Stargate Universe s02e06 Episode Script

Trial and Error

This is what Destiny intended from the moment it entered the star system.
That ship is the best chance we have of getting home.
- Are we done? - We'll never be done.
You shouldn't have left him on the planet.
You think I don't know that? Everyone thinks we're safe.
They think that they'll never find us again.
Why did you take one of our people prisoner? We're not safe, are we? - They're coming! - Who's coming? Lucian Alliance, they're coming to take Destiny.
There's only one way this is going to end if we wait.
I'm not surrendering this ship.
I'm pregnant.
It's yours.
Emily! I'm barely keeping it together, and the only thing that's keeping me from going out of my mind is you.
You made your choice, Everett.
You really should talk to someone.
Look, I lost my baby.
And now maybe she's in a better place.
You found the keys to controlling all of Destiny's systems.
And you're not going to tell anyone? Riley is not going to make it, sir.
Look, I'm already healing.
A transfusion of Chloe's blood could help save his life.
And pass whatever the aliens did to her on to him.
We've run a series of comparative blood tests using various pathogens we've encountered and isolated along the way.
While Chloe's blood continues to show atypical antibiotic properties, Lieutenant Scott's seems to have gone back to normal.
Sir.
I'm just saying I think it's safe to let him out of isolation.
That's fine.
I'll have him released.
- You okay? - Emily wants a divorce.
I just got back, and I don't know.
I guess I should have seen it coming, but is it even legal to sign papers in someone else's body? I wouldn't know.
Well, I guess it doesn't matter.
Thanks.
Wait, uh Maybe we should talk.
After everything that's happened, we haven't had the chance.
Is there anything that you and I could possibly say that's going to make it any better? Maybe that's not the point.
Well, then, what is? - Eli.
- Hey.
I don't know if you've met Ginn, one of our guests from the Lucian Alliance.
She's been cooperating, providing intel on Alliance activity in the Milky Way, but I think she may be able to help us on the ship as well.
I spent over a year studying Ancient systems to prepare for the trip.
I was particularly interested in some of your theories on dialing while inside a star.
Wow.
Do you still think there's a chance you could make it work? To be honest, I wasn't really making much progress, so I kind of put it aside.
Well, maybe with Ginn's help, that can change.
I guess it's worth a shot.
Good.
I'll leave you to it.
Have a seat.
Thanks.
- They let you out.
- Yeah.
So you're not changing.
Well, T.
J.
Says I'm pretty much back to normal.
I guess everyone was a little afraid I'd poisoned you with my alien blood.
You're not contagious.
They're just keeping you here because Because I might black out and sabotage the ship without even knowing it.
You saved my life.
If you were just some alien monster, you would've left me to die out there and no one would have known any better.
My skin's changing.
Look.
It's coarse.
Like, it's getting hard.
And it's growing.
It doesn't matter.
Listen.
Hey.
We're going to find a way out of this, I promise.
Colonel Young, come in.
Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room.
Please respond.
This is Young.
Go ahead.
We've got a bit of a situation here.
I'm on my way.
- What do we got? - Nine alien ships.
They just dropped out of hyperspace.
They've got us surrounded.
Looks like the same ones who took Rush and Chloe.
We left them behind in another galaxy.
How the hell did they find us out here? We're getting a message.
Oh, my God.
They want us to hand over Chloe.
What if all this time they were slowly changing her to one of them, - and now they want her back? - She's not one of them.
She was gathering intelligence.
She may not have known it but that's what she was doing.
All the more reason not to let them anywhere near her.
- How long till we jump? - Forty-four minutes.
Power weapons.
I don't think that's the response they were looking for.
Return fire.
Watch your heads.
All right, let's move! This is not a drill! Sergeant, you get these people to designated areas.
I'm gonna go and check observation.
All right.
Come on, come on, come on.
Let's go, let's go.
Come on! What are you doing? We're under attack.
I can see that.
You can't take on this many ships.
They want Destiny more than anything.
They wouldn't destroy us.
Well, not intentionally, but they'd have to collapse the shields in order to board us, and that's a risky proposition.
Colonel, this is Scott.
You need to seal the entire section around the observation deck.
- Why? - Seal it now! Now! Scott! What's going on? We've got secondary explosions in the engineering area.
Scott, come in! Power's overloading in the sublight drive.
It's going critical.
Emergency shutdown! It's too late.
The plan is to get the repair robot working on the large domed room we found when we first came aboard the ship.
If the structural integrity can be restored, it can be used as a new home for hydroponics.
Do we know how long it would be before the room can hold atmospheric pressure? Well, we've crunched some numbers, and we think What about the weapons systems? Still half a dozen gun batteries that are offline.
Well, you told us to postpone the work until we had a greater understanding of the grid that powers the system With that many positions down, entire sections of this ship are vulnerable to attack.
Wasn't Dr.
Kemp recently injured working on this problem? Yeah, there was an unexpected surge in one of the conduits.
There's also the risk of a much more catastrophic overload Irrelevant.
Fix it.
- We don't even know what's wrong with it.
- Weapons are a priority.
A new home for hydroponics can wait.
Dismissed.
- What was that? - Don't start, Camile.
That work is dangerous.
You shut it down for a reason.
We need to be able to defend ourselves.
After everything that we've been through, that should be obvious.
Yeah, you know what? You're right.
We have been through a lot.
You, especially.
Is this you acting as ship's therapist now? I know you, Everett.
You hold yourself responsible for everything, including what happened to T.
J.
And the baby.
But if it's starting to cloud your judgment, I need to know.
I'm fine.
I brought you some food.
I'm not hungry.
Okay, then how about some company? I've been working on some fairly interesting equations.
I thought you may want to take a look.
You've got to be kidding me.
I'm not the one keeping you in here.
- I tried to help you.
- What, with the chair? Was that even real or was it just for show? Of course it was real.
You know, it's pointless trying to deny the advantages of your situation.
I mean, just ask Lieutenant Scott.
If the chair had worked, well, he'd be dead right now.
Do you even know what's really happening to me? Obviously you're undergoing quite significant physiological changes, most notably in your brain.
I haven't given up hope of finding a solution.
But in the meantime, I would've thought you would at least want to try and keep yourself occupied.
My research has taken a very interesting turn.
I may be on the verge of discovering the true nature of Destiny's mission.
See, here.
These numbers haven't been corrected for gravitational time dilation.
Obviously it depends on the size of the star, but it could make a pretty big difference.
Huh.
How'd I miss that? Well, your math is always perfect, but sometimes you lose sight of the context.
Like I said, I've been studying your work.
You didn't have anything better to do? I like numbers and equations.
I always have, ever since I was little.
They don't lie.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a vet.
Animal doctor.
Uh So, my mom bought me a hamster, you know, to teach responsibility.
I left the cage door open and my dad stepped on him.
That was the end of that career.
Well, I'm sure you would have made a very good doctor.
Anyway, if it wasn't for the, uh, hamster? It's like a small rodent.
Well, if it wasn't for him, none of us would be here.
Never thought of that.
That's really weird.
I don't Colonel Young, come in.
Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room.
Please respond.
This is Young.
We've got a bit of a situation here.
They want us to hand over Chloe.
What if all this time they were slowly changing her to one of them, - and now they want her back? - She's not one of them.
Colonel.
What should we do? - Maybe we should power the weapons? - No, that won't work.
We've still got 44 minutes until the next jump.
We have to do something.
That was a warning shot.
We're getting another message.
It says if we don't comply, they'll destroy us.
They're bluffing.
They want Destiny more than anything.
- What's happening? - We're surrounded by alien ships.
They want us to hand over Chloe.
I suggest we shut down all non-essential systems, devote every scrap of power to the shields.
Let's do that.
Let's do it.
I don't think that's the response they were looking for.
It doesn't matter.
The shields are holding.
They don't have enough firepower.
We're going to make it to the jump.
We've got more ships incoming.
I'm now reading 15 ships total.
They're all firing.
I thought we agreed that they didn't want to destroy us! Not intentionally.
They'd have to collapse the shields in order to board the ship.
We have secondary explosions in the engineering area.
Power's overloading in the sublight drive.
It's going critical.
Emergency shutdown.
Now! It's too late.
- Colonel - Well, you wanted to be a shrink.
Now here's your chance.
What are you talking about? What's going on? I think I might be going insane.
You've been drinking.
That's not the problem.
That's just one of the symptoms.
No, what I'm saying is that maybe now's not the best time.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, I, uh I've been having this recurring dream, only it's more than a dream.
It's real.
It's about as real as it gets.
Okay.
What's it about? The aliens from the other galaxy, they catch up to us.
They surround the ship, and then they ask me to hand over Chloe.
And, now, the first time, I try to fight them off, the ship gets destroyed.
The second time, I go into a defensive shell, but the ship still gets destroyed.
Wait a minute.
Is that why you ordered Park and her team to resume work on the weapons grid? Because of this dream? Listen.
There's something else going on here.
I mean, this is like no dream I've ever had before.
I mean, I can feel the floor under my feet.
I can smell the sweat of the people around me, Camile.
Yeah, yeah.
It's a no-win scenario.
It seems like the only way out would be for you to do the one thing that you don't want to do.
I don't think it's that simple.
Have you even spoken to Chloe since you've confined her in her quarters? No.
Well, maybe that would be a good place to start.
Hey.
Wow, another visitor.
Hmm.
I've never been so popular.
Well, listen, you know, I'm sorry that I haven't come to see you before.
I've been busy.
Also, it's hard for me.
Because of what you might have to do.
You know, I I was feeling sorry for myself, being stuck in this room, but then I remembered how everyone looked at me when they found out I was still infected.
I think I'm better off in here.
Really? You know that the people on this ship care about you.
They're afraid of me.
I'm afraid of me.
Nobody's given up hope here.
I know.
But if there's no solution, if I keep changing, sooner or later, you won't have a choice.
Hey.
Sorry.
- So? - So, what? When are you gonna make a move? What are you talking about? Ginn.
The girl's into you.
And you know this from watching us work together for, what, two days? I knew after 10 minutes.
The girl loves math, Eli.
And if ever you were gonna have a chance with anyone, this is probably it.
Thanks.
Tell you what.
The next time we're together, I'll arrange to get called away.
Okay.
But don't make it too obvious.
Obvious is good.
Time to man up.
Colonel Young, come in.
Colonel Young, this is Brody in the Control Interface Room.
Please respond.
- What's happening? - We're surrounded by alien ships.
They want us to hand over Chloe.
I suggest shutting down all non-essential systems, devote every scrap of power to the shields.
No, that's not going to work.
More ships are coming.
Well, how could you possibly know that? If we power the weapons or the shields or provoke them in any way, they will open fire and destroy all of us.
So, what do we do? I guess it's time.
Colonel, this is Brody.
You were right.
Another half-dozen ships just dropped out of hyperspace.
- Are they sending over a shuttle? - It's on its way.
Dial back the shield strength over the hull breach.
- What did you do? - I didn't have a choice.
You son of a bitch! Lieutenant, no! No! Colonel, we've got a problem.
More alien shuttles are approaching.
A lot more.
Colonel Young, are you reading me? Colonel? This is Scott.
What's happening? This is Rush.
Power's down all over the ship, including shields.
We can't restore them.
Chloe must have discovered how and passed along the information.
Get down to the armory, break out every weapon we've got.
Organize defense teams.
We're about to be boarded.
Yes, sir.
We've got another hull breach near the infirmary! Fall back to my position! This is Rush.
We have to defend the Gate Room at all costs! There's too many! We can't hold them! Colonel? Hey.
Hey, what are you doing here? Picking up a batch Brody made for me.
Extra strong.
I use it for disinfectant.
You don't look so good.
Yeah, I know.
I guess it's that obvious, huh? Everett, what if I told you that the baby, our baby, is still alive? I mean, I don't know.
Why would Why would you do that? Because I saw her.
Because I held her in my arms and she's beautiful - T.
J.
- It's like nothing you can imagine.
We were on the planet where we left Caine and the others, and the aliens there, they said that they would take care of her.
Caine promised me.
- Then they sent me back here.
- You never left the ship.
I know Look, I know.
I know what it sounds like and that's why I didn't say anything before, because I knew that you would think I was crazy.
But I'm not.
I'm not crazy, and it wasn't a dream.
Why is it so hard to believe after everything that we've seen - since we've been here - Hey, listen to me! Just because you want something to be true it doesn't mean it is, T.
J.
Okay? Okay.
You listen to me.
I can see where you're going.
I know, because I almost went there.
I'm afraid that you won't come back.
I'm sorry.
That's weird.
What? The computer's using a ton of memory running a program I've never even seen before.
Maybe some kind of auto-diagnostic? I don't I have to ask.
What are all these pictures? Oh, those are stills from my movie.
My documentary.
I've been trying to keep a record of everything that's been happening to us, using the Kino.
Here.
Oh, see? Nobody wants to see this.
No, no, it's the little things that make all the difference.
Fine.
Ancient toilets.
Here we go.
Anyway, you get the idea.
Sergeant Greer, come in.
Go ahead.
There's a problem in the mess.
We need your assistance.
On my way.
- You're leaving? - Could take a while.
One second? Whoa, whoa.
Uh, I'm not so sure about this.
- You'll thank me later.
- But what am I supposed to say? The girl's from another planet.
I guess I'm supposed to tell you to be yourself, but in your case So my mom just left.
It was good to see her even though she was in Park's body.
Little weird.
Anyway I think it helped.
At least I hope so.
- Okay, I got this.
- You got this? - How long are you gonna be? - How long you gonna need? I'll take my time.
It's hard.
You know? I mean, I know that we're several billion light years apart and, well, that may never change But I I just need to know that she's still there.
You know 'Cause if she's not Then I don't have Sorry.
I didn't know that it was going to be anything that personal.
No, no, that's That's not your fault.
Real smooth, though, huh? A grown man crying about his mom? Suave.
I might as well just get Greer to come back.
What do you mean? Never mind.
Colonel? Colonel, are you in there? Yeah.
What do you need? Uh, the ship, it dropped out, but there's no gates in range.
Brody says we're just drifting.
Well, that doesn't sound so bad.
Except there's no countdown clock.
We have no idea how long it's going to last.
You figure it out.
Sir? Problems? Well, the ship doesn't drop out of FTL for no reason.
Unless you tell it to.
Yeah, well, this time, it wasn't me, and I can't find anything wrong with navigation or propulsion.
Maybe you need to look somewhere else.
As far as I can tell, there's nothing interfering with the normal operation of the FTL drive.
- The ship just doesn't want to go anywhere.
- What about a dial-in? Gate's quiet.
- Where's Young? - He's not feeling well.
- All right, what's new? - So far, we've got nothing.
What about you? Eli? Well, I've been working with that Lucian Alliance girl, Ginn? Actually, it's gone a little bit beyond just working together.
- I don't want to jinx it, but she's - Eli.
Anyway, we've been running a series of programs that were designed for modeling.
You know, simulation.
It was really sluggish.
And I couldn't figure out why.
And then I realized that the computer was running a simulation of its own.
What kind of simulation? I just figured that out now.
It's a battle scenario.
The Destiny drops out of FTL, and then it's immediately surrounded by alien ships.
It's run through several different variations, different scenarios, but it always ends badly.
Oh, my God.
Are you talking about the aliens from the other galaxy, the ones that took Chloe and Rush? Yeah, same guys.
Camile, what is it? - A battle simulation.
- Exactly.
Extremely complex, modeled down to the last detail, and always with an unfortunate result.
Well, it's interesting, but what's it got to do with the ship dropping out? Look closer.
Something about this program is overriding normal operations.
Which leaves only one question.
Why? Okay, so you're telling me the ship is affecting the Colonel's dreams? It's the only explanation.
It's not impossible.
Brain waves are just electrical impulses, so theoretically, they could be manipulated, if you knew how.
Maybe it's Destiny's way of warning us.
What if it knows the aliens are coming? No, there's no way they could have followed us.
No, I told you already.
I don't remember anything about the blackouts.
Look, I need you to think, Chloe.
This is very important.
When James was under the influence of those aliens, she managed to send them some kind of a signal.
Is it possible you could have done the same thing? I don't remember.
Eli, this is Scott.
Prep the weapons.
Bypass any batteries that aren't 100%, devote the remaining power to the rest.
Shut down all non-essential systems and put everything you can into the shields.
Understood.
Going on patrol in teams of three.
Lieutenant James, here, has your assignments.
Now, if they do come, it is a pretty safe bet they are going to try and board this ship.
Makes us the last line of defense.
Any questions? All right.
Dismissed.
Okay, let's go.
Camile, I need you to organize the civilians.
I want everyone in designated areas till further notice.
There's something else we need to talk about.
- Can it wait? - No.
I know what you're going to say.
- Where is he? - I can handle this.
Well, that's the point.
You can.
Evidently he can't.
You have to assume command officially.
I can't do that.
Well, what if this is a test? These dreams the Colonel's been having.
- A test of his emotional stability.
- A test he's failing.
Where is this coming from? Think about it.
What is the Colonel doing right now? He's locked himself away.
He's shut down.
And at the exact same time, the ship came to a dead stop, and now we're floating aimlessly in empty space.
Destiny is beginning to understand us.
Who we are, what makes us tick.
What, you're telling me the ship wants me to replace him? No, no.
It's not as if it has desires or emotions.
It has no personality.
But it is capable of analyzing all manner of sensory input.
It knows we're here.
It's beginning to understand what effect we might be having.
Why not one of you? Well, we've been down that road before.
None too successful.
I thought this was about aliens.
I thought this was a warning to prepare us for an attack.
Either way, a warning, a test, we need a strong leader right now.
I don't like it anymore than you do, but I don't think you have a choice.
Colonel? Colonel, I'm not going away till you open this door! I brought you some tea.
It's really strong stuff, closest thing to coffee we had.
Oh, thanks, Lieutenant.
I'll pass on the tea.
Sir, we have a situation here.
You need to clean yourself up and get back out there.
What are you doing? Are you giving me an order, Lieutenant? Sir, these dreams you're having.
The battle scenario.
It's the ship.
It's affecting your brain waves.
It's a simulation.
It's a simulation? What does that even mean? Eli found the program.
It is the exact same thing you described to Camile.
It can't be a coincidence.
Boy, I guess the ship has some sense of humor.
Yeah.
She thinks your reaction, the fact that you've Well, you've given up, it's the reason why we have dropped out, why we are stuck out here in the middle of nowhere.
Now, if you pull yourself together, you start acting like a real commander, maybe we can get going again.
Or maybe that's just Destiny's way of telling me that I need to be replaced.
That's what Rush said.
- Is that what Rush said? - But I'm not going to do that.
Are you in love with Chloe? It's a simple question.
Do you love her? - Yes.
- Yes.
So how are you going to feel when I have to drop her off this ship, put her on some rock, and you know it's coming.
She knows it's coming, we all know it's coming, but I got to do it.
You still going to look up to me then.
You still going to think, "Hey!" Tell everyone what a great commander I am? Are you, Lieutenant? Don't Don't do this.
I'm sorry that you didn't have a father growing up, but I didn't volunteer for that either.
There you go.
Now we're talking.
Hit me.
Hit me! No one asked for this, but you are the commanding officer.
You don't get to feel sorry for yourself.
And if you don't like it, too bad.
I killed Riley.
- That wasn't your fault.
- I know it wasn't my fault.
No, he knew it.
That's He didn't want to die alone.
That's why he asked me.
But I killed him.
I suffocated him with my own hands.
On top of everything else, it's just You know, it adds up.
I need you to leave.
Look, you're right.
I couldn't do it, live with the burden every day.
That is not me or T.
J.
, or Camile.
- Rush could do it.
- For Rush, it wouldn't be a burden.
That is why we need you, because you feel it.
But not so much you can't get up and do it all over again the next day.
Really? You sure? You sure about that, Lieutenant? A real leader, a good commander, is not so callous that he stops caring, just enough so he can keep on going.
And we both know you are a good commander.
It is never going to stop hurting.
That's the whole point.
For the sake of everyone on this ship you are going to have to live with it.
But we've got five down by the mess.
So if we take Mr.
Brody, what's our status? Well, uh, still no sign of the aliens.
The ship's main weapon is online, and we've diverted as much power as we can to the shields.
Sir, we have all available military personnel patrolling the gaps between the active weapons batteries, but it's a lot of real estate.
We could go to two-man teams, cover a little more ground, but we'd be stretching ourselves pretty thin.
Well, let's do it.
If there is a breach, I would rather be on it fast with a little less firepower than the other way around.
Also, let's break out whatever spare ordinance we have from the Lucian Alliance and arm as many civilians as possible.
- Well, they don't have a lot of training.
- I'll command them myself.
We'll stick to defensive positions between here and the Gate Room.
They'll be fine.
Yes, sir.
Anything else? We just jumped.
We're back in FTL.
It's good to have you back, sir.
Hey, I'm happy as the next guy that we're back on track.
I'm just saying that I'm not so comfortable knowing that Destiny can get in our heads like that.
I don't want to start second-guessing my own dreams.
Well, what have you been dreaming about? That's not the point.
At least now we know once and for all that we got the right man in command.
I mean, you were there.
Tell them.
Young showed up, started giving orders, and the ship just went.
If someone has a better explanation, I'd like to hear it.
- Congratulations.
- Don't feel much like talking right now.
You managed to bypass the simulation and get the ship going.
Well, what choice did I have? Lieutenant Scott wasn't going to step up.
I couldn't leave us just sitting there.
But you haven't solved the problem, and yet you're pressing ahead.
Isn't that a little dangerous? Destiny was evaluating Colonel Young's ability to command the crew.
But ultimately, I control the ship.
- And the aliens? - They were never a threat.
If Chloe had managed to send a signal telling them our position, it would have logged on that screen right there.
Maybe But just because one threat is behind you, doesn't mean there isn't another ahead.

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