Stargate: Atlantis s02e09 Episode Script

May I join you? It's called Chess.
It's a game.
They've been sitting there like that since I sat down.
Those two? They play every single day.
Neither one of them's even blinked yet.
Well, it's not really a game of action.
I can see that.
It's all about strategy.
He's planning his next move and the move after that and the move after that.
I guess you do a lot of that around here.
Yes we do.
I take it that's not how you prefer to do things.
No.
I'm leaving.
Hey! Ronon, wait.
Just because we do things differently, doesn't mean we can't learn from each other.
And Colonel Sheppard has already invested an incredible amount of time and energy trying to make you an intregal part of his team.
I meant I'm leaving the table.
- Is that OK? - Yes of course.
I'm sorry.
- I thought that - Dr Weir? Rodney, what is it? Something you should see here.
I'm on my way.
I'm leaving too.
OK.
OK What is it? That is the signature of an Ancient ship called the Aurora.
With a ZPM now powering the city, we've been reactivating dormant systems.
That one tracked the location of Ancient ships during the war.
A warship? See, look at his eyes, all lighting up again.
It's Pavlovian.
I crosschecked the logs.
They were on a reconnaissance mission.
When we activated the ZPM, the city must have sent out some kind of automated subspace beacon, recalling ships back to Atlantis.
How long before it gets here? Well, given that it's at the edge of the Pegasus Galaxy Let's see, carry the four Forty-two million years.
Shall we go wait on the porch? So we take a Jumper through the nearest Stargate and check it out.
Clever, but wrong.
There are no nearby Stargates.
Not within Jumper distance, no.
Which leaves us only one way to get there.
Please don't force me to remind you that I do - have discretionary power to utilize the Daedalus.
.
- I'm well aware of the extent of your powers, Dr Weir.
and they end at the hatch of this ship! - Colonel, do we have to.
.
? - Relax Dr, I happen to agree.
The value of an Ancient warship in our hands, instead of the Wraith, is more than enough incentive for me.
Good.
Colonel Sheppard's team is ready to go.
No, my crew can handle this.
My team is far more experienced with Ancient technology.
My people will only get that kind of experience by going on this kind of a mission.
Not this mission.
We discovered it.
We check it out.
Your crew can cut their teeth on something else.
Fine! Have Colonel Sheppard's team ready to go in an hour.
They're ready now.
Season 2 - Episode 9 Aurora We should have visual soon.
Sir! Detecting a second ship.
Move! Looks like a small Wraith vessel.
Dart? No, bigger.
Some sort of a scout ship, probably after the same thing we are.
It's altering course.
Coming straight at us.
Must have seen us drop out of hyperspace.
Weapons range? Five seconds.
Target is locked! Fire! Target is destroyed.
All these years and just now the Wraith find this ship? All these years, the Aurora lay dormant.
The signal from Atlantis woke it up, making it visible to the Wraith as well as us.
Is that it? Looks like it was in a hell of a fight.
And lost.
Life support? Negative Sir.
Looks like you're gonna have to suit up, Colonel.
On our way.
Should be just outside the bridge.
You mean what used to be the bridge.
Colonel Sheppard? Stasis pods.
They're still powered up.
Stasis? We found a similar pod in Atlantis.
It keeps a person alive for many years in a type of frozen hibernation.
Yeah, if you call that living.
This one's uniform is different from the others.
- Maybe the Captain? - Or his Maitre D.
Lifesign indicators are active.
These capsules must have some kind of a shielding.
That's why the Daedalus' sensors were unable to pick them up.
Look at all of them.
That's just on this deck.
Who knows how many more there are on the rest of the ship? Look, our time in these suits is limited.
Can you get life support up and running? I'm on it.
They're all alive? The entire crew? Well They're in a kind of suspended animation.
Not entirely suspended, however.
The pod has slowed their ageing considerably, but the bodies are virtually moribund.
Teyla and Ronon are searching the rest of the ship.
My guess is, there's hundreds.
Is there anything we can do for them? Well, reviving them's out of the question.
Look, the pod's the only thing keeping them alive! What are we gonna do with them then? Wait.
What? There's something going on! This pod is magnetically shielded! I'm reading cortical signals.
Which means? The pod's equipped with a neural interface.
It's indicating a definite brain activity, as though he were perfectly conscious.
If all of these pods are interconnected, it's highly possible that these people, are in fact, communicating with each other.
This has been going on for ten thousand years? Possibly.
It's a way of keeping their minds occupied until they were rescued.
One long conversation.
Yeah well, more likely, the interface was reactivated when the recall beacon from Atlantis was received.
Either way, the neural feedback loop is incredibly active.
Any way to figure out what they're saying? Yes of course, it says right here! 'Why is the smart one having to stop and answer so many questions?' It's a fair question, Doctor.
Of course it is! Being able to communicate with a living Ancient is the opportunity of a lifetime! But this system is a highly complex system, which I will have - Wait a minute! - What? Answering your question.
Teyla! Found any more of the pods? Yes, many.
And there are many more decks we have yet to search.
Are any of the pods empty? A few.
Perfect.
You sure this is such a good idea? What's the matter, Colonel? Don't trust me? No.
Fine! You're proposing actually freezing yourself in one of those things? I should be able to tap into the neural network without actually initialising stasis.
Look, it won't take long.
I'll be in and out.
The quickest way to figure out what is going on in there is to to tap into the system and communicate directly with the Captain! Need I remind you of the obvious value in this? But is it safe? Would I be volunteering to go if it wasn't? No.
Which is exactly what makes it safe enough for me to go.
What? Better to have you on the outside, in case something goes wrong.
- It won't! - But if it does.
- It won't! How many times do I have to say this? - Rodney.
Between the two of you, if something were to go wrong which would be the greater loss? Well I've never thought of it that way, but she's right! You should go.
Now, remember.
The system creates a direct feedback loop between the processor and your brainwaves, so, when you wanna disconnect, you'll need to well, really concentrate.
You mean, think it.
Well I think it'll probably take a little bit more than that, otherwise you'd be popping in and out of the thing, every time it crossed your mind.
So, there's no place like home? If that works for you.
Now, I should be able to monitor your EEG patterns, so in the highly unlikely event that something anomalous should present itself, I should be able to - disconnect you manually.
- Good! Without permanent brain damage.
Rodney? Well, the opportunity to speak to a living Ancient is worth the risk? Now, when I close the lid, the pod system should activate.
Ready? I was.
Good.
This is weird.
Who are you? Lt Colonel John Sheppard.
- Part of an expedition - This deck is restricted.
How did you get in here? My team discovered your ship.
Your crew was in a stasis pod.
- We decided to tap in - Stay where you are.
Security to engineering deck! - You don't need to call security.
- Stay where you are.
The hyperdrive construct modifications are commencing Sir.
Make certain the equations are entered in the correct sequence.
We don't wanna overload the control conduit.
Yes Sir.
Is this him? Yes Sir.
You wear the uniform of my crew, but I don't know you.
My name's Lt Col John Sheppard.
We discovered your ship.
We found you and your crew in the stasis pods.
We decided to tap into the system, in order to communicate with you.
System? This! This virtual reality.
You do know this is kinda, simulated? Is there some place more private we can talk? It's not exactly what I meant by private.
I wanna know who you are and how you got aboard this ship.
I told you.
My name's Col John Sheppard.
- Part of an expedition - What expedition? Let me bottom line this for you.
We came from Atlantis.
Except it's not quite the Atlantis you remember.
Ten thousand years have gone by since you left.
Look, I know all this sounds strange, but I'm telling you the truth.
Right now, you're all in your stasis pods, aboard Aurora.
The ship's been derelict for centuries.
None of this is real.
I expected you to know that.
You don't have time to bother with this nonsense.
The hyperdrive modifications are much more pressing, Sir.
What kind of hyperdrive modifications? We're attempting to modify our propulsion, in order to return to Atlantis as quickly as possible.
Then we'll see if you're speaking the truth.
Oh, look.
The Atlantis you know doesn't exist anymore.
During the war with the Wraith, the city was evacuated back to Earth.
- Evacuated? Why would we do that? - Sir.
- The war was lost.
- Nothing is lost.
Not yet! I have vital information concerning a weakness in Wraith technology and when I deliver the communiqué in my possession, - the tide will most certainly turn in our favour.
- That's right.
The Atlantis mission log said you were on a recon mission.
What, what, what kind of weakness are we talking about? - That information is reserved for the council.
- There is no council anymore! - Sir, we must return to the bridge.
- Wai.
.
wait! According to the logs, the Aurora left Lantian space during the Siege.
That means the city had already been sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
You're wondering, how could I know that? Yes.
Because that's where it was when we found it! We're wasting time, Sir.
You need to attend to the hyperdrive.
Wait! The information in that communiqué, could still be incredibly valuable to us! So? - It worked.
- Well of course it worked! Ah, for a minute, I thought I was gonna get stuck there.
Where's Teyla and Ronon? Well, Caldwell sent them to search the ship's armoury.
- Yeah? - No.
Unfortunately it was depleted of drones.
Look, so, what happened? Were you able to communicate with the Captain? Face to face, pretty impressive in there and they have a whole virtual reality thing going on.
- Actually, the correct term is virtual environment.
- Yeah, whatever.
- So, what did you find out? - For starters, I have to go back.
What do you mean you have to go back? The Aurora was on a recon mission.
The Captain was carrying a communiqué back to Atlantis.
In it, is vital information about a weakness in Wraith technology.
What kind of weakness? Well, that's why I have to go back.
He didn't tell me.
He's trying to modify the hyperdrives, in order to get back to Atlantis faster, to deliver it.
Well, did you mention that that's impossible, given that they're living in a virtual environment? No, Rodney, that slipped my mind.
Well, I would have thought that would have been the first thing - Of course I mentioned it! They don't remember putting themselves in stasis.
Consequently, they had no idea who I was or how I got there.
Well why would the pods do that? That's a good question and another reason I should go back.
What do you think, Colonel? Go! Hello! Anybody there? Hi.
I really need to talk to the Captain.
Why? Tell him I'm ready to make a full confession.
Dr McKay? Go ahead.
Long range sensors have just detected two Wraith Cruisers heading this way.
No doubt coming to investigate why their scout ship was destroyed earlier.
What's their ETA? A little over an hour and I plan on being long gone by then.
What's the status there? I've been able to decipher some more of the program.
I'm actually reading neural tracking signatures of the entire crew as they make their way through the I meant Colonel Sheppard's status? Oh him! Yeah well, he's, he's still in the pod.
Understood.
Just be aware of the time constraints with the Wraith ships approaching.
We can't risk being discovered.
Yes Ticking clock.
Anything else? If he's not out of there in thirty minutes, disconnect him manually.
Right.
- Where's the Captain? - He's got more pressing concerns at the moment.
He sent me in his stead.
I was told you were ready to make a full confession? Yeah, well, no.
Actually, I just wanted to talk to him to try to convince him that we're on the same side.
Perhaps you would have more success if your story were not so preposterous.
It's not preposterous.
- You say you're from Atlantis.
- Yes.
And yet you also say that Atlantis has been evacuated.
Yes.
Well, it was.
- Look, we just discovered it last year.
- You discovered it.
We came from Earth.
We found the city deserted.
We set a base.
Been living there ever since.
That's how we found you.
We saw the Aurora on one of the city's long range sensors.
Even after all these years, the Wraith are still causing a lot of problems.
We managed to hold them off for now, but we could sure use that information about the weakness in their technology.
- Only the Captain has access to the communiqué.
- Well then, let me talk to him.
I can deliver the message myself.
The quicker it gets back to Atlantis, the better for all of us.
- You seem sincere.
- Yes, I am.
Very sincere.
I would be very, very grateful.
I'll speak to him for you.
More of the same! I am counting.
I do not want to lose my place.
I counted 376.
No wait! 398.
I forgot about the infirmary.
There's 22 in there.
Or is it 23? Sorry.
Where did she come from? Oh no.
Dr McKay? Still here.
There's something you need to see.
We are two decks directly below you.
Can't it wait? No! Guard! - I need to talk to the First Officer.
- She gave orders not to be disturbed.
It's okay! She said she was going to talk to the Captain for me.
It's been a while, so.
She also gave orders to ignore everything you say.
Then why are you talking to me right now? I need to see the Captain! Alright.
That should be enough time.
Give me this thing.
I really don't like being ignored.
- What is it? - Have a look.
This is Wraith gear and it's recently installed.
There's a reason for that.
Are there any more? Well it's hard to say, since you plucked us out of there the second you heard.
Ronon and I have searched the ship.
I am certain there is only one.
The Wraith tied into the same neural feedback loop as the crew and Colonel Sheppard.
And by the looks of it, they must have found Aurora a long time ago.
Certainly long enough to figure out how to access and reconfigure the system.
Given their apparent psychic abilities, is it possible the Wraith ships on the way are in communication with the Wraith aboard the Aurora? No.
They need to be closer.
She's right.
We've already determined that the range of the Wraith psychic ability is limited.
So we can't risk those ships getting within that range.
- I say we go back and kill it, right now.
- I agree.
Stop! Let's not get all trigger happy.
We have no idea how much of the system this Wraith is manipulating! We need to figure out what is going on, before we start shooting things! - For all we know, that could kill Sheppard.
- What's he still doing there? He can come out any time he wants.
There must be a good reason.
Knowing Sheppard, he wouldn't leave without getting that information from the Communiqué.
I still don't like it.
The Wraith cannot physically harm him in there, can it? No I don't think so.
I don't know, but what I do know is, I should get back in there and learn what this Wraith is doing.
You've got fifteen minutes to figure it out, Doctor.
Fifteen? Where do you people come up with these arbitrary numbers? That's the time you've got to learn what you need to, Doctor.
Why? Because I intend to destroy the Aurora before those Wraith ships get here.
OK.
Hi.
Me again.
Wait, wait, please.
Just listen.
I'm not here to hurt anyone.
I wanna help you.
Help all of us.
I know all this sounds strange, but just give me a chance to prove that what I am saying - Are you alright, Sir? - Yes, I'm fine.
Take him back to the brig.
He escaped only moments ago.
I'll see to it he doesn't disturb you again.
What if he is telling the truth? Do you not sense it, too, that something is wrong? You're exhausted Sir.
True.
I am in need of rest.
Even more so, than my crew.
Rest is a luxury we cannot afford, Sir.
The Aurora is a fine ship, but she was never built for speed.
Without the drive modifications, it'll take months to return to Atlantis.
If we are to use this new intelligence to our advantage, we need to reach the city within days.
Then there'll be time for rest.
Yes Sir.
What is wrong? - Delta waves? - What are they? Dr McKay.
Are you ready to be beam aboard? It hasn't even been five minutes! Dr McKay has discovered a problem.
What kind of a problem? Colonel Sheppard's EEG frequencies are decreasing.
I'm reading delta waves, which indicate that he's unconscious within the virtual environment.
I'm not sure how it happened, but something is definitely wrong in there.
Even more reason to pull him out.
That would be a mistake! Look, additional data I've been able to decipher from the Wraith's biometric receiver, shows significant manipulation of the feedback loop.
Something we were clearly not aware of when Sheppard went in.
We were also clearly not aware that two Wraith Cruisers approaching.
Colonel! This Wraith is controlling the program, which means it might have booby-trapped it as well.
We're talking about Sheppard's life here! And I'm talking about the lives of not only every person aboard this ship, but every person in Atlantis, when the Wraith find out it wasn't destroyed.
I'm well aware of what's at stake here, Doctor.
Get him out of that pod, or my men will.
Caldwell out.
I'm going in.
Look, stall Caldwell.
Buy me some time.
Just a few minutes at the most.
What if you are unable to disconnect? Caldwell's gonna blow that ship, whether you're in there or not.
You see, the thing is, Colonel Sheppard and I have sort of gotten into this habit of saving each others lives, and it's my turn.
It could be your turn next.
Look, hit this to manually disconnnect me.
If I do not regain consciousness, go ahead and open Colonel Sheppard's pod.
Have us beamed directly to Daedalus and make sure they have a medical team waiting.
Are you sure you wanna do this? I'm sure I don't.
OK.
Alright.
There's more than enough air in there.
Alright.
Course there is.
The crew's been sealed inside these things for thousands of years.
- Are you alright? - Yeah.
It's just my claustrophobia.
I'll be fine.
I hope.
Now, the system should engage, once you send me in.
- Alright.
- Right.
- So, send me in? - Oh yes! - Good luck.
- Right.
Where are you taking me? I have told you, I am with Colonel Sheppard! I'm a member of his team.
Colonel John Sheppard? He's about, he's about so high.
He has brown hair, a bit mushed.
The term is rakish? Ah for McKay! What are you doing in there? I was about to ask you the same thing.
I, I came to help you.
I feel better already.
Kept alive only by life support? I couldn't live that way.
Neither could I.
Dr McKay, what's your status? Dr McKay is not here.
What? He had to He had to check something on the Wraith pod.
Yes.
The Wraith pod.
He had to check the biometrics receiver, needed to reconfirm the frequencies of the neural feedback loop.
Why isn't he on his radio? Well actually, we have been having trouble reaching him ourselves.
I think it might have something to do with interference from the magnetic shielding of the pods.
Yes, shielding.
Ronon was just about to go and check on him.
See what is taking him so long.
Alright, go get him.
Light a fire under him.
Right away.
I want a status report as soon as his radio's working.
Caldwell out.
Nice stalling! Have you been unable to disconnect yourself from the system? No.
I'm still trying to get the information on that communiqué.
Oh good.
We thought maybe it was preventing your from exiting the program.
It? We found a Wraith in one of the stasis pods.
It's manipulating the neural feedback program.
- Your EEG patterns were irregular - You're not kidding.
I got stun.
I didn't wanna risk pulling you out till I knew more.
First Officer.
What about him? Her! She's a Wraith, she has to be.
There's something odd about her and she keeps preventing me from talking to the Captain.
The Wraith we found was male.
The First Officer must have been female.
It took her place.
She knows I want that information and the Captain's the only one with access to it.
No, we don't need the Captain.
I've been able to decipher enough of the program to override the protocols.
All I have to do is get to a terminal within the virtual environment and I should be able to access any file stored within the database.
So we just need to break out of here.
Hold that thought.
What's happening? Give me the tablet.
The data device right here! Right here.
Thank you.
That's it.
Just keep stalling.
Keep stalling.
- Hi! - Hi.
Nice.
It should be the next hallway.
That's her.
- That's the Wraith? - Yeah.
She's hot! I mean, seriously hot! Rodney, you're drooling over a Wraith.
I know.
I disgust myself sometimes.
Where are Dr McKay and Colonel Sheppard? Why'd you beam us back? Because I was about to fire a missile into the side of that ship.
They're in the pods.
They're both in pods, now? Yes.
Dr McKay went in to see if the Wraith was preventing Colonel Sheppard from disengaging from the system.
I want a team assembled, ready to beam aboard the Aurora to disconnect Dr McKay and Colonel Sheppard.
No, wait! Please.
Just a few more minutes.
ETA on the Wraith ships? Eleven minutes out.
I am certain he will be out by then.
And if he is successful, he will know if it is safe to disconnect Colonel Sheppard.
And if he's not out by then? Then we'll disconnect them both.
It would be wise to have a medical team standing by for both of them.
Alert the infirmary.
I want a medical team standing by.
The communiqué's been erased.
Why would the Wraith do that? All it say's right here.
I, the Wraith, delete this important information to keep you from seeing it.
Obviously he did it to keep us from seeing it, but why didn't it end the damn program? What's the point of continuing? Oh no! What? You said they were trying to modify the hyperdrive.
So they can get back to Atlantis faster.
Well, according to the Atlantis database, there are two different types of Ancient hyperdrives.
There's the more basic interstellar kind, like the one the Aurora has and then there's the more powerful intergalactic kind.
Similar to the one the Asgard provided us for the Daedalus.
Why would the Wraith wanna soup up the Aurora's hyperdrive? Because the Wraith hyperdrives are nowhere near as advanced as the Ancient hyperdrives.
God, with all the technology the Captain is feeding her right now She'll learn how to modify the Wraith hyperdrives from interstellar to intergalactic.
Which means they'll make it as far as Earth.
That's what this whole thing is about.
Their new feeding ground.
And this is just step one.
Even if she doesn't have all the information she needs, we need to stop her from sending what she's learned so far, to the Wraith ships that are on the way.
There are Wraith ships on the way? I'm, I'm sure I mentioned that.
No you didn't.
Well it, it, it, it threw me when she was so hot.
How many ships? It's two Cruisers.
Can you disconnect her? Him.
Not from the inside, no.
I should be able to disable the pod interface from the outside.
Then why didn't you? Because I didn't know what that would do to you.
Well that's very thoughtful of you, but now she knows all about Atlantis.
You told her? Why? Because I was trying to convince them that Just go and unplug the Wraith, while I talk to the Captain.
The communiqué is blank! Yeah, but he might still have some intel about the Wraith weakness.
Now Rodney, is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Only that Caldwell is probably going to destroy this ship at any moment.
Go! Going! Teyla! Ronon? Oh, I don't believe it.
Two minutes in the pod, I'm abandoned.
Come on.
Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go.
Right.
OK.
Come on, McKay! Hyperdrive modification commands have been successfully entered.
Auxillary power is now online.
Very good.
Prepare to engage drive.
Stop! Your First Officer's a Wraith.
She's using you.
Security to the bridge.
She gained access to the virtual environment, by killing your First Officer and taking her place.
She's getting you to modify your hyperdrives, so she can upgrade the Wraith hyperdrives.
Don't listen to him.
They need to modify their hyperdrives to make it to my planet, Earth and I'd prefer she not do that.
This is nonsense.
I'm telling you she's Wraith.
Officer Trevell has served with me for many years.
- I can't possibly believe that she - Sir, with your permission I'd like to Come on! Disable! I hope that was proof enough.
Oh no! Come on, come on! All this time, I thought we had evaded the enemy.
Instead, I've been unwittingly assisting them.
No Sir, she didn't succeed and if you tell me the information in the communiqué, we may be able to defeat the Wraith once and for all.
The information is in the ships computer.
I can give you my access codes.
We checked, it's all been erased.
Can't you tell me yourself? No.
I'm afraid I was never made aware of it's contents, Colonel Sheppard.
The Council feared the possibility of our capture was too great.
The information in that communiqué is gone.
Even in stasis, our physical bodies must be Very old.
Too old.
My crew deserves to know.
Yes they do.
And I'd love to give you all the time in the world for that, but right now, there are two Wraith ships on the way.
We long for nothing more than returning to Atlantis.
To raise a toast to home and victory.
We may not return home, but we will do whatever we can to ensure that victory.
For that I will need your help.
Well it's about damned time! What'd you do, play a round of golf? We've got serious problems! What happened? Get down! That happened! Not so hot now.
My ships are coming.
They will retrieve what I have learned.
Earth will soon be ours.
Not if I can help it.
Colonel Sheppard, we're reading two lifesigns.
I hope that means what I think it means.
Give me one more minute.
We're out of time, Sheppard.
The Wraith ships are almost here.
One damned minute and I can take care of that problem.
Wraith Cruisers just dropped out of hyperspace, Sir.
They're aware of us.
Battle stations! Looks like we're gonna have to fight these guys.
Bring main rail guns online.
Daedalus, this is Sheppard.
We're ready.
Beam them directly onto the bridge.
Targets are in range.
Sir, we need to get outta here.
No, we need to eliminate those cruisers.
The information No, no, we need to get far away.
What? The Captain gave me Aurora's self destruct code.
He assures me that it'll take care of the Wraith ships too, but we have to get clear.
Bring sublight engines to military thrust.
Military thrust.
I have never been more proud than I am at this moment.
It has been an honour serving with you.
And although we may not return to Atlantis, rest assured that the Aurora will be remembered.
We monitored all transmissions from the Wraith Cruisers prior to the explosion.
They never got a chance to board the Aurora or upload any of the Ancient information.
Both Cruisers were destroyed in the explosion.
It's too bad you weren't able to figure out the Wraith weakness.
At least we found out they had one.
Good work.
Thank you, everyone.
Before we break up the party, there's something I'd like to do.
It might seem a little strange, but I promised to do something when we got home.
To the crew of the Aurora.