03x02 - Misbegotten

[bunniefuu]

Previously, on Stargate Atlantis...

Currently, Stargate Command

has no vessels capable of engaging
the hive ships before they reach Earth.

Even if we could catch up with them,

I don't know how long we'd last.

That lingering stench of what they transformed you into
will never fade.

Wouldn't it have been more prudent...

to send the ZPM back to Earth on the Daedalus?

Colonel Sheppard, is that you?

Who's this?

Targeting the ventral hyperdrive generators
will be most effective.

This ship has been seriously damaged.

Look, it's hard for me to find something to overload.

Let Mickey try it.

He's helping us.

Hive just opened fire on the transport, Sir.

Beam them directly to the bridge.

That last blast took out our life support,
and the backups aren't responding.

The only breathable air
within light years is on the Wraith ship.

There's also Wraith.

Unless we send over the gas.

We finish the plan we started.

You can start sending people over, Sir.

They're all human and the air is good.

I think we're out of the woods.

Incoming wormhole.

Opening the iris.

Receiving video transmission.

Stargate command, this is Atlantis.

I'm here, Teyla.

Any word about our people?

Unfortunately,

no.

But the hive ship we have been tracking
is still on course for Atlantis.

We expect its arrival shortly.

Activate the cloak.

Proceed.

Cloak is engaged.

What about our defenses?

All rail g*n positions are manned and operational

and Dr. Beckett is in the drone control chair.

Patch me through to him.

Carson?

Elizabeth?

How are you doing?

Oh, just peachy, thanks. You?

I'm sorry to put you into this position,
but you're the only person,

besides from Colonel Sheppard and General O'Neill,
who've actually fired a drone from that chair.

Ironically, they're the two people
I nearly k*lled when I did that.

You'll do fine.

Is this even necessary? I mean,

we've got the cloak up, chances are they won't find us,
and they'll just be on their way.

Normally, I would agree with you,

but this ship is moving much faster than
we've ever seen a hive ship move before, which means

either it's one of the ships the Daedalus is chasing,

or they shared the information
they stole from us with other Wraith.

Either way, the cloak might not do us much good.

Great.

Hive ship just dropped out of hyperspace.

Dr Beckett, stand by.

Receiving a signal.

Atlantis, this is Sheppard. Come in.

John?

They made it?

We're out of food, water,
and we haven't slept in days, but...

yeah, we made it.

So now would not be a good time to fire on us.

After all,

we wouldn't want to damage our new hive ship.

This is Daedalus. We're clear.

Understood.

Sorry to sneak up on you like that, Doc.
Subspace communications were down.

I came this close to blasting you out of the sky.

You showed remarkable restraint,
makes me all the more confident in you next time.

- Next time? Oh, no, no...
- Oh yeah, the retrovirus worked great.

Really? How many are there?

Well, the ship didn't have a full complement
to begin with, but still,

there are a few.

This...

is a few?

The official count is just under 200.

A lot of them were k*lled in the battle.
A lot more of them k*lled each other

when the gas started changing them.

We should consider ourselves lucky.

A hive ship like this could carry thousands.

Aye.

Don't misunderstand me, Dr Weir.

I'm not here to lecture you
on the moral complexities of your situation.

Ultimately, the IOA has no official position
on the matter one way or the other.

Because when there's actually a tough decision
to be made, they suddenly have no opinion.

The lives of 200 former Wraith are not high up
on their list of priorities.

But the way you dealt with the recent crisis,

and quite frankly, the manner in which
you responded to their authority,

and there's still the issue of whether the intelligence

that allowed these hives to get as far they did
was passed to any other Wraith colonies.

According to Michael, it was not.

I don't have to tell you that your willingness
to trust this particular Wraith...

is not going to make for a strong defense.

I didn't know I was on trial.

Look...

Pegasus is so far away,

they never thought the Wraith would be a thr*at
to anyone outside the members of the expedition itself.

It was their objection to having
Atlantis under m*llitary control

that put me in this position in the first place.

Nothing renews your appreciation for the m*llitary

like the thr*at of invasion from life-sucking aliens.

Michael?

Even though I saved Colonel Sheppard's life

and helped him stop the hives from reaching Earth,

you still place me under guard.

You have betrayed our trust in the past.

Trust?

I was your prisoner, then.

And despite what I've done for you...

here I am, once again.

I can't say I'm surprised.

I wasn't welcome among my own kind,
why should I be welcome here?

What are you talking about?

She looked at me as if I was
some kind of unclean thing.

I may appear as a Wraith again on the outside,

but as far as they're concerned, I'm...

That is why I need your help.

- What do you want?
- I can't stay here,

and I can't return to the Wraith.

Which means I need to make my own way.

And to do that...

I need supplies...

and a ship.

We are grateful for your help,

but we can never release you,
not with the information you possess.

Then k*ll me now!

There is another way.

Take the treatment again.

Yes.

What I am is not a disease you can cure.

Your life as a human could be long and full.

And if I remember nothing of what or who I am...

if this consciousness is erased...

what is the difference between that and death?

And if I do remember
and revert back to my true nature...

what will happen then?

Dr. Beckett has made significant advances.

The treatments are more effective now,
and eventually, he may find a permanent solution.

If you really believed that,

those wraith you transformed
wouldn't be in stasis on the ship.

They'd be here,

reveling in your hospitality.

Come in.

Dr. Weir?

Mr. Woolsey.

The IOA has decided that,

for the time being,

you should continue to head the Atlantis expedition.

You're surprised?

Yes, I am.

I guess this means that international mistrust of the
U.S m*llitary is far more powerful than their fear of...

life-sucking aliens.

The truth is,

the delegates are split.

In order to avoid a deadlock, they

decided on a temporary reinstatement pending
a detailed report on the situation in Pegasus.

Written by...

Me.

I'll be going back to Atlantis with you.

Have you ever been off-world before, Mr. Woolsey?

Sure.

Once.

And how did that go for you?

I was nearly k*lled.

Well, we will do our best to make sure
that doesn't happen... this time.

I understand that Stargate Command has put in
a request to the Asgard for transportation.

I know they don't have
a lot of ships to spare right now,

but that will shave almost
two weeks off our travel time.

I've never met an Asgard.

You, I think, will love them.

They've got a great sense of humor.

Really?

No.

You figured out how to fly this thing yet?

Oh, yeah, fly, shimmy, spin like a top.
You didn't think it would be hard, did you?

Just proves my confidence in you wasn't misplaced.

So far, we can't get the ship to respond
to anything but the most basic commands.

- Well, that doesn't do us much good.
- Really?

Look, all the more sophisticated systems,
like navigation,

respond to Wraith neural interface,

in much the same way that the puddle Jumpers
can only be controlled by people with the A.T.A gene.

So we still need a wraith to fly it.

I'm working on a manual override...

just haven't had much luck yet.

What about Teyla?
Teyla's got the Wraith gene thing.

- Maybe she can fly it.
- It's worth a try, but that's not the only problem.

At least half of the ship's power
generating capacity is gone.

So even if I had access to spare parts,
which I don't, I doubt I could fix it.

Now, if we're going to fly this thing,
and hope for weapons,

we need to cut back on
our current power consumption.

Meaning what?

Meaning the 200 prisoners we've got in stasis,

we can't keep them in there forever.

Are you my executioner?

I wish.

I'm just glad he's not gonna remember this.

All right...

this is weird.

What?

- It's just a bunch of guys.
- I know what they really are.

Keep that to yourself and try to act normal.

Colonel Sheppard...

I need to speak with you.

I'm sorry...

Oh, my name is Lathan.
At least that's what I've been told.

Okay.

Many of us have questions, Colonel.

Like how long we're going to be kept here.

That's up to Dr. Beckett.

He said he doesn't know.

Which means he doesn't know the exact date.

Sorry, this is a medical situation,
and he has medical reasons.

You people are under quarantine.

Why only the men?

Your women are immune to the strain,
so are most of my people.

We've been over this a few times.

- I know, I just don't...
- Until Dr. Beckett can clear you,

there's nothing I can do.

How's it coming?

I'm gonna need more time.

You'd be better off conducting
this research back on Atlantis.

And what,

just leave them here?

That was the plan, remember that, Carson?

But they're not ready yet.

You were supposed to teach them
to administer the drug themselves.

I have trained several
of them to act as my assistants.

Good, then there should be no problem.

Colonel, there's more here to what I'm doing
than just sticking needles in their arms.

For one, I have to make sure
there's no signs of reversion.

This planet has no Gate.

They've got no way off.
Whatever happens, we're covered.

- That's not what I meant.
- Have any of them started to remember?

I don't think so.

The drug seems to keep them stable,
as long as they get a daily dose.

We don't have the manpower or
the resources to babysit them forever.

Are you telling me that if I can't come up
with a permanent solution,

- that eventually, we'll have to abandon them?
- Eventually.

Then what?

They'll turn back into the wraith,

and without any other food supply,

they'll start feeding on each other.

Well, I'm not ready to give up just yet,

and like it or not, for the moment,

they are human,

and they're my responsibility.

Take the ship back.
I'll stay on till the first resupply mission.

That won't be for another week at least.

We've got to bring enough food to last
untill they can harvest their own.

I'll be perfectly safe.

We're leaving a security team with you.

What did he say?

Nothing.

He won't tell us anything.

He's hiding something.

Like what?

I only know that something's not right.

Everything they've told us about our homeworld,

the plague,

how they rescued us...

I don't remember a single part.

Because memory loss is one of the symptoms.

How do you know that's true?

We don't know them.

We don't even know ourselves.

They're helping us.

By keeping us trapped here with barely enough food

and no idea when or if we'll ever be allowed to leave?

I say that's not good enough.

What are you suggesting?

They only have a handful of soldiers.

We outnumber them 10 to one.

- And then what?
- They have some sort of ship.

It's how we got here.

- If we have hostages...
- What if they're telling the truth...

and we really are carrying
some kind of deadly plague?

Even if we somehow survive and get away,

all we'll be doing is spreading
this disease wherever we go.

Do you really want to risk that?

- If we don't act before that ship leaves,
we'll be stranded on this rock forever.
- Michael's right, Lathan.

It's too risky.

Colonel Caldwell?

Mr. Woolsey.

- Mind if I join you?
- Of course.

How are you settling in?

I'm not sure about this uniform.

You'd stand out more in a suit and tie.

Believe me,

I've done enough of these investigations to realize that
no amount of camouflage is going to disguise who I am

or what I'm doing here.

You're expecting something less than full cooperation?

We're just having a conversation.

As commander of the Daedalus, I have standing orders
to help out around here whenever possible, but...

I'm not a member of this expedition.

I don't answer to the IOA...

and unless otherwise directed by my superiors,

I don't have to answer your questions.

The only reason that you're not
the m*llitary commander of Atlantis is that Dr. Weir

insisted that post go to Colonel Sheppard.

If she were to leave,

you would be the most likely candidate to take over.

That's not why you're here.

The IOA doesn't really want militarization.

They're just afraid they may have no other choice.

I think you've already spoken to Dr. Weir.

No.

I've just been around long enough
to know what's going on.

It sounds like you're saying

you won't come out against Dr. Weir only
because you're not confident of the outcome.

No, what I'm saying, Mr. Woolsey,

is have a pleasant evening.

You guys head back to the ship.

Okay, Doc, last chance.
We're packed up and ready to roll.

Colonel, we've got a problem.

Lathan's missing.

He didn't turn up for his last treatment,
and nobody's seen him. Have they?

No, but...

But what?

It's all right, Michael. Tell him what you told me.

Lathan's convinced this whole thing
is some king of elaborate lie.

I tried to tell him you were doing
your best to help us, that

maybe the sickness
was playing with his mind, but...

he wouldn't listen.

You're saying he's not lost, he's hiding.

It's possible.

Colonel, I think it's best if we find him as soon as
possible, before any symptoms of the plague reoccur.

- Okay, let's get a search party going...
- We'd like to help.

He is one of us.

Anything?

Nothing.

Morrison, report.

We're just coming up on the river.

- Still no sign of him, Sir.
- All right, keep me posted.

Michael...

Lathan!

What are you doing out here?

I'm proving a point.

- You missed a treatment.
- I know,

but I'm starting to remember.

It's just flashes, images in my head,

but something's definitely coming back to me.

Don't you see what this means?

They're not curing us, they're keeping us this way.

We must make our move and quickly.

I'm sorry,

but you should have stayed at the camp.

Colonel Sheppard.

Go ahead.

We've found him, Sir.

What's your location?

We're half way up the ridge
that runs south of the camp.

He must have been trying to climb down
and lost his footing.

What are you saying, he's injured?

No, Sir.

He's dead.

I've prepared the injections
for this morning's first group.

On you go.

You'll be fine, Merrick.
I've seen you do it a dozen times.

Besides, I've got work to do here.

You're going to examine the body?

Well, the cause of death is quite obvious.
His neck was broken...

but there are some tests I could
perform that could help with my research.

At least that way something good might come of this.

We've all logged more than
a few miles these past few weeks.

I'd just like to say that...

seeing you now, sitting across from me...

looking at your faces...

it makes me feel very...

You don't have to say it.

We feel the same way you do.

Oh, she feels hungry, too?

Now, Teyla, I understand

navigating the hive ship
wasn't a particularly pleasant experience?

The neural interface was quite exhausting.

And that was just flying in a straight line.

I mean, she'll never be able
to pull off anything complex, like

combat maneuverability weapons control.

How many maneuvers can you pull off
with your manual interface?

Well, does standing still count as a maneuver?

No.

Sorry I'm late. My interviews are running
a little longer than expected.

And you are...

Richard Woolsey.

He is chief liaison to the international committee
that oversees the Atlantis expedition.

He will be conducting individual
interviews with each of you.

As well as observing all senior staff meetings.

Right.

So, what did I miss?

Rodney was about to run down all the progress he's made

- adapting the hive controls.
- Excellent. Please continue.

Thanks.

Dr. Beckett, this is Lieutenant
Morrison. What's your location?

I'm out on the ridge where Lathan's body was found.

If you don't mind my asking,
Doc, what are you doing out there?

I wanted to check on something.
I think we may have a problem.

What kind of problem?

I was so caught up running tests
on Lathan's tissues for my research,

I almost didn't notice.

Notice what?

There isn't enough blood on the ground,

which indicates that his heart
wasn't pumping when he fell.

Now, he definitely d*ed when his neck was snapped,

but I'm beginning to think the rest
of his injuries occurred postmortem...

presumably to make it look like an accident.

Look, it's going to be dark soon.

You'd better start back now, and
we'll talk about it when you get here.

Right.

It would appear

from this incident that the lies
you're telling these...

people...

are beginning to wear a bit thin.

One adverse reaction out of 200.

Do you seriously hold out much hope for
the long-term success of this little science project?

That's not what this is.

You may have never set out to create
this community, but you did create it.

We did what we had to do in order to survive.

I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time.

But even if Dr. Beckett comes up with
what appears to be a long-term solution,

would we ever trust them enough
to integrate them into any

society of humans?

Probably not.

- Which brings me back to my original question.
- What do want me to say?

I supported Elizabeth's decision
to form an alliance with Michael,

and I supported her decision to put all those...

people...

on the planet.

That support hardly shines through
when you hesitate to call them people.

Just out of political curiosity, how much trouble is it
going to cause you if I knock this Woolsey in the head?

May I ask why you'd like to do that?

Just an impluse I had, really. One I suspect
I'm gonna have again next time I see him.

He may not even have to say anything.

I've never seen you like this.

What did Woolsey say to you?

Besides judging every damn decision you've ever made?

John Sheppard are you defending my honor?

And judging me for agreeing with you.

Well, don't be too hard on him.

I think of all the circling wolves

he's the least likely to actually bite.

In fact, he might even convince
the others to leave us alone.

All right, so...

no head-knocking.

It's the thought that counts.

Lieutenant Morrison...

this is Dr. Beckett. Come in.

Morrison...

I'm afraid the Lieutenant and his men...

are indisposed.

Michael, listen to me. You're sick.

You need to take your medication, now.

It's too late for that, Doctor.

I've regained enough memory to know
that you've done this to me not once,

but twice.

You've witnessed how hurt...

how betrayed I felt the first time.

Well, try to imagine how I feel now.

Why did you have to k*ll Lathan?

He was stirring up trouble,

but I knew our only chance was to wait until
Colonel Sheppard left with the soldiers...

most of them, anyway.

But with the ship gone, what's the point?
You've got no hope of escape.

That's where you're wrong.

What have we got, Rodney?

Long-range sensors just picked up a hive ship.

Coming this way?

No.

Wait a minute. This doesn't make any sense.

What?

On its current course, it's headed straight for the
planet where we left Beckett and the prisoners.

There is no reason for the Wraith
to be interested in that planet.

It doesn't have a Stargate, and there's no indication
that it ever supported a human population.

It is completely off the grid.

I think we have to consider
the possibility that we have a leak.

You mean a spy?

Not necessarily in the City itself.

Without ruling anything out,

I would begin by focusing on our contacts within
the various indigenous populations, including...

If you believe any Athosian...

Let's not jump to any conclusions here.

Isn't it true that there are humans
in this galaxy who serve the Wraith,

even worship them?

How hard would it be for them
to infiltrate one of our allied groups?

Mr. Woolsey, do you think we post this kind
of information on the City bulletin board?

If the Wraith had that level of inside information,
they'd be on their way to Atlantis,

not some nameless planet with
a couple hundred people on it.

For the time being,
we need to focus on getting those people out of there,

because if the Wraith
find them and figure out what they are...

We've got a problem.

Again.

How much time do we have?

Two days.

Well, we could...

well, you could b*at them there in the Daedalus.

The hyperdrive is still offline,

Hermiod needs at least another 24 hours.

- You should light a fire under his bony little...
- That still might not be quite good enough.

If we leave right now in the hive ship?

We'd be cutting it close.

What are our chances of
surviving a ship-to-ship encounter?

If I can get the manual interface working, I'd say...

less than slim.

Do what you can on the way.

How many have reverted?

Those you saw in the forest,

plus a few more.

And the others?

They'll serve as an offering
to the hive that's coming for us.

That's hardly bloody fair.

The strong survive, doctor.

The few of us who began
to realize something was wrong

got together and formed a plan,

even while on the medication.

The weaker minds among us
will stay that way thanks to your dr*gs,

and the training you gave us.

If your memory's coming back,

you should remember what happened last
time you tried to rejoin the Wraith.

- It will be enough to escape this rock!
- What do you need me for?

There must be a reason you're keeping me alive!

I need to know what secondary security measures
Colonel Sheppard put in place before he left.

What are you talking about?

The more my memory returns,

the more I begin to doubt that he would have left us
here without setting up some kind of failsafe.

There's no way off this planet.

That was the failsafe!

How many years of your life will I have to take away
before you tell me what I want to know?

That's hardly a thr*at

since you're obviously going to k*ll me anyway.

You underestimate your own value...

doctor.

Look! They don't tell me
this sort of thing. I'm just a doctor.

Maybe you shouldn't have been
so quick to k*ll Lieutenant Morrison.

I don't like to question m*llitary men.

They're like our own Wraith warriors.

Unimaginative,

rigid thought patterns...

but you, on the other hand,

are trained to have an open mind,

and you have a strong sense of empathy toward others.

It's not as strong as it used to be,

believe me.

You're exactly what I need.

Now...

let's begin.

Do we have weapons yet?

Sort of.

What does that mean?

Well, we can fire, but not in any particular direction.

You're going to have to do better than that.

Oh believe me no-one wants
to survive this mission more than I do.

Look, we're using up a lot of
power reserves to maintain this speed.

We're not gonna have a lot left over to fight with.

- We're going this fast to avoid fighting.
- Yeah, theoretically.

Just keep working.

Atlantis, this is Daedalus. We're ready to go here.

Are you sure you want to do this, Colonel?

I understand Hermiod isn't too happy about
having the hyperdrive pressed into service so soon.

He's cleared us to fly, albeit reluctantly.

Whether or not he's happy about it is beside the point.

Anyway, I'm sure
Colonel Sheppard would appreciate the help.

Thank you.

Daedalus out.
Set a course.

Yes, Sir.

That's it.

We're out of hyperspace.

You all right?

I believe I have been able to establish a stable orbit.

All right, nice work.

- Any sign of the other hive ship?
- No, we're clear.

All right, patch me through to camp.

Just give me a second.

That's weird.

A bunch of secondary systems just came online.

You're a genius, Rodney.

True...

but I didn't do it.

It's like they just woke up by themselves.

It looks like they're all keyed into the sensors.

The ship must have detected
something and turned them on.

Detected what?

Wraith life signs.

From the planet?

How many?

There's... 20 or 30.

What about human?

Still well over a hundred.

So some of them reverted.

They'll be feeding on each other.

What about Dr. Beckett and Lieutenant Morrison's team?

I have no way to distinguish
them from the other human life signs.

I can't say for sure either way.

How did they contact a ship so far out?

I have no idea.

Teyla, what do you think?

It is possible that a group of them acting
together could communicate over much larger distances.

Well, live and learn.

And live some more, hopefully.

What about the failsafe device?
What kind of k*ll zone are we looking at?

Everything in a three-mile radius is toast.

You're sure about that?

We've got no margin for error here.

The blast radius doesn't stop at three miles.

What about the ones that are still human?

There's nothing we can do for them.

Well, I suppose we could not incinerate them.

If Michael got his memory back,

they could all know about Atlantis
by now and how to find Earth.

We can't take that chance.

Once we get our people out,

we'll give you the signal,

you set off the nuke.

Carson...

He's barely conscious.

Did you find the others?

They were fed on.
There's not much of them left.

Help me get him up.

Aw, come on...

Rodney, come in.

What's happening?

We've got carson.

Morrison and his team are dead.

We're heading back.

We're clear. Light it up.

Understood.

Failsafe detonation in

three,

two,

one...

Now you see what they really think of us.

I don't understand.

The b*mb is receiving a detonation signal.

If I hadn't deactivated it...

we'd all be dead.

Rodney?

I don't understand it.

What happened?

You mean what didn't happen.

Are you telling me the b*mb didn't go off?

They got to it.

We cannot leave the Wraith here
to be found by the hive.

Get back to work on those weapons, Rodney.
We're not going anywhere.

Should we search for the prisoner?

There's no point.

He's been taken up to their ship by now.

In any case...

he's served his purpose.

There's nothing left for us to do but wait

for our brothers to rescue us soon.

How you doing with the weapons?

We couldn't hit the side of a barn.

- Hive ships are 100 times...
- A giant flying barn,

we couldn't hit that.

What about hitting a stationary target?

All motion in space is relative...

I'm talking about on the planet.

Well, that i might be able to do.

Target the camp.

Wait just a minute.

We've had this discussion before, Doc.

There's no choice.

We could go down in the Jumper
and take as many as possible.

We have no time.

The other hive ship's going to be here
any minute, and we won't survive a battle.

It's my call.

There's still over 100 men down there
that believe that we are their saviors.

They're about to become casualties of w*r.

It has to be done.

Fire.

It's the other hive!

We're taking multiple hits!

What about the target?

It's hard to say for sure
how accurate our fire has been.

Blanket the entire area.
We can't afford a mistake.

Engines are offline!
We're venting atmosphere!

Power's about to fail!

Report.

We've just about reached the planet, Sir.

Drop us out of hyperspace.

It's debris from a hive ship, Sir.

Life signs?

No, Sir.

What about the planet?

I'm not getting anything.

I see.

Daedalus, this is Sheppard. Come in.

Sheppard, where the hell are you?

Oh, right, sorry.

We're picking up a Jumper, Sir.

Five life signs.

You got here in good time, Colonel.
We were looking at a long ride home.

You're still not certain if any of
the Wraith on the planet survived?

Not certain, no.

My people were concerned about
their own survival at that time.

Understandably.

But of course it's my fault they were
in that position in the first place.

If I had just disposed of those prisoners,

none of this would have happened.

Isn't that what you're going to write in your report?

Quite the contrary, in fact.

It was your decision to fire on the camp from orbit

that eliminated the thr*at...

at least we hope it was eliminated...

and allowed your team to escape.

I didn't make that decision.

But you would have,

If...

hypothetically, Dr. McKay had managed to get
the hive's subspace communicator working

and you'd been apprised of the situation.

Well, I...

I might have.

Close enough.

But that's not what happened.

The IOA doesn't need to know that.

In fact,

they don't want to know that.

You see, in my business, sometimes
it's important not to let inconvenient facts

get in the way of the greater truth,

and the truth is...

you should remain here,

in charge of this expedition.

For the moment.

Dial Earth, please.