Stargate: Atlantis s02e06 Episode Script

I'm just saying, as a team veteran, to the new guy, heavy lunch before mission departure, bad idea.
And even with the inertial dampners, this whole flying thing is best done on an empty stomach.
Yeah well, I've got a pretty strong stomach.
Hey, I can eat frozen dinners without thawing and sometimes it doesn't even affects me.
McKay! Are you reading anything? Nuthin'! Lifesigns from the planet are negative.
Then it is a shame.
From what we read in the Atlantis database, the Durandens were a wonderful race of people.
Well the database is over 10,000 years old.
You can bet things have changed around here.
Sheppard OK.
That's not something you see everyday.
There was a great battle here.
That is a hive ship.
Well, it was a hive ship.
Something put a lot of holes in it, alright.
We should check it out.
What if whatever put holes in it wants to put holes in us? You just said a lot's changed in 10,000 years.
That would explain the lack of lifesigns.
This is what usually happens when you fight back.
These folks took out a fleet of Wraith ships.
I'd say they did a pretty good job of fighting back.
Hold on! We're picking up faint energy readings.
from there.
That would explain how they were able to put up such a good fight.
How? Because, they were Ancients.
Callie Sullivan & scifigate.
net Definitely Ancient design.
Their latest stuff, too.
Their latest being 10,000 years old.
It's a lot like the labs we found on Atlantis.
So this is one of their outposts? Yet the Ancestors made no mention of their presence here, in the database.
Why? - Well, let's find out.
Can you power it up? - Working on it.
I got two bodies here.
I got three more over here.
Whatever happened here, no-one came back to claim the dead.
I can't tell if they were fed on by the Wraith.
Yeah, something killed them.
Something killed everyone on this world.
Why is this outpost, if that's what it is, still intact? It doesn't make sense.
What do you think Rodney? Sorry, I wasn't listening, but it just struck me that if this is an Ancient outpost, why would the Wraith leave it intact? That's a good question.
Alright, let's see So So it's a military research facility? From what we can tell, it's a ground based version of the satellite weapon we used to destroy that hive ship.
With one major exception.
Fire power.
I mean, if that single outpost was responsible for destroying an entire Wraith fleet And you're sure it was this weapon that destroyed all those Wraith ships? It had to be.
There's nothing on the planet that suggests the Durandens had anything capable of inflicting anywhere near that much damage.
If we could learn of such technology, we could defend other worlds from being culled.
It didn't save the Durandens.
Yeah, but at the end of the day, the outpost was still standing and that means well I'm not sure what that means.
But it means something definitely worth finding out.
- Colonel? - He's right.
It's definitely worth sending a research team back.
Good! Well give me Optican, Collins and Zelenka, if he's over the stomach flu.
We'll try to access the computers log books.
See if we can decipher them and if that's OK, OK.
Easy sell.
- Go! - Oh good.
Teyla I heard you were heading offworld on a personal mission.
- To Balkan, yes.
- Sounds interesting.
The Balkans possess a particular disease resistant strain of flax seed, which would double the yield of our crops on the mainland.
In exchange, I intend to offer Athosian manpower to aid in their harvest.
Still interested? This place has everything I want, don't get me wrong, but Sometimes you feel the need to go somewhere else.
- Anywhere else.
- I know the feeling.
So? Bring only weapons you can conceal.
I'll keep it to a bare minimum.
I'm telling you, at least .
09%.
Oh please, please, move the decimal place.
I mean, it's, it's, it's impossible for God's sake.
Have you figured out what this is? - No.
- No, I wouldn't say no.
No, we have a theory.
- Well, we don't know yet.
No, but based on the shielding around the chamber, what else could it be? Have you tried turning it on? That's what we're working on.
The problem is that there's no direct link between it and the main power control systems, which among other things has led us to theorize that it's an instrument to power up the weapons systems.
- Cool! - See that? You see? See the way he lights up at the mention of that? It's like Doctor Vogel at the mention of pastries.
- They found out a way to soup up their space gun.
- Yes, but it's much more than that.
Well, the sticking point is that there's no tie between the power generator and the primary capacitor.
Yes.
Meaning they would have to channel the power directly into the weapon.
Which I'm sure means nothing to you.
Means they could fire multiple bursts without having to store up more power for the next firing sequence.
Yes.
- Very good! - Which leads me back to, cool.
Yes, but it only makes sense if we're right.
About what? Tell him.
Not yet.
Come on McKay, you read the equations.
What else could it be? An Ancient typo? Well we know they're not perfect, because they're all dead! Look, I just, I just, I don't want you to get all excited over nothing.
- Well, maybe you're right.
- I'll give you a hint.
It seems the Ancients were experimenting with high energy physics on a level that we've never seen before.
- Wow.
- Yes, wow.
I just, I want to be sure.
I'll do my best to wait.
The manpower that you are demanding is outrageous.
You would turn my people into nothing more than indentured slaves, to serve your farms.
It would seem that you have nothing else of value to trade, but your people.
Mattus.
You know full well my offer is fair.
I'm sorry Teyla.
If you had something of more value to offer, Technology, weapons.
You've heard my terms.
Then, our business is done here.
She said her offer is fair.
I say it isn't.
Well, I say it is.
What? I had the situation under control! - It didn't look like it.
- So you came to my rescue.
You have no idea what is at stake during these negotiations! My people depend on me! They were taking advantage of you.
No they were not! That is what I wanted them to think.
A negotiation is a delicate process.
The words spoken are often meaningless.
Teyla! - Do you want me to - No! Go! Gather our things, I will meet you at the Gate.
It was a mistake to force Hendon's hand.
You will only pay for it next time.
I know.
- Your friend is not Athosian? - No.
Ronon is the only survivor of a world known as Sateda.
He saved the life of a friend of mine and in return we offered him sanctuary.
If Sateda is his homeworld, then he is not the only survivor.
There is a man in this village who also claims to be from there.
What have we got Sergeant? It's Colonel Sheppard, Ma'am.
This is Weir.
Go ahead Colonel.
We're on our way back.
Rodney wants to fill you in.
I take it you found something interesting.
Interesting? - How about the greatest discovery of all time! - He's pretty excited.
So I hear.
He couldn't even wait till he got back.
I wanted to send an encoded databurst directly from the outpost to the secure network in my lab, while the Gate was active.
Now! Receiving transmission.
Transferring data.
Care to fill me in, so I can be excited too? - It's a weapon.
- It is much, much more than a weapon! We think we've stumbled across the Ancients' last great discovery.
It was too late to win the war for them, but I think if I can finish the work they started, then What is it? It's the ultimate power source.
Something that would make Zero Point Modules seem like alkaline batteries in comparison.
It was called Project Arcturus and from what we could tell, it's ultimate goal was to render ZPM's obsolete.
How? The Zero Point Module is an artificially created region of subspace time.
It's kind of like a miniature universe in a bottle.
It extracts vacuum energy through it's artificial region of subspace time until it reaches maximum entropy.
So what's different about this thing? Project Arcturus was attempting to extract vacuum energy from our own space time.
Making it potentially as powerful as the scope of the universe itself.
It strikes me as something the Ancients would have tried first, even before ZPM's.
And they may have.
But extracting zero point energy from our own universe is, well it's definitely trickier.
Explain trickier.
Well, because we actually have to live in our own universe, it presents a whole range of problems.
Well obviously it's not all that easy or Atlantis wouldn't still be relying on ZPM's.
Well, you're right.
The Ancients couldn't make it work.
I said I wanted to do all the talking.
- Come on Rodney, Arcturus was a total failure.
- Failure, yes.
Total, no.
Look, the Ancients were losing the war against the Wraith, when work on Arcturus began.
If they could have made it work, it could have turned the tide of war.
I mean, we're talking about their own Manhatten Project here.
The outpost was ordered by the Ancients in Atlantis, to defend the Duranden people using their weapons powered by this new power source.
Yeah, yes, but despite their strong reservations that it was not ready to be tested under battle conditions.
The point is, the Wraith won.
Yes but the Durandens still inflicted massive damage on the attacking Wraith fleet.
- I'm not saying they didn't put up a hell of a fight.
The logs indicate there was a major malfunction.
Well yes, the Ancients in the bunker were forced to shut everything down, including the weapon.
The Wraith sent more ships, the Durandens got wiped out.
So if the malfunction hadn't occurred, the Ancients would have saved the planet? Definitely! Possibly.
Don't sugar coat this, Rodney.
The Ancient scientists running Arcturus were rushed into testing before they had perfected a means of effectively controlling the power output.
I believe, if they'd had more time, history would have played out differently on that planet.
Possibly in this galaxy.
I won't deny that this is something that we'd dearly love to get our hands on, but the Ancients were a pretty bright bunch.
And desperate and losing a war they'd already been fighting for a hundred years.
More importantly, they were, they were like this close.
And you believe you can finish their work? I do.
We do.
They do.
Alright, I need everyone's attention, please! What we've got here is I need this code divided up into sections and each one double checked.
- No! No! You're not listening to me.
I'm telling you, this one right here is wrong! - It's not going to! It's not going to The whole point is that these numbers here should be corrected.
Unless they're corrected there you go, simulation failed.
Oh, that's heavy! So, I need that over there.
Thank you.
What I want you to do is pull the crystal.
Pull it when I say go, alright? I think we have it.
That's it! We were looking for a man named Solen.
Do you know him? Upstairs.
Thank you Was I free? Course I was.
But my people were counting on me.
Now I was alone.
I was low on ammo, but I managed to take out the three Wraith guards and gain access to that ship.
Liar! What did you say? Ronon? There were two Wraith guarding that cruiser and he wasn't alone.
Teyla Emmagan, Solen Senshure.
We served in the same regiment on Sateda.
I am honoured.
You two make a nice match.
Congratulations.
We are friends.
Nothing more.
For years I believed I was the only survivor.
So you don't know about the others? What others? Before the city fell, a few of us managed to make it to the shelters west of the capital.
Over 300 civilians found their way there too.
When we emerged we realised there was nothing to salvage, so we left.
All of us.
To where? Some came here.
Some went to Manaria.
Drink Ronon and rejoice.
You're not alone! Everything's been triple checked.
Power levels are holding steady in all computer simulations.
- Power it up.
- Alright! Attention all personnel! Stand by for power up, on my mark! 3 2 1 mark.
Oh man.
To see Kel's face when he sees you.
Yeah, it's true.
Kel's alive.
And his family.
They settled on Belsa.
Run this big trading operation over there.
When were you going to tell me this? Honestly, I was going to wait until you drank a little more.
Then you've seen him.
Yeah, he comes around now and then to trade weapons with the Balkans.
He's got his own private army now.
Is this Kel, a friend? Oh, he's more like kin.
He was Ronon's taskmaster during his military training.
There is no closer bond.
None.
To reunions.
To reunions.
Radek, talk to me.
I'm picking up some minor power fluctuations.
Chamber's temperature's holding steady.
There it goes again.
Is everything OK? Everything's fine.
The containment bubble is designed to automatically compensate for any sudden changes in energy output.
This never happened in the simulations.
Maybe we should abort.
I said it's fine.
Collins.
See if you can boost more power to the field, manually.
You got it.
Prepare for test firing.
On my mark.
Levels just spiked into the red! What? Shut it down.
Shut it all down! I'm trying.
The interface is not responding.
I'm gonna switch to back-ups! - Levels are going off the scale! - McKay? I have given the command to shut down.
Something's creating an overload.
We should evacuate.
Just give me a few seconds! We may not have that time! Wait, wait, wait.
It's stabilizing.
Generator is offline.
What the hell just happened? Obviously there was a surge of some kind.
Look.
Collins.
Collins.
Collins! Officially my report will indicate Dr Collins died due to radiation exposure, causing severe burns to well over 90% of his body.
But it was more than that? Aye, much more.
To be honest, I have no idea what sort of radiation it was.
I've never seen or heard of cellular decay this massive.
Not when exposure only lasted mere seconds.
Collins' next of kin have been notified.
Good.
What went wrong? We're still analyzing data from the test.
All we know for certain was, there was a massive power surge which in turn, caused the containment field to expand asymmetrically in the direction of the command access tube.
As to why How about human error? Excuse me? Well, according to your report, during the test, Dr Collins made an adjustment to the containment field.
Isn't it possible that he triggered the surge himself? Are you looking for a scapegoat, Colonel? Not at all Doctor.
I'm admittedly looking for a rationale that would allow Dr McKay to continue his very important work.
Is there something wrong with that? No! Collins knew the systems just as well as any of us.
He wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.
Everything was going well.
Everyone did their job.
Then what? I don't know! In terms of physics, it shouldn't have happened.
We're still analyzing the data from the accident.
It's going to take time What I do know, is the device did what it was supposed to do.
No Rodney, it didn't.
Well, apart from the obvious containment issues.
It overloaded and you couldn't stop it.
But we won't know for sure until we go back down there and try again.
Try again? Are you serious? Yes.
A member of your team is in the morgue.
And I am responsible for his death, yes.
I am painfully aware of that.
I sent him in there and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life.
But we have a responsibility to understand what happened and learn from it.
Rodney, we don't even know what went wrong.
Which is why we have to go back there! I know how important this is to you, Rodney.
But we knew when we came to Atlantis that we might encounter certain technologies, which for the moment, are out of our reach.
It's not in this case.
You have the data from your first attempt.
You can run all the simulations you want.
Come on Elizabeth.
You really think the military's gonna let this go? I mean, at the very least, we should be the first ones in there to spearhead the research.
That's what this is about? You wanna beat them to it? I'm sorry.
The answer's no.
I'm not tired.
Why did we leave? I believe you've had enough.
I don't believe I have.
Goodnight.
Teyla? There are 300 of my people.
Harry K.
Daghlian.
Who? He was a scientist.
Worked on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos.
He was only twenty-six years old.
Accidentally irradiated himself while performing a critical mass experiment on two half spheres of plutonium.
It took him a month to die.
While his body was slowly shutting down from radiation poisoning, you know what he did with his last thirty days? He worked.
He tried until his last breath to understand what had happened to him, so that others could learn from the tragedy.
So that his work, his death, wouldn't be rendered meaningless.
Now, have you considered what would have happened if they'd just shut that project down after that? This is different.
Is it? Collins' death is a pointless waste of life unless something comes of this and I am not sure that I can I think I know what happened.
Let's hear it.
Can I come in? No.
The Ancients had it wrong.
Our mistake was using their equations.
Look, I just did the calculations again myself.
I did them three times just to be sure and I am positive the problem is in the automatic containment protocols.
OK, what's your fix? I'm proposing that we adjust the field strength manually.
You saw how fast it spiked on you.
So we don't operate the generator at anywhere near it's potential.
Look, there's no need to be greedy.
Even operating at 50% it'll still generate the power of a dozen ZPM's.
How come the Ancient's didn't figure this out? Maybe they were caught up in the heat of battle.
Maybe they thought that they needed as much power as they could get.
Maybe they weren't smart enough.
And you are.
No, I didn't say that.
But I have the benefit of hindsight.
They didn't.
Look, this is big.
This is the wheel, the light bulb, the hotdog, big.
Best case scenario.
I win a Nobel Prize.
Worse case scenario.
We tear a hole in the fabric of the universe.
Which is much less likely to happen than the Nobel Prize.
I mean, look, the risks are nothing compared to the potential benefits.
Elizabeth will listen to you.
I've never asked this of you before, but I think I've earned it.
Trust me.
I've already made this decision, John! If Dr McKay says he's solved the problem, I don't see why we don't give it another shot.
Isn't the Daedalus about ready to head back to Earth? Yes we are.
But I think you should know the Pentagon is taking a very keen interest in this vacuum energy.
I'm sure they have, but the Pentagon doesn't make the decisions here.
Yeah, I may not have the power to overrule you on this.
But when I get back to Earth, I'm going to be making the recommendation that Dr McKay be allowed to continue his work, to the highest authorities.
Ultimately Dr Weir, this won't be up to you.
Can Rodney guarantee that the same thing won't happen? Nobody can do that.
Then what's changed? According to him it's the Ancients calculations that were wrong, not his.
If McKay is that confident, then I don't see why we don't Confidence is not something Doctor McKay is in any short supply of.
For good reason! If anyone can do this The Ancients could not do this.
And that's what it keeps coming back to for me.
Isn't it possible that you have placed the Ancients on such a high pedestal that you can't even consider the possibility that they may be wrong? Why are we mincing words, Colonel? You want the weapon.
Yes! I do! A weapon that could effectively eliminate the Wraith threat is very attractive to me, and to the people that I work for.
I'm not hiding that fact.
But there's more to it, isn't there? No more hunting for ZPMs.
The shield at full strength.
Faster, more powerful ships.
How about a power source that could provide the energy needs for an entire planet.
No more fossil fuels.
I get it! And if it worked as advertised, it would be wonderful.
I'm trying to tell you, I know Rodney McKay and there are times when I have to protect him from himself.
I can do that.
Let me go back with him.
Just him and me.
You can activate the Stargate any time you want to contact us by radio.
He really sold you.
He asked me to trust him.
I appreciate your support, Colonel, but don't worry.
I try and make it a habit not to make the same mistake twice.
That was a joke, right? No.
I offer you my personal assurance that a surge like the one that happened before is inconceivable.
I'm gonna run some power-up simulations first.
How about I carry out my plan and you keep the hot coffee coming? Joking again, right? Well, where were we? Doctor Weir, I need to speak to you right away.
What is it? I finished going over the accident data.
I think I know why the Ancients abandoned this technology.
Colonel Sheppard, this is Atlantis.
Go ahead.
Is Doctor McKay with you? Of course I am, but we're a little busy getting ready to run a test here.
Actually, I would like you to delay the test firing.
Why? We have reason to believe that the weapon's power source, may not be controllable at any power level.
Radek? Rodney? OK, we have been over this.
I am doing this manually, at half power.
It's a cakewalk.
I don't think it matters how much cake you walk on.
I've been doing calculations of my own and I believe that the very act of trying to contain vacuum energy from our own space-time creates an environment where the laws of physics cease to apply.
What are you on about? As power output increases, new and exotic particles are continuously created and destroyed inside the containment chamber, interacting with each other and with the field itself.
Eventually particles are created that cannot be prevented in this space-time, and they breach the containment field as hard radiation.
As long as I'm monitoring the energy output manually, I can stop that before it happens.
You cannot predict something that is inherently unpredictable.
- Rodney? - I know what I'm doing.
Rodney, I am trying to tell you as a friend, I have serious doubts.
Well, you're wrong.
I'm sorry, but there it is.
And to bring this up now when I am just about to do this smacks of nothing but professional jealousy.
Fine! Kill yourself, just like the Ancients did! What do you mean by that? I believe if the overload is allowed to continue, the weapon acts as a sort of release valve to prevent catastrophic containment failure.
The Ancients barely managed to shut it down, and they lost their lives in the process.
What we're suggesting is that the Wraith didn't kill everyone on that planet.
It was the weapon itself.
That would explain why this place is the only thing left standing.
Congratulations, you've solved the mystery of how the Ancients screwed up ten thousand years ago.
It doesn't mean that I will do the same.
Look, I don't know how else to say this, but none of you are capable of understanding this on the same level that I do.
And Zelenka, that includes you.
Rodney, I cannot afford to lose either one of you.
Now tell me.
Can you do this? Yes.
- Are you sure? - Yes.
- Are you sure you're sure? - I said yes! - Because if you're wrong - I'm not! I'll call you back after the test.
How does that sound? You'd better.
I won't let you down.
How are you feeling? Fine.
We should really be getting back.
Doctor Weir will be expecting us.
Kel's here.
What? He's meeting with Hendon right now.
Solen just told me.
I have to see him.
And you would like me to arrange a meeting.
After yesterday, I don't think I'd get very far if I asked myself.
OK, this is good.
My equations are working like a charm.
Power level's at forty percent, just to be on the safe side.
I think we're ready for our test.
Where do you want the weapon targeted? The debris orbiting the planet.
Sounds good.
Bringing the weapon online now.
What's that? Energy surge.
It's fine.
I can regulate it.
You said you could contain The temperature inside the containment field is well within acceptable parameters.
Staying ahead of it.
Levels are rising in the chamber.
Reroute power from the secondary systems to the containment field.
I'm thinking we need to abort.
I can compensate.
Just give me a minute.
It's overloading, just like last time.
There is no logical reason this shouldn't be working.
McKay? None of this should be happening! Look, the energy levels are spiking at a rate far greater than anything I predicted.
Shut it down! Fine.
Doesn't make any sense.
What's wrong? I can't shut it down.
I am Kel, from Sateda.
Teyla Emmagan of Athos.
Thank you for granting us your time.
If we are to trade, I would know all the members of your party.
Of course.
In fact, that is why we are here.
Ronon! Hello, Kel.
Ronon, what have you done? We all know who this man was, what he was.
If anyone here believes he should be avenged, here I am.
You just used me to murder an innocent man! He deserved worse.
You said he was like a father to you.
Kel commanded several infantry divisions on Sateda.
When the Wraith came he ordered thousands to their death just to save himself.
He was a traitor and a coward.
My only regret is that his death was quick.
I understand.
In your place I might have done the same.
But believe me when I tell you that the others would not.
We must not speak of this when we return to Atlantis.
And if you ever use my friendship in such a way again, I will not be so understanding.
What was that? The weapon's discharging to prevent a catastrophic overload.
Alright, that's it.
We're outta here.
It's not safe! The weapon's firing at random targets above the planet.
This is the safest place to be right now.
The place isn't gonna be safe for very much longer! I can bring it back under control! Just give me a second! No you can't! Just one second! I've seen this before, Rodney.
Pilots who wouldn't eject when something went wrong.
Trying to fix their planes right until it hit the ground.
OK, we need to leave.
I've waited too long, the weapon can't discharge enough power to avoid a catastrophic overload.
This whole planet's gonna go up.
Not that your speech wasn't working.
OK, strap in.
You need to avoid flying predictably to prevent the weapon from locking onto us.
I know what I'm doing.
I'm just saying,be sure not to fly in a straight line.
Rodney, shut up! Can I just say there's no way the Jumper can take even one direct hit? I'll keep that in mind.
The weapon's locking onto us.
How about I fly us away from the planet, return after the overload? We can't.
Why not? Don't you understand? This explosion is gonna take out three quarters of the solar system.
There's no way we can fly far enough or fast enough.
We have to head for the Gate.
Dial the Gate.
How do you intend to avoid getting hit on the final approach? I haven't figured that part out yet.
It's a good thing we stopped by to check on your progress, Colonel.
Make a break for the Stargate.
We'll run interference.
Copy that, Daedalus.
Stand by to engage sublight engines on my mark.
Recommend you go into hyperspace as soon as we go through.
There's gonna be a big bang.
Understood.
Take this grain to the storage room.
You are the smartest guy we have.
I know! putting your life and other people's lives at risk.
You destroyed three quarters of a solar system! Well, five sixths.
It's not an exact science.
Rodney, can you give your ego a rest for one second? Oh, Colonel! Colonel! I've been looking all over for you.
I heard.
I suppose I deserve that.
Look, I just I wanted to apologise about what happened.
I was wrong.
I'm sorry.
And I wanted to assure you that, I intend not being right again, about everything, effective immediately.
That was a joke.
Good one.
I've already apologised to Elizabeth and Radek and I thanked Colonel Caldwell for caring enough to spy on the experiment from orbit.
I sent him a nice little email, actually.
But I saved you till last because, honestly, I would I would hate to think that recent events might have permanently dimmed your faith in my abilities, or your trust.
At the very least, I hope I can earn that back.
That may take a while.
I see.
But, I'm sure you can do it, if you really wanna try.