'NEILL Go tell them to start dialing. Go.

[Daniel leaves the room]

SIMMONS One hundred degrees.

O'NEILL Any idea what we're dealing with here?

CARTER No, Sir.

[The artifact blossoms open in the middle and a violet-blue light began to glow.]

O'NEILL Well, I think we can rule out time capsule.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Daniel rushes in.]

DANIEL Start dialing P5C-353 right away.

HAMMOND By whose order?

DANIEL Colonel O'Neill's.

HAMMOND Do it.

DAVIS Yes, Sir.

HAMMOND Dr. Jackson?

DANIEL It's the artifact, Sir. Something's wrong.

INT&mdash;LAB

[O'Neill and Carter are trying to remove the artifact from its brace. Simmons is in the control room watching the status.]

SIMMONS Temperature is still increasing. One hundred and ten degrees.

CARTER We'll need to put our suits back on.

O'NEILL No, There's not time for that. We'll just open the gate and throw it back through. Teal'c, give me a hand here.

[Suddenly the artifact spews out spikes on the top part of the hemisphere.]

O'NEILL Whoa.

TEAL'C It does not wish to be removed.

O'NEILL That's too damn bad.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Davis is sitting in the control room as the Stargate dials the planet]

DAVIS Chevron six encoded.

INT&mdash;SGC HALLWAY

[O'Neill and Teal'c are carrying the artifact through the corridors in a full run. People flatten themselves against the walls as they run past.]

O'NEILL Out of the way, people!

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[O'Neill and Teal'c arrive with the artifact. The Stargate is still dialing. Hammond, Carter, Daniel and Davis are in the control room.]

DAVIS Chevron seven locked.

[The chevron locks. Another one of the artifact's spikes shoots out to the floor. O'Neill and Teal'c jumps. More spikes project out.]

CARTER Get out of there!

[A spike shoots towards Teal'c but he manages to swing out of the way. Another spike comes out and goes through O'Neill's shoulder, dragging him with it to the wall.]

O'NEILL Ah! Oh god.

HAMMOND Get security down there. Put the base on full alert.

CARTER We need a medical team.

DAVIS Security to the embarkation room. Medical team to the embarkation room.

[Teal'c runs over to O'Neill. He tries to remove the spike. O'Neill grabs Teal'c for support.]

O'NEILL Kill it! God!

DAVIS Sir, the umm, Stargate?

HAMMOND Shut it down.

[The sphere is being held in place in front of the Stargate by five spikes. Carter, Daniel, and Hammond run into the embarkation and towards O'Neill.]

CARTER Colonel!

[She takes a look at the spike holding him against the wall.]

CARTER It’s right through his shoulder into the concrete&hellip;

DANIEL Oh my God.

HAMMOND Get something to support his legs.

[Fraiser comes into the room and heads towards O'Neill. Simmons comes in and takes measurements of the sphere.]

FRAISER What can you tell me?

CARTER I don't know but it's still hot. Be careful.

SIMMONS Temperature is 133 and holding.

FRAISER This wound is too clean. There should be blood. I don't know why there wasn't more trauma.

O'NEILL Where the hell is Teal'c?

FRAISER It's gone right through the scapula. Colonel, why are

O'NEILL Teal'c!

[Teal'c runs into the room with his staff weapon]

O'NEILL Shoot it!

CARTER Sir.

O'NEILL Shoot it!

TEAL'C I suggest you observe from the control room.

HAMMOND Everybody out of here.

[Everyone starts to evacuate to the control room]

HAMMOND Teal'c, fire when ready.

[The door to the gateroom closes. Simmons, Daniel, Carter, Fraiser and Hammond all watch from the control room.]

CARTER With respect General, this is a mistake.

HAMMOND Why?

CARTER We don't know how much of that staff energy will be transferred through the object into the Colonel.

HAMMOND Your objection is noted.

O'NEILL Do it.

[Teal'c fires the staff into the sphere. The energy radiates out through the spike, with some going into O'Neill.]

O'NEILL Again!

[Teal'c fires again and more energy goes through O'Neill. O'Neill writhes in pain.]

O'NEILL Ah! God.

SIMMONS No change

CARTER Sir, it just absorbed the energy.

TEAL'C This weapon is ineffective. I shall try another.

CARTER No! Sir, that staff energy had to have gone somewhere. We could be feeding it what it wants for all we know.

HAMMOND I want a cutting torch down there.

CARTER If it's made of the same non-terrestrial alloys as the shell on the orb itself, then it is several hundred times stronger then steel.

FRAISER Sir, with your permission.

[Hammond nods and Fraiser heads out to tend to O'Neill.]

HAMMOND Colonel O'Neill, this is going to take some time.

INT&mdash;HAMMOND'S OFFICE

[Hammond is talking on the phone to NID personnel]

HAMMOND I really don't give a damn what Colonel Mayborne has to say on the subject. I've made my decision. Unless I'm ordered to do otherwise, I'm not allowing anyone in or out of this facility until we can send the damn thing back where it came from. No, General, thank you.

[Hammond hangs up the phone. Carter and Daniel are sitting across from him.]

HAMMOND The NID people want to see it.

CARTER Even knowing what it's done to the Colonel?

DANIEL Especially knowing what it's done to the Colonel.

HAMMOND They're hoping we've found some kind of weapon we can one day use against the Goa'uld. All I can tell them is what it isn't.

DANIEL General, I don't know what to say. I wanted the artifact to be something wonderful.

HAMMOND You have nothing to apologize for, son. We've brought things back from all over the galaxy. One just finally slap us in the face.

CARTER We've managed to collect a significant amount of data before it hit the fan, sir.

HAMMOND Then I suggest you get to it. Dismissed.

[Daniel and Carter leave Hammond's office. Hammond picks up the red phone.]

HAMMOND This is Hammond. Lock up the mountain. Authorization code red dash beta. Initiate Wild Fire.

EXT&mdash;CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN 

[The gate to the mountain and doorways are being sealed and locked with personnel running about.]

PA SYSTEM Attention personnel. Level four quarantine is now in affect. Switching to internal power and life support.

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[Simmons is taking measurements and Sgt. Siler is working on cutting the sphere. Fraiser, Daniel and Teal'c are standing around O'Neill who is now seated on a ladder, still attached to the wall by a spike.]

O'NEILL Hot.

Fraiser is readying an injection to give O'Neill.

FRAISER I know. You have a very high fever which is being caused by an infection. I'm going to give you a broad spectra antibiotic to help fight it.

SIMMONS The artifacts internal temperature just leveled off at 149 degrees Fahrenheit.

[Teal'c walks over to Sgt. Siler who is using the blowtorch ineffectively on the spike holding O'Neill.]

TEAL'C Sergeant. Your progress here is unsatisfactory.

SILER Can't go any faster, sir. This is the hardest stuff I've ever come across.

TEAL'C Then I will delay you no further.

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

[Carter and Daniel are standing talking to a group of people.]

CARTER We're going to need everyone's help. Colonel O'Neill is alive but obviously he is in trouble.

DANIEL The data we managed to gather before this happened is all in the base computer. It's not much but it's all we have. Use it.

CARTER Don't rule anything out and don't make any assumptions.

DANIEL I'll be leading the translation team.

CARTER And we'll be working out of the astrophysics lab but we're all going to have to work together on this one. Any questions?

CAPTAIN So obviously we're dealing with a weapon.

CARTER That's an assumption, Captain. All right. Let's get to work.

[Fraiser walks into the room and Carter approaches]

CARTER How is he?

FRAISER He's developed an infection. I've got him pumped full of antibiotics which, amazingly, has seemed to slow it down its progress.

CARTER Why is that amazing?

FRAISER I think you should see this.

[Fraiser walks out of the room and Carter follows.]

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Carter and Fraiser come in from down the stairs. Simmons is sitting at a terminal to their right.]

FRAISER It's mobile like a bacteria but small like a virus and slightly radioactive.

[Both Carter and Fraiser sit down at a computer terminal]

FRAISER Definitely alien. And they also seem to bond in chains.

CARTER And it's infected the Colonel?

FRAISER This is why I wanted you to see it. I took this from a section of Colonel O'Neill's uniform around his wound.

CARTER What are you saying? It's infected his clothes as well as living tissue?

FRAISER And it's metabolizing the material as if it were living tissue. Like a form of necrotizing fasciitis.

CARTER Flesh eating disease? Okay. You said slightly radioactive?

FRAISER Yeah.

CARTER (to Simmons) Lieutenant. We used ultraviolet when we were performing tests on the iris' structural integrity.

SIMMONS Right.

CARTER Yeah.

[Simmons gets up and picks up the phone on the wall]

SIMMONS Let's get some UV units in the gateroom.

CARTER (on intercom in Gate room) Teal'c, Colonel. It's just going to get a little dark in there for a few seconds while we try something.

[Teal'c is standing with O'Neill who is hooked up to an IV unit. Several people come in with the UV equipment. They are set up and the lights turned off.]

SIMMONS And bringing up the UV lights now.

FRAISER Oh my god.

[The UV lights show a blueish tint running through the sphere, into and on O'Neill and throughout the walls.]

CARTER This is an even bigger problem then we thought.

SIMMONS Captain Carter?

[Carter and Fraiser turn to look at Simmons. His hands are covered in the blue and it is radiates up his arm.]

SIMMONS What's happening to me?

INT&mdash;GENERAL HAMMOND'S OFFICE

[Fraiser is readying an injection for Hammond while Carter debriefs him]

CARTER It can infect virtually any substance, even concrete.

HAMMOND This entire complex is made of concrete.

CARTER Worse then that, we've already determined it's got a taste for the base wiring. Which means it's going to affect, or rather infect, our computers and communication.

HAMMOND Then, we need to kill it. How do we do that?

FRAISER We've spread around the computer base main frame a sort of pesticide but it hasn't even slowed the organism down.

HAMMOND What was that you just gave me?

FRAISER Tetracycline. It's kept the infection at bay in the Colonel and it seems to work proactively with everyone I've been able to get a shot into. But sir, I'll need more

HAMMOND Absolutely not. A wildfire directive means nothing in or out, you know that.

FRAISER Sir, Lieutenant Simmons' infection is even more far gone than Colonel O'Neill's but he's allergic to Tetracycline. None of the alternatives I have on base

HAMMOND Don't make me repeat myself Doctor.

FRAISER With your permission, sir, I'd better get back to the infirmary.

[Hammond nods and Fraiser leaves, not too pleased with the situations]

HAMMOND Captain.

CARTER Sir?

HAMMOND I need your honest assessment. Can we beat this thing?

CARTER Like the Colonel always says: 'never give up', right? I'm not sure, sir.

HAMMOND Maybe it's time we considered evacuating personnel through the Stargate.

CARTER I thought of that&hellip;but to where? There's no guarantee we can stop the organism from coming through the gate along with us. I don't think we have the right to infect another world.

HAMMOND Well, there are a number of uninhabited worlds we could gate through. Albeit, most are uninhabited for good reason.

CARTER Even if we could evacuate a number of survivors, practically every one of us is infected by the organism to some degree. Without antibiotics, we'd all be like Lieutenant Simmons right now. The survivors would run out of supplies in a few days.

HAMMOND At least they'd have that much time to find a solution.

CARTER It's not worth the risk in my opinion, sir. We don't even know what the orb would do if we tried to activate the Stargate again.

HAMMOND Very well. We'll make our stand right here, Captain.

CARTER Yes sir. They won't take us without a fight, sir.

HAMMOND Damn right they won't.

[Hammond and Carter walk out]

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[The walls and O'Neill are covered in blue even more then before. Sgt. Siler is still working at burning through the spike. Teal'c is next to O'Neill watching over him.]

O'NEILL Teal'c.

TEAL'C I am here, O'Neill.

O'NEILL It's hot.

TEAL'C The fever burns within you.

O'NEILL You?

TEAL'C The symbiote I carry appears to protect me.

O'NEILL Way to go, Junior.

[Teal'c wipes the sweat from O'Neill's face]

TEAL'C Doctor Fraiser will find a cure.

O'NEILL Teal'c, you don't have to stick around.

TEAL'C Undomesticated equines could not remove me.

O'NEILL Wild horses, Teal'c, it's&hellip;that's a joke. You told a joke. Don't make me laugh.

TEAL'C Very well.

O'NEILL You're a good man, my friend.

TEAL'C As are you, my friend.

SIMMONS Sir. I'm just about through here.

[The sphere seems to power up. Quickly the part where the torch was cutting through jets farther into the wall and O'Neill.]

O'NEILL Ah! Teal'c!

TEAL'C It will not allow us to free you, O'Neill.

O'NEILL (crying in pain) God&hellip;God help.

INT&mdash;LAB

[Daniel and Carter are perched over a enlarged copy of the writing on the sphere.]

DANIEL Alright. Presuming this is page one and presuming this sequence is some kind of whole numbers that represents exponential growth&hellip;what does that mean?

CARTER Well, it could represent the growth pattern of the alien organism. So far its spread has followed an exponential curve.

DANIEL Alright. So, from that we can extrapolate that it is a warning. This organism will continue to grow and expand exponential until&hellip;what? Until we die? I mean, if that's what it says, what's the point of saying it?

CARTER Try turning the page. Maybe the answer is there.

DANIEL Right.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Simmons is lying in bed obviously sick, with Fraiser taking care of him.]

FRAISER How's the pain?

SIMMONS It's not too bad.

FRAISER Well, I'm going to give you something for it anyway.

SIMMONS Hey. If you see Captain Carter&hellip;

FRAISER Tell you what Lieutenant, she has to come down in a couple of hours for her booster so I'll make sure I send her over.

INT&mdash;LAB

[Carter is sitting at a computer terminal working. The Captain is working behind her.]

CARTER I was right. Teal'c's staff blast gave it the energy it needed to spread like this. It's reproducing because we fed it. Damn. Why did I let them do that?

CAPTAIN Okay, so it feeds on energy. How do we use that? It feeds on everything.

CARTER Have the CO2 levels gone up?

CAPTAIN Yeah, but the scrubbers are handling it.

CARTER Like fire. Add energy a fire burns hotter. Add fuel it burns longer but it can't live without one thing.

CAPTAIN Oxygen.

CARTER Yes.

CAPTAIN We can't either.

CARTER Yeah, but at least we can slow it down.

[The computer screens start to go haywire]

CAPTAIN What's happening?

CARTER It's gotten into our computers. Keep working.

[Carter gets up and leaves down a hallway.]

WORKER Can't come this way, Captain, it's eating through steam pipes.

[Carter turns and heads into an elevator. The elevator stops between levels. Carter begins to bang on the doors.]

CARTER Hello? Somebody!

[Daniel is walking nearby and hears her yelling]

DANIEL Hello?

CARTER Somebody!

DANIEL Hello?

CARTER Daniel! I'm stuck in here. Get the doors open.

[Daniel walks over to the wall where an axe is located and uses it to pry open the doors.]

CARTER Hurry up. It's eating through the control panel.

[Daniel and Carter pull and finally get the doors fully open]

DANIEL Sam!

CARTER I'm okay. I'll explain later.

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[Teal'c is using the blowtorch to keep the organism from spreading farther. O'Neill is still attached to the wall. Hammond is in the control room when Carter and Daniel walk in.]

CARTER General, sir. I have something. What is he doing?

HAMMOND Teal'c is trying to stop the spread of the organism at the source.

CARTER Tell him to stop.

HAMMOND Why? It seems to be working.

CARTER Only because the fire is temporarily consuming the oxygen in the room. It feeds on energy. Sir, I'm asking you to trust me.

HAMMOND (over intercom) Teal'c, stand down. We're going to try another approach.

[Teal'c shuts off the blowtorch]

CARTER Okay. The organism needs oxygen to reproduce. Now since we are on internal life support we can adjust the CO2 scrubbers and lower the oxygen levels.

HAMMOND How low are we talking?

CARTER We'll start at 8%, but we'll have to start now.

[Hammond turns to a guard standing behind him.]

HAMMOND Do it.

DAVIS General Hammond, sir. I think you should see this.

The computer screen show "WILDFIRE INITIATED"

COMPUTER VOICE Autoself destruct has been initiated

DAVIS I didn't touch a thing. This self destruct countdown started on its own.

CARTER General?

HAMMOND In the event of containment failure, Wildfire kicks in automatically.

CARTER Sir, we have to deactivate the auto destruct.

HAMMOND We have a responsibility to make sure the organism doesn't leave the mountain, Captain.

CARTER With all due respect, sir, I don't think you understand. It could feed from the energy of the staff blast, how far do you think it will spread if the autodestruct goes off?

HAMMOND I need two officers to override.

[Hammond and Carter both type their passwords into the computer to shut the program down.]

CARTER The organism has invaded our computers. It won't recognize our codes.

HAMMOND The devices' internal clock has been activated. We can't stop it without the computer.

CARTER Well then, in just under three hours the organism will be fed enough energy to spread across the face of the earth.

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[O'Neill is still hanging from the spike attached to the wall. Teal'c is with him.]

O'NEILL I blew it. I screwed up.

TEAL'C I also believed we should retrieve the object.

O'NEILL It was my decision.

TEAL'C If we are to met the challenge of the Goa'uld, and further your race, risks must be taken. Your decision was correct.

INT&mdash;INFIRMARY

[Carter is being given a shot by Fraiser.]

FRAISER You idea seems to be working

CARTER Yeah, seems to have slowed the progress of the organism by 90%.

FRAISER Well, don't jump up and down or you'll get my other patients all excited.

CARTER Even in a completely anaerobic environment, the organism just goes dormant. All we've done is buy ourselves some time before&hellip;I've got to get back to work.

FRAISER Well, before you do, if you wouldn't mind stopping by to see Simmons.

CARTER How's he doing?

[Carter walks over to where Simmons is lying, not looking well.]

CARTER Graham?

SIMMONS Captain Carter.

CARTER We're fighting this thing, Graham. You just got to hang in there, okay?

SIMMONS Before I&hellip;I just wanted to say, how much&hellip;how I'm doin so far?

CARTER You're doing just fine.

[Simmons closes his eyes and Carter leaves the room.]

INT&mdash;LAB

[Daniel is in the control room. He appears drained. There are other personnel in the room working on the monitors. None of them notices one of the computer screens begin to flicker. But Daniel notices. He puts on his glasses and takes another look.]

DANIEL Come here

CAPTAIN Who?

DANIEL Anybody&hellip;just come here.

[The Captain comes and looks over Daniel's shoulder at the screen.]

DANIEL Look at this. Wait for it. There.

[A symbol appears on the screen before it disappears again.]

CAPTAIN That symbol is on the artifact.

DANIEL Yes, it is. It's trying to communicate with us.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Carter, Hammond and Daniel are standing in the room discussing the recent events.]

DANIEL I think what we thought was gibberish on all the computers was actually the aliens attempt to communicate with us.

CARTER Maybe. But the symbols you're seeing could also be from the random files of our research.

DANIEL No, that's impossible. See, I didn't start working on this sequence until after the computers went down.

HAMMOND Assuming you're right, what are they trying to communicate?

DANIEL Well, they could be saying take me to your leader for all I know. I have no idea. The point is, they are trying. We haven't even considered what we're up against here is an alien intelligence. We've treated it like a disease, like a plague. Not once have we stopped to listen.

HAMMOND How do we do that?

CARTER We let it grow.

HAMMOND What?

CARTER We increase the oxygen levels even higher then normal. We hit it with another staff weapon blast. We let it do what it's been trying to do.

HAMMOND The exact opposite of the advice you've been giving me up until now. Which is it, Captain?

CARTER Sir, we both know what will happen if we don't try something.

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

[Hammond, Carter and Daniel walk in to see O'Neill and Teal'c still waiting for the next move. They walk towards the orb.]

CARTER Fraiser says the organism bonds together in chains. What if it's only capable of expressing that intelligence once it hits critical mass?

DANIEL Even if you're right and we let it take over the computers, it's going to be communicating in a language that I can't translate without a point of reference.

CARTER Maybe Colonel O'Neill didn't just get in the way. Fraiser said there was no blood. There was practically no trauma around that wound. With the force that struck him, it's just not possible.

DANIEL Unless it did it on purpose.

CARTER Yes! We have to cut off his medication, sir.

HAMMOND Are you out of your mind?

TEAL'C If you do so, O'Neill will die.

CARTER He'd want us to try this&hellip;I know it.

DANIEL Communicate with the organism through Jack?

CARTER Yes. I think that's what it has been trying to do all along.

INT&mdash;CONTROL ROOM

[Davis is looking over the gate room checking on readings. O'Neill and the walls are covered more than ever with the alien entity.]

DAVIS Oxygen level 30% above normal.

INT&mdash;GATEROOM

CARTER Sir? Sir, I don't know if what we are about to try is a good idea or not, but you have the right to know. You might not survive it.

[Carter holds O'Neill's hand. He gives it a squeeze. She pulls out the IV to stop the medication. She backs up and joins Hammond and Teal'c behind the orb.]

CARTER Okay, Teal'c.

[Teal'c raises his staff to fire at the orb. He fires and the energy goes through and O'Neill is shocked.]

CARTER Again.

[Teal'c shoots and again the energy is absorbed.]

CARTER We have to. Again.

[Teal'c fires the third shot and Carter runs to check on O'Neill.]

CARTER No pulse.

[A few seconds later O'Neill's head comes up.]

O'NEILL/ALIEN Good morning, campers.

[O'Neill's voice sounds different and his speech is slower. Hammond walks over to him.]

O'NEILL/ALIEN This is truly a strange feeling.

CARTER Colonel?

O'NEILL/ALIEN Yes, he is here.

HAMMOND Who else we are talking too?

O'NEILL/ALIEN We are also here.

HAMMOND My name is&hellip;

O'NEILL/ALIEN Hammond, yes. O'Neill knows.

HAMMOND Then you should also know we mean you no harm.

O'NEILL/ALIEN You awoke us.

HAMMOND We have only recently become aware of your existence.

O'NEILL/ALIEN You would have returned us to our former world.

TEAL'C We believed you were a threat to us.

DANIEL We feared you.

O'NEILL/ALIEN And your fear would have destroyed us. Millennia ago our world was dying. We could no longer live there. For this reason, we created the orb.

DANIEL Where you slept for a hundred thousand years.

O'NEILL/ALIEN Yes, Daniel.

DANIEL Waiting for someone to come along, like us, and take you through the Stargate.

O'NEILL/ALIEN So it was written on the orb. Once exposed to the atmosphere of a living world, we went forth

DANIEL And multiplied.

O'NEILL/ALIEN So it was written.

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct in four minutes.

O'NEILL/ALIEN We can not go back.

HAMMOND We can not allow you to stay.

O'NEILL/ALIEN O'Neill feels this as well. However, you have allowed us no alternatives.

CARTER General, we're almost out of time.

HAMMOND This place, admittedly out of our ignorance, is about to be destroyed by an explosion.

O'NEILL/ALIEN Such energy only serves to nourish us. We will multiple and consume your world.

HAMMOND If you would allow us to restore our communications, we could stop that from happening. We would survive.

O'NEILL/ALIEN O'Neill desires this as well. He wishes to live. But what of us?

DANIEL P4G-881! It's primordial, lots of oxygen and sunlight. Like this world was a quarter of a billion years ago.

CARTER Sir, we can't open the Stargate without the computers.

O'NEILL/ALIEN You would send us there? Through your Stargate?

HAMMOND We would.

O'NEILL/ALIEN For what reason?

HAMMOND So that we both may survive.

[O'Neill's head falls back with a little gasp.]

DANIEL We'll take you there ourselves, Please!

[All the power is lost in the control room.]

DAVIS Everything just shut down!

HAMMOND God help us.

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct in two minutes.

The computers start to light back up again.

DAVIS Sir, Sir&hellip;I think the computers are rebooting!

HAMMOND Start dialing P4G-881 as soon as they are up.

DAVIS Yes, sir.

[Carter and Hammond run into the control room as the stargate starts to dial.]

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct in one minute and thirty seconds.

[O'Neill's head comes back up.]

DAVIS Chevron one engaged.

[The spike starts to remove itself from the wall and O'Neill.]

DAVIS Chevron two engaged.

[O'Neill stands up]

DAVIS Chevron three engaged.

[O'Neill steps down the ladder]

DAVIS Chevron four engaged.

[O'Neill walks to the orb.]

DAVIS Chevron five engaged.

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct in one minute.

[O'Neill places his hands on the orb and it starts to glow.]

DAVIS Chevron six engaged.

[The orb continues to glow and the alien organism starts to retract into the orb along with the spikes.]

DAVIS Chevron seven locked.

[O'Neill walks up the ramp with the orb in his hand]

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct in thirty seconds.

[O'Neill pushes the orb through the event horizon.]

PA SYSTEM Twenty seconds.

[O'Neill collapses onto the ramp.]

PA SYSTEM Ten. Nine.

[The Stargate disengages and Hammond and Carter start to type.]

PA SYSTEM Four. Three. Two. One.

[Both codes were entered.]

PA SYSTEM Autoself destruct aborted

[Carter runs to where Teal'c and Daniel are already with O'Neill at the ramp, helping him sit up.]

O'NEILL Nice work.

TEAL'C It is good to see you alive and well.

DANIEL Welcome back, Jack.

CARTER Thought you were gone for good, sir.

O'NEILL Wild horses, Captain.

[The three of them help O'Neill walk down the ramp.]

FADE OUT

CLOSING CREDITS

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--Helen 16:48, 7 Oct 2004 (PDT)