04x05 - Travelers

[bunniefuu]

Atlantis, this is Sheppard.
I'm on approach to the Gate.

Acknowledged.

You know, since I've been in Pegasus,
I have set up, like, what,

half a dozen research stations
on various planets and I remember you

ever volunteering to run
a re-supply mission to any of them.

I'm a busy man, Rodney. Just
happened to have a little free time.

And Doctor Mackenzie just

happens to be studying a primitive
tribe that lives in a tropical paradise

and has, how did he put it,
"little or no social inhibitions."

Well, they were very friendly.

What the hell?

What is it?

I think somebody just took a sh*t at me.

I've got a contact.
They're closin' fast.

What is it, Wraith?

I don't think so, but...

Whatever they're sh**ting me
with just shorted my systems.

I can't get weapons online.

Can you make it back to the Gate?
Sheppard?

Sheppard?

Rodney?

McKay?

Nice ship.

Little bit of a...

Little bit of a fixer-upper
but I can see the potential.

I'm not talking about
anything drastic, you know.

Maybe just a paint job,
some throw pillows...

Look,

I don't suppose you mind
telling me what's going on here?

Here's how we're gonna do this:
I'm gonna ask you questions

and you're gonna give me answers.

- Is that simple enough for you?
- Sure.

Who are you, where are you from,
and where'd you get your ship?

See, that's a funny coincidence,

`cause I was gonna ask you
the same exact questions.

The difference is, I'm not the one
whose hands are tied behind his back.

So again,

who are you, where are you
from, and where did you get your ship?

- What happened?
- I'm not entirely sure.

Looks like his Jumper was
att*cked before he reached the Gate.

- By who?
- The people on the planet

aren't much past mud huts and blow darts
so we can assume

they had nothing to do with it.
What we do know

is that just after we lost contact
there was a short burst

of radiation in the vicinity of the Gate

consistent with the opening
of a hyperspace window.

- Wraith?
- Sheppard didn't seem to think so,

and what little sensor data we've been
able to pick up seems to confirm it.

The energy signature's all wrong.
It's inconsistent with Ancient

technology as well,
which rules out the Replicators.

We know no other peoples in this galaxy
that possess hyperspace technology

Of course not. No-one reaches that level
of advancement without being culled.

So, then, who was it?

I could do this all day.

Your knuckles will get sore eventually.

Has he said anything?

Only his name: Reed Richards.

His name is Sheppard.

We intercepted
part of his last radio transmission.

I didn't get your name.

You can call me Larrin.

You really should co-operate.

Be a shame to have
to do too much damage.

I agree.

Maybe if you guys tell me
who you are and

what you want,

we could work out some kind of a deal.

Well, don't get my hopes
up and then disappoint me.

Tell him what happened
to the last man that disappointed me.

We don't know. We never found his body.

We assumed you blew him out into space.

I get it.

Good.

Bring him.

Get up.

Another form of t*rture?

When you spend as much
time in space as we do,

you don't get a lot of fresh food.

How much

time are we talking about?

This is a conversation, right?

A two-way street?

This is our home.

- This ship?
- And others like it.

We're travellers.

You live in space all the time?

We land on planets
when we need to for supplies, trade.

The rest of the time we keep moving.

From the Wraith?

That may have been how it started,

but now it's just who we are.

Well, no offence, Larrin.

Doesn't sound like much of a life.

Being a herd animal
isn't much of a life.

Besides,

the food has all the nutrients required.

Well, as tempting as that sounds,

my jaw's a little sore right now.

Things like that are
necessary from time to time.

Although it's not the most efficient way
of getting information,

it does help people to understand

their situation.

My situation being

completely at your mercy.

Exactly.

Anyway, I know more
about you than you think.

Really?

For instance, I know you carry the gene
required to operate Lantian technology.

I've got the what?

Look, Sheppard,
I know you have your secrets,

and if you stay on my good side,
I may even let you keep a few of them.

However, if you continue
to play ignorant with me,

I really will jettison you out
into space.

For some time now, we've been hearing
rumours about a new group of humans in

the galaxy using the technology of the
Ancestors to do battle with the Wraith,

so we set up a network of spy satellites
around dozens of worlds

with space Gates,
hoping for an encounter.

Eventually we got lucky.

In the first meeting between our people,
you att*ck me and disarm my ship.

Well, you were going through the Gate
and I couldn't let that happen.

You see, anyone capable
of operating Lantian technology

is of particular interest to us.

That's why you took
a sample of my blood.

We're working on a control interface
adaptor that requires a small amount

of necessary genetic material.

We needed your blood to test it.

I'm gonna guess it didn't go so well.

Why would you say that?

Then you wouldn't have
any use for me any more.

Don't underestimate yourself.

There's all kinds of useful
things you could do for me.

Commander,
we're approaching the coordinates.

Understood. Take us out of hyperspace.

Of course, you're right. The interface
isn't fully operational yet.

Come with me.

Nevik, my chief science officer, insists

that we have a much better chance
of perfecting the interface

if we reverse-engineer it
using Lantian technology

that's already been initialised.

I don't even know
what reverse engineering is.

You wanna use my ship.

Not exactly.

Activate the force shield.

Sheppard, can you hear me?

D'you mind telling me what you're doing?

Offering you a deal.

Open the Hangar Bay doors.

This is just not right!

Don't worry. You're safe as long as
the force shield doesn't malfunction,

and that almost never happens.

Why are you doing this?

You wanted to know what
this is all about. Look beneath you.

I'm assuming
you recognise the technology?

It's a Lantian battleship.

It's been dormant
for thousands of years,

and you're gonna help me
get it operational again.

Has it occurred to you
they might have abandoned the ship

for a good reason in the first place?

We know the reason.
We were able to access the ship's logs.

They were att*cked by the Wraith.

They lost communication
and the shields were failing.

The engines were damaged as well but
they managed to escape into hyperspace,

then they realised that their main
drive was giving off deadly radiation.

They were forced to abandon ship.

They intended to return and effect
repairs but never got the chance.

The ship's been drifting
in a two hundred year elliptical orbit

around a nearby dwarf star ever since.

So it's never been fixed?

- No.
- I hate to point out the obvious,

but one of the reasons I agreed to help
you was so that you wouldn't k*ll me.

If I'm gonna die of radiation anyway...

Don't worry.
We've set up shield emitters

to protect key areas of the ship,

and we've all got radiation detectors.

Take him to the Bridge.
Start with sub-light propulsion.

I'll go check the emitters.

Don't think I can get one of those too,
do you?

Here.

You know this ship is
ten thousand years old?

I'm just saying for the record.
If it doesn't work, it's not my fault.

Just get on with it.

It's amazing. I've been trying
for 2 months to activate these systems.

I need to calibrate the interface
from your neural input.

Why don't you start
by moving the ship forward?

You sure about that?

That's why we're here.

You fly the ship and I record
the inputs so I can replicate them.

- OK, but...
- Enough.

Fly the damn ship.

Right....

I just was gonna say,

you said,
"Start by moving the ship forward,

when you should have said, "Start
by initialising the inertial dampeners."

Wait!

My friend's got a g*n just like this.

- Always wondered where he'd got it.
- I'm gonna k*ll you.

Silas, what happened?

Nevik, what's going on up there?

Sorry, your people are unavailable
right now.

Sheppard, what are you doing?

You said, "Fly the ship."

I'm flying the ship.

We had a deal. I was prepared
to let you go in exchange for your help.

Sorry. I've never been able
to trust anyone who kidnaps me,

tortures me and threatens
to blow me into space.

We've got nothing.

There's no wreckage,
no transponder signal.

If he was down there,
we'd have found him.

- Then where is he?
- He's not in orbit

and he's not on the planet. The only
logical assumption is whoever

att*cked him must have brought him on
board before jumping into hyperspace.

- So what's the next step?
- There is no next step.

Look, we have no way of tracing him. He
could be anywhere in the galaxy by now.

I'm sorry, but sometimes
there is just nothing we can do.

Sheppard? I want you
to drop this ship out of hyperspace.

I don't think so.

Listen to me.

I've shut off the shield emitters
protecting your area of the ship.

Right now, the Bridge
is being flooded with radiation.

You're bluffing.

You'd never sacrifice your own people.

I don't wanna k*ll you, but if you don't
turn over the controls of this ship,

I'll have no choice.

You surprised me, Sheppard.

Well, as long as
I didn't disappoint you.

Oh no, I knew you'd make
some sort of a move. I just...

wasn't expecting anything quite so...

Clever? Creative?

Reckless. You could have k*lled
all of us, including yourself.

I once pulled eleven gees
in an F-16 without passing out.

- I figured I had a sh*t.
- Why, I underestimated you.

Yeah, I feel the same way.

I mean, you've got the whole
tough-as-nails routine down pat,

but exposing your own people
to k*ller radiation?

Takes a special kind of lady
to do that, doesn't it?

Larrin?

It's not good. He shut down
propulsion and navigation systems

before he turned over the Bridge.

Of course he did!

Did you collect enough data
to finish the control interface?

I don't know. Maybe.

Nevik, if you can't do this,
we're stranded.

What about him?

He's not going anywhere near
that bridge again. He can't be trusted.

If we can't bring that system back
online, he'll die like the rest of us.

That's the problem! Does he look like
a man who thinks he's going to die?

Check the sub-space
communications array.

Ancients lost the communications
in the battle with the Wraith.

The system was never repaired.

Check it.

What've you got?

Ah. Remember how I said
sometimes there's nothing we can do?

I was right about that... only it turns
out this is not one of those times.

You found him.

More like he found us. Listen to this.

That is the sound of sub-space.

It's mostly just random noise
generated by various forms of radiation,

but the Ancients in their infinite
wisdom created a programme

that can sniff out artificial patterns.

Now, t's no doubt a long-range means
of detecting advanced life forms...

kind of like our SETI programme,
only much more powerful

`cause it operates through sub-space.
Anyway, it's... it picked up this.

What is it?

That's Sheppard. I don't know why
he didn't send a regular message

but maybe he was dealing with a damaged
transmitter, or maybe to communicate

without being detected, but
it's definitely him.

How d'you know it's him?

It's Morse code. SOS.

What's happening?

What was that for?

D'you realise what you've done?

I didn't do anything.

- Stop that!
- I'll stop when you stop lying.

You adapted the damaged communications
array to send out a signal, didn't you?

Yes.

You said you'd stop that!

You were right.
Maybe I'll just sh**t you.

All right, don't you think
you're over-reacting a little?

You were trying
to broadcast our location.

Guess what? It worked.

There's a ship approaching, only I don't
think it's the one you were hoping for.

What do you mean?

It's the Wraith!

- The Wraith ship is f*ring on us.
- Do we have shields?

Affirmative... but they're only at 20%.
We can't take this for very long.

If you're gonna get out of this alive,
you're gonna need my help.

Now I realise

you and I don't exactly
trust each other...

but...

it's not gonna make much difference

if the Wraith blow the ship up, is it?

What've you got in mind?

Well, you could start by sh**ting back.

Right.

The weapons control platform is down the
corridor. I'm headed back to the bridge.

Keep the shields up as long as you can.

Great!

Piece of cake.

Shields are down.

Can't you re-route any more power?

There's nothing I can do.

Silas, Nevik, what happened?

Do you read me?

- It's Sheppard.
- I didn't give you a communicator.

I activated the ship's intercom.
What happened?

I don't know.
The forward section has been sealed off.

What about your people?

They're not responding.

The good news is
the Wraith ship's been destroyed.

Stay where you are. I'm coming to you.

Sheppard, where are you?

Auxiliary control room.

I'm sorry about this.

What are you doing?

For the moment, not much.

Hyperdrive seems to be offline.

What?

How bad is it?

Well, it's not exactly
my area of expertise

but if I'm reading this thing right,

the drive itself is undamaged. Probably
just a short in the control system.

Then we can take care of it
through a simple bypass.

Just let me out
and I should be able to fix it.

- I don't think so.
- We're a floating target out here!

All right, take it easy.

I've got the transmitter off. My people
should have gotten the message by now.

There is no reason to assume that Wraith
ship didn't broadcast our position.

Well, there's no reason
to assume they did.

Listen to me, Sheppard.

I've spent my entire life
around hyperdrive systems.

- I know what I'm doing.
- I never said I didn't believe you.

Don't worry...

my people will be here.

Sheppard was broadcasting from somewhere
in the vicinity of this system.

Well,
sensors aren't picking up anything.

Let me see if I can expand
the range a little.

There.

What is it?

It could be a ship.

It's still too far to get any details
but that's gotta be them.

How long to get there
at maximum sub-light?

It's five hours.

This is Lorne to all Jumpers.
I'm sending you some coordinates.

Proceed to target at maximum sub-light.

Go ahead.

Larrin,

what are you doing?

Look,

once my people get here
and get the hyperdrive back online,

we'll drop you off at the nearest Gate.
You have my word.

Not good enough.

What, my word or my deal?

Yeah, well, both.

You're the one
who kidnapped me, remember?

Because I need the ship.

There.

I did you a favour.

Sheppard,

listen to me.

Our fleet is old.

There was a time when we had
the resources to build new ships,

but now we don't.

When we lose one, it's gone for good,

and despite strict population controls

there just isn't enough room
for all of us any more.

We've been forced to abandon
some of our own people on the ground.

Well, they're no worse off than the rest
of the people in this galaxy.

Fine.

We'll do this the hard way.

Larrin, what are you doing?

Sheppard, you are really
starting to annoy me!

Just sit tight.
It'll be over soon enough.

Silas, Nevik, come in?

Silas, do you read me?

- Give it up. They're gone.
- You don't know that.

No, but I can find out.

Looks like there's no-one alive
in the forward section.

I'm sorry.

Larrin, where are you going?

I can track you anywhere on the ship.
You can't hide from me.

I'm picking up another life sign
directly in front of you.

Silas!

That's impossible. There's no way
he got out of that section alive.

You all right?

I'm fine.

It just caught me off guard.

They must have escaped in the Darts
before their ship was destroyed.

We left the hangar bay pressurised,
they flew right in.

- They?
- Yeah, there's three more.

We can track `em with this.

Where'd you get that?

Auxiliary control room.

Gotta know where to look. Come on.

Get his w*apon.

Tenacious little bastards, aren't they?

Don't suppose you have
any more of these?

I'm afraid not.

And I don't think
this is gonna be much good either.

Hold on!

Got one coming this way.

What now?

Wait, no, Sheppard...
What? What are you doing?

What? Oh, I can't believe
you're playing this...

There's the other two.

What, are they having a board meeting?

No use. I've done everything to boost
the sensors. It's still too far out.

So we have no idea
what we're dealing with?

Why so far out
on the edge of the solar system?

Don't think it's a coincidence
there's a space Gate.

They were probably headed for it

- when they dropped out of hyperspace.
- Why would they?

How should I know?
We don't know who they are.

Does it make a difference?

Even if it was a fleet of hive ships,

would it stop us
from trying to get him back?

No.

You know, none of this'd have happened
if you would have just cooperated.

You'd be home by now,
and I'd be headed back to my people

with a ship that could house
a thousand men, women, and children.

If you had asked for my help in the
first place instead of attacking me...

- We couldn't risk it.
- Risk what?

You might have said no.

They're leaving.

Hold up.

We got a problem.

They're between us and the control room.

Should be able to find a way around.

There isn't enough time.
We can't risk them finding it first.

What does it matter?
It's not like they can fly the ship.

Sheppard...

you did shut down the controls, right?

- Sheppard...
- There wasn't enough time.

If they find that control room
before we do,

they'll not only be able
to fly the ship,

but they're going to be able to track us
using the internal sensors.

Believe me, I know, and by the way,

I was busy saving your life at the time.

The only reason my life
was in danger in the first place

is because you decided to broadcast
our position to half the galaxy.

Do you want to argue about this,
or do you want to do something about it?

Fine.

What are the options?

Well, we're cut off
from the control room,

and we have no weapons.

That's not true. We have the chair.

I don't think drones are going to do
any good with a bunch of Wraith

in the middle of the ship.

What if they weren't in the middle?

Get serious.

You got a better idea?

All right.

I'm in position.

Wait for my signal.

You sure you want to go
through with this?

I mean, if you don't make it,

I'm going to feel responsible, and,

well, I really don't need the guilt.

I'll be fine as long as
you don't sh**t too early.

I'm sure it's not the first time
you've heard that from a woman.

On the other hand,
I might be able to live with it.

I got 'em.

Here we go.

Sheppard, now!

Larrin, come in.

Larrin?

And now,

before I take the rest of your life,

you will answer my questions.

How many more of your people
are on this ship?

I do not have to k*ll you,

nor do I have to leave you like this.

It would be better if you cooperated.

This is your last chance.

Tell me,

how many more of you

are onboard?

It only takes one.

I see that you've just fed,

which means that your regeneration
powers are at their highest,

but...

I seriously doubt
you can grow a new head.

What do you want?

First,

you're going to hand me the stunner.

Slowly.

Next,

you're going to get back what you took.

Then, you're going to leave.

- Leave?
- You came in a dart, right?

The bay was unguarded.

We landed our darts
and entered unchallenged.

Well, then, you're going to leave
the same way you came.

There's a space Gate orbiting
the second planet in this system.

It may take you a while,
but you'll get there.

If I restore her,

there's nothing to stop you
from going back on your word

and k*lling me anyway.

That's true.

I'd say there's a 50-50 chance
i'll do it out of pure spite,

but...

if you don't,

I will k*ll you.

Get up.

Turn around.

You all right?

I don't know.

That was so strange.

To have your...

whole life fading away, and then to...

suddenly have it back again.

It actually felt kind of good.

I know.

Happened to me once, too.

Long story.

Think you can get up?

Yeah.

Easy...

I'm okay. I'm all right.

You saved my life.

Again.

If you hadn't come up with the plan,
we'd both be dead.

So are you saying we make a good team?

Well, don't go crazy.

Right,

but in the interest of...

interstellar relations,

I think we should at least just...

try to get along,

right?

You've got to be kidding me.

Sorry.

Larrin...

Sorry about this, Sheppard,

and I really am grateful
you saved my life.

Well, you've got
a funny way of showing it.

Don't play hurt with me.

It's easy to be generous when
you think you have the upper hand.

What are you talking about?

We both know the only reason
you didn't stun me and lock me up

the first opportunity you got
was because you thought

your ships were going to get here first.

You were wrong about that, by the way.

It's good to see you again.

Believe me,

I feel the same way.
How did you find us?

Well, we were monitoring communications
before you jumped into hyperspace.

You knew he took the ship?

It seemed fairly obvious.

We guessed his priority would be
to contact his people,

so we sent probes to all the space Gates

in the vicinity
of our previous position.

Eventually,
we detected your energy signature.

Well done.

Now, I want you to send over
a couple of technicians

to help me get
the hyperdrive back online.

And a security team as well.

Right away.

Oh, come on.

All right, close enough to do
a full sensor sweep.

Looks like we got four ships,

one of them Lantian design.
Aurora class.

- What about the other 3?
- I don't recognize the configurations.

- What about Sheppard?
- The logical assumption is that

he's onboard the ship
that transmitted the signal.

- And which one is that?
- Well, I have no idea.

We're about to enter weapons range, Doc.
Which ships do I target?

Perhaps we should attempt
to communicate before we att*ck.

- We know nothing about these people.
- That's true,

but right now, about the only thing
we got working for us

is the fact that we're cloaked. We send
a signal, we give up our position.

He's right. They could target us,
or for that matter,

they could jump back into hyperspace.
We'd be right back at square one.

We didn't come all
this way for nothing, right?

All right, well, I'll see if
I can figure out a way to disable them.

I thought you'd be glad to know the
hyperdrive repairs are almost complete.

Well, congratulations.

You got what you want.

Yes, it's true I can fly
the ship and navigate,

but there are still dozens of systems
I don't have access to,

and if any of the controls went down,
it would be a problem.

So finish the adapter.

You've said you can reverse-engineer the
systems that were already initialized.

Well, yes, we can, eventually,

but it would go a lot faster
if I keep you onboard.

You are a piece of work, you know that?

I know you don't agree with my tactics,

but I wasn't lying about
why I need this ship.

I'm doing this for my people.

Look...

I know you think you're helping
your people, but you're wrong.

Excuse me?

You've been running
and hiding for thousands of years.

You've survived, good for you,

but now

you're starting to see
diminishing returns.

One more ship, that will buy you
a little more time, but ultimately,

it's not going to change anything.

Your people are headed for a slow death.

What other choice do we have?

In case you haven't heard,

you will soon enough,
but the Wraith are under att*ck.

From who?

It's a long story, but the point is,
they're taking heavy damage,

and if they don't get wiped out,
they're going to be vulnerable.

You people have hyperdrives
and advanced weapons,

and God knows what else.

When the time is right,

that kind of technology
can tip the balance.

Are you suggesting an alliance?

Well, I'm not asking you to dinner,
but yeah, something like that.

After all I put you through?

Well, like you said,
you did it for your people.

I may have misjudged you after all.

All right, Doc, we're in weapons range.
What do you got for me?

We can target
the Lantian ship's engines.

What about the others?

I've been going over the data,
but there's too many unknowns.

If we hit them in the wrong spot,
we could blow them out of the sky,

or the drones could just bounce
harmlessly off the shields.

All right, well, it's still our best
option. We can't risk them getting away.

They're gone.

I'm getting a contact.

It's a Jumper.

One life sign.

Colonel Sheppard, this is
major Lorne. Is that you?

That's affirmative, Major.

It's good to hear from you.

Likewise, Sir.

Seemed like we came pretty close
to losing you there.

You don't know the half of it.

- That's good!
- Really.

Spend enough time
with a bunch of space nomads,

you really begin
to appreciate what you have.

It's difficult to imagine spending
one's entire life on board a ship.

If that was me, I'd go crazy.

They're not
the most even-keeled people.

I'm still not exactly sure
why they let me go.

Well, you did offer them an alliance.
That has to be worth something.

Or they figured out you'd be
more trouble than you're worth.

That is a possibility.

No, there's something
you're not telling us.

She was hot, wasn't she?

I don't know what you're talking about.

I knew it! That is so typical!

She had me b*at, Rodney.

She threatened to k*ll me several times.

It wasn't like we were hanging out
in the spa together.

Whatever! All I know is that every time
I get taken c*ptive, it's the Wraith.

Just once, I would like
to be taken prisoner by the sexy alien.

- Well, you may still get a chance.
- Yeah? What do you mean?

She's still out there.