ASCENSION

Written by Robert C Cooper

Transcribed By: Dee

TEASER

FADE IN

EXT – ALIEN WORLD (DAY)

O’NEILL and TEAL’C are clambering over what appear to be the ruins of an ancient city.  They head over to where DANIEL is studying a stone pillar.

O’NEILL: Sixteenth’s coming through to set up a UAV.

TEAL’C: It appears the inhabitants of this city lost a great battle and were destroyed long ago.  There appears to be no survivors.

DANIEL: That’s too bad.  I was kinda hoping someone could help me decipher this language.

O’NEILL: No idea?

DANIEL: No, that’s very odd.  This uh, whatever this is, is a completely different design from the rest of the civilisation.

O’NEILL: Maybe it was here when they got here.

DANIEL: Well that’s assuming the inhabitants were from another planet.  I can probably date its construction, compared to the rest of the structures using some sort of carbon analysis.

O’NEILL: How long?

DANIEL: For what?

O’NEILL: All of it.  How long?

DANIEL: Uh, well days, weeks, months, maybe…of meticulous, tedious, boring tediousness.

O’NEILL and TEAL’C walk off in separate directions.

DANIEL (cont’d): But uh, I can just keep working now. By lunch at least.

INT – CAVERN, ALIEN WORLD (DAY)

An alien technological device is standing in the centre of the cavern.  O’NEILL enters to see CARTER working on a panel near the wall.

O’NEILL: CARTER?  Any idea what this thing is yet?

CARTER: No, Sir, but the technology is very advanced.

O’NEILL: So what?  Two hours?

CARTER: Very advanced.

O’NEILL: Alright.  Well TEAL’C and I have secured the immediate area, we’re gonna check out the town.

CARTER: Yes Sir.

O’NEILL: Don’t turn it on.

He starts to leave.  CARTER starts to examine the device.

O’NEILL: Ah!  What did I just say?

CARTER lifts her hands away and O’NEILL leaves.

Once he is gone, she crouches down by a smaller device and removes a panel, revealing crystals within.

She moves over to the larger device and starts to examine it when a wind suddenly blows through the cavern.

Something is watching her from above, but when she looks, she doesn’t see anything.

As she goes back to studying the device, the alien swoops in on her.

EXT – ALIEN WORLD (DAY)

DANIEL: Hey Sam are you done with that camera yet?  Sam?

He doesn’t receive any answer so he heads into the cavern.  CARTER is lying unconscious on the floor and he rushes over to her to feel for a pulse.

DANIEL (into his radio): Jack, get back here. Now!

END OF TEASER

INT – INFIRMARY, SGC

CARTER is sitting on one of the infirmary beds, speaking with Dr FRASIER.

CARTER: Next thing you know I’m waking up with Colonel O’NEILL looking down at me.  I suppose it’s possible I touched something inside the device.

FRASIER: No contact burns.

CARTER: So what do you think it was?

FRASIER: Well, people have been known to black out from fatigue.

CARTER: Come on Janet.  I was a little tired but…

FRASIER: Your pre-mission blood test did show slight anaemia.

CARTER: You gave me clearance to go.

FRASIER: And I’m starting to question that judgement.

CARTER: There is nothing wrong with me.

FRASIER: Ok.  At least consider what you’ve been through the last few years.  You’ve had a Tok’ra symbiote die in your brain, your memory has been stamped, and your entire consciousness has been transferred out of your body and into a computer and then back again and that is just for starters.  Eventually it has to take its toll.

CARTER (smiling): Are we done?

FRASIER: Yes.

CARTER hops down off the bed.

FRASIER (cont’d): Make sure you come back if you start speaking in an alien language.

CARTER: I’m sure I’ll have no choice.

She leaves the infirmary.

INT – BRIEFING ROOM, SGC

O’NEILL and DANIEL are reporting to General HAMMOND, while another man, Colonel REYNOLDS sits in on their discussion.

DANIEL: Oddly the structure was built about four hundred years ago, whereas the civilisation may date back as far as three thousand.

REYNOLDS: Why is that significant?

DANIEL: Well, it may indicate the society developed in relative isolation and was only later influenced by something that suddenly led it to leap to a more advanced technology.

HAMMOND: A STARGATE.

DANIEL: Exactly.  Which means it’s likely they either discovered it or figured out how to use it just prior to building the device.  It would seem to me that these events led to the cataclysm which ended their society.

O’NEILL: Somehow.

DANIEL: Well, from what we know of the Goa’uld, they’ll often attack a planet that’s threatening technological advancement.

HAMMOND: I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard anyone say exactly what the device is.

DANIEL: Uh, well, we’re still just speculating.  I mean, it could be a deep space observatory for all I know.

O’NEILL: Or a big honkin’ space gun Sir.

DANIEL: It’s likely the Goa’uld would have taken that.

CARTER enters and takes a seat.

CARTER: Well whatever it is, the power core is missing.  I was able to determine that much before I uh…

O’NEILL: Dozed off?

CARTER: The engineering of the device is extremely advanced.  It’s gonna take some time to decipher.

REYNOLDS: You’re saying that the power core to the device is missing?

HAMMOND: Major, you know Colonel REYNOLDS.

CARTER: Of course.

HAMMOND: He’s been transferred from Area 51 and will be leading SG16 during its long-term analysis of the planet.

CARTER: Oh.  Well, as I was saying, I believe that a naquada generator could be modified to interface with the…

O’NEILL (interrupting her): CARTER.  16 is on the case.

HAMMOND: Once I’ve heard someone conclusively tell me what the device is, I will decide whether we should try to find a way to turn it on.

CARTER: Of course.  Request permission to join SG16’s assignment, Sir.

HAMMOND: Denied.  Dr Jackson will be assisting in the translation of the alien language until SG1’s next mission.  Otherwise, you’re all free to take some time off.  Dismissed.

They all rise and CARTER heads over to HAMMOND.

CARTER: Sir.  With all due respect I feel fine.  There’s absolutely no reason why I shouldn’t be allowed to help.

HAMMOND: Major, I have no doubt that your technical expertise will be required at some point down the line.  But until Dr FRASIER advises otherwise, I’m ordering you to take it easy.

He heads into his office.

CARTER: Take it easy?

O’NEILL: Yeah.  You’ve been a little tense.

CARTER: Tense?  Me?  I’m not tense.  Am I?  (quietly) When did you first notice?

O’NEILL: As we met.

CARTER: I’ve always just thought of myself as very focussed.

O’NEILL: It’s called working too hard.  You’re gonna crash and burn.

CARTER: I really don’t have that much else to do, Sir.

O’NEILL: Well find something.  Take up…golf.  Fly a kite, knit something.

He leaves the room.

CARTER (to the empty room): I, I’m fine.  Really.

EXT – STREET (DAY)

CARTER pulls up in front of her house and gets out of the car to head inside.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE

CARTER enters her home and heads into the kitchen to check her answering machine.

ANSWERING MACHINE: You have no new messages.

As CARTER takes off her coat and moves around the room, the presence from the planet is once again observing her through a white haze.  It looks around the house, sees photos on the wall.

INT – BATHROOM (NIGHT)

CARTER is brushing her teeth.  She turns away from the door, then quickly turns back as if she senses something.  There’s nothing there.

INT – BEDROOM

The presence is watching as CARTER climbs into bed and switches off the light.  It continues to watch as she sleeps.

EXT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

CARTER heads down her front path to pick up her newspaper.  As she rises, a man is standing across the street, watching her.

MAN: Hi.

CARTER: Hi.

MAN: How are you?

CARTER: Fine.  How are you?

MAN: Good.  Nice to meet you.

CARTER: Yeah, uh, are you from around here?

MAN: No.  But this is where you live.

CARTER (worried now): Yes it is.  I’m gonna go back inside now.

MAN: See you again.

CARTER: Bye.

She heads back into her house as the man stands there watching.  She locks the front door and looks out through the glass, but he’s gone.

She heads into the kitchen to make a phone call.

INT – DANIEL’S OFFICE, SGC

DANIEL is heading towards his office as the phone rings.  He hurries inside to answer.

DANIEL: DANIEL Jackson.

CARTER: Hey DANIEL, it’s me.

DANIEL: Hi Sam.

CARTER: I was just wondering how far you’d got on the 636 translation.

DANIEL: Oh yes, I’m almost done.  It miraculously seems to hold the key to all the mysteries of the universe.

CARTER: You just got there, you haven’t started and I should leave you alone.

DANIEL: I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy.

CARTER: Yeah, it’s not so easy.

DANIEL: Yeah, I know.  Yeah, I promise I’ll call you when I have something.

CARTER: Ok, thanks.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE

CARTER hangs up and turns around and is shocked to see the man from outside standing before her.

CARTER: How did you get in here?

MAN: I won’t hurt you.

CARTER (angrily): No, I’ll hurt you if you come any closer.

She starts to dial the phone for help.

MAN: Please don’t.  I just wanna talk to you.

CARTER: About what?

MAN: It’s complicated.

CARTER: Let’s start with how you got into my house?

MAN: I followed you home last night.

CARTER: You’ve been here all night?

MAN: I read some of your books and watched the television so I could learn how to speak and what to wear.  (He looks down at himself) Is this ok?

CARTER: You’ve been in my house all night?

MAN: Yes.  But you couldn’t see me.  I just took this form now so we could relate.  Actually, I used to look this way before my ascension.

CARTER starts to dial again.

MAN: Please, I’m not crazy.

She slams the phone down.

CARTER: Who are you?

MAN: My name is ORLIN.  I’m from the planet you just visited.  I followed you back through the STARGATE.

CARTER: See, that’s impossible.

He walks straight through the kitchen counter to stand before her.  CARTER backs away.

ORLIN: I can become invisible in my natural, non-corporeal state.

CARTER: What do you want?

ORLIN: I’m sorry if I scared you, I just wanted to talk to you.  It’s been so long since I…I…I know this is going to seem…ok, I’ll jut come out and say it and then move on from there.  I have these, I guess you could call them feelings.

CARTER edges around him, then starts to run away.

ORLIN (cont’d): But the truth is…I love you.

The front door slams as CARTER runs out of the house.

EXT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

Men in biohazard suits are using equipment to examine CARTER’S house and front garden.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

An SG engineer is fitting a camera on one of the ceilings as O’NEILL follows CARTER through the house.

O’NEILL: Looked like an ordinary guy?

CARTER: Pretty much.

O’NEILL: What was he wearing?

CARTER: Average, normal clothes.

O’NEILL: Where do you think he got ‘em?

CARTER: Come on, Sir, we’ve seen lots of aliens before.

O’NEILL: HAMMOND had the surveillance tapes in the Gateroom checked.

CARTER: The alien said he could become completely invisible.

O’NEILL: What else did he say?

CARTER: He just said who he was and where he was from.  Believe me, Sir, at first I thought he was just some crazy guy off the street and then he starts walking through solid objects.  I knew there was no way I was gonna be able to contain him if I tried.  My phone line was dead and I decided the best thing to do would be to bring a Code 3 team in here as fast a possible.

O’NEILL: CARTER.  No one’s accusing you of acting improperly.

ENGINEER: Colonel, we’re done.  I’m ordering my men to evacuate the premises.

O’NEILL: Alright, notify the local authorities and tell them the gas leak is fixed.

ENGINEER: Yes, Sir.  Our remote surveillance system is set up and can be monitored from down the street.  We’ll watch the place as long as you want, Sir.

O’NEILL: Thanks. (To CARTER) Uh, I could hang out for a while.

CARTER: So far he’s only shown himself to me.

O’NEILL: Maybe he’s shy.

CARTER: Please don’t say take it easy.

O’NEILL: Take care?

She smiles and nods, and he leaves.

Through a camera on the wall, CARTER is seen moving around her house, going through a chest of drawers in the bedroom, closing the front door of her house, talking on the phone in the kitchen.

INT – DANIEL’S OFFICE, SGC

TEAL’C is working on a laptop, DANIEL reading some papers.  O’NEILL enters.

DANIEL: How’s Sam?

O’NEILL: Absolutely no evidence of her secret friend.

DANIEL looks up.

DANIEL: How’s Sam?

O’NEILL: HAMMOND recommended a psyche evaluation.

TEAL’C: Do you believe Major CARTER has become mentally unstable?

O’NEILL: No more than the rest of us.  What have you guys got?

DANIEL: Well, it looks like that thing on 636 is a weapon.

O’NEILL: I was right?

TEAL’C: It is a weapon of great power O’NEILL.

O’NEILL: Big and honkin’.

DANIEL: From what I’ve been able to decipher the people on 636 were developing along a similar technological time line to Earth.  They had just discovered their STARGATE when what they called the threat from the skies came.

O’NEILL: Goa’ulds.

DANIEL: Yet somehow they suddenly managed to build themselves an incredibly advanced weapon to defend themselves.

O’NEILL: Couldn’t have been so advanced.  The place was a disaster, it obviously didn’t work.

DANIEL: Well actually it did.  The monument outside the device tells the story of how they destroyed the threat from the skies and the men who built the weapon were heroes.

TEAL’C: Which would explain why the Goa’uld did not take the weapon.

O’NEILL: Hey, I saw that planet.  If the Goa’uld didn’t get them, who did?

DANIEL: We’re not sure.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

CARTER enters her sitting room and switches on a light.  ORLIN is sitting behind her.

ORLIN: I understand why you did it.

CARTER: Of course you wait until they took the cameras away.

ORLIN: Military protocol.  You would have jeopardised your job if you didn’t report me.

CARTER: I just came from a psychological evaluation.  Do you understand what that means?

ORLIN: They think you’re crazy.

CARTER: Am I?

ORLIN: There were times on Velona where I thought I might be losing my mind.

CARTER: Velona.

ORLIN: Your planet refers to it as 636.  I was there for hundreds of years by myself.  The first time I saw you…

CARTER: Look…

ORLIN: Please.  Let me finish.  My kind are capable of a level of communication that shares our innermost essence.

CARTER: Telepathy.

ORLIN: Reading someone’s mind is an invasion of privacy.  It’s not about specific thoughts or memory.  It’s a sort of…exchange of spirit.

CARTER: So you did this sharing thing on me.

ORLIN: Unfortunately, you passed out.  I guess you weren’t prepared.  But I did learn about you.

CARTER: What did you learn?

ORLIN: That you’re a good person, that your heart is pure, that on the inside your spirit is as beautiful as you are on the outside.

CARTER (exasperated): Alright.

She gets to her feet.

ORLIN: Where are you going?

CARTER: To get the Code 3 team back in here.

ORLIN: I’ll just hide again.

CARTER: So what are you gonna do?  Stalk me for the rest of my life?

ORLIN: Actually, I just wanted you to let me try again.  I think a human can handle it.  I think you have to just be…well, receptive.

CARTER: Then will you go to the SGC and turn yourself in?

ORLIN: No.  But I’ll leave if you want.

CARTER: Will you actually be gone?

ORLIN: I promise.

CARTER: Ok.  What do I do?

ORLIN (rising): Stand there.  Open your mind to the possibility of an existence not governed by the rules of science which you hold so dear.

CARTER: How do I do that?

ORLIN: Just close your eyes and…

CARTER: Don’t say take it easy.

ORLIN: Relax.

She takes a breath, then closes her eyes.  ORLIN begins to glow brightly, losing his human form as he

does so.  The light surrounds both him and CARTER, before dissipating.

CARTER opens her eyes and stares at ORLIN.

CARTER: Oh my god.

INT – CORRIDOR, SGC

CARTER, in civilian clothing, quickly catches up with O’NEILL.

CARTER: Colonel!

O’NEILL: Yep?

CARTER: Sir, look at this.

She shows him a clock, with a camera hidden inside.

O’NEILL: So?

CARTER: So, it was in my house.  The Code3 team were supposed to take away all their equipment when they left, no more cameras, no more listening devices.

O’NEILL: So they forgot one CARTER.

CARTER: Are you sure?

O’NEILL: No.

They stop outside a room.

CARTER: Sir.  Is the SGC secretly keeping tabs on me?

O’NEILL: Secretly?

CARTER: Colonel, I did my duty in reporting the alien encounter and now everyone thinks I’m crazy.

O’NEILL: Look, CARTER, here’s the bottom line.  No one has seen what you’ve seen and until that happens we’re all going to think you’re nuts.

CARTER: Sir, purely hypothetically, as my superior office, if this alien did show himself to me again…

O’NEILL: Did it?

CARTER: I’m just saying if the alien had the ability and desire to show himself only to me, it would probably be better if I gathered as much information as I could, possibly even found a way of isolating it, before I officially mentioned it again.  Right?

O’NEILL: Probably.  Yes.  I gotta pee.

He goes into the bathroom.

CARTER: Yes Sir.

INT – CARTER’S LAB, SGC

CARTER is sitting at the computer when DANIEL enters.

DANIEL: That’s the last of it.

CARTER: Thanks.

DANIEL: What are you working on?

CARTER: Well, based on your translation and SG16’s latest report, the Pentagon has started putting pressure on General HAMMOND to try to find a way to activate the weapon.

DANIEL: You think that’s gonna be possible?

CARTER: Well yeah.  A naquada reactor can be interfaced easily enough.  The problem is the burst of energy that’s required makes the whole thing pretty dangerous.

DANIEL: How?

CARTER: Well, basically you have to start an overload in the reactor and then release it into the device.  The problem is, once the overload is started, you have no choice but to release the energy or the reactor will explode.

DANIEL: So you’d better be sure you want the weapon to fire.

CARTER: Yep.  I’m working on a way to try to buffer the energy in a safer environment prior to the release but General HAMMOND hasn’t given me much time.

DANIEL: By all accounts, this device on 636 is a pretty powerful weapon.

CARTER: You think we should just leave it alone?

DANIEL:  Well, let’s just say I’d feel better if there was someone left to explain how to use it.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

CARTER enters her house to find ORLIN waiting for her.

ORLIN: You’re late.

CARTER: What do you mean?

ORLIN: You said you’d be home an hour ago.  I was worried.

CARTER: Hey, this is not a relationship we have going here.  I don’t even know what it is.

ORLIN: You still could have called.

CARTER: What are you talking about?  You couldn’t even answer the phone if I did.

ORLIN: Maybe I could have.

CARTER looks around and sees the table set with candles and flowers.

CARTER: How did…?  I mean, I thought.

She touches his shoulder.

ORLIN: Surprise.

CARTER: How?

ORLIN: Things have been going well between us, right?

CARTER: There is no us, ORLIN.  I don’t see how there ever could be.

ORLIN: That was just because we used to live on different planes of existence.

CARTER: Used to?

ORLIN: It’s possible for my kind to take human form.  Actually, re-take human form, considering this is the way we started.

The doorbell rings.

CARTER: Oh boy.

O’NEILL (from outside): CARTER!

CARTER: It’s Colonel O’NEILL.  Disappear.

The doorbell rings again.

ORLIN: That’s what I was trying to tell you.  I can’t anymore.

O’NEILL starts knocking on the door, so CARTER grabs ORLIN and pushes him into a closet, closing the door.

She answers the front door to find O’NEILL and TEAL’C, in a cowboy hat, waiting for her.

CARTER: Hey guys, what are you doing here?

O’NEILL: We brought pizzas and a movie.

TEAL’C: Star Wars.

O’NEILL: He’s seen it, what eight times?

TEAL’C: Nine.

O’NEILL: Nine times.  If TEAL’C likes it, it’s gotta be ok.

CARTER: You’ve never seen Star Wars?

O’NEILL: Well, you know me and sci-fi.  Come on, we never just get to hang out, so I thought we’d…

CARTER: Uh, Sir, as much as I, ah…

She glances back inside the house.

O’NEILL: CARTER.  Do you…already have company?

CARTER: Kind of.

O’NEILL: A date?

CARTER: I can understand why you might assume that I didn’t have plans.

O’NEILL: Don’t worry about it.  We’ll find something else to do.

CARTER: I’m really sorry, I mean this is a surprise, very unexpected.

O’NEILL: Well good for you.  Have fun.

CARTER: Thank you.

O’NEILL: Have a pizza…and fun.

He gives her the pizza and he and TEAL’C leave.

CARTER opens the closet door.

ORLIN: As I was saying, once my kind chooses to take human form, we can’t ascend again without the help of the others.

EXT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

O’NEILL and TEAL’C are walking away from the house.

O’NEILL: So, now what?

TEAL’C: I have read of a place where humans do battle in a ring of Jell-O.

O’NEILL: Call DANIEL.

They get in O’NEILL’S car and drive off.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE

ORLIN and CARTER are talking over the meal ORLIN prepared.

ORLIN: I don’t know where the rest of my kind are.

CARTER: Well, believe it or not, we met one of them.  Her name was Oma Desala.

ORLIN: Really.  Never heard of her.

CARTER: She could do the same glowy kind of things that you can and she controlled the forces of Nature.

ORLIN: Yeah, that’s easy.  At least it used to be.

CARTER: Well she lived on a planet called Kheb and she helped people ascend to a higher plane of existence.

ORLIN: That’s why I’ve never heard of her.  She was probably banished, like me.

CARTER: What for?

ORLIN: Breaking one of the most sacred rules of our kind: Do not accelerate the natural ascension process of those beneath.  The humans of Velona were under attack from the Goa’uld.  I was prohibited from interfering, but I couldn’t just watch them die.

CARTER: You told them how to build the weapon.

ORLIN: Communicated the knowledge, yes.  They saved themselves.

CARTER: But not for long.

ORLIN: No.

CARTER: Well, you were right to try.

ORLIN: You’re wrong.  It was a horrible mistake.  Shortly after they used the weapon to defend themselves, they started to plan the conquest of other planets using the technology that I gave them.

CARTER: So what happened?

ORLIN: The others.

CARTER: The others of your kind destroyed the planet?  Well, they interfered too, isn’t that breaking their own rule.

ORLIN: As a collective, they decided it was necessary to prevent a disaster that I was responsible for.  I was forced to live on Velona after that as my punishment.

CARTER: You couldn’t have known.

ORLIN: That’s why the rule exists.

CARTER: So.  What now?

ORLIN: I’m human.  Mortal, like you.  I can never go back to the way I was without the others.

CARTER: Why would you do this?

ORLIN: I did it as much for myself as for you.

INT – VAN, OUTSIDE CARTER’S HOUSE

Two men inside the van are monitoring CARTER and ORLIN inside the house.

ORLIN (through listening device): If nothing develops between us, I’ll accept it.  I just couldn’t go on any other way.  I just had to know.

INT – BRIEFING ROOM, SGC

REYNOLDS: One week should be more than enough time to run the proper pre-test simulation.

He glances towards Colonel SIMMONS, who is sitting opposite SG1.

CARTER: Sirs, if I may.  I think we should wait.

SIMMONS: You think we should wait?  Major, you’re the one who figured out how to use the naquada reactor to power this device.

CARTER: Because General HAMMOND ordered me to.  And if you read my recommendations, you’ll see I also said it’s extremely dangerous.

SIMMONS: Well I did read your recommendation and the Pentagon feels the risks are worth the reward.

REYNOLDS: Going through the STARGATE is extremely dangerous and you do that everyday.

DANIEL: I agree with Sam, we don’t know enough about what happened on that planet yet.

SIMMONS: Need I remind you, Dr Jackson, of the dangers that we’re trying to defend Earth against.

DANIEL: Oh, could you?  Go slow.

CARTER: General, I believe that using the device caused an atmospheric weather anomaly big enough to destroy the civilisation on 636.

DANIEL: You do?

SIMMONS: That wasn’t in your report.

HAMMOND: Do you have any evidence Major?

CARTER: Not exactly.  But I think that we need to perform a proper forensic environmental analysis.

REYNOLDS: We’re going to.  After the first test firing of the weapon which is when we’ll be able to gather the most accurate information.

CARTER: Not if you’re dead.

REYNOLDS: There is nothing to show…

HAMMOND (cutting him off): Major, you have two weeks to bring in any relevant evidence.  If you can present a good reason to stop the test, I will.  Dismissed.

SIMMONS approaches HAMMOND.

SIMMONS: General.  Need I remind you, that ultimately the decision rests with the Pentagon.

HAMMOND: Colonel, there’s a red phone in my office that only takes calls from one man.  The last time I checked, he’s the boss of your boss.  Or do I need to remind you?

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (DAY)

CARTER enters her house.

CARTER: ORLIN?

ORLIN: Sam, I’m glad you’re home.  I made something for you.

He hands her something wrapped in a cloth.  She opens it to find a large emerald.

CARTER: Is this real?

ORLIN: I read about how humans associate certain materials with their birth month.  Yours is emerald right?

CARTER: It’s huge.

ORLIN: Oh.  Is it?  It was difficult to tell the common size from the pictures in the book.

CARTER: You made it?

ORLIN: You wouldn’t believe the things that you can make from the common, simple items lying around your planet.  Which reminds me, you’re going to need a new microwave.

CARTER: ORLIN, I need to talk to you about something else.

ORLIN: Ok.

CARTER: Let’s take a walk.

EXT – PARK (DAY)

ORLIN and CARTER are walking through the park.

ORLIN: The others will know if the weapon is activated.

CARTER: You think they’ll try to stop us?

ORLIN: It’s possible.

CARTER: What, even if we only intend to use the weapon to defend ourselves?

ORLIN: How can you be sure of your people’s intentions?  You obviously can’t trust them if you think that they would spy on you inside of your own house.

CARTER: Yeah, I guess I can’t trust all of them.

ORLIN: I’ve read some of your recent history.

CARTER: And?

ORLIN: Many of the creators of the first atom bomb honestly believed it would only be used to maintain peace.  I can’t take the chance Sam.  I won’t be responsible for the demise of another civilisation.

CARTER: Well if you thought it might come to that, why didn’t you just destroy the weapon?

ORLIN: I thought I had.  I never expected you to be able to replace the power core.  You really are brilliant.

CARTER: I think your point is, we have to find a way to stop the test.

ORLIN: How?  You have no proof without exposing me.

CARTER: I know.

He starts to smile.

CARTER: What?

ORLIN: I’m sorry.  If you haven’t turned me in by now, there must be a reason.

CARTER: I’d feel bad betraying you.  That’s all, nothing more.

ORLIN: You like me.

CARTER: ORLIN.

ORLIN: You like me.  I can tell.  You like me a lot.

CARTER smiles despite herself.

INT – HAMMOND’S OFFICE, SGC

CARTER enters HAMMOND’S office to find O’NEILL and SIMMONS waiting for her.

O’NEILL: They’re testing the weapon.

HAMMOND: I received an order directly from the President.  Colonel REYNOLDS and SG16 are on P4X 636, setting up the naquada reactor as we speak.

CARTER: But, Sir, you said I would have two weeks, it’s only been…

SIMMONS: Nine days, Major.  And I dare say you haven’t spent a single minute of it working on atmospheric weather anomalies.

CARTER: What’s that supposed to mean?

SIMMONS: Would you like to explain these deliveries?

CARTER: What deliveries?

SIMMONS (reading from a report): 100 pounds of raw titanium.  200 feet of fibre optic cable.  Seven 100, 000 watt industrial strength capacitors.  The list goes on.  All ordered on line from your home computer.

He hands her the sheet of paper.

CARTER: I have no idea what you’re talking about, I’ve been here on the base everyday.

SIMMONS: Oh, well then maybe you’d like to explain who’s been excepting these deliveries.

He shows her photos of her and ORLIN, taken from outside her house.

CARTER (shocked): You have been watching me.

HAMMOND: Not us.  The Pentagon.  I’m sorry Major.  I’ve expressed my anger and disappointment to the President regarding the investigation of one of my officers without my knowledge.

SIMMONS: We have tapes of your conversation with the alien.

O’NEILL: At least we know there is one now for sure.

SIMMONS: Would you like to tell us what’s going on Major?

O’NEILL: She doesn’t have to tell you squat.  Major CARTER was working with the approval of her superior officer.  She told me he was there.  I authorised her to collect as much information as possible.

SIMMONS: I’m not here to lay blame, Colonel.  I’m here as a courtesy.  (To CARTER) As we speak a team of Special Forces are surrounding your house and on my command, they’re gonna go in and take that alien into custody.

EXT – OUTSIDE CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

Special Forces are in position outside CARTER’S house.  A car pulls up and SIMMONS, CARTER and O’NEILL get out.

SIMMONS: What’s going on?

SOLDIER: Well the suspect is in there, but he’s failing to respond to our call to surrender.

O’NEILL: Let CARTER go in.  He’s worth more to you alive, right?

SIMMONS: Yeah.

O’NEILL: You’ve got the place sealed off, he’s not going anywhere.  Let CARTER go in and try to bring him out.

SIMMONS: Alright.  Give her a radio.

A soldier gives CARTER a radio and she heads over to her house.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

CARTER enters her home.  It’s dark and she has a flashlight.

CARTER: ORLIN?  ORLIN?

ORLIN (from below): Sam?  Come on down.

She descends into the basement to find him fiddling with the fuse box.

CARTER: ORLIN, what are you doing?

ORLIN: Ok, just a minute.

CARTER: There’s a team of Special Forces outside.

ORLIN: I know.

CARTER: They wanna take you into custody.

ORLIN: I know.  It’s ok.

CARTER: ORLIN, I didn’t turn you in.

ORLIN: I didn’t think you did.

He does something to the fuse box, causing sparks, then grabs her hand and pulls her into another room.

ORLIN: Come on.

They enter the other room to find a small STARGATE in the middle.

CARTER: Whoa.  You’ve been busy.

ORLIN: I didn’t think they’d let me go back to Velona through their STARGATE.

CARTER: So you built one?

ORLIN: Sort of.  This won’t dial multiple addresses and will only create a wormhole once and probably burn out.

CARTER: And you ordered the materials on line.

ORLIN: Mostly.  Sorry, but you’re gonna have a pretty big credit card bill this month.  Oh, and you’re going to need a new toaster.  I tapped into the main power line.  Hopefully we’ll be able to draw enough energy.

CARTER: And then what?

ORLIN: I go to Velona to stop your people from using the weapon.

CARTER: You know they won’t listen to you.  They have orders.

ORLIN: Then I’ll have to make them listen.

CARTER: They could kill you.

SIMMONS (over the radio): Major CARTER. Major CARTER report.  Major CARTER respond immediately.

She holds the radio, but doesn’t respond.

EXT – OUTSIDE CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

SIMMONS (into his radio): CARTER.

O’NEILL (into the radio): CARTER, what are you doing?

SIMMONS (to the soldiers): Move in.

SOLDIER: All teams, all teams, we have a Code Red.

O’NEILL (to CARTER, over the radio): We’re coming in.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

CARTER can hear the order given over the radio.

SOLDIER (over her radio): Go, go, go.

ORLIN: I was really hoping that there would be another way.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

The Special Forces soldiers enter the house, kicking in the doors.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

ORLIN triggers the power to his mini STARGATE and it’s enough to create a wormhole through to Velona.

ORLIN: You know how I feel about you.  I hope this isn’t goodbye.

He runs and jumps thought the STARGATE while CARTER looks on.

She hears the approach of the soldiers.

INT – CARTER’S HOUSE (NIGHT)

O’NEILL and the soldiers enter the small room to see the small STARGATE shut down.  There’s no sign of CARTER.

EXT – VELONA (DAY)

ORLIN is running away from the STARGATE, CARTER a few hundred yards behind.

CARTER: ORLIN!

ORLIN looks up to see the sky ominously clouding over.

INT – CAVERN, VELONA

Colonel REYNOLDS and his team are working on the device.

ORLIN comes in and attacks one man, pushing him down and grabbing his zat gun.  He shoots the downed soldier but REYNOLDS draws his side arm and points it at him.

REYNOLDS: Don’t move!

EXT – VELONA

CARTER is running towards the cavern when she hears a shot being fired.

CARTER (running into the cavern): Hold your fire!  I know this man.

Behind her, ORLIN has been shot, but is still on his feet.

REYNOLDS: He attacked us.

The device in the cavern is starting to build up power.

CARTER: Colonel please.  Lower your weapon.  He has good reason to wanna stop this test.

REYNOLDS: I-I have orders from General HAMMOND.

CARTER: I know.  Let’s just dial out and talk to the General about it.

REYNOLDS: Can’t do that.  Your instructions specifically said that once we started the energy build up, we couldn’t abort or the reactor will blow.

CARTER (to ORLIN): He’s right.  If we disconnect the reactor now, it will explode.

ORLIN: Good.  The weapon will be destroyed.

REYNOLDS: I can’t let that happen, Major.

ORLIN dives forward and REYNOLDS opens fire, but he manages to disconnect the cables to the device in a shower of sparks.

The device begins to lose power and goes dead.

CARTER rushes over to ORLIN, who has been shot several times.

ORLIN: I can believe how much this hurts.

CARTER: Just hang on.

REYNOLDS: Major, we gotta get out of here.

CARTER: We can dial out.  We can’t risk the blast translating through the wormhole.

ORLIN: I have to go Sam.  (He touches her face) They’ve given me another chance.  It’s the only way I can save you.

He starts to glow and the hand touching her face slips away into the light as he moves away from her.

He passes over the naquada reactor, to the shock of Colonel REYNOLDS, and takes it high into the sky where it explodes in a massive blast.

The others all duck as a lightning bolt shoots down and destroys the device for good.

CARTER slowly raises herself to look up at the sky through the gap in the cavern and see clouds begin to clear.

FADE OUT

THE END