Summary
Teal'c exits the stargate and informs SG-1 that six additional
worlds have fallen to the Ori, two of which were Jaffa strongholds.
They were led by a young woman with incredible powers --
Vala's little girl. As Teal'c and Mitchell discuss the Ori
plan, Daniel interrupts with good news: he's got the gate
address for Merlin's anti-ascended weapon. The SGC knew
that there were three possible planets but there was no
way to find a gate address.
Landry gives SG-1 the go-ahead for a mission to the planet
in question, but shoots down Vala when she is excited about
joining. Shortly thereafter, Daniel goes to Landry to ask
him to allow Vala to go along. He reminds Landry that Vala
risked her life and compares her to Teal'c and the decision
General Hammond had to make a decade earlier. Landry doesn't
want to be held accountable for Vala's actions, so he passes
the buck to Daniel.
Sadly, Vala still can't go on the mission -- she isn't
cleared for off-world activity. She has to be cleared by
shrinks first. But she's excited about doing research using
Daniel's computer (despite the fact that its password protected,
supposedly) and rushes off as Mitchell drags Daniel towards
the gate room. Vala probably would have been bored on this
particular mission. The planet is dead. Very dead. And has
been for quite some time.
Back on Earth, Landry tells Vala that she can't cram for
a psychiatric evaluation. Vala, of course, believes otherwise.
She suggests putting a positive spin on a negative, for
starters, when the psychiatrists try to trick her with their
questions. And in response to a question about what to do
if you came upon a turtle in the desert stuck on its back,
she decides that she, too, is a turtle.
As SG-1 explores the dead and dusty city they find a pair
of dead and dusty skeletons. Surprise, surprise. They bring
one Doctor Reimer and two of his assistants from Earth to
take a look at the bodies. Meanwhile, Daniel reads through
the local records. Apparently a cave near the village was,
at one time, the home to Morgan la Fey (he then explains
the connection to Arthurian legend). The cave might hold
the weapon, or at least a key.
The team trudges through the wilderness. A silent, dead
and dusty wilderness. There are no birds or any other sort
of wildlife. It is unsettling.
Back on Earth, one Doctor Hutchinson sits down with Vala.
He asks how she's doing and then sits through a rather long-winded
answer about an "abstract attitude" and "repressed
feelings" from Vala.
The team explores a cavern but, unfortunately, it isn't
the right one. Mitchell wakes Ackerman, who earlier complained
about pulling double duty and being tired.
The psychiatrist begins giving Vala an inkblot test. She
answers courage. Then respect. Not exactly what the psychiatrist
was expecting. He asks her to be honest and spontaneous.
Her next answer is kindness. And the inkblot test is done.
Daniel won't give up on the planet, he's sure there is
something in the records. But the medical team has done
their thing and Mitchell has done his thing and he's ready
for Daniel to have done his thing so they can go home. The
team prepares to head off world but Ackerman is missing.
Mitchell finds him asleep in the city. And he won't wake
up. It isn't a coma because Ackerman responds to outside
stimuli. And the bad news just keeps on coming: they've
all been infected with whatever Ackerman's come down with.
The team can't return home and falling asleep is probably
not a good idea.
Landry sends medical supplies through the gate and offers
to send more men. Mitchell nixes that idea; they don't know
what they're dealing with. But the crate of caffeine pills
and amphetamines is helpful. Still, the infection is worse
than just staying awake for hours on end. Teal'c decides
to stick with his tretonin, while the rest of the group
starts popping pills. Ackerman is asleep because of melatonin.
Vala pops in on Landry, wanting an update on her mental
well-being. But Doctor Hutchinson wants to meet with her
again. Vala is worried about the good doctor and is slightly
upset when Landry suggests she isn't taking the tests seriously.
Back in the caves, Mitchell complains that Daniel isn't
with them (he's still pouring through the town records).
Sam takes some soil samples.
Vala decides to go with her feminine charms, brushing her
hair and putting on some perfume. She's interrupted by Woolsey,
who offers to make sure Vala passes her psychiatric evaluation,
in return for a bit of inside information on Stargate Command.
Woolsey only wants Vala to keep him updated and considering
her history, being a spy isn't much of a stretch.
Sam finds a faint energy spike on a cave wall. It's a rock
button. With a gentle push and a whispered Shazzam! from
Mitchell, a very deep hole opens up. Sam volunteers to head
back with the soil samples, leaving Teal'c and Mitchell
to explore the cave alone.
Hutchinson hooks Vala up to a polygraph machine. He asks
her what her name is, where she spent the last week, if
she's ever stolen anything ... the polygraph goes crazy.
But Hutchinson insists she's doing fine. And he says she's
looking very nice today. When she tries to return the compliment,
the polygraph machine goes crazy again.
On the planet, Reimer finds a dormant parasite in one of
the soil samples Sam brought back from the cave. He suggests
that Ackerman may have awakened the parasites. They wake
up when put into contact with human flesh. Daniel stumbles
in with an armful of books but Grimsby isn't with him. Uh-oh.
Back in the cave, Teal'c suggests a bit of rest. Not a good
idea. A sound gets their attention and they head off to
investigate.
Sam and Daniel's search for Grimsby ends when they find
him asleep in a stack of hay. Like Ackerman, he won't wake
up. Unlike Ackerman, he's still alive. When Sam and Daniel
return to the city, an ashen-faced Reimer tells them that
Ackerman has died. Reimer and Sam do an autopsy on Ackerman
and find a very big bug in his body. Much like the parasite
they discovered earlier, only much bigger.
Vala was humiliated by the polygraph test. The questions
were meant to remind her why she doesn't belong with the
SGC. Woolsey, who was in her room when she walked in, asks
if she's reconsidered. She has. Uh-oh.
In the long, dark cave, Mitchell and Teal'c spot a small
lizard. Why is it alive when everything else is dead? Mitchell
suggests they capture it so Reimer and Sam can develop a
cure. Reimer pops a few more pills as Sam explains their
current theory to Daniel. The parasite feeds on melatonin,
after stimulating the production of melatonin. Suddenly,
Reimer clutches his arm and collapses. It’s his heart.
Daniel grabs a defibrillator and Sam zaps the doctor. No
good. The doc's dead.
When Hutchinson walks up on Vala and asks her about scheduling
another appointment, she goes off on a long rant about how
she's dealt with the way people think about her in the past
(by lying and stealing) and admits she can't quite promise
it won't happen again. Before Hutchinson can get in a single
word, Vala jumps in an elevator and takes off.
Mitchell tries valiantly to capture the lizard but succeeds
only in sending it straight into Teal'c's waiting jacket.
Teal'c is forced to leave Mitchell behind, after offering
to carry the colonel back to Sam and Reimer (poor Teal'c
doesn't know the doctor has kicked it). In the city, Sam
collapses, unable to stay on her feet. Daniel tries to encourage
her but he's having trouble standing as well. Out of nowhere,
a man in a funny looking suit knocks down the door and asks
where the rest of the team is. More people in funny looking
suits enter. Sam and Daniel are placed in isolation chambers
(more like funny looking coffins) despite Sam's feeble protests
that they can't sleep.
Teal'c somehow manages to half-run, half-stumble to the
mouth of the cave, collapsing only once along the way. Once
outside, however, he only makes it a few feet before falling
to the ground. He is met by the funny looking suits. And
then, SG-1 is back on Earth. Doctor Lam was able to develop
a serum. And, perhaps more importantly, Daniel found a reference
in the city’s library that could potentially be very
helpful.
And then the phone rings. Sam picks it up. Something is
amiss in the gate room. Oh, it's Vala, who is standing on
a foot locker with bags strewn about her, screaming to be
let though the gate. When Landry and SG-1 confront her,
she's informed that she passed the psychiatric test. And
it turns out Woolsey was part of the test (but the sexual
advances, those weren't). She asks when she gets an SG-1
patch and is sternly informed by Mitchell that she isn't
part of SG-1. She's a probationary member of Stargate Command
and will be watched very, very carefully for the coming
months.
Not entirely dejected, Vala offers to take the team out
to lunch, with Daniel covering the tab until she gets her
share of the loot. Because, obviously SG-1 brings back a
lot of loot. As Vala continues talking about the loot, the
team walks off down the corridor.
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