Stargate SG-1 s04e09 Episode Script

Scorched Earth

Hundreds of villages|like this one have paused .
.
to celebrate the transportation|of our people to this great new land.
We are especially honoured today .
.
by the presence of those responsible|for finding this planet for us .
.
and saving us from certain doom.
How can we ever repay them? By not boring them with|long speeches, Hedrazar.
I meant what I said.
- You are all heroes to my people.
|- It was our pleasure.
When my grandchild arrives, .
.
it will be the first Enkaran|to be born in our new homeland.
We will name the child after you, Colonel.
Eliam, it's getting cold.
It seems to be getting colder|since you last visited.
Our atmospheric-monitoring|equipment is indicating that.
We only had a short time|to assess the conditions, .
.
but it appears you may be in for|a more severe winter than we predicted.
We are a hearty people.
We will survive.
The naqahdah reactor|should provide enough energy .
.
to heat your new city for a year.
Well, you've certainly|accomplished a lot already.
And it has only been|but one cycle of the moon.
Come back in a year and you|will find this planet transformed.
Help! Help me, please! - What is it?|- It is Caleb.
He comes from the west.
It's so big.
It destroyed our whole village!|You must all flee! What are you talking about?|Caleb, catch your breath.
- It comes this way.
|- What does? You must see it.
There.
Whoa.
What is it? We estimate the ship to be|about two miles in diameter.
The curtain of energy it's using to sweep|the landscape stretches for over 20 miles.
It seems to be depositing|an unknown gas-like substance .
.
that is spreading|like a wake behind the ship.
It extends beyond the range of the UAV,|but it appears to cover hundreds of miles.
Teal'c hasn't seen the technology before.
We're waiting for the analysis|of the atmospheric samples, .
.
but you can see the damage being done.
There don't appear to be any|recognisable markings on the ship.
It would appear that|whoever's in control .
.
doesn't have the intention|of attacking the Enkarans.
Why do you say that? It just seems it would be|a more direct approach.
- What difference does it make?|- The colonel is right.
Based on the ship's speed, I estimate it'll|take 26 hours to reach Hedrazar's village.
But it'll take out the Stargate first.
- Can we evacuate the Enkarans in time?|- Teal'c's preppin' 'em right now.
The concern is where to send them.
Even low levels of radiation|can cause the Enkarans to go blind.
Without the density of ozone on|this particular planet, they'll all die.
The only planet with similar|conditions is their home world.
According to Enkaran verbal history,|there's no Stargate there.
The Goa'uld kidnapped|their ancestors with ships.
Even if we had transport,|the Enkarans of today .
.
would have no concept|of where that planet is.
I'll put SG-5, 6 and 9 out|looking for another suitable planet.
It's doubtful they'll find one in time, sir.
How long can we keep the Enkarans|here on Earth in the meantime? A matter of days.
Their condition would|degrade the longer they were here.
There are thousands of them outside|Hedrazar's village, spread a fair distance.
It took us two weeks to transplant them|to P5S-381 in the first place.
The point is, General,|we could never save them all.
Hey.
Whaddaya got? The atmosphere in the wake of the ship .
.
shows a high incidence|of sulphur dioxide.
- Chemical warfare?|- I don't think so, sir.
Take a look at this.
Oh, yeah.
Little fuzzy orange things.
- They're microbes, sir.
|- Ah.
The alien ship is depositing them|on the planet surface.
As near as I can tell, they bond with|sulphur leeched out of the soil, .
.
and when they decay|they release sulphur dioxide.
So the big, mean alien ship|is trying to stink up the planet? It's a bit more than that.
The microbes are only deposited after|all native organisms have been destroyed.
I think they're meant to replace them.
If I'm correct, we're looking at the first|building blocks of an alien ecosystem.
It's a terraformer? It's changing the environment to support|an entirely different kind of life.
An organic system based|on sulphur instead of carbon.
If it's allowed to continue,|the whole planet will be remade? All I know is that the atmosphere|on the other side of that energy curtain .
.
will not support life as we know it.
- What's goin' on?|- They do not wish to leave, O'Neill.
- Teal'c says you don't wanna go.
|- If we go with you to Earth .
.
and you cannot find another world on|which we could live, we will die there.
- Give us a chance.
|- Is there time to take every Enkaran? No.
- We cannot leave our people behind.
|- Look, I understand how you feel Generations ago our ancestors were|kidnapped from their home world .
.
and taken away in giant ships.
Since then we have all prayed|for a place that we could call home.
- Thanks to you, we have found it.
|- We must stay here and fight for it.
- With what?|- Have you not weapons to aid us? We're gonna try to communicate|with whoever's on that ship first.
- Clearly they intend to destroy us.
|- We don't know anything for sure.
I know that if the Enkaran people are to|die, then we shall all die here, together.
Transmitter's operational.
|Let's hope we get a bite.
Think a well-placed stinger|would do some damage? We have no way of knowing|what the ship's made of, sir.
- Or if it possesses shield technology.
|- Ah, just fantasising.
Any intelligence capable of engineering|that thing has to be capable of reason.
The question is, will they listen? No, the real question is|will they have ears? Somebody heard something.
It appears to be a storage|facility of some kind.
I'm going to assume|we're on board that ship.
It's strange.
The aliens|went to so much trouble .
.
to change the atmosphere of the planet,|yet the air in here is perfectly breathable.
They were expecting us.
- Carter?|- Sir? Should we really be opening|drawers and things? What did I just say? Sorry.
Looks like some kind of tissue sample.
- Of what?|- I'm not sure.
Ship's terraforming the planet, right? What if these are the life forms|it's creating the environment for? - Recreating an entire civilisation.
|- Millions of samples So every one of|these things is a what? - Plant, animal, insect|- Alien? - Who knows?|- It's still just a guess.
(man) A good one.
I am Lotan.
You need not fear me.
Yeah.
Listen,|what's goin' on around here? I have been assembled in order|to facilitate communication .
.
between this "ship",|as you call it, and yourselves.
Assembled? I am a biomechanical representation|of the beings now occupying this planet.
When they were encountered,|several Enkarans were scanned.
A randomised but similar|appearance was selected.
Wait a second.
That was yesterday.
The ship analysed a new life form|and created a replicant in one day? Yes.
Fascinating design.
I suppose that explains|why you look like an Enkaran.
Sort of.
- You are not.
|- No, we're from a planet called Earth.
Major Samantha Carter.
Daniel Jackson.
|This is Jack O'Neill and this is Teal'c.
Actually, we're friends of the people|your ship seems bent on wiping out.
Yes, that is unfortunate.
I was created to deliver|a message to them.
However, by the time I was completed, the Enkarans seemed|to have disappeared.
Yeah, see, that's called "running away".
What one does|to avoid being slaughtered.
There are still quite a few|Enkarans living on the planet.
Since you are friends of the Enkarans,|would you deliver the message to them? That would depend.
When the transformation|process was begun, .
.
there were no|sentient life forms present.
- Yeah, well, there are now.
|- Yes.
Unfortunately, once the process|has begun, it must be completed.
Someone went to the trouble of making|you, just to say "Tough luck, get out"? We wish no harm|to come to the Enkarans.
However, examination of|their physiology has determined .
.
that they cannot exist|in the transformed environment.
So stop transforming.
- If I can just try and get the point across|- I know what the point is.
He's a PR guy.
I think we should be talking to your boss.
Assumption of hierarchal|command structure.
Interesting.
Follow me.
The ship is fully automated.
The beings that built it|are called the Gad-Meer.
Not exactly ET.
They placed all of their knowledge|within the ship's memory.
Science, mathematics,|medicine, art, philosophy Ten thousand years of civilisation.
This is their legacy.
They were a very advanced race|compared to the Enkarans.
However, they were also peaceful, .
.
and fell victim|to a superior military power.
So they built this ship in the hopes|that their world would be born again, .
.
far from the reach of their enemies.
This is, uh, this is fascinating.
|I'd love a chance to study some of that.
I can provide you with translations.
Your language is simple by comparison.
Excuse me.
About why we're here? The ship has only enough raw material|to transform one planet.
Now the transformation has been|started, it must be finished here, .
.
or the entire Gad-Meer civilisation|will be lost for ever.
The Enkarans must leave or they will die.
- Now, see, right there we got a problem.
|- The Enkarans cannot leave.
Their lives depend on the very rare|conditions that are unique to this planet.
That is unfortunate.
That's it? Please explain the situation|to the Enkarans.
(Carter) But They're back.
Well? Did you speak with the aliens? In a way.
It did not go well.
No.
It didn't.
The tests on the alien microbes show that|they are also vulnerable to UV radiation.
That's probably why|they chose this planet.
- The dense ozone layer.
|- Among other things, I'm sure.
The same conditions that make|P5S-381 ideal for the Enkarans .
.
make it ideal for the transformation.
Can this information be used|to stop the alien ship? I'm not sure how, sir.
That's assuming we have|a right to stop them at all.
- Excuse me?|- Not to be insensitive to the Enkarans, .
.
but we'd be interfering with|the rebirth of an entire civilisation.
If you believe Lotan, an incredibly|advanced, civilised and peaceful one.
- So the best society wins here?|- No, I wasn't saying that.
We're talkin' about freeze-dried aliens|whose civilisation was lost long ago.
- The Enkarans are there now.
|- I don't want anything to happen to them.
Could this robot be convinced|to delay the transformation .
.
long enough for us|to relocate the Enkarans? - Robot's a robot, sir.
|- He's basically just a messenger, sir.
But he was created in the image of the|Enkarans so that they could relate to him.
- Now, that could work to our advantage.
|- How? Well, it might make him|more sympathetic to their plight.
It's a robot.
He is an incredibly|advanced alien creation.
We shouldn't just assume that|he's incapable of reason or feelings.
Well, he didn't seem|very concerned with helping.
If he's capable of learning, we might|get him outside his programming.
What if he isn't and we can't? What do you propose, Colonel? I say we throw everything|we've got at that ship.
I'm sorry.
I can't authorise|a military strike in this situation, Colonel.
Look, General, I apologise if this seems|to have taken on a personal edge for me.
But we spent months|getting to know these people.
They trusted us, and we screwed up.
I understand your feeling.
|We've all invested a lot in this operation.
No one wants to see it|end up badly for the Enkarans.
But you're not gonna give me|any effective weapons or personnel.
Find another way out of this.
Dismissed.
The alien ship draws closer.
Hedrazar, you can still save|the people of your village.
Our resolve has not changed.
We will|not abandon the rest of our people.
Did General Hammond|not authorise troops and weapons? No, he didn't.
You brought us here.
We trusted you|when you told us it was safe.
- I know.
|- You gave us technology to build cities, .
.
to provide heat.
|Have you not any way to stop the ship? - How much naqahdah is in that reactor?|- Sir? - What are you doing?|- Thinking.
Don't worry about it too much.
Of a way to blow up the ship? I'm not|sure that's what Hammond had in mind.
They're gonna stand there and die.
It's a no-win situation.
We're not gonna sit|around and watch them get slaughtered.
- You'd blow up that ship?|- Give me another choice.
- Well, I don't have one at the moment|- Apparently time is a factor here.
How do you make a naqahdah bomb? Well, sir, the reactor was designed|to prevent exactly that kind Carter.
Theoretically,|if I created a feedback loop, .
.
the energy would build up|instead of being released.
It would be a big explosion, sir.
Big enough? I think so.
Carter I'm making a choice|to help these people.
But if you don't make that bomb,|I'm out of options.
I know.
So I have to order you to do it.
Yes, sir.
- How controlled is this gonna be?|- The blast will be aimed upward.
This ridge should protect the village,|but this is as close as I would put it.
I've modified this remote|to start the feedback loop.
About a minute after you press|the button, the reactor should blow.
- Ship's ETA?|- About five-zero minutes, sir.
But we should detonate|before it's overhead.
There's no telling what|that energy beam will do to the reactor.
- OK.
|- There's one more thing, sir.
Once you detonate the reactor,|there's no turning back.
The overload can't be stopped.
All right.
Daniel Jackson? - You do not plan on staying?|- No, actually.
I'm gonna go try to talk to Lotan.
If you warn Lotan of our plan,|it will prove ineffectual.
I won't give anything away.
I just wanna|try to prevent it from being necessary.
Should you not wait for|the return of Colonel O'Neill? He asked me to give him another choice,|so technically I'm following an order.
- Hello, Daniel Jackson.
|- Hi.
Are the Enkarans|going to leave the planet? Actually, the Enkarans|have nowhere else to go.
That is tough luck.
While you were gone, I breathed some|of the sulphur-based environment .
.
being created by the ship.
- How is it?|- Not good.
(discordant noise) This music has not been heard|in over a thousand years.
- It's nice.
|- It sounds very unpleasant to me.
Really? - Yes.
This is not how it should sound.
|- (noise stops) - How so?|- It seems the design of your ears, .
.
my ears, is not meant for it.
Um To be honest with you, I'm here to see|if you'll consider alternate solutions .
.
to the problem faced by the Enkarans.
I am not programmed to solve|the problem faced by the Enkarans.
Right.
Let me ask you something.
What will|happen to you when this is all over? I will be reintegrated|into the ship's systems.
You mean you'll die? Yes, I suppose that is one interpretation.
- Do you wanna die?|- What I want is irrelevant.
Wouldn't you like to experience .
.
what it's like to be an Enkaran|before you're reintegrated? See some of the planet before|it's completely transformed, and - .
.
maybe even meet the people?|- For what purpose? It might help you consider|alternate solutions.
I'm not programmed|for alternate solutions.
The ship will continue the process|without you, correct? Yes.
As I have said,|its function is fully automated.
Well, there.
Then no harm done.
|We'll just we'll have a look around.
Sir, no disrespect intended, .
.
but I have doubts as to whether|or not we're doing the right thing.
What is that, Carter? The right thing? We brought these people here.
|They depend on us.
- What else are we gonna do?|- I don't know.
- Do you wanna talk me outta this?|- Yes, sir.
- Stay in contact.
|- Yes, sir.
The air is not as pure|as that created for me on the ship.
It's definitely different.
- This is better.
|- I agree.
These are trees.
Yes.
Anywhere there's oxygen|you're sure to find trees.
They're kind of like nature's air filters.
- Their design is most interesting.
|- So is their function.
Daniel Jackson has gone|to speak with Lotan.
- Did you try to stop him?|- I do not disagree with his intentions.
You do know we're gonna|try and blow up that ship? I am aware of that.
As is Daniel Jackson.
Daniel? - Daniel, come in.
|- I read you, Jack.
Tell me, tell me you're not on that ship! OK, I'm not on the ship.
- What are you doin', Daniel?|- I'm talking to Lotan.
- Is he gonna tell him about the bomb?|- He said he would not reveal our plan.
Sir, we only have 15 minutes.
Daniel, do you know what time it is? I am trying to give you another choice.
What? Hang on.
We're on our way back|to the village.
Over and out.
You have disobeyed your superior.
No, not exactly.
- You are not fulfilling your function.
|- That's not true.
I'm just I'm choosing the best way|to fulfil my true function.
Hierarchal command structures don't|allow you to consider all of the options.
I see.
Let's, um Iet's go to the village.
Daniel? Lotan wanted to meet the Enkarans.
(Carter) Ten minutes, sir.
Hello, Dr Jackson.
Hello, Eliam.
This is Lotan.
He looks Enkaran.
|But I have not met him before.
Lotan is a representative|of the aliens who built the ship.
He was created in your image in order to|better communicate the danger you're in.
- Yet he does not stop it.
|- No.
Lotan, this is Eliam.
This is his wife Nikka, and this|is Hedrazar, the leader of the village.
Are you able to see the lives|that will be extinguished .
.
if your ship continues its current path? Yes, Lotan is aware of that.
She is without sight.
It was happening to them on the planet|when we first met.
They were dying.
This is the only planet we could find|where we knew they could survive.
- I am aware of their physiological needs.
|- Yes, of course.
That one is going to give birth.
Yes.
To a new Enkaran life.
There will be no Enkaran life at all|if your ship does not stop.
I think we're all aware of the situation.
Yes.
You have brought me here|to elicit sympathy for these people.
Well, actually they're|your people in a way, Lotan.
You were created in their image.
I was not created to prevent|their demise, Daniel Jackson.
- But don't you wish you could?|- The ship calls me back.
- Why?|- I must go.
- Take me with you.
|- No.
Daniel, no! - Five minutes, sir.
|- Lotan took Daniel back onto the ship.
- What?! Sir|- He asked to go.
Well, what are we gonna do, sir?|The ship is almost in position.
The ship has detected an unusual device.
It appears to be capable|of emitting great amounts of energy.
Is this device intended to try and stop the|ship, as the Enkaran Eliam suggested? Look, I don't agree|with what they're doing, .
.
but I also don't wanna see you|wipe out those people.
If they will not leave,|there is no other option.
Ship is in position, sir.
If you're gonna do it,|you have to do it now.
Daniel Jackson|has made his choice, O'Neill.
Yeah.
The device has entered an active state.
Lotan, if you wanted to,|can you stop the ship? - As I have said|- Yes, it's not about what you want.
Please, just answer the question.
|Can you stop the ship? - It would be possible, yes.
|- OK.
Then think about this.
Think about the people down there and|all the life that you will be destroying.
I am programmed to serve|the life on this ship.
You say that they were an advanced|civilisation, 10,000 years of history? Yes.
- They had laws, justice?|- Yes.
- A respect for life?|- Yes.
Then how can their world be re-created|through an act of mass murder? Wouldn't that be a betrayal|of everything they stood for? You said you were made to communicate.
You're not here to serve life on this ship.
You're here to protect|the integrity of life on this ship.
There's a big difference.
Are you really fulfilling your true|function by allowing this to happen? The ship has stopped, O'Neill.
(whispers) The ship has stopped.
Daniel must've gotten through to him.
Daniel, if you can hear me,|you've got 30 seconds.
Three zero.
Over.
Um, about that device - It is still active.
|- Yes.
Can you do anything about that? - Do you know how to deactivate it?|- No.
- Intriguing design.
|- Uh, yeah.
- Lotan, we really don't have time for this.
|- How much time do we have? Five, four, three, .
.
two, one.
- What is going on?|- The ship remains.
A powerful explosive.
We were desperate.
The conflict remains unresolved.
I must eventually resume the|transformation process on this planet, - .
.
or the Gad-Meer civilisation will be lost.
|- I know.
Many millions of planets were scanned .
.
to match the right conditions|for the transformation.
Only one met the specifications.
Just out of curiosity,|were any others even close? For the transformation process.
|Yes, but what about for the Enkarans? I do not understand.
Maybe they don't need|exactly the same environment .
.
as the transformation process,|just a similar one.
You know their physiology.
Do any of|the planets scanned match their needs? Here.
This planet would be|appropriate for the Enkarans.
I regret that I did not consider|this possibility, Daniel Jackson.
Well, you would've|gotten there eventually.
This planet was rejected because three|of the parameters were not correct.
The core temperature was too warm,|the size was too large, .
.
and there were intelligent|life forms already present.
Intelligent life forms? Based on the description,|I believe they were Enkaran.
So, what shall we do now? - What is it?|- It's OK.
Don't, uh don't be afraid.
What's goin' on? Lotan would like|to offer you a compromise.
The ship has expended too many|of the resources needed .
.
for the transformation process|to begin again on another planet.
I require that you give up this world.
How is that a compromise? We found the original|Enkaran home world.
- What?|- How? It was one of several million planets|scanned by the ship before this one.
It was rejected partly because of|the presence of intelligent life forms.
- He's telling us this now?|- Well, he didn't know.
And technically he's just a day|and a half old, so give him a break.
We will gladly accept this offer|to return to the home of our ancestors.
- How do we get them there?|- Their home world has no Stargate.
Well, actually I have this friend with a big|spaceship who's willing to take them.
- Is this possible?|- Yes.
Once you are safely to your home planet,|I will be reintegrated into the ship, .
.
and the ship will return|to complete the transformation.
Does that have to happen? The part|about you being reintegrated? - What other option is there?|- But you are Enkaran.
You must stay with us.
That is not contrary to my programming.
Lotan says thank you,|he'd like that very much.
Spread the word among the villages.
|We are going home!
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