The Tomb/Transcript

Episode Guide

 * 5.08 "The Tomb" Episode Guide

Transcript
TEASER

EXT&mdash;OFF-WORLD

[Panorama of ancient ruins; camera closes in on crumbling ziggurat.]

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT ENTRANCE

[Daniel is studying the ancient writings on a large 'door' of some kind.]

O'NEILL Hey, I thought you said this was the main entrance.

DANIEL It is. We just need to find a way to open this.

TEAL'C I do not recognize the symbols.

DANIEL It's Babylonian. Cuneiform. It's incredible.

O'NEILL What is?

DANIEL Well, unlike Phoenician Ugarite cuneiform, these characters are pictograms rather than representations of unique sound symbols.

O'NEILL Does it say how to open the pyramid?

DANIEL Ziggurat.

O'NEILL Huh?

DANIEL You said pyramid. It's a ziggurat.

O'NEILL Yeah. Open the door.

DANIEL Well, it might not be so easy. I'm going to have to go back to Earth for a reference.

O'NEILL How hard could it be?

DANIEL Very. It's a dead language. I mean, I doubt if anyone's even stood here for 3,000 years.

CARTER Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.

O'NEILL What you got there?

CARTER An empty pack of cigarettes. They're Russian.

END TEASER

OPENING CREDITS

EXT&mdash;BASE

HAMMOND (voice only) Major.

CARTER (voice only) The Russian Stargate Program was only up for 37 days.

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

CARTER We've seen their logs and the list of planets they visited, and P2X 338 was not one of them.

TEAL'C Perhaps they deceived us.

HAMMOND At the moment all they're admitting to is that there may have been some unauthorized use of their Gate.

O'NEILL What's that supposed to mean?

HAMMOND This is Major Valentine Kirensky. He was serving under Colonel Sakolov at the base in Siberia. It now appears that he was also taking secret orders from certain hard-line elements in Russian Army Intelligence. He disappeared six days before we were called in to deactivate the Russian Gate.

CARTER And they think he went off-world?

HAMMOND Along with two other officers and an archaeologist named Alexander Britski.

DANIEL I know his work. He's an expert on ancient Mesopotamia.

O'NEILL Why would they go behind Sakolov's back?

TEAL'C Perhaps for the same reason the NID conducted off-world operations without the knowledge of Stargate Command.

DANIEL To steal alien technology at any cost.

CARTER But why 338 as opposed to any other planet?

HAMMOND That has yet to be determined.

DANIEL If they went through the Gate before everyone at the Russian base was killed, they could still be out there.

CARTER It's doubtful they would've survived this long. The planet's surface temperature averages 135 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade.

O'NEILL Shade? I don't remember shade.

DANIEL They could've taken shelter in the temple.

O'NEILL Oh, so they figured out how to open the door?

DANIEL I'll figure out the door.

TEAL'C Should they not have attempted to return by now?

CARTER Not without exposing their operation. I mean, they could still be waiting for some kind of signal.

O'NEILL She's got a point, sir. Russian commandos can be pretty hard-core. They'd wait forever before they'd violate mission protocol.

HAMMOND I'm aware of that, Colonel. That's why we're going to allow a second Russian team to accompany you back to the planet.

O'NEILL Excuse me?

HAMMOND It's going to be a joint mission--full disclosure, full cooperation.

O'NEILL May I ask why, sir?

HAMMOND In fact, the Russians have been pushing for more direct involvement in the Stargate Program for quite some time. We've been resisting, but in this particular case, it might be useful to have them onboard.

O'NEILL Yes, well, General, you know, I'm a big fan of the Russians, and international relations are a bit of a hobby of mine. However, I do believe that SG-1 should handle this one&hellip; alone.

HAMMOND The decision's been made, Colonel. They're on their way.

O'NEILL Yes, sir.

INT--DANIEL'S OFFICE

[Carter and O'Neill are just entering from the hallway. Daniel is at his computer.]

CARTER Because we have an agreement, sir.

O'NEILL Yeah. Did you see them holding up their end of it?

CARTER Well, have we?

O'NEILL No.

CARTER If Thor's ship hadn't crashed into the ocean, we would never even have told them about the Stargate.

O'NEILL Hey, whose side are you on?

CARTER I'm just saying that we should at least try to work together.

O'NEILL Carter, when you go through that Gate, you gotta know your team members are watching your six.

DANIEL Actually, in Russian, they'd be watching your shest.

O'NEILL Huh?

DANIEL Which I suppose is neither here nor there.

O'NEILL Have you figured out how to open that pyramid yet?

DANIEL Ziggurat. And yes, I think I have. In order to expedite matters, the Russians e-mailed me the entire report of their archaeologist, Dr. Britski. The temple is dedicated to the Babylonian God, Marduk.

CARTER And Marduk was a Goa'uld?

DANIEL Well, it seems likely. The word "Babylon" literally means "Gate of the Gods," so if there is a connection, it wouldn't surprise me.

[Telephone rings. Daniel gets it.]

DANIEL Hello?

[Daniel listens.]

DANIEL Yeah, okay.

[Daniel hangs up.]

DANIEL The Russians are coming.

INT&mdash;BRIEFING ROOM

[The Russians are waiting. Major Vallarin gets himself a coffee, tastes it, and grimaces.]

VALLARIN (In Russian) Ugh! The greatest superpower on Earth, and they can't make a decent cup of coffee.

[Colonel Zukhov turns away from the windows to the Stargate room, which are blocked by the blast doors.]

ZUKHOV Nice view.

VALLARIN Oh, yeah. (Sees SG personnel coming) Colonel.

HAMMOND Good morning, gentlemen.

O'NEILL And ma'am. There's a ma'am, sir.

HAMMOND At ease. You must be Colonel Zukhov.

ZUKHOV It's a pleasure to meet you, General Hammond. Allow me to introduce Major Vallarin, and Lieutenants Marchenko and Tolinev.

HAMMOND Welcome to Stargate Command. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c.

ZUKHOV The famous Colonel O'Neill.

O'NEILL Hmm?

ZUKHOV I believe we have a mutual friend.

O'NEILL We do?

ZUKHOV Dr. Svetlana Markov.

O'NEILL Ah!

ZUKHOV She spoke very highly of all of you.

HAMMOND Before we proceed, perhaps you would like to get some rest and maybe something to eat.

ZUKHOV We took the precaution of eating before we came.

VALLARIN What Colonel Zukhov means is that we'd like to get to work as quickly as possible.

HAMMOND Very well. Dr. Jackson.

[Daniel goes to large screen, dims lights, and starts a PowerPoint presentation.]

DANIEL Two years ago, Dr. Alexander Britski began an excavation near Rafha in Southern Iraq. He found several stone tablets engraved with Babylonian cuneiform, and one with a set of symbols he didn't recognize.

CARTER Gate coordinates.

DANIEL In fact, the coordinates for P2X-338. Dr. Britski had no idea of their significance, but someone must have recognized something, because the results of the dig were never published, and the whole thing became classified.

O'NEILL Wait a minute. Two years ago, the Russians hadn't even seen a Stargate.

DANIEL But they did have a DHD--the one discovered by the Germans in 1906 and taken by the Red Army at the end of the Second World War.

CARTER So when they finally got their program up and running, they must have added P2X 338 to the list of addresses supplied by Colonel Maybourne.

O'NEILL That doesn't explain why they didn't just send a regular team.

HAMMOND Did Dr. Britski discover anything that might suggest why they singled this planet out?

DANIEL Along with the coordinates, the tablet included a reference to something called "The Eye of Tiamat." It was a large jewel of some kind which supposedly endowed Marduk with great magical abilities.

O'NEILL That wouldn't be why you folks wanted to keep this quiet?

ZUKHOV Need I remind you, Colonel, that the United States has operated a Stargate in secret for years with the express purpose of obtaining alien technology.

O'NEILL That was before we had an agreement to share information.

ZUKHOV You took it upon yourselves to represent the interests of the entire planet without consulting anyone. You exposed the world to countless dangers.

O'NEILL At least we dealt with them. It only took you folks what, a month, to find something you couldn't handle.

HAMMOND Gentlemen, please. We seem to have gone a little bit off-topic here.

VALLARIN Dr. Jackson, what about the entrance? Can you get us inside?

DANIEL Uh, yeah. The engravings of the entranceway are a kind of code. It's like a giant combination lock. It's just a matter of activating the correct symbols in the proper sequence.

HAMMOND I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, Doctor. (To O'Neill) You have a go.

O'NEILL Swell.

INT&mdash;HALLWAYS OF SGC

[O'Neill and Zukhov are on their way to the Gateroom.]

ZUKHOV Is that a P-90, Colonel?

O'NEILL 50-round horizontal clip, 900 armor-piercing rounds per minute. Feel the weight of that sucker.

ZUKHOV Impressive&hellip; Though I prefer the Russian Zastava M85.

O'NEILL Those are made in Yugoslavia, aren't they?

INT&mdash;GATE ROOM

TECHNICIAN (via Control Room intercom) Chevron 7 locked.

[Gate activates.]

O'NEILL SG-1, move out.

[SG-1 goes through the Gate.]

ZUKHOV (in Russian) Stay in close formation. If you get separated, maintain contact on channel 3.

[The Russians salute him and head out through the Gate.]

O'NEILL What was that all about?

ZUKHOV I was just wishing them the best of luck.

O'NEILL Right. Look, Zukhov, let's get something straight here. I'm the ranking senior officer on this mission.

ZUKHOV This is a joint operation, and we are of equal rank.

O'NEILL Which means you should appreciate the need for a clear chain of command.

ZUKHOV Of course.

HAMMOND (via Control Room intercom) Colonel? Is there a problem?

O'NEILL & ZUKHOV (at the same time) No, sir.

[Hammond waves them on to the Stargate. At the top of the ramp, O'Neill gestures Zukhov in.]

O'NEILL After you.

[Zukhov enters. O'Neill gives Hammond a grimacing little smile. Gate shuts down.]

EXT&mdash;RUINS

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT ENTRANCE

[Everyone is waiting on Daniel, who is reading and studying the entrance to the ziggurat. They've clearly been waiting for some time.]

O'NEILL Daniel.

DANIEL Just about there.

O'NEILL You said that an hour ago.

DANIEL Look, if you want to give this a try, be my guest.

O'NEILL Carter, break out the C4.

DANIEL Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Okay, I got it. It's a standard retelling of the Babylonian creation myth. Marduk slays the winged serpent Tiamat. He cuts her in two. He uses half of her to create the sky and the other half to create the earth.

VALLARIN How does that help us, Dr. Jackson?

DANIEL Well, you see, some of the text has been deliberately placed out of order. Only a priest of Marduk would be able to spot the discrepancies. (He looks for places to press) Here. (Stone moves in) Here. (Stone moves in) And here.

[Stone moves in. Entrance opens with great shaking of the ziggurat, stones falling.]

O'NEILL Nice job.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

[Dark and dusty. Crumbling. Stone dust falling, giving scene a smoky appearance.]

CARTER This doesn't seem very stable.

DANIEL It's over 4,000 years old.

O'NEILL Which way?

DANIEL I don't know.

ZUKHOV We should split up. You take your team down here, and we'll go down there.

O'NEILL All right, but Teal'c goes with you&hellip; for your own protection.

ZUKHOV And perhaps you should take Lieutenant Marchenko. For the same reason.

O'NEILL Fine. Move out.

ZUKHOV Marchenko&hellip;

[He speaks in Russian].

[The teams split up. Carter finds someone leaning against a wall.]

CARTER Colonel.

O'NEILL Identify yourself.

MARCHENKO (In Russian) Identify yourself.

[Flashlights show it's a skeleton in military rags.]

O'NEILL Oh.

[Carter checks out the body.]

O'NEILL One of yours?

MARCHENKO Da.

DANIEL If these men disappeared 10 months ago, how could one of their bodies completely decompose that fast?

CARTER It didn't decompose. This skeleton's covered in tiny teeth marks.

O'NEILL Something ate this guy?

CARTER Stripped the flesh right from his bones.

MARCHENKO (In Russian) Holy shit.

DANIEL You can say that again.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[Zukhov's team has find a room with a sarcophagus.]

TEAL'C It appears to be a sarcophagus.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

[Marchenko covers the skeleton with a jacket.]

O'NEILL Zukhov, this is O'Neill.

ZUKHOV (via radio) What is it, Colonel?

O'NEILL We found one of Kirensky's men. He's dead. Exercise extreme caution.

ZUKHOV Understood. We found a sarcophagus. We're investigating.

O'NEILL Negative. Hold your positions till we get there. Zukhov, respond. Zukhov!

[Zukhov doesn't respond; speaks in Russian to his people, who move toward the sarcophagus.]

O'NEILL Damn it. Fall back.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

TEAL'C You are disobeying a direct order.

ZUKHOV I trust Colonel O'Neill won't take it personally.

[When Zukhov steps up on sarcophagus platform, he sets off a booby trap. A loud noise begins, similar to the sound the ziggurat entrance made upon its opening. Zukhov curses and shouts orders to his team in Russian as the ziggurat begins to shake and crumble further. Stone blocks begin falling. They all run toward the entrance of the ziggurat. Along the way they join O'Neill's team. Marchenko runs ahead to the ziggurat entrance and attempts to stop the descending doorway.]

O'NEILL Hey! Get out of there!

TOLINEV Marchenko!

[Marchenko is crushed, and the entrance is buried in stone. They are left staring at the blocked exit, knowing the man is dead and they are trapped.]

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[O'Neill tests the booby trap, but it cannot be reset.]

DANIEL Interesting trap. It doesn't really protect the sarcophagus but it does lock you in with it.

O'NEILL I told you to hold your position!

ZUKHOV The mission requires that we thoroughly explore the area.

O'NEILL I gave you an order!

ZUKHOV Someone would have set off the trap eventually. It is just as well.

O'NEILL One of your own men is dead! Where I come from, that tends to make a commander just a little upset!

ZUKHOV Where I come from, casualties are to be expected.

O'NEILL What?!

CARTER Colonel, we still need to find a way out of here.

DANIEL Shouldn't we open this first, make sure there's no one home?

CARTER Teal'c, have you ever seen anything like this?

TEAL'C Indeed I have not.

CARTER It's like someone tried to seal the sarcophagus from the outside.

DANIEL Kirensky's team must have cut it open with a blowtorch.

O'NEILL Open it up.

[Daniel tries.]

DANIEL There's no crystal. There's no button to open it.

O'NEILL Oh, for crying out loud. I'll do it myself.

[He sticks a knife in the opening and levers enough space for fingers.]

O'NEILL Pull.

[They pull it open, and Carter has her gun ready to fire. Inside they find a skeleton in typical Goa'uld finery, though it's now rotted from age.]

O'NEILL So much for Marduk.

ZUKHOV I thought a sarcophagus could keep one alive indefinitely.

TEAL'C Perhaps it malfunctioned.

CARTER Yeah, but I don't think that's what killed him. These bones exhibit the same markings as the skeleton we found. Whatever killed the Russian soldier killed the Goa'uld as well.

O'NEILL How'd it get in there?

CARTER I don't know.

DANIEL Better question is, where is it now?

INT&mdash;A ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAY

[In one passage, we see a cocoon up high on the wall, with something moving inside. The cocoon rips open and legs protrude.]

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

CARTER Sir, we've got a problem.

O'NEILL We've got a lot of problems, Carter. Can you be a little more specific?

CARTER We can stretch out our food rations, but our water's limited to five days.

O'NEILL We won't be here that long.

TOLINEV So now what do we do?

VALLARIN We can use plastic explosive to blast a hole in the entrance.

O'NEILL Yeah. That might work. It might also bury us under a ton of ziggurat.

ZUKHOV The Colonel is right, Major. The time has not yet come for such desperate measures.

O'NEILL What about this writing? Any mention of a back door?

DANIEL No. This portion of the text deals with the final fate of Marduk.

O'NEILL I think we know the final fate of Marduk.

DANIEL Well, apparently, he was such an evil tyrant that his own priests rebelled against him. They sealed him in the sarcophagus and placed some thing in there with him. There's no direct translation for the word, but I'm assuming it's a reference to the creature that ate him.

CARTER Are you saying he was eaten alive?

DANIEL The sarcophagus would have done its best to continually keep him alive, so&hellip; it probably would have taken a while.

TOLINEV (In Russian) My God.

O'NEILL Okay, that's officially the worst way to go.

TEAL'C It would seem his fate is very well-deserved.

DANIEL Marduk would have died eventually but the creature must have stayed alive in the sarcophagus until Major Kirensky and his men came along.

CARTER They let it out; it killed them.

ZUKHOV We've only found one body.

O'NEILL All right. Here's the deal. We're gonna search this place top to bottom. We're looking for a way out and the rest of Kirensky's team. Everybody got that?

DANIEL I'd like to stay and finish this translation. It might be useful.

O'NEILL Fine. The rest of us will pair off. Teal'c, you're with Zukhov, Carter with Tolinev, Major, you're with me.

VALLARIN Yes, sir.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

[Zukhov and Teal'c check out one passage.]

[Carter and Tolinev check out another passage.]

CARTER Hold it. Got something.

TOLINEV What is it?

CARTER It looks like some sort of cocoon. It's empty.

[The creature runs along the wall behind Tolinev.]

CARTER What is it?

TOLINEV I thought I heard something.

INT&mdash;BRITSKI ROOM

[Zukhov and Teal'c find a chamber filled with debris and skeletons. Zukhov goes to one.]

ZUKHOV It's Britski.

TEAL'C O'Neill.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS/INT&mdash;BRITSKI ROOM

O'NEILL Yeah. Go ahead.

TEAL'C Colonel Zukhov and I have found additional skeletal remains, along with equipment and personal items.

O'NEILL Any sign of a creature?

TEAL'C Negative.

ZUKHOV Colonel O'Neill, this is Zukhov. I have what appears to be Britski's personal log.

O'NEILL All right. Take it back to Daniel. Have him take a look at it.

ZUKHOV Very well.

[Zukhov takes the Eye of Tiamat out of Britski's pack and hides it on his person when Teal'c leaves the room.]

TEAL'C (off-screen) Colonel Zukhov!

ZUKHOV Coming!

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

TOLINEV There it is again.

CARTER I don't see anything.

TOLINEV It's around here somewhere.

[The creature attacks. Elsewhere in the ziggurat passageways, the men hear gunfire.]

O'NEILL Daniel, report.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

DANIEL It's not me.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

O'NEILL Carter, what's your situation?

[There is no answer; all of the men--except Daniel--run to find Carter and Tolinev. They hear more gunfire. They find that Tolinev is down, and Carter is firing away like crazy at something that is no longer in sight.]

O'NEILL Carter!

CARTER I'm all right.

ZUKHOV What happened?

CARTER The creature attacked us.

VALLARIN I think she's going into shock.

O'NEILL Get her back to the main chamber. Teal'c.

CARTER Sir, it's still alive.

O'NEILL Well, we'll kill it.

CARTER Sir, that's not what I mean. I sensed a presence.

O'NEILL What are you talking about?

CARTER The symbiote. The Goa'uld symbiote. It's still alive. It's inside that thing.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[Tolinev's neck looks bad.]

CARTER The creature must have injected her with some kind of venom. Her body's shutting down.

VALLARIN What can we do?

CARTER Well, I've given her a shot of epinephrine. That should buy us some time, but if we don't get her back to the SGC soon, she's not gonna make it.

DANIEL She's right. The same thing happened to the other team, according to Dr. Britski's journal. The creature escaped when they opened the sarcophagus. It attacked Major Kirensky. He was dead within two hours.

O'NEILL Any mention of what happened to the others?

DANIEL Two people died when a passageway collapsed, and the last entry reads, "I'm all alone now. There is no escape. Only one course of action remains."

VALLARIN A cyanide pill. They were given to all Russian Stargate personnel.

[O'Neill grimaces at Zukhov.]

ZUKHOV Colonel, we no longer have a choice. We must use the C4.

O'NEILL We're not done searching yet, Colonel.

ZUKHOV Lieutenant Tolinev is running out of time.

O'NEILL I'm well aware of that, Colonel, but we're not gonna risk any more lives until we've exhausted our options.

DANIEL Hey, take a look at this. It's a sketch of an artifact Dr. Britski found inside the sarcophagus. He thought it might be the eye of Tiamat.

O'NEILL You guys find anything like this with the journal?

ZUKHOV There was nothing but old equipment and spoiled rations.

DANIEL Then where is it?

VALLARIN Colonel, surely the recovery of this artifact is no longer a priority.

O'NEILL It never was a priority. This was supposed to be a rescue mission.

TEAL'C It would appear there is no one left to rescue.

DANIEL Well, I wouldn't say that.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

[Teal'c and Carter are exploring one passage, and see a spot of blood on the ground.]

CARTER Looks like blood.

TEAL'C Indeed.

CARTER Colonel O'Neill. This is Carter.

[O'Neill and Zukhov are in another area of the ziggurat.]

O'NEILL Yeah, go ahead.

CARTER Sir, Teal'c and I found traces of blood. I think I may have wounded the creature.

O'NEILL Well, won't its snake fix it?

CARTER Depends on how bad the injury is, sir.

O'NEILL All right. Stay sharp.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

DANIEL How is she?

VALLARIN Her pulse is getting weak.

[Vallarin hears a noise.]

VALLARIN Did you hear that?

DANIEL What?

[They both hear it now. Vallarin primes his gun and gets up.]

VALLARIN Wait here.

DANIEL Yes. You go down the dark hallway alone, and I'll wait here in a dark room alone.

[Vallarin goes out into hall following the noises.]

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT DEAD END

ZUKHOV A dead end.

O'NEILL Yeah. I guess we should have considered taking that left.

ZUKHOV Colonel, we both know there's only one way out of here.

O'NEILL Any blast big enough to put a hole in that door is gonna bring the whole thing down on top of us.

ZUKHOV I'm willing to take the chance.

O'NEILL Yeah, well, I'm not.

ZUKHOV What about Lieutenant Tolinev?

O'NEILL I thought casualties were to be expected.

ZUKHOV It's obvious you're not capable of taking the necessary risks.

O'NEILL No, we take risks. But we don't hand out cyanide pills&hellip; and we don't leave our people behind.

INT&mdash;ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAYS

[Slightly behind Carter and out of her line of sight, Teal'c finds a used-up glow-stick.]

CARTER Is it just me or have we been down this passageway before?

TEAL'C (Looking at glow-stick) Indeed we have.

CARTER (sigh) This place is like a maze.

TEAL'C Perhaps we should return&hellip;

[Something drops on Carter and falls to the ground as she jumps away.]

CARTER Ah!

[It's the alien creature.]

CARTER It's not moving. I'm not sensing anything.

TEAL'C Nor am I.

[Teal'c pokes it in the neck with his gun a few times. Then he cuts the neck open with a knife.]

TEAL'C There is no symbiote inside this creature.

CARTER It could have left the body when it realized it couldn't heal the wound.

TEAL'C A symbiote would not survive for very long under those circumstances.

CARTER Unless it found a new host.

INT&mdash;RUBBLE ROOM

[Zukhov finds a new room and he and O'Neill go in to investigate. There isn't much in there.]

CARTER (over radio) Colonel O'Neill.

O'NEILL Go ahead.

CARTER Sir, we found the creature. It's dead.

O'NEILL That's good news.

CARTER The only problem is the symbiote's no longer inside it.

O'NEILL That's a bit disconcerting.

CARTER Sir, as you know, Teal'c's body is incapable of sustaining a symbiote as long as he carries a larval Goa'uld. And he doesn't sense the presence of a Goa'uld in me. So&hellip; That leaves Daniel, Major Vallarin and, well, the two of you, sir.

[O'Neill and Zukhov instantly bring their guns to bear on each other.]

O'NEILL Drop the weapon.

ZUKHOV I don't think so.

O'NEILL I know it's not me.

ZUKHOV And I know it's not me.

CARTER Colonel, please respond.

O'NEILL Get back to the main chamber. Check on Daniel and Vallarin. I'll see you there in a bit.

CARTER Roger that, sir.

O'NEILL I'm not kidding, Zukhov. I'll shoot ya.

ZUKHOV This is beginning to make sense.

O'NEILL Is it?

ZUKHOV If you were the Goa'uld, you might not want to leave until you found the Eye of Tiamat. It would explain your reluctance to use explosives.

O'NEILL And if you were the Goa'uld, and you'd been stuck in this dump for 2,000 years, you might not think about anything except getting out of here. Which would explain why you're willing to take such an insane risk.

ZUKHOV Then it would seem we have a problem.

INT&mdash;A ZIGGURAT PASSAGEWAY

[Someone goes to a recess in a wall and pushes a button. A stone withdraws and a Goa'uld hand device appears in the space behind it. The person, who is in military clothing, reaches in and takes the bracelet. Pulling it up to his face, we see it is Major Vallarin.]

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[Daniel is still studying the walls in the sarcophagus room when he hears footsteps behind him.]

CARTER Daniel.

DANIEL Hey, guys, I just finished translating this section&hellip;

[He turns to find Carter has her gun, and Teal'c has a zat, pointed right at him.]

DANIEL Whoa! Hey, what's up?

TEAL'C I do not sense the presence of a Goa'uld.

CARTER Me neither.

DANIEL Well, thank you.

[They lower their guns.]

CARTER So what were you gonna say?

DANIEL (a bit shaken) I was going to say that I just finished translating a section of the text. It says that Marduk used to emerge from his temple and appear amongst his people riding a beam of white light.

CARTER A ring transporter?

DANIEL Yeah. And there's a good chance it might be right here in this room.

INT&mdash;RUBBLE ROOM

[Major Vallarin appears in the doorway of the room where O'Neill and Zukhov are still having their stand-off.]

VALLARIN Colonel Zukhov?

ZUKHOV In here.

[Vallarin enters.]

VALLARIN What is this?

ZUKHOV (In Russian) I believe O'Neill may be the Goa'uld.

O'NEILL Don't be an idiot, Zukhov. It could just as well be him.

VALLARIN (Speaking in Marduk's Goa'uld voice) Very true, Colonel.

[He uses the hand device on O'Neill and sends him flying. Zukhov fires, but Marduk has Vallarin's body encased in a Goa'uld protection shield.]

O'NEILL (On ground) Oh, man.

[Vallarin advances on Zukhov once he stops firing, after seeing it's doing no good. His eyes glow.]

VALLARIN Where is the Eye of Tiamat?

ZUKHOV I don't know what you're talking about.

VALLARIN You forget, Colonel, that I retain all the knowledge of my host, and he was well-aware of your secret orders to obtain alien technology. You wish to bring the Eye back to your superiors.

ZUKHOV I have no secret orders.

[Vallarin backhands Zukhov, knocking him down, then advances on him.]

VALLARIN You lie.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[Daniel has found the rings and is clearing them of all the dust and dirt.]

DANIEL Yep, it's here.

CARTER We gotta tell the Colonel.

DANIEL No, not until we're sure he's not a Goa'uld.

CARTER Teal'c, what are you doing?

TEAL'C We must find the means by which to engage the rings.

DANIEL Right.

[Teal'c touches parts of a pylon, and a secret compartment opens, revealing the control panel for the rings.]

INT&mdash;RUBBLE ROOM

[Vallarin picks up the P-90.]

VALLARIN An interesting weapon. It's obviously capable of inflicting severe pain, as well as death. Shall I test it on your new friend?

[He aims at O'Neill.]

ZUKHOV Stop. I have the Eye.

VALLARIN Give it to me, and I will spare you.

O'NEILL What are you doing?

ZUKHOV I'm sorry, Colonel. I was acting under orders.

O'NEILL Don't give it to him. Don't.

ZUKHOV No one else will die because of me.

VALLARIN Give me the Eye.

ZUKHOV Take it!

[He tosses something to Vallarin, who catches it, but it's not the Eye. It's a grenade whose pin has been pulled. It explodes, and the room begins to collapse. O'Neill gets out of the way just in time.]

O'NEILL Geez!

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[The entire ziggurat is crumbling ominously again.]

DANIEL What's that?

CARTER Colonel O'Neill.

INT&mdash;RUBBLE ROOM

[O'Neill sees the room he just got out of is half-filled with stone blocks, all over the area where Vallarin and Zukhov had been. No human could have survived that. More blocks begin to fall, and O'Neill pulls back farther.]

CARTER Colonel O'Neill.

O'NEILL Yeah, I'm okay.

CARTER What happened?

O'NEILL The Goa'uld was in Vallarin. Zukhov just took him out with a grenade.

CARTER Sir, we found a ring transporter. Daniel says it'll take us to another temple a few miles from here.

O'NEILL All right. I'll be there in a minute.

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

[O'Neill arrives.]

O'NEILL Hey.

[Teal'c had been waiting, and comes up close behind him surreptitiously with a zat. When he speaks, it startles O'Neill, who hadn't known he was there.]

TEAL'C I do not sense the presence of a Goa'uld.

O'NEILL Well, good. And I'm fine, by the way. Thanks. How's Tolinev?

DANIEL She'll be okay if we get out of here soon. Where's Zukhov?

O'NEILL He didn't make it. One thing left to do here.

INT&mdash;RUBBLE ROOM

[A hand with a Goa'uld hand device on it comes up out of the stone blocks.]

INT&mdash;SARCOPHAGUS ROOM

O'NEILL Right, all set. Let's go.

VALLARIN Colonel O'Neill!

[Vallarin is coming down the hall to the sarcophagus room. One arm, the one that caught the grenade, is gone.]

VALLARIN I will have my revenge.

O'NEILL You know, you guys always say that.

[Carter uses a remote to activate something. Vallarin looks where she pointed. There is a pile of C4 and the Russian equivalent, with a timer that has been activated. It's on a fast 10-second countdown. Vallarin looks back at the group just as the rings activate. O'Neill waves goodbye. The temple explodes.]

INT&mdash;SGC BRIEFING ROOM

[Hammond, O'Neill, and a Russian Colonel are seated, and Lieutenant Tolinev stands before them. The Russian Colonel speaks Russian to the Lieutenant. She answers in Russian and salutes, then turns to go, but stops and looks at O'Neill.]

TOLINEV Colonel.

[O'Neill looks up, and she nods at him respectfully. Then she leaves.]

RUSSIAN COLONEL Lieutenant Tolinev corroborates your story.

O'NEILL So she was telling the truth.

RUSSIAN COLONEL She will be debriefed again, of course, once we're back in Moscow, where she can speak more freely.

O'NEILL Yeah. I'm sure you'll be able to get her to say whatever you want.

HAMMOND Colonel, this isn't the time.

O'NEILL General, Zukhov's secret orders put us all in jeopardy. I want that on the record.

RUSSIAN COLONEL Your opinion is already a matter of public record, Colonel. So is the fact that every member of your team survived, yet only one Russian soldier made it back alive. Barely.

O'NEILL Yeah, if your people understood the concept of chain of command, none of this&hellip;

RUSSIAN COLONEL No! We are agreed. You were in command. We also know which lives you were willing to sacrifice.

HAMMOND We regret the loss of life and offer our condolences to the families of your officers.

RUSSIAN COLONEL And I'm sure you also regret this Eye of Tiamat was buried along with Colonel Zukhov, never to be recovered.

HAMMOND Yes, we do.

RUSSIAN COLONEL Perhaps it is best to admit we both made mistakes, huh?

O'NEILL It would be better if you just admitted you screwed up.

RUSSIAN COLONEL I will pass that sentiment along, Colonel.

O'NEILL Yeah, please do.

RUSSIAN COLONEL I'm sure this will have no bearing on our future participation.

O'NEILL I wouldn't count on future participation if I were you.

RUSSIAN COLONEL No? I would.

FADE OUT

ROLL CREDITS

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