Original subtitles

May I join you?

It's called chess. It's a game.

They've been sitting there like that since I sat down.

WEIR: Those two, they play every single day.

Neither one has even blinked yet.

Well, it's not really a game of action.

I can see that.

It's all about strategy.

He's planning his next move

and the move after that, and the move after that.

You guys do a lot of that around here.

Yes, we do.

I take it that's not how you prefer to do things.

No. I'm leaving. Hey, Ronon, wait.

Just because we do things differently, doesn't mean we can't learn from each other.

And Colonel Sheppard has already invested an incredible amount

of time and energy trying to make you an integral part of his team.

I mean I'm leaving the table.

Oh. Is that okay?

Yes, of course. I'm sorry, I thought that-

McKAY Dr. Weir?

Rodney, what is it? Something you should see here.

I'm on my way.

I'm leaving too. Okay.

Okay.

WEIR: What is it?

That is the signature of an Ancient ship called the Aurora.

With the ZPM powering the city, we've been reactivating dormant systems.

That one tracked the location of Ancient ships during the war.

A warship? Look at his eyes, all lighting up again.

It's Pavlovian.

I crosschecked the logs.

They were on a reconnaissance mission.

When we activated the ZPM

the city must have sent out an automated subspace beacon

recalling ships back to Atlantis. How long before it gets here?

Well, given that it's at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy...

Let me see, carry the four...

Forty-two million years. Should we wait on the porch?

So we take a Jumper through the nearest stargate and check it out.

Clever, but wrong.

There are no nearby stargates.

Not within Jumper distance, no.

Which leaves us only one way to get there.

Please don't force me to remind you that I have discretionary power to utilize-

I'm well aware of your powers, Dr. Weir, and they end at the hatch of this ship.

Colonel, do-? Relax, doctor. I happen to agree.

An Ancient ship in our hands instead of the Wraith's is enough for me.

WEIR: Good. Colonel Sheppard's team is ready to go.

No, my crew can handle this.

My team is far more experienced with Ancient technology.

My people will only get that kind of experience by going on this kind of a mission.

Not this mission. We discovered it, we check it out.

Your crew can cut their teeth on something else.

Fine.

Have Colonel Sheppard's team ready to go in an hour.

They're ready now.

We should have visual soon.

Sir, I'm detecting a second ship.

Move.

Looks like a small Wraith vessel. Dart?

No, bigger. Scout ship, probably after the same thing we are.

It's altering course, coming straight at us.

Must've seen us drop out of hyperspace.

Weapons range? AIRMAN: Five seconds.

Target is locked. Fire.

Target is destroyed.

All these years, and just now the Wraith find this ship?

All these years, the Aurora lay dormant.

The signal from Atlantis woke it up, making it visible to the Wraith and us.

Is that it?

Looks like it was in a hell of a fight.

And lost.

Life support? Negative, sir.

Looks like you'll have to suit up, colonel.

On our way.

We should be just outside the bridge.

You mean what used to be the bridge.

Colonel Sheppard?

Stasis pods.

And still powered up.

Stasis?

We found a similar pod on Atlantis.

It keeps a person alive for many years in a type of frozen hibernation.

Yeah, if you call that living.

McKAY: This one's uniform is different from the others. Maybe the captain?

Or the maitre d'.

Life-sign indicators are active.

These capsules must have some kind of shielding.

That's why the Daedalus' sensors were unable to pick them up.

Look at all of them.

That's just on this deck.

Who knows how many more there are on the rest of this ship.

Look, our time in these suits is limited.

Can you get life support running? I'm on it.

They're all alive?

The entire crew?

SHEPPARD Well, they're in a kind of

suspended animation.

Not entirely suspended, however.

The pod has slowed their aging considerably

but the bodies are virtually moribund.

Teyla and Ronon are searching the rest of the ship.

My guess is there's hundreds.

Is there anything we can do for them? Reviving them is out of the question.

The pod's the only thing keeping them alive.

What are we gonna do with them, then?

Wait. What?

There's something going on.

This pod is magnetically shielded.

I'm reading cortical signals. Which means?

The pod's equipped with a neural interface that indicates brain activity

as though he were perfectly conscious.

If all these pods are interconnected

it's possible that these people are, in fact, communicating with each other.

This has been going on for 10,000 years?

McKAY: Possibly. A way of keeping their minds occupied until they were rescued.

That is one long conversation.

Yeah, well, more likely, the interface was reactivated

when the recall beacon from Atlantis was received.

The neural feedback loop is incredibly active.

Any way to figure out what they're saying?

Yes, of course. It says right here:

"Why is the smart one having to stop and answer so many questions?"

It's a fair question, doctor. Of course it is.

Being able to communicating with a living Ancient is the opportunity of a lifetime.

But this system is a highly complex system, which I will have-

Wait a minute. What?

Answering your question. Teyla, found any more of the pods?

Yes, many. And there are many more decks we have yet to search.

Are any of the pods empty?

A few. Perfect.

Are you sure this is such a good idea?

What's the matter, colonel? Don't trust me?

No. Fine.

You're proposing actually freezing yourself in one of those things?

I should be able to tap into the neural network without actually initializing stasis.

Look, it won't take long. I'll be in and out.

The quickest way to find out what's going on

is to tap into the system and communicate with the captain.

Need I remind you of the obvious value in this?

But is it safe?

Would I volunteer to go if it wasn't? No.

Which is exactly what makes it safe enough for me to go.

What? If something goes wrong.

It won't. But if it does.

It won't. How many times do I-? Rodney.

Between the two of you, if something did go wrong

which would be the greater loss?

I've never thought of it that way, but-

Hey, she's right. You should go.

Remember, the system creates a direct feedback loop

between the processor and your brainwaves.

So when you wanna disconnect, you'll need to, uh, really concentrate.

You mean think it.

Well, I think it'll take more than that, or you'd pop out each time it crossed your mind.

So "There's no place like home"?

If that works for you.

Now, I should be able to monitor your EEG pattern

so in the highly unlikely event that something anomalous should presents itself

I should be able to disconnect you manually.

Good. Without permanent brain damage.

Rodney? Well, the opportunity is worth the risk.

Now, when I close the lid

the pod's systems should activate. Ready?

I was. Good.

This is weird.

Who are you? Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.

I'm part of an expedition-

This deck is restricted. How did you get in here?

My team discovered your ship. Your crew was in a stasis pod.

We decided to tap in- Stay where you are.

Security to engineering deck.

You don't need to call security- Stay where you are.

The hyperdrive construct modifications are commencing, sir.

Make certain the equations are entered in the correct sequence.

We don't want to overload the control conduit.

Yes, sir.

Is this him? Yes, sir.

You wear the uniform of my crew, but I don't know you.

My name's Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard.

We discovered your ship.

We found you and your crew in the stasis pods.

We decided to tap into the system in order to communicate with you.

System?

This.

This virtual reality.

You do know this is kind of simulated.

Is there some place more private we can talk?

It's not exactly what I meant by " private. "

I wanna know who you are and how you got aboard this ship.

I told you, I'm Colonel John Sheppard, part of an expedition-

What expedition?

Let me bottom-line this for you. We came from Atlantis.

Except it's not quite the Atlantis you remember.

Ten thousand years have gone by since you left.

I know all this sounds strange, but I'm telling you the truth.

Right now, you're all in your stasis pods aboard Aurora.

Ship's been derelict for centuries. None of this is real.

I expected you to know that.

You don't have time to bother with this nonsense.

The hyperdrive modifications are much more pressing, sir.

What kind of hyperdrive modifications?

We're attempting to modify our propulsion

in order to return to Atlantis as quickly as possible.

Then we'll see if you're speaking the truth.

Oh, look. The Atlantis you know doesn't exist anymore.

During the war with the Wraith, the city was evacuated back to Earth-

Evacuate? Why would we do that? Sir.

The war was lost. Nothing is lost. Not yet.

I have vital information concerning a weakness in Wraith technology

and when I deliver the communiqué in my possession

the tide will most certainly turn in our favour.

That's right. The Atlantis mission logs said you were on a recon mission.

What kind of weakness are we talking about?

That information is reserved for the Council.

There is no Council anymore.

Sir, we must return to the bridge. Wait. According to the logs

the Aurora left Lantian space during the siege.

That means the city had already been sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

You're wondering, how could I know that?

Yes. Because that's where it was

when we found it.

FIRST OFFICER: We're wasting time, sir.

You need to attend to the hyperdrive.

Wait!

The information in that communiqué could still be incredibly valuable to us.

So? It worked.

Well, of course it worked.

For a minute I thought I was gonna get stuck there. Where's Teyla and Ronon?

Well, Caldwell sent them to search the armoury.

Yeah? No, it was depleted of drones.

So, what happened? Were you able to communicate with the captain?

Face to face. Pretty impressive in there.

They have a whole virtual-reality thing going on.

Actually, the correct term is "virtual environment. "

Yeah, whatever. What did you find out?

For starters, I have to go back.

What do you mean, you have to go back?

SHEPPARD The Aurora was on a recon mission.

The captain was carrying a communiqué back to Atlantis.

In it is vital information about a weakness in Wraith technology.

What kind of weakness? That's why I have to go back.

He didn't tell me. He's trying to modify the hyperdrives in order to get back to Atlantis faster.

Did you say that's impossible, living in a virtual environment?

No, Rodney, that slipped my mind.

I would have thought that- Of course I mentioned it!

They don't remember putting themselves in stasis.

Consequently, they had no idea who I was or how I got there.

Why would the pods do that? That's a good question.

And another reason I should go back. What do you think, colonel?

Go.

Hello?

Anybody there?

Hi. I really need to talk to the captain.

Why?

Tell him I'm ready to make a full confession.

Dr. McKay? McKAY: Go ahead.

Long-range sensors have just detected two Wraith cruisers heading this way

no doubt coming to investigate why their ship was destroyed earlier.

McKAY: What's their ETA?

Over an hour. I plan on being gone.

What's the status there?

I've been able to decipher some more of the program.

I'm actually reading neural tracking signatures of the entire crew-

I meant Colonel Sheppard's status.

Oh, him. Uh, yeah, well, he's- He's still in the pod.

Understood. Just be aware of time constraints

with the Wraith ships approaching. We can't risk being discovered.

Yes, yes. Ticking clock. Anything else?

If he's not out of there in 30 minutes, disconnect him manually.

Right.

Where's the captain? He has more pressing concerns.

He sent me in his stead.

I was told you were ready to make a full confession?

Yeah. Well, no.

Actually, um, I just wanted to talk to him to try to convince him that we're on the same side.

Perhaps you would have more success if your story were not so preposterous.

It's not preposterous.

You say you're from Atlantis. Yes.

And yet you also say that Atlantis has been evacuated.

Yes. Well, it was.

Ten thousand years ago.

Look, we just discovered it last year. You discovered it?

We came from Earth, we found the city deserted

set up base, been living there since. That's how we found you.

We saw the Aurora on one of the city's sensors.

Even after all these years, the Wraith are still cause a lot of problems.

We managed to hold them off for now

but we could sure use that information about the weakness in their technology.

Only the captain has access to the communiqué.

Well, then let me talk to him. I can deliver the message myself.

The quicker it gets back to Atlantis, the better for all of us.

You seem sincere. Yes. I am.

Very sincere.

I would be very, very grateful.

Ah.

I'll speak to him for you.

Ow.

More of the same. Shh.

I am counting. I do not want to lose my place.

I counted 376.

No, wait. 398. I forgot about the infirmary.

There was 22 in there. Or was it 23?

Sorry.

Where did she come from?

Oh, no.

Dr. McKay? Still here.

There's something you need to see. We're two decks directly below you.

Can't it wait? No.

Guard!

I need to talk to the first officer.

She gave orders not to be disturbed. It's okay.

She's was gonna talk to the captain for me-

She also gave orders to ignore everything you say.

Then why are you talking to me right now?

I need to see the captain!

All right, that should be enough time.

Give me this thing.

I really don't like being ignored.

What is it? Have a look.

This is Wraith gear.

And it's recently installed.

There's a reason for that.

Are there any more?

McKAY: It's hard to say, since you took us out.

Ronon and I have searched the ship. I am certain there is only one.

The Wraith's tied into the same neural loop as the crew and Colonel Sheppard.

And by the looks of it, they must have found Aurora a long time ago.

Certainly long enough to figure out how to access and reconfigure the system.

Given their apparent psychic abilities

is it possible the Wraith ships communicating with the Wraith aboard the Aurora?

No, they need to be closer. McKAY: She's right.

The range of the Wraith psychic ability is limited.

So we can't risk those ships getting within that range.

I say we go and kill it right now. I agree.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Let's not get all trigger-happy.

We have no idea how the Wraith is manipulating the system.

We need to figure it out before we start shooting things.

For all we know, that could kill Sheppard.

What's he still doing there?

He can come out. There must be a good reason.

Knowing Sheppard, he wouldn't leave without the information from the communiqué.

I still don't like it.

The Wraith can't physically harm him, can it?

No.

I don't think so. I don't know.

But I should get back and learn what this Wraith is doing.

You got 15 minutes to figure it out. Fifteen?

Where do you people come up with these arbitrary numbers?

That's the time you got to learn what you need to.

Why? Because I intend to destroy the Aurora

before those Wraith ships get here.

Okay.

Hi. Me again.

Wait, wait, please. Just listen.

I'm not here to hurt anyone.

I want to help you. Help all of us.

I know all of this sounds strange

but just give me a chance to prove that what I'm saying-

Are you all right, sir? Yes, I'm fine.

FIRST OFFICER: Take him to the brig.

He escaped only moments ago.

I'll see to it he doesn't disturb you again.

What if he is telling the truth?

Do you not sense it too?

That something is wrong?

You're exhausted, sir.

True.

I am in need of rest.

Even more so, my crew.

Rest is a luxury we cannot afford, sir.

The Aurora is a fine ship, but she was never built for speed.

Without the drive modifications, it'll take months to return to Atlantis.

If we are to use this new intelligence to our advantage

we need to reach the city within days.

Then there'll be time for rest. Yes, sir.

What is wrong?

Delta waves? What are they?

CALDWELL: Dr. McKay, are you ready to be beamed aboard?

It hasn't even been five minutes. Dr. McKay has discovered a problem.

What kind of a problem?

McKAY: Colonel Sheppard's EEG frequencies are decreasing.

I'm reading delta waves, which indicates that he's unconscious within the environment.

I'm not sure, something is definitely wrong in there.

Even more reason to pull him out.

McKAY: That would be a mistake.

Look, additional data I've been able to deciphered from the Wraith's biometrics receiver

shows significant manipulation of the feedback loop.

Something we were clearly not aware of when Sheppard went in.

We were also clearly not aware of the Wraith cruisers approaching.

Colonel, this Wraith is controlling the program, which means it might have trapped it.

We're talking about Sheppard's life here.

And I'm talking about the lives of every person on this ship and in Atlantis

when the Wraith find out it wasn't destroyed.

I'm well aware of what's at stake here, doctor.

Get him out of that pod, or my men will.

Caldwell out.

I'm going in.

Stall Caldwell. Buy me some time, a few minutes at most.

What if you aren't able to disconnect?

Caldwell's gonna blow that ship regardless.

You see, the thing is, Sheppard and I have this habit

of saving each other's lives, and it's my turn.

It can be your turn next. Look.

Hit this to manually disconnect me.

If I do not regain consciousness, go ahead and open Sheppard's pod.

Have us beamed to Daedalus and make sure they have a medical team waiting.

Are you sure you wanna do this?

I'm sure I don't.

Okay.

All right.

There's more than enough air in there. Of course there is.

Crew's been in these things for thousands of years.

Are you all right? It's just my claustrophobia.

I'll be fine. I hope.

Now, the system should engage once you send me in.

All right. All right.

So send me in? Oh, yes. Good luck.

McKAY: Where are you taking me? I told you, I'm with Colonel Sheppard.

I'm a member of his team. Colonel John Sheppard.

He's about so high, brown hair, a bit mussed, the term is " rakish"?

Oh, for...

McKay? What are you doing in there?

I was about to ask you the same thing. I came to help you.

I feel better already.

Ten thousand years in one of these things

kept alive only by life support?

I couldn't live that way.

Neither could I. McKay, your status?

Dr. McKay is not here.

What? He had to-

He had to check something on the Wraith pod.

Yes. The Wraith pod.

He had to check the biometrics receiver.

Needed to reconfirm the frequencies of the neural feedback loop.

Why isn't he on his radio?

Well, actually, we have been having trouble reaching him ourselves.

I think it might have something to do with interference from

the magnetic shielding of the pods.

Yeah, shielding. Ronon was about to go check on him

see what's taking him so long.

All right, go get him. Light a fire under him.

Right away. I want a status report

as soon as his radio is working. Caldwell out.

Nice stalling.

Have you been unable to disconnect yourself from the system?

No. I'm still trying to get the info on that communiqué.

Oh, good. We thought maybe it was preventing you from exiting.

"It"?

We found a Wraith in one of the stasis pods.

It's manipulating the neural feedback program, your EEG patterns were-

No kidding. I got stunned. I didn't wanna risk pulling you out.

First officer.

What about him? Her.

She's a Wraith. She has to be.

There's something very odd about her. She won't let me talk to the captain.

The Wraith we found was male.

First officer must be female, it took her place.

She knows I want that info. Only the captain has access to it.

We don't need him. I've been able to decipher enough to overwrite the protocols.

All I have to do is get to a terminal in the environment

and I should be able to access any file with new database.

So we just need to break out of here. Hold that thought.

What's happening? Give me the tablet.

The data device, right here, right here. Thank you.

That's it.

Just keep stalling, keep stalling.

Hi. Hi.

Nice.

Should be the next hallway.

That's her.

That's the Wraith? Yeah.

Wow.

She's hot. I mean, seriously hot.

Rodney, you're drooling over a Wraith.

I know. I disgust myself sometimes.

Where are McKay and Sheppard? Why'd you beam us back?

Because I was about to fire a missile into the side of that ship.

They are in the pods.

They're both in pods now? Yes.

Doctor McKay went in to see if the Wraith was preventing Colonel Sheppard from disengaging.

I want a team assembled

ready to beam aboard the Aurora to disconnect McKay and Sheppard.

No, wait. Please, just a few more minutes.

ETA on the Wraith ships? Eleven minutes out.

I am certain he'll be out by then.

And if he's successful, he'll know if it's safe to disconnect Colonel Sheppard.

And if he's not out by then? Then we'll disconnect them both.

It would be wise to have a medical team standing by for both of them.

Alert the infirmary. I want a medical team standing by.

The communiqué's been erased.

Why would the Wraith do that? Well, it says right here:

" I, the Wraith, delete this information to keep you from seeing it. "

Obviously he did it to keep us from seeing it, but why didn't it end the damn program?

What's the point of continuing?

Oh, no. What?

You said they were trying to modify the hyperdrive.

So they can get back to Atlantis faster.

According to the Atlantis database, there are two different types of ancient hyperdrives.

There's the more basic, interstellar kind, like the one the Aurora has

and then there's the more powerful, intergalactic kind

similar to the one the Asgard provided for the Daedalus.

Why would the Wraith want to soup up the hyperdrive?

Because the Wraith hyperdrives are nowhere near as advanced as the Ancient hyperdrives.

With the technology the captain is feeding her right now-

She'll learn how to modify Wraith hyperdrives from interstellar to intergalactic.

They'll make it as far as Earth.

That's what this whole thing is about, their new feeding ground.

And this is just step one.

Even if she doesn't know all, we need to stop her from sending what she's learned so far

to the Wraith ships on the way.

There are Wraith ships on the way?

I'm-I'm sure I mentioned that. No, you didn't.

Well, it- It threw me when she was so hot.

How many ships? Two cruisers.

Can you disconnect her? Him.

Not from the inside, no. But I should be able to disable the pod on the outside.

Then why didn't you? I didn't know what it would do to you.

That's very thoughtful of you, but now she knows all about Atlantis.

You told her? Why?

Because I was trying to convince them that-

Just go and unplug the Wraith while I talk to the captain.

The communiqué is blank.

Yeah, but he might still know about the weakness.

Now, Rodney, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?

Only that Caldwell is probably gonna destroy this ship at any moment.

Go! Going.

Teyla? Ronon?

Oh, I can't believe it.

Two minutes in the pod, I'm abandoned. Come on.

Let's go, let's go, let's go. Oh, right.

Okay.

Come on, McKay.

Hyperdrive modification commands have been successfully entered.

Auxiliary power is now online. Very good.

Prepare to engage drive. Stop!

Your first officer's a Wraith. She's using you.

FIRST OFFICER: Security to the bridge.

She gained access to the environment by killing your first officer and taking her place.

She wants you to modify the hyperdrive so she can upgrade the Wraith hyperdrive.

Don't listen to him. They need to modify to go to Earth.

And I'd prefer she not do that.

This is nonsense. I'm telling you, she's a Wraith.

Officer Trebal has served with me for many years. I can't possibly believe-

Sir, with your permission, I'd like to-

Come on.

Disable.

I hope that was proof enough.

Ha.

Oh, no.

Come on, come on.

All this time, I thought we had evaded the enemy.

Instead, I've been unwittingly assisting them.

No, sir, she didn't succeed. And if you tell me the information in the communiqué

we may be able to defeat the Wraith once and for all.

The information is in the ship's computer. I can give you my access codes.

We checked. It's all been erased. Can't you tell me yourself?

I'm afraid I was never made aware of its contents, Colonel Sheppard.

The Council feared the possibility of our capture was too great.

The information in that communiqué is gone.

Ten thousand years.

Even in stasis, our bodies must be- Very old.

Too old.

My crew deserves to know. Yes, they do.

And I'd love to give you all the time for that, but right now there are Wraith ships on the way.

We long for nothing more than returning to Atlantis.

To raise a toast to home and victory.

We may not return home, but we'll do whatever we can to ensure that victory.

For that, I will need your help.

It's about damn time. Did you play a round of golf?

We've got serious problems. What happened?

Get down!

That happened.

Not so hot now.

Our ships are coming.

They will retrieve what I have learned.

Earth will soon be ours.

Not if I can help it.

We're reading two life signs. I hope that means what I think.

Give me one more minute.

We're out of time, Sheppard. The Wraith ships are almost here.

One damn minute and I can take care of that problem.

Wraith cruisers just dropped out of hyperspace, sir. They're aware of us.

Battle stations. Looks like we're gonna have to fight these guys.

Bring main rail guns online.

This is Sheppard. We're ready.

Beam them directly onto the bridge.

Targets are in range.

Sir, we need to go. We need to eliminate those cruisers-

No. We need to get far away. What?

The captain gave me the self-destruct code.

He assures me it'll destroy the Wraith ships, but we have to get clear.

Bring engines to military thrust. Military thrust.

I have never been more proud than I am this moment.

It has been an honour serving with you.

And although we may not return to Atlantis

rest assured that the Aurora will be remembered.

McKAY: We monitored all transmissions from the Wraith cruisers prior to the explosion.

They never got a chance to board the Aurora or upload Ancient information.

Both cruisers were destroyed in the explosion.

Too bad you couldn't figure out the Wraith weakness.

We found out they had one.

Good work. Thank you, everyone.

Uh, before we break up the party, there's something I'd like to do.

It might seem a little strange

but I promised to do something when we got home.

Thank you.

To the crew of the Aurora.