Divided

"Divided" is the twelfth episode of the first season of Stargate Universe.

Synopsis
Nicholas Rush and Chloe Armstrong suffer nightmares following their ordeal on the alien vessel, and Rush suspects that a tracking device may have been placed on the ship's hull. Later, a splinter group of the civilian crew on Destiny executes a coup with life-threatening consequences.

Prologue
A group of people are stuck on Destiny after an attack on Icarus Base, and are now trapped there. During the time on Destiny, tensions rise between Nicholas Rush and Everett Young. The expedition discovers the early repository of knowledge, but Young is unwilling to let anybody use it. However, Jeremy Franklin uses it, and is placed in a coma. Camile Wray reports her doubts about Young's command to her IOA superiors. Recently, Rush frames Young for murdering Spencer, who actually committed suicide. After Young learns Rush is trying subvert his command, he abandons Rush on a barren planet, and returns claiming that he died in a rock slide.

Plot
Chloe Armstrong is traversing the corridors of Destiny, which are unusually dark. She comes upon a door with an extremely bright light coming through the viewport. Through it, she sees herself standing under a hole made by a blue alien fighter. She sees herself being sucked into the hole, then finds herself in a blue alien holding tank. Her mother comes up and pounds on the tank, but can't break it. Her mother is then replaced by a blue alien.

Chloe suddenly wakes up, the ordeal having been a nightmare. Matthew Scott tries to console her, but she just leaves to walk it off. She meets with Nicolas Rush in the mess hall, who's been having similar dreams. Chloe does not believe that they are safe from the aliens, despite everyone else feeling otherwise, and Rush agrees.

Rush meets with Young, wishing to discuss something with him. Young likewise has something to discuss: he suspects that Rush took one of the communication stones and kept it, which is how one of the aliens came to possess one. Rush does not confirm it, but doesn't deny it either. He instead focuses on a more immediate problem: the aliens have a way to track Destiny. Young assumes that they must have used the communication stone signal, but Rush points out that even they don't know how it works, and these aliens are technologically inferior. He has been having flashes of memory from the alien whose mind he read, and believes they've been tracking Destiny for a long time. He instead posits the much more likely scenario that there's a tracking device on the hull, and since they've already gotten rid of the fighter Rush stole, it must be somewhere else. With the ship currently out of FTL and not due to return for several hours, now is the ideal time to check.

Eli Wallace guides a Kino through one of the fighter-created hull breaches and begins searching the hull. He eventually comes upon another alien ship. Young and Scott take off in the shuttle to destroy it. Eli observes from the control interface room, and Chloe comes in to see the alien ship.

Meanwhile, Rush and Camile Wray implement a plan to take control of Destiny. Rush begins rerouting systems from the control interface room to a research lab, while the civilians get in strategic positions near the resource centers. Tamara Johansen unexpectedly comes by the hydroponics lab, and another military officer is also caught on the civilians' side.

Upon successfully destroying the fighter, Scott and Young attempt to dock, but find that the docking clamps will not engage. Without them, Destiny's shield will not encompass the shuttle, and as a result it will be vaporized when Destiny jumps to FTL. As Eli investigates the cause, Chloe brings his attention to another console, which is where Rush is transferring control from. This process has disabled the docking clamps. As Eli works to stop him and restore control, Chloe runs to the research lab to get Rush to stop. Rush refuses, since doing so would negate any chance they have to take over the ship. However, he ultimately stops the transfer so the shuttle can land.

Once the shuttle has docks, Rush begins locking down the ship, having transferred nearly every vital system to his control. All the military personnel, save TJ and the one soldier, are separated from both the water and food supplies. Rush leverages this against Young's command of the ship. Eli points out that he still has control of life support, but Rush counters with the fact that, since their side of the ship is much larger, it would take three days for the air supply to diminish completely. By this time, dehydration would claim those on Young's side; no one would win.

Though both sides are thus far at a stalemate, Rush points out that Eli could tip the scales. Young has him busy working to regain control. To remove this advantage, Rush offers to trade a limited supply of food and water for Eli. Young agrees, and Eli joins the civilian side. Eli is escorted by Chloe to Rush. Along the way, he accuses Chloe of distracting him earlier so he wouldn't notice what Rush was doing. Chloe insists that while she did know what Rush was planning, she did not know it would be so soon. When Eli questions her reasons for siding with Rush, she angrily states that Rush was abandoned for being an inconvenience. She leaves Eli with Rush, who needs Eli's help in diverting power to the shields.

Meanwhile, Young and Greer use the environmental suits to exit one of the hull breaches left by the alien fighters. The other hull breach is on the civilians' side, which will allow them to open the doors and take back control. At the same time, Rush explains that the aliens are returning, and they need to reinforce the shields so their attack will fail. Eli points out that the tracking device was destroyed in the last jump, but Rush reveals that a second one is surgically implanted in his chest. Eli agrees to work with him.

Three blue alien motherships drop out of FTL near Destiny, and Rush prepares to reinforce the shields. Eli resists at first, thinking that fighting back may be a better idea. Rush points out that they could never defeat three motherships, and goes ahead with the plan, activating the shields moments after Young and Greer pass through the hull breach back into the ship.

Young and Greer open the doors, and the military personnel begin to take back the ship. Wray confronts Rush about the attack, and once he tells her about the tracking device, she realizes that he just went along with her plan to protect himself. Young comes in to take back control, insisting that they return fire. Rush, however, has locked out the weapons to prevent this. Against Rush's wishes, Eli tells Young about the tracking device. Young orders it removed, but TJ refuses, lacking the skills. When it is suggested that a doctor from Earth be called in using the communication device, Chloe volunteers to be the host.

Rush is sedated using squiggler venom, and the doctor sets to work, despite being rather unnerved by the current conditions aboard Destiny. A disassembled Kino has been made into a makeshift camera in order to find the tracking device. In the midst of the procedure, the communication stones are disrupted, presumably by the high volume of weapons fire against the shields. TJ takes over and removes the device, which Scott smashes. Scott then informs Young that the operation is a success.

In the research room, Eli manages to bypass the lockout on the weapons, but will not activate them. He believes Rush has the right idea. At this point, activating the weapons would only further compromise the already weakened shields, and they would surely fail. Their only option is to hope the shields hold until Destiny jumps to FTL. The shields manage to hold until they jump, though some minor damage is incurred.

With the mutiny over, Young orders the civilians back to their quarters, as there's nothing left they can do to resist. Greer, however, notes that it isn't over yet.

Background notes

 * The song that played in the beginning of the episode was "You Won't Know" by.
 * The quote "The other side" is a term used in Battlestar Galactica about the after life

International airdates

 * Canada: April 9, 2010 (Space)
 * Australia: April 16, 2010 (Sci Fi Australia)
 * United Kingdom: April 20, 2010 (Sky1)

Production

 * The episode title was revealed

Ratings

 * United States: 1.600 million viewers, equals a 1.0/2 Household rating/share (0.6/2 18-49 rating/share).