MATERNAL INSTINCT

Written by Robert C. Cooper

Transcribed By: Dee

TEASER

INT – GATEROOM, SGC

The STARGATE is dialling up. Armed SGC soldiers take position at the bottom of the ramp as the event horizon opens and the iris is quickly closed.

HAMMOND enters the Control Room.

TECHNICIAN: Receiving GDO transmission. Special code two, Sir.

HAMMOND: Open the iris.

The technician obeys and the iris is opened.

BRA’TAC and a badly injured Jaffa come through the STARGATE.

BRA’TAC: Please. Help.

INT – INFIRMARY, SGC

TEAL’C rushes down the corridors towards the Infirmary where Dr FRASIER is treating the injured Jaffa.

FRASIER: Operating room One, now. Let’s move it. Go, go, go.

They wheel the Jaffa away, as TEAL’C greets BRA’TAC.

TEAL’C: Tak’ma’tay BRA’TAC. Are you in need of medical assistance?

BRA’TAC: The blood is not mine.

TEAL’C: What has transpired?

BRA’TAC: Chulak was attacked. By APOPHIS.

END OF TEASER

INT – BRIEFING ROOM, SGC

TEAL’C: APOPHIS must have transported off of SOKAR’S ship before it exploded.

O’NEILL: Somebody’s got to teach that guy how to die.

BRA’TAC: He controls the army of SOKAR, a most powerful force.

TEAL’C: I will return with you at once.

BRA’TAC: The fight is over TEAL’C. The attack was swift. There was nothing left to do but try to save the life of young MOAC, my newest apprentice.

CARTER: But attacking Chulak doesn’t make sense. I mean, not all the Jaffa were willing to oppose the Goa’uld, were they?

BRA’TAC: No.

DANIEL: Course it’s quicker and easier to wipe them all out rather than try to weed out the traitors.

The phone rings and HAMMOND answers.

HAMMOND: HAMMOND. I understand. (He replaces the receiver.) BRA’TAC, you’d better get down to the OR right away.

INT – OPERATING ROOM, SGC

The Jaffa, MOAC, is lying on a surgical table as FRASIER detaches the heart monitors from his chest. She looks up as BRA’TAC and TEAL’C enter.

FRASIER: We’ve done everything we can.

BRA’TAC touches MOAC’S face and the Jaffa opens his eyes.

MOAC: I have failed you.

BRA’TAC: No. It is I who have failed you. You are the bravest Jaffa I have ever trained.

MOAC: I’m scared.

BRA’TAC: Kra’mel’kara.

MOAC dies.

BRA’TAC (to TEAL’C): His body is to be burned.

TEAL’C: I will see to it personally.

BRA’TAC: I am an old man, TEAL’C. One day I wish to spread MOAC’S ashes on the grave of APOPHIS. But I do not know if I have the strength to fight anymore.

TEAL’C: Many have died, old friend. But their deaths must not go in vain. Word of this must spread to all Jaffa.

BRA’TAC: Yes. But maybe it is for someone younger and stronger than I to spread that word.

TEAL’C: You are the strongest Jaffa I have ever known.

BRA’TAC: In my 135 years I have never seen a Goa’uld turn on those that carry its kind this way. He massacred so many that have worshipped him for so long.

TEAL’C: Perhaps he has done this to show the System Lords how truly powerful he has become.

BRA’TAC: You know well APOPHIS has weapons that could have been used from space. There had to be some other purpose. His army swept through Chulak as if…

He pauses and TEAL’C finishes the thought.

TEAL’C: They were searching for something.

INT – DANIEL’S OFFICE, SGC

DANIEL: The Harsesis.

TEAL’C: APOPHIS fathered a child with SHA’RE, the host of his mate, AMMONET. He hoped to create a new host for himself.

BRA’TAC: It is forbidden.

DANIEL: Yes. Because the child would contain all the knowledge of the Goa’uld. AMMONET hid the boy to keep him safe.

BRA’TAC: Of course. The boy would be hunted. He could be the undoing of all the Goa’uld.

DANIEL: But APOPHIS also doesn’t know where AMMONET hid him.

TEAL’C: Which is why they were searching Chulak.

BRA’TAC (to DANIEL): Do you know where this child is?

DANIEL: All I know is that it’s a place called Kheb.

BRA’TAC glances at TEAL’C.

TEAL’C: You have heard of such a place.

BRA’TAC: It is an ancient legend. I did not believe it really existed.

DANIEL: It has to.

BRA’TAC: The Goa’uld fear and despise Kheb. They forbade anyone from speaking of it long ago. It is something my father once spoke of to me. An old tale about a place discovered long ago by a few Jaffa and kept secret from the Goa’uld. When they could no longer carry a primta, they would make their journey to Kheb. There their calak would learn the path through the darkness into the next life.

DANIEL: Calak. That means soul, right?

TEAL’C: Yes.

BRA’TAC: When some of the Goa’uld finally found out about Kheb, they made their way there. They did not return. It was forbidden to speak of ever again. My father enjoyed telling me this story. If the Goa’uld truly are all-powerful gods, he would say, how is it that they fear anything?

DANIEL: Well, sounds like the perfect place to hide someone you don’t want the Goa’uld to find. I don’t suppose you happen to know the STARGATE address?

BRA’TAC: No.

DANIEL: Well all I have is some obscure Earth mythology that indicates OSIRIS once hid there from SETH.

BRA’TAC: That story is told among Jaffa, is that OSIRIS hid on one of the planets of the Lok’na core.

DANIEL: What’s that?

TEAL’C: A group of planets whose resources have been depleted by mining.

DANIEL: I don’t suppose you happen to know the addresses of any of those planets?

INT – CONTROL ROOM, SGC

CARTER is scrolling through STARGATE addresses on the computer as BRA’TAC observes.

BRA’TAC: There. (He points to one set of co-ordinates) Those are the planets of the Lok’na core.

DANIEL: What’s the red one?

CARTER: We basically have two reference maps for STARGATE Addresses. Yellow represents the cartouche that the Goa’uld left on Abydos and the addresses from the Ancients’ original map of the STARGATE is in red. (To BRA’TAC) You don’t recognise this address here?

BRA’TAC: No.

DANIEL: If the legend is true the Goa’uld never would have included Kheb on their cartouche.

CARTER: Well this address is the only planet in the system that the Goa’uld didn’t include on their map.

DANIEL: We found it.

INT – BRIEFING ROOM, SGC

SG1, HAMMOND and BRA’TAC are gathered round the table.

HAMMOND: How do we know for sure that this is Kheb?

BRA’TAC: The story I have heard says Kheb is an untouched wilderness with great mountains and a single temple in a valley distant from the STARGATE.

DANIEL: If the Goa’uld are scared of Kheb, that would explain why they never mined this planet.

TEAL’C: If AMMONET thought to hide the Harsesis on Kheb then APOPHIS will presume so.

O’NEILL: Well scary stories on not, APOPHIS is just nuts enough to go. I’d like some back up on this one, Sir.

HAMMOND: SG2 will accompany you.

BRA’TAC: As will I.

DANIEL: Let’s just hope we’re first.

EXT – STARGATE CLEARING, KHEB (DAY)

SG2 exits the STARGATE behind SG1.

O’NEILL (to SG2’s Major): Check in every thirty minutes.

MAJOR: Yes, Sir.

O’NEILL: Hold the fort, Major.

MAJOR: Yes, Sir.

SG1 and BRA’TAC head off towards the trees.

EXT – KHEB (DAY)

BRA’TAC and TEAL’C pause by a set of footprints.

O’NEILL: Whatcha got?

TEAL’C: A group of Jaffa passed through here recently. Six.

BRA’TAC: Eight.

O’NEILL: So…not the first.

EXT – WOODS, KHEB (DAY)

SG1 and BRA’TAC are heading along a river, passing through the woods.

TEAL’C: You have been unusually silent, Master BRA’TAC.

BRA’TAC: There is not much time left before I can no longer carry a primta.

TEAL’C: When that time comes, I will have to decide what to do.

BRA’TAC: If this truly is Kheb, that time may be upon us both.

He pauses, then heads over to a clearing to examine the ground.

O’NEILL: What is it?

TEAL’C: Six of the Jaffa stopped here.

BRA’TAC: Two went on ahead. They returned with another…a woman.

O’NEILL: How do you know that?

TEAL’C: Here. (He points to the ground) The third of the prints are small and light, the shoe an open-toed sandal worn by Jaffa women.

BRA’TAC: When they all met up again, there was a struggle and they headed into the forest. Each print is spread wide. They were running.

O’NEILL: He’s good.

TEAL’C: Extremely.

BRA’TAC: The woman may be the priestess entrusted with the child.

They continue onwards.

EXT – WOODS, KHEB (DAY)

DANIEL and CARTER are walking together through the trees.

DANIEL: Smell that?

CARTER: Yeah.

DANIEL carefully makes his way over to a bush and crouches, parting the leaves.

A crow flies out, making DANIEL jump and CARTER raise her weapon.

CARTER: Whoa!

O’NEILL: CARTER?

CARTER (relieved): It’s ok, Sir. It’s just a bird.

DANIEL: No. Look.

He parts the bushes to reveal the dead, decomposed body of a Jaffa.

EXT – WOODS, KHEB (DAY)

Two Jaffa bodies have been discovered. They are charred beyond recognition.

CARTER: This is really weird. These bodies are burnt to a crisp and yet nothing around them has even been touched. It’s almost as if lightning struck.

O’NEILL: Or maybe some kind of…

TEAL’C: I have never before seen a weapon that could do such a thing.

O’NEILL: …weapon.

BRA’TAC: Over here!

They run towards him. He has discovered the body of a woman. Unlike the Jaffa, she hasn’t been burned.

BRA’TAC: She was shot in the back as she fled.

DANIEL comes over.

DANIEL: I count eight bodies. (He sees the dead woman) Total.

O’NEILL: So what happened here?

BRA’TAC: The priestess was being escorted back to the STARGATE by two of the Jaffa. When they met the others, she realised she was in danger. She attempted to flee. They chased her and shot her. Then someone or something attacked them.

CARTER: You can’t know that for sure.

BRA’TAC: I am quite certain.

DANIEL: What about the child?

BRA’TAC: She carried the child.

O’NEILL: Come on, how can you know that?

TEAL’C: Her hands are not bound.

BRA’TAC rolls her body over to reveal that her wrists are not tied.

BRA’TAC: Yes.

DANIEL: What happened to the boy?

BRA’TAC: That I cannot guess.

EXT – WOODS, KHEB (DAY)

BRA’TAC: The priestess died more than two days ago. When his Jaffa did not return the Harsesis, APOPHIS should have sent more.

TEAL’C: Perhaps many more.

They suddenly pause.

O’NEILL: Kheb?

BRA’TAC (in awe): Kheb.

A gap in the trees reveals a temple in the valley beyond.

EXT – TEMPLE (DAY)

SG1 and BRA’TAC enter the temple’s grounds.

CARTER: No welcoming party.

O’NEILL: Well, someone’s been reading Martha Stewart.

DANIEL: They’re probably inside.

He takes off his pack.

O’NEILL: DANIEL?

DANIEL: Jack?

O’NEILL: Whatcha doing?

DANIEL: Well something about this place says we all shouldn’t rush in there waving guns around.

BRA’TAC: He is right. This is sacred ground.

O’NEILL thinks about it, then strips off his own pack.

O’NEILL: Wait here.

BRA’TAC: I have dreamed of finding this place twice as long as you have been alive. I will accompany you.

He hands his staff weapon to TEAL’C and the three of them enter the temple.

INT – TEMPLE

They enter the temple which is lit by candles. There is no one around.

O’NEILL glances towards DANIEL and BRA’TAC, and when he looks back there is monk standing before him.

O’NEILL: Hey, whoa! Where’d you come from?

MONK: I have been here for some time.

O’NEILL: No. You weren’t here when we just came in.

MONK: Here is everywhere you are.

O’NEILL: Excuse me?

DANIEL (to the monk): Um, hello, I’m, uh, DANIEL Jackson. This is Jack O’NEILL. And this BRA’TAC. We’re peaceful explorers from a place called Earth.

MONK: Do you seek oneness with DESALA?

DANIEL: DESALA. I know that word, it sounds…tribal, African maybe.

MONK: DESALA is everything, everywhere.

DANIEL: Nature. It, uh, means nature.

O’NEILL: Ah.

MONK: Put no barriers between you and where you are.

They all appear confused.

O’NEILL (to DANIEL): Don’t look at me.

BRA’TAC: I believe he wishes us to take off our boots.

O’NEILL: Yeah, look, we’re been walking a ways today…

MONK: You’re journey has only begun.

O’NEILL: I’m just saying I think I’m doing us all a big favour by keeping these babies on.

MONK: When the mind is enlightened, the spirit is free, the body matters not.

The monk sits down in the centre of the room as DANIEL and BRA’TAC start to take off their boots.

O’NEILL: Here’s an idea – why don’t we just ask the man if the boy is here?

DANIEL looks at him, then seats himself cross-legged before the monk.

DANIEL: We’ve come looking for a boy. A baby.

MONK: Lightning flashes, sparks shower and one blink of your eyes you have misseen.

O’NEILL: Lightning, you say.

MONK (to O’NEILL): I only know a snowflake cannot exist in a storm of fire.

O’NEILL: What?

DANIEL: Jack.

O’NEILL: No, I…you know me, I’m a huge fan of subtlety, but that’s downright cryptic.

DANIEL (to the monk): Sorry, don’t worry about him.

MONK: The sun is warm, the wind is wild, the grass is green along the shores. Here no bull can hide.

O’NEILL (quietly): I don’t know about that.

DANIEL: Jack, he’s speaking in the Zen codes. Whatever theology he follows may be an original basis for Buddhism on Earth.

O’NEILL: Well that’s very nice. I’ll be sure to call the Dalai Lama when we get home. But for now, how about why we came here.

DANIEL (to the monk): He’s right, this is very important. Is there a child here?

MONK: There is a child in all of us.

O’NEILL: Oh come on.

BRA’TAC (to the monk): He seeks a real human boy, of flesh and bones.

MONK: Those who seek oneness, find all that they seek.

BRA’TAC nods his understanding while O’NEILL continues to look bewildered.

DANIEL: I think this is gonna take a while.

O’NEILL: Really? What gives you that idea?

EXT – TEMPLE (DAY)

CARTER and TEAL’C are keeping watch outside. A noise distracts CARTER, but there’s nothing there.

TEAL’C is gazing into a pool of water and sees a light flash through it.

CARTER: Everything ok?

TEAL’C: It was nothing. I do not have a good feeling about this place.

O’NEILL exits the temple and sits on a wall.

TEAL’C: What of the Harsesis child, O’NEILL.

O’NEILL: I don’t know. There’s a MONK guy in there, DANIEL thinks he might know, so he’s gonna play along for a while.

CARTER: Play along?

O’NEILL: Something about…enlightenment?

CARTER: Sir…

O’NEILL: I know. I know.

He takes his hat off and scratches his head, appearing bored.

INT – TEMPLE

BRA’TAC is sitting with DANIEL opposite the monk.

MONK (to BRA’TAC): Within you is a being whose heart knows only darkness.

BRA’TAC: Yes.

MONK: You must renounce such evil to achieve oneness with OMA DESALA.

DANIEL: OMA, what does that mean?

MONK: Words cannot express things, speech cannot convey the spirit, swayed by words, one is lost. One cannot carry darkness on the great path.

BRA’TAC: If I remove the symbiote within me, I would die.

MONK: You cannot start the journey with it inside you.

BRA’TAC: So a Jaffa cannot seek oneness before he is willing to die.

MONK: When the mind is freed, the body is no longer required. I sense you are not ready to meet OMA DESALA.

BRA’TAC: I am not ready to die. But I take solace in the fact that journey is ahead of me.

They bow their heads and BRA’TAC rises and leaves the temple.

DANIEL (to the monk): So, I don’t, uh, I don’t have to die, right?

MONK: You do not have the same evil within you.

DANIEL: Good.

MONK: But you have your own burdens of which to rid yourself.

DANIEL: Ok.

EXT – TEMPLE (DAY)

BRA’TAC exits the temple and starts to pull on his boots.

BRA’TAC: I am not yet ready to give up. I feel alive TEAL’C, like a young man…of eighty. We still have false gods to slay.

TEAL’C smiles, pleased.

INT – TEMPLE

The monk is standing before a wall that is covered in symbols.

MONK: She goes into the forest without disturbing a blade of grass.

DANIEL: Who is she?

MONK: The Mother.

DANIEL: DESALA. Nature. Mother Nature, we’re, we’re talking about Mother Nature.

MONK: Why do you seek this child of flesh and bones?

DANIEL: He is the son of my wife.

MONK: But not your son.

DANIEL: No. But my wife is dead now and I promised her I would make sure the boy is safe.

MONK: And you are sure he will be safe with you.

DANIEL: Yes. Absolutely.

MONK: Because it is so clear, it takes a longer time to realise it, if you immediately know the candlelight is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago.

DANIEL: Right. I, um, I have no idea what you’re talking about.

INT – TEMPLE

DANIEL and the monk are sitting in the centre of the room once more, an unlit candle between them. They both have their eyes closed.

DANIEL (opening his eyes): I can’t do it.

MONK: You say you seek this child to fulfil a promise.

DANIEL: Yes.

MONK: Is there another reason?

DANIEL: The child has knowledge. He can help my people defend themselves against an evil enemy…the Goa’uld.

MONK: You hate the Goa’uld.

DANIEL: The Goa’uld are responsible for the death of my wife. Among millions and millions of other people. How can I not hate them?

MONK: Your hate will lead to the child’s death.

DANIEL: How do you know that?

The monk closes his eyes.

MONK: You must trust. You must believe.

DANIEL: Well maybe what I don’t believe is that I can light a candle with my mind. You see, I find it a lot easier to use a lighter or matches…

He is cut off as the candle suddenly lights.

DANIEL: Whoa.

MONK: Now you blow it out.

DANIEL bends forward and blows it out.

MONK (cont’d): With your mind.

DANIEL (laughing): Sorry. Could you, uh, could you light that again?

The monk smiles and the candle is re-lit.

DANIEL: This isn’t like a trick candle or anything, is it?

MONK: Put your hand in the flame.

DANIEL: What?

MONK: Place your hand in the flame.

DANIEL hesitates, then holds his hand over the flame, before pulling back in pain.

DANIEL: Ah! Why did you tell me to do that?

MONK: Why did you do it?

DANIEL: Because you told me to.

MONK: Because you trusted me.

DANIEL: Yes.

MONK: Within you is the capacity for trust. Trust OMA DESALA. Do not believe you can light the candle, believe she can light the candle.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

It is nearly night and SG1 and BRA’TAC are still waiting for DANIEL outside.

O’NEILL (checking his watch): Time’s up.

He gets to his feet and heads inside the temple.

INT – TEMPLE

DANIEL and the monk are sitting in the room. DANIEL gets to his feet when he sees O’NEILL.

DANIEL: Jack, the markings on the wall are a language. It’s a Bible. Uh, no, actually it’s more of a instruction book on how to reach this ethereal plane of existence, some kind of other world. It’s only natural the Jaffa who found this place would have interpreted it as passage to the afterlife.

O’NEILL: Whoa, slow down there Grasshopper.

DANIEL: Ok, I’m pretty sure this place was built by an alien race a millennia ago. They may have even visited Earth and inspired the mythologies surrounding the concept of Mother Nature in various cultures.

O’NEILL: So this guy’s an alien?

DANIEL: No. Um, I’m pretty sure the aliens discovered a means by which they could ascend to some higher plane of existence and went there…uh, wherever there is. But they left their writings in a shrine as a kind of map for others who wanted to follow them. The MONK is someone who has taken up curatorship.

O’NEILL: Kind of janitor?

DANIEL: More of a guide.

O’NEILL: An usher?

DANIEL: It doesn’t matter. Just…watch.

He retakes his seat near the monk and stares at the unlit candle in front of him. The wick suddenly catches alight.

O’NEILL: Am I supposed to believe you did that?

DANIEL: Yes.

O’NEILL looks at the Monk, who remains sitting with his eyes closed.

O’NEILL: DANIEL, a word?

DANIEL gets up and goes over to him.

O’NEILL: We didn’t come here to learn parlour tricks.

DANIEL: Jack.

O’NEILL: Is the boy here or not?

DANIEL: I think so.

O’NEILL: Cause every minute we stay here we’re risking our necks.

DANIEL: I know that.

O’NEILL: So please understand I’m on the verge of ordering a complete search of this place with or without his co-operation.

DANIEL: You can’t do that.

O’NEILL: You’re confused DANIEL, I can. So far, I haven’t.

DANIEL: I am gaining his trust.

O’NEILL: And how long is something like that gonna take?

DANIEL: Jack, you don’t understand.

O’NEILL: I think I do.

DANIEL steps back and closes his eyes. Suddenly, O’NEILL’S gun floats up into the air.

O’NEILL (releasing it): Hey.

The gun hovers in the air between them.

O’NEILL (to the monk): Alright, that’s dangerous. Put it down.

The gun floats to the floor.

O’NEILL (to the monk): Ok, that was a little more impressive. How’d you do that?

DANIEL: Actually, I did that.

O’NEILL: What?

DANIEL: That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, this is, it’s incredible.

O’NEILL: He taught you how to…

DANIEL: …do things with my mind. You could do it too.

O’NEILL: He could teach me how to light candles and move stuff around by…thinking?

MONK: I cannot teach you what you already know.

O’NEILL: Oh I don’t think I know as much as you think I know.

MONK: You must come to know OMA DESALA. Become her friend.

There is a sound from outside.

O’NEILL: That your friend?

He picks up his gun and heads outside in time to see a Goa’uld glider fly overhead.

O’NEILL: TEAL’C, BRA’TAC, check that out.

They head off.

O’NEILL (into his radio): Major COBURN?

EXT – STARGATE CLEARING (NIGHT)

O’NEILL’S voice (over the radio): This is O’NEILL.

COBURN: Read you, Sir.

O’NEILL: We’ve got some Jaffa activity here. How’s your position?

COBURN: Clear, Sir.

O’NEILL: Good. Standby.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

O’NEILL (to CARTER): I want claymores from the entrance to here.

CARTER: I thought we were leaving.

O’NEILL: Me too.

He hurries back inside the temple as CARTER moves off to lay the mines.

INT – TEMPLE

O’NEILL finds the monk and DANIEL.

O’NEILL (to the monk): So is the kid here or not?

DANIEL: Jack.

O’NEILL: DANIEL, that was a glider. We’re outta time.

MONK: Time means nothing to…

O’NEILL (cutting him off): Ah, Ah. Don’t say it.

EXT – WOODS (NIGHT)

Jaffa are moving through the woods. They look down upon the temple below.

INT – TEMPLE

CARTER enters the temple.

CARTER (to O’NEILL): Claymores are set, Sir.

O’NEILL: Good. DANIEL thinks we should stay.

CARTER: Why?

O’NEILL: Well, watch.

CARTER: What?

DANIEL raises his hands and a fire flares up from the ground. A moment later, it disappears.

CARTER (to DANIEL): You did that?

DANIEL: Yes.

CARTER: That’s impossible.

O’NEILL: You’d think.

DANIEL: Why?

CARTER: You learned the power to control fire.

DANIEL: It’s not just fire. All the instructions are here, on the walls. All you have to do is be willing to learn and believe.

CARTER: I’m sorry, but something else has to be going on here.

DANIEL: Why?

CARTER: I don’t know, but under different circumstances I would bring the right equipment and check for some kind of concealed technology before I assumed…

DANIEL: Isn’t there the smallest part of you that wants to believe a person can reach a higher level?

CARTER: Yes, of course, but…

DANIEL: Don’t you see what’s happening here, I have that power.

CARTER: To do what?

DANIEL: To protect the child. I think she doesn’t want me to leave until she knows I understand how to protect him.

CARTER: Who’s she?

TEAL’C and BRA’TAC run inside.

TEAL’C: A Goa’uld Mothership has landed. As many as two thousand troops approach.

O’NEILL: Love to stay and chat.

He leaves, followed by CARTER.

DANIEL: Wait, wait a minute, what about…?

He looks behind him, but the monk is no longer there.

A light suddenly appears from above, reflected in his glasses as he looks on in amazement.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

The other members of SG1, along with BRA’TAC exit the temple grounds, only to see torchlight approaching from a dozen or more Jaffa.

O’NEILL: Doh.

INT – TEMPLE

DANIEL watches the disembodied light materialise into the vague form of a woman – OMA DESALA. She suddenly disappears through a wall. DANIEL walks forward and touches the wall, only to see his hand sink into it. He pulls back in alarm, then bravely steps through.

Inside, there is a room. DESALA is seated beside a crib in which there is a baby.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

The others head back to the temple.

BRA’TAC: We must leave immediately and elude them through the forest.

O’NEILL: Where’s DANIEL?

He enters the temple, which is now seemingly empty.

O’NEILL: DANIEL? DANIEL! We gotta go. For crying out loud.

He turns and leaves.

O’NEILL (to the others): I don’t know where he is. He’s not in there.

CARTER: What do we do?

O’NEILL (into his radio): COBURN. O’NEILL.

COBURN: Read you, Sir.

O’NEILL: Hightail it back through the Gate. Tell HAMMOND we’re pinned down. Request backup.

COBURN: Yes, Sir.

O’NEILL looks out over the woods and sees many more Jaffa approaching.

O’NEILL (cont’d): Lot’s of backup. Damn.

He heads back to the others.

O’NEILL: Alright, here they come. Defensive positions. Hold off on the claymores as long as we can. I don’t want to get into this unless we absolutely have to. And if we happen to make it out of this in one piece, remind me to harm DANIEL severely.

They take positions outside the temple.

Above, the moon is suddenly covered by dark, ominous clouds.

INT – TEMPLE

Inside the hidden room, DANIEL is holding the baby.

DANIEL (to DESALA): Thank you. He’ll be safe with me.

DESALA doesn’t speak, but appears concerned as he turns and starts to leave.

Suddenly, DANIEL stops and turns back to her in realisation.

DANIEL: I didn’t do any of it, did I? It was you. I was wrong, I don’t, I don’t have any powers at all. You do. You were showing them to me. That’s how you communicate with us. You were trying to tell me the boy is better off here with you, and I…I wasn’t listening. (He looks down at the baby, then back at DESALA) I made a promise.

He takes the baby back to its crib and lays it down.

DANIEL (to DESALA): I promised he would be safe.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

Jaffa start to enter the temple’s grounds as SG1 and BRA’TAC watch from their concealed positions.

The Monk stands before the temple doors to confronts the Jaffa.

MONK: You are not welcome here.

HEAD JAFFA: In the name of the god APOPHIS, we’ve come for a young boy.

MONK: You will leave now.

HEAD JAFFA: We will not. Stand aside.

In the sky, there is thunder and lightning.

The head Jaffa opens fire with his staff weapon and strikes the Monk in the chest as DANIEL comes running out.

O’NEILL the others jump out from their positions, guns aimed at the Jaffa.

O’NEILL: Drop your weapons! Do it!

HEAD JAFFA: Kree lo’tak.

DANIEL raises his hands and walks forward.

DANIEL: Drop your weapons.

O’NEILL (to the Jaffa): You heard him.

DANIEL: I was talking to you Jack.

O’NEILL: Wha…what?

DANIEL stands before the Jaffa, all of whom have their staff weapons aimed at him.

DANIEL (to the others): Do it now, all of you.

O’NEILL: DANIEL?

DANIEL: Jack, I was wrong, I was very wrong. One of those aliens I thought was long gone is still here.

CARTER: Sir, we put our guns down and we’re dead.

HEAD JAFFA: You are out-numbered and surrounded. You will die if you do not.

DANIEL: Jack, if you’re ever going to trust me on anything, now is the time. The alien is the one with all the powers and she is not someone you wanna fool with, if you get my drift.

They slowly begin to lower their weapons, except O’NEILL.

BRA’TAC (to O’NEILL): We must do it.

O’NEILL places his gun on the floor.

HEAD JAFFA: Kill them.

The Jaffa open fire, but the blasts fail to hit their targets. A light swoops down and stops the bolts in mid-air to the amazement of SG1 and BRA’TAC.

DANIEL (to the confused Jaffa): Bye.

Lightning abruptly strikes the Jaffa, killing them all. Two Goa’uld gliders above are also struck by lightning and they explode.

O’NEILL: Well that was cool.

DANIEL is standing in the middle of the temple grounds, surveying the bodies. He turns around in time to see a glowing light arise from the Monk’s body, to hover in the air, before disappearing.

Another glowing light appears, this time it is OMA DESALA. She is carrying the baby.

DANIEL (to DESALA): You’re leaving. You know that more will come as long as they know the boy is here. I’ll see both of you again someday, right?

She reaches out and touches his face, before leaving the temple grounds.

CARTER: I take it that was the Harsesis child she was holding.

DANIEL: Yeah.

O’NEILL: I thought we needed that kid. You’re just gonna let her…

He cuts off as DANIEL glances at him.

O’NEILL (cont’d): No choice, huh?

EXT – STARGATE CLEARING (NIGHT)

COBURN (into his radio): Colonel O’NEILL, this is Major COBURN, come in.

O’NEILL: Yeah, go ahead Major.

COBURN: Reinforcements are on their way, Sir.

O’NEILL: Take your time. We’re secure.

COBURN: Good to hear, Sir.

The STARGATE suddenly opens up behind him and OMA DESALA approaches.

COBURN (cont’d): Uh, Sir, the STARGATE just came on. There’s a strange bright light headed this way

O’NEILL: Do not engage. Repeat, get out of the way and do not engage. In fact, I’m ordering you all to put down your weapons until that light is gone. Do you read?

COBURN: Yes, Sir.

DESALA flies overhead and disappears into the event horizon.

EXT – TEMPLE (NIGHT)

COBURN (over the radio): It’s gone, Sir.

O’NEILL (to DANIEL): You alright?

DANIEL: Yeah.

O’NEILL: Let’s go home.

They start to head out of the temple grounds.

O’NEILL: DANIEL?

DANIEL (dazedly): Yeah?

O’NEILL: Shoes.

DANIEL, barefoot, looks down then starts searching for his boots.

FADE OUT

THE END