Stargate Universe s01e05 Episode Script

Destiny.
The design is clearly Ancient.
Launched hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Where the hell are we? Several billion light years from home.
We are on a ship, but we have no idea where we are in relation to Earth.
This ship could be the most important discovery mankind has made since the stargate itself.
These are the wrong people in the wrong place.
I've got a lot of wounded.
We need to get home.
We barely have enough power to operate the main systems.
This ship simply doesn't have the capability to dial Earth.
Could you please stop people running around activating every bloody system they can get their hands on? I will.
Our reserves are gone.
All of our power is gone.
Our trajectory has changed.
What are you talking about, Rush? Lieutenant, what the hell's he talking about? Ronald Greer.
I can't think of a better way to move on from this world into the next, or whatever comes, than to fly into the most powerful thing in all creation, a star.
Out in a blaze of glory.
I like that.
That's beautiful.
Everyone here? All here, sir.
If I could have your attention? You've all heard about our situation.
It sucks.
I'm going to repeat the facts so that we are all clear.
In just over a day, this ship will fly into a star.
Now, we have no power to change its course.
We have no idea how to steer the ship, even if we did.
We are having another bad day.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We have a working shuttle.
We think there are three planets out there that might be habitable.
Now, we think, we believe that it's no coincidence that Destiny dropped out of FTL in this solar system, to give us a chance.
Now, once we know for sure that there is a planet out there for us, we are going to have a lottery.
What? We will draw the names of 15 people The shuttle can hold twice that many.
Not once it's been loaded up with supplies.
Besides, there's only life support for 17, max.
You said 15.
I will be choosing two of the people myself.
Two people with the necessary skills to fly the shuttle and survive on the planet.
Yeah, I bet I can guess who they are! Yeah.
Yeah.
I'll be taking my name out of the lottery.
Anyone who wants to join me, keep talking.
We're still several hours away from knowing if the first two are even habitable, so I suggest you all go back to your quarters and wait it out.
That's all I have for now.
What? You should pick everyone who goes on that shuttle.
It's the responsible thing to do.
And you should include yourself.
If they're going to survive, they'll need leadership.
And an HR lady, I'm guessing.
I am not above that.
I would want you to consider me, yes.
I would want you to consider everyone who could contribute to their survival.
I think you should do your job and make the choices you need to make.
It wouldn't be very fair.
It would be more unfair to send the wrong people We're all the wrong people! These are the wrong people.
That's up to you.
Wow.
Okay.
Okay, who goes? Other than you and me, I mean, or haven't you given it much thought? We can come up with a short list.
Factor in skills and strengths to increase their chances of surviving.
Take age and sex into consideration How about just the people we like? That's not what I'm saying You need to leave.
Handpicking just two of them is a cop-out, and you know it.
And by that I mean get out now The responsible thing to do is or I'm going to take your name out of the lottery.
I may just anyway.
Please don't.
Eli! God, you didn't even set your alarm.
Eli! I don't have time for this.
I thought you had an interview today.
They canceled.
I was up all night.
Playing those stupid games.
They canceled, or you canceled? Seriously, Mom, it's not my skill set.
Nothing is.
I'm late.
We'll talk about it later.
Damn it.
I'm just hoping to find a planet, grow some food.
Not that I know a damn thing about farming.
You sound pretty sure we're both going.
Yeah.
Yeah, maybe I am.
Has he told you we're the two he's picked? No, it's just obvious.
How? There's only two qualified pilots on this ship, me and the Colonel.
He took himself out, so Yeah, well, that explains you.
Why me? Come on, Chloe, he has to pick you.
Why? You're the daughter of a U.
S.
Senator.
He's probably been ordered to.
Being a senator's daughter isn't going to help anyone survive on that planet.
And I think the Colonel's the kind of man who makes his own decisions.
I'm not one of the two, Matt.
At least, I shouldn't be.
I don't even know if I want to be.
Don't say that.
There's still a chance that I'll get chosen in the lottery, but if I don't, I want you to know that I have probably felt closer to you in these past few days than I have ever felt to anybody.
So if this is goodbye It's not.
It might be.
I'm glad he's going to pick you.
I want you there.
Yeah, well What are the odds? One in five, one in six? Something like that.
Well, we'll see.
So how are you going to get the thing off the ship? With the remote, when the shuttle takes off.
We might even get one last look at the Destiny from the outside before it gets out of range.
So What are you guys doing here? We heard about your message in a bottle.
It started out as a documentary, actually.
Well, we want to be part of it.
Figured you'd be busy.
Eli, you realize the odds of anybody finding a Kino out here Probably nil, I know.
Let's do it anyway.
Let's do something.
Let's leave something of ourselves behind.
So who's first? So, I Okay.
I'm Chloe Armstrong.
I'm 23, and I just want to say that my father gave his life so that all of us could survive another day, and we did.
Another day.
Sorry, you radioed me? Uh, yes, um The first planet is too cold.
Frozen methane.
The second is too hot.
The third, well, that happens to be behind the star at the moment.
Too far away to determine habitability.
When will we know? It doesn't matter.
We don't have any choice.
We're gonna have to launch the shuttle before we can get close enough.
The odds are good, though.
Its orbit is in between the other two.
The Goldilocks Zone, they call it.
Not too hot and not too cold.
Yes.
Just right.
What if we used the engines from the shuttle to push the Destiny off course? That's a good thought, but I'm afraid I've already run the numbers, and without getting into delta-V, into thrust-to-weight ratios, then Not a chance.
No.
Well, when do we launch the shuttle? We could wait a few more hours, but the extra time, I don't think it's going to give us any more information than we already have.
When the shuttle's loaded, then.
Colonel Young.
Lf, by chance, you were thinking of choosing me as one of the two, please don't.
Why? This ship Coming here was my destiny.
My life's work was to be here, not trying to survive on some rock with a bunch of strangers.
In fact, you can take my name off the lottery altogether.
Look, Rush, I realize I should've listened to you sooner.
No, no, I wasn't myself.
Still, you were right.
It really wouldn't have made any difference.
Do you mind if I ask you who you are going to choose? Lieutenants Scott and Johansen.
I would've thought Scott and Greer.
Yesterday's heroes.
I've got my fingers crossed for Greer.
Well, you could easily arrange that.
You mean fix the lottery? Yes.
No.
There'll be those who'll think you did anyway.
My name is Camile Wray.
My age is none of your business, Eli.
Lf, um If anyone finds this within the next, I don't know, 40 years, tell Sharon that my last thoughts were of her.
The names of every person in this room are written down on one of these pieces of paper.
Dr.
Rush and I have chosen to exclude ourselves.
If anyone else feels the same way, now would be the time to speak up.
If your name is chosen, you are to go directly up these stairs to the shuttle, where you will be met by the two people that I have already chosen.
Lieutenant Scott has pilot training, and T.
J.
's skills as a medic will be essential on the planet.
If your name is not chosen, you are to remain here until I receive word the 15 are aboard and the shuttle's rear hatch is secure.
Does anyone have anything to say? Airman Becker.
Go.
David Walters.
Camile Wray.
Lieutenant James.
Dr.
Park.
Take a seat and strap in.
Yes, sir.
Mr.
Brody.
Sergeant Riley.
And Dr.
Boone.
That's 15.
We're done here.
You can fit more people on that thing.
Spencer, I need you to shut up.
Come on, people! If we don't do something right now, we're done! He's right, we gotta do something.
We gotta Now, I don't want to have to do that to anybody else, but I will.
That's it.
Full count.
This is Scott.
Everyone's aboard.
Rear hatch is secure.
Give yourself a 60-second countdown, Lieutenant.
Some of us would like to see you off.
Copy that.
We're releasing the docking clamps.
The Kino's sending back pictures.
This is Scott.
We're away.
You're looking good, Lieutenant.
I expect we'll be out of radio range by the time we fire up the main drive, so we'll be thinking of you guys.
You, too, brother.
You, too.
Matthew, T.
J.
, take good care of those people.
There it is.
That's the Destiny? Thank you, Eli.
I never thought I'd get the chance to see the ship from the outside.
You know what? I think I'm gonna go for a walk.
How does that sound, Sergeant? Sounds like a plan, sir.
I shall be in my quarters for the duration.
I have 100 pages of a truly mediocre book to finish.
Eli, I, uh I'm sorry I got you involved in this.
Actually, I'm not.
Yet.
I'll probably be sorry at the end of the day, but We don't have that long, do we? No.
How will it happen? Well, there will be turbulence from the solar wind, far worse than what we've previously experienced.
Heat, obviously, and intense G-forces.
I suspect the ship will be torn apart long before we reach the star.
Hopefully, it will be quick.
And while I don't condone behavior of that kind in any way, shape, or form, I gotta say, the look on Telford's face when you put him down was priceless.
Complete and total shock.
He was surprised, yes, sir.
I guess you can say you even got away with it.
I'm just, uh Sorry that I That I disappointed you, sir.
You're a good man, Sergeant.
I know that.
Besides, the bastard had it coming.
Yes, sir, he did.
So long.
At ease, Ronald.
Okay, Colonel, just go whenever you're ready.
Yeah, no, no, I got it, I just, uh Can you just wait outside, Eli? Thanks.
Hi, Emily, I just, um I just wanted to say Well, you know.
You know.
Where is everybody? All the fun people are here.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation What? Nothing, I just I realized it was past midnight.
Does that mean they've gone into the sun? No.
No, no, no.
No, nothing like that.
It's his birthday.
That's all he means.
Happy birthday.
Thanks.
Mr.
Brody, would you come up here for a second? I need you to confirm a spectrographic analysis for me.
Oxygen, nitrogen, liquid water.
Only trace levels of CO2.
What? It means there won't be much vegetation.
Also means that the thermometer won't be spending much time above zero, either.
But we can survive, right? Yeah.
It'll be great.
Yes! Uh, what are we so happy about? We're gonna live, Eli.
What about the turbulence and the heat and the death? No.
All of that would have happened by now.
The shield is protecting us.
But you said we were out of power.
I was absolutely certain of that, and I have never been more pleased to be wrong in all my life.
The lights just came back on in my room.
What's going on? Stand by.
Colonel! You're right! The systems are coming back online all over the ship.
There's a rumor spreading we're still here.
We are.
Destiny needed all its power reserves to protect itself, and us Uh, guys? We're in the star.
That can't be right.
We're talking thousands of degrees.
Well, we've just flown through the corona, which is even hotter, to say nothing of magnetic fields, gravitational stresses.
This is what Destiny intended from the moment it entered the star system.
You're telling me it flew into the sun on purpose? Yes.
Why? To replenish its reserves.
You're telling me this ship This ship is powered by the stars themselves.
Solar powered, quite literally.
There is no other explanation.
The engine just came back on.
We're pulling out of it! The shuttle.
We gotta call them back.
We haven't accessed communications yet.
I'm working on it.
Well, if you don't figure it out before we go into FTL Plenty of time.
We can't strand those people here.
Well, this would be an excellent time for you to trust me to solve this problem.
Okay, I'm gonna put us in a high orbit, spend a little time looking around for the best spot before we put down.
They're gone.
You know, I can't help but think maybe they're the lucky ones.
Don't, T.
J.
The planet is a rock.
I said stop it.
All right, here we go.
This is Young, come in.
Right there, right there! This, this is Scott.
Sir, how the hell We're just as surprised as you are, Lieutenant.
I'll explain later.
You need to get your ass back aboard this ship.
Look, there it is! Will do.
Scott out! Everybody hear that? Yes! We have a visual of you, Destiny.
Plotting an intercept course now.
Uh, Colonel, stand by.
Brody, come here.
What is it? I don't know yet.
Am I reading this right? You gotta be kidding me.
We're so close, you can almost touch it.
It's right there! What's going on, Lieutenant? The Destiny is accelerating away from us.
We can't match it.
Colonel, we have a problem here.
What is it? We can see you, but the shuttle's computer cannot come up with an intercept solution.
Destiny is accelerating too fast.
I'm trying to put something in manually here, but there's no way to cross the "T," sir.
We're gonna fall short.
You're on full power, yes? I put the throttle up right away.
It's just not going to be enough.
You must have afterburners or something It's not an F-16, Eli! It's a spaceship.
Is there anything we can do from this end? Is there any way to slow the Destiny down? That would do it.
Negative.
Uh, we're out of ideas here.
Come on, guys.
Come on.
Lieutenant, I want you to turn and head directly towards the planet.
We'll send you the exact course in a moment.
No, no, no, no, no.
The planet is a rock.
We'd rather take our chances trying Do what I'm saying, Lieutenant.
We don't have much time.
In order to reach the star, Destiny used an aerobraking maneuver to slow down.
I'm suggesting Lieutenant Scott perform a slingshot maneuver around the planet to do exactly the opposite.
A gravity boost to speed up.
It should put Destiny directly in our path.
We're all aboard with that idea, Doctor.
Just give me the course and speed.
This planet's getting pretty big in the windows here.
One moment.
I got it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Eli, there's many variables here.
Are you sure about this? Math Boy.
Send it.
Okay, Math Boy.
Sending the new course now.
Is this going to work? It's gonna be close.
Got it.
All right, everybody, hang on again.
That's them.
Why am I watching this on TV? Okay, we're only going to get one shot at this.
Wish it wasn't the first time I tried it.
There they are.
You've got us lined up.
You're doing fine.
No, he isn't.
We're coming up on them too fast.
Lieutenant, our relative velocity is too great.
Unless you can match our speed, you're gonna crash into the ship.
This is all we've got.
It's coming up pretty fast on us! I know, I know, I know.
We have to come left! A little this way, Lieutenant.
What we need is more speed.
Fire maneuvering thrusters.
That might just make the difference.
Right.
Main engines off.
Uh, thrusters off.
Docking clamps engaged.
We're still in one piece! Well done.
We're on our way down.
You just said it was like an arm.
That's what you said.
But I'm dead serious about it.
It was like That was the worst shuttle docking I have ever seen in my life.
What are you talking about? I barely even dented it! The grinding noise! At the very least, there is a giant scrape along the bottom.
I'm gonna make you put on a space suit, go out there, fix it right now.
Sergeant, we're gonna need some of that high-temperature spaceship paint for Scott here.
Yes, sir.
I believe I've found some.
Dr.
Rush, have a seat.
These two have even showered.
No, thanks.
Come on, we should celebrate.
Celebrate what? That we're back where we started? Come on, have a seat, Rush.
Some other time.
All right, well, Becker, give him a double ration.
He deserves it.
Why's that, then? I'm in a good mood.
We're to be rewarded at your whim, then? No, no Just stop.
What, you want some reasons? I'll I'll give you three.
You were right about the power situation.
Not really.
You figured out the subspace communications, how to call the shuttle.
We needed to get those supplies back.
You took your name out of the lottery.
So did you.
I was injured.
You actually made a sacrifice.
Unless you knew that the Destiny was gonna make it all along.
Cheers, everyone.
Let it go, sir.
He didn't know.
I saw his face.
There's no way.
No.
What if he did? He's right, sir.
Let it go.
A lot of work.