13x03 "The Oracle"
Synopsis: An offworld team encounters a world boasting an extraordinary woman claiming to have known the Der'kal were coming all her life, and brings her back to Stargate Command for investigation.
(See next post for more)
Synopsis: An offworld team encounters a world boasting an extraordinary woman claiming to have known the Der'kal were coming all her life, and brings her back to Stargate Command for investigation.
Spoiler:
A pastoral looking farming community can be seen in the distance a camera pulls back to reveal SG-5 walking steadily in its direction. The foursome (two of which are soldiers and two of which are scientists) are discussing their past three trips offworld, and how each planet recommended this one, P8X-011, as a reliable trading partner specializing in exotic spices and nutrient-rich food. Scattered cities dot the surface, but apparently 60% of the landmass is covered by sprawling farms, and this planet supplies some seventeen others with an source of quality foodstuffs. Earth's hope is that they can also establish relations, as the extra supplies could help offset the growing problem of hunger back home.
SG-5's leader, a Major Gregory Travis, stops at the top of a high hill, looking down on the closest farm. He turns to his teammates and asks which way the town center is (the nearby settlement is apparently a sort of "welcome center" for the planet), but they don't seem to know either. Luckily, a farmhand spots them and waves them down, offering to guide them to the small township lying about four miles to the southeast. Maj. Travis accepts the offer and, after the farmhand recieves an okay from his supervisor, they depart.
They arrive on the outskirts of a bustling community appearing to be slightly ahead of mainstream Earth technology-wise, no doubt due to the massive revenue generated by supplying so many planets with food. SG-5's guide brings them into the square, where a large crowd has gathered for some event. The farmhand says that he must return to his work, but before he leaves he gives them brief directions to the governor's office, where they can arrange a meeting with the planet's leaders. Then he leaves.
Major Travis holds on a moment before going on, though, pushing through the crowd to see what everyone is looking at. After a moment, he sees: an elderly woman standing on a raised dias, speaking to the assembled crowd. She cries out that she knows of the "pall of darkness swallowing our brother words one by one," and a terrible "army of destruction" that will soon descend upon them all. Travis calls out to her to explain what she means, and she looks at him with a slight smile. She says, quite calmly, "The ones known as Der'kal, of course." When asked how she knows about the invasion (seeing as the incursion only began a week before), she claims to have known about it for a very, very long time... her entire life, in fact.
Some time later, Col. Cameron Mitchell is waiting at the foot of the gate at the ISGC, watching the puddle shimmer before him. After a moment, Samantha Carter jogs in, apologizing for being late. Cameron just shrugs at that, saying that nothing has really happened yet... at least, that was the case until now. SG-5 comes walking through the portal, one of the scientists helping an elderly woman (the same one from P8X-011) along, although she seems annoyed at being treated like a fragile doll.
Mitchell walks forward and extends a hand to their guest, introducing himself and welcoming her to Earth. The woman quickly yanks her hand free of the SG-5 member's and thanks the Colonel, introducing herself as Junaea To'nil. She takes a quick glance around the gate room, noting with satisfaction that this place seems clean enough. Carter smiles, shaking her head, and offers to take her to her temporary quarters. As the two leave, Dr. Talbot appears in the control room's window and calls Mitchell up to speak with him.
The Colonel quickly makes his way into the room, where he finds Talbot standing there holding a folder. When asked what's up, she hands over the packet of papers, saying that she just recieved a set of orders from the Pentagon; they want her to interrogate their guest immediately. Mitchell is shocked, especially considering they just met this woman and she doesn't seem to pose any threat. But the military is convinced that anyone claiming to have known about this invasion for years could be a tangible threat, and they want assurances that this Junaea To'nil isn't.
Meanwhile, Daniel is working on translating some comm. chatter they picked up from the Der'kal fleet over Hebridan ("Inroads, Part 2"). Vala waltzes in, twirling a Wraith stunner around her trigger finger, and plops down on the desk, asking what Dr. Jackson is upto. When asked about the stunner, she merely shrugs and says it was in the armory along with a dozen like it, no doubt having been sent back from Atlantis. Daniel then explains that he's attempting to figure out the Der'kal's strange language, which doesn't seem to have any roots in any Earth culture, unlike most other alien races. Vala, experimentally firing her stunner into the concrete walls of his officer, mutters something about the fact that they can speak the galactic language, though.
That's when Daniel sits bolt upright, his eyes wide. Of course! They can speak the language of the Jaffa, the humans, the Serrakin... they can speak the galaxy's standard language, which would imply that they were able to learn it from somewhere, right? Vala doesn't seem to understand where he's going with this, but Daniel grabs his notes and rushes off, telling her to gather up SG-1 and Dr. Talbot in the briefing room.
About an hour later, the requested people are sitting in the briefing room, bored (Teal'c is not present, but a passing comment of Carter's inplies that he is recovering from his wounds on Dakara). Everyone looks slightly bored. Then Dr. Jackson runs in, apologizing for being late and pulling out his notebook. He goes on to explain what he's figured out; the Der'kal have been watching this galaxy for a very, very long time. Vala's comment about their speaking galactic standard made him think of more galactic languages, not just Earthen ones. He ran their unrecognizable comm. chatter through a language analysis alongside every encountered alien dialect, and he got a 71% match with a very specific one; the Furling language as recorded at Heliopolis ("The Torment of Tantalus") and on the "paradise planet" ("Paradise Lost").
Dr. Talbot holds up a hand then, frowning. She asks how in the world the Der'kal were able to build their language around Furling when the Furlings themselves left the galaxy in a mass exodus millions of years before (Season 12: "Requiem, Part 2"). Daniel explains that, too; what if the Furlings didn't just head out into open space when they left? What if they went to another galaxy to find refuge, much like the Ancients? And what if, along the way, they ran into the Der'kal? So far, they know that the alien invaders are coming from a certain direction, and there are 3 galaxies in that area that could have offered a chance at a new begining for the Furling people. If the two races met, it would explain the similarities in language and how the Der'kal knew to find the Milky Way.
Daniel is about to launch into more explanation when an SF suddenly runs into the room, breathing hard. He says that there's a problem with their guest, and that they need to get down to her quarters immediately. At once, SG-1 and Dr. Talbot head out, leaving everything behind. When they arrive, they find a very disturbing sight: Junaea is writhing violently on the floor, her body contorted in pain. Talbot immediately radios for a medical team while Vala rushes forward, bending down to try and stabilize the old woman. Daniel shouts that if they don't get her to stop soon, she could seriously injure herself, and Vala takes matters into her own hands by pulling out the stunner she was toying with and firing a few blasts into Junaea's body. A moment later, she lies still.
The medical team arrives and gets her onto a cart, preparing to wheel her away to the infirmary. But as they pass through the doorway, Junaea's eyes shoot open and she grabs Daniel's jacket sleeve, shouting that "the past has returned!" before fainting.
Later on, Dr. Lam exits the infirmary to see SG-1 waiting outside. She explains that the ran a scan on Junaea's body and found something that SG-5 missed when they did a glance-over offworld; a small device of some kind is lodged near her brain. Lam says she has a surgical team working on removing it now, but the growth around it makes it appear that the device, whatever it is, has been there for some time now. Carter suggests talking to her once she wakes up, but Mitchell reminds her that the Pentagon still wants her interrogated for information. Lam quickly points out that Junaea is in no condition to speak to anyone right now, let alone be subjected to an IOA-esque interrogation process. She says she'll bog the Pentagon down in medical blocks as long as she can, then head back inside the infirmary.
While the rest of the team returns to their duties, Vala eases the door open and walks to the bed where the elderly woman lies asleep. She leans down and asks why she is such a mystery, but also apologizes for having to stun her. Then, very slowly, the woman opens her eyes. Vala stands, about to call for Dr. Lam, but Junaea asks her to wait. Perplexed, she sits back down.
Back in the briefing room, Daniel is finishing what he started earlier. He put forth that the Der'kal must have encountered the Furling exodus fleet and obtained the location of the Milky Way from them. But, as Mitchell points out, they could have invaded the galaxy millions of years ago were that tha case. Jackson doesn't really have a response to that, merely saying that perhaps they were waiting for things to be at their weakest; fighting the Alliance of old would have been suicide, and the System Lords may also have provided a tough foe, as would have the Ori. But now the galaxy is fairly weak, still recovering from two major wars, and they could concievably conquer them in a short time (he mentions that five outlying Jaffa worlds near Hebridan have suddenly blacked out, as well, suggesting the Der'kal are working on establishing a firm beachhead). Dr. Talbot acknowledges and says she'll forward his ideas to both Heliopolis and New York, then dismisses the team.
In the infirmary, Vala is asking Junaea what happened to her, and why she claims she knew about the Der'kal invasion. The old woman explains that, many years before, she was part of the crew of an al'kesh transporting cargo between two of Heru'ur's planets on the edge of the galaxy. One day, a hyperspace window opened near their ship (in deep space) and a massive cruiser emerged (from her description, this ship is recognized as a Der'kal warship). The alien vessel disabled their al'kesh and ringed aboard, killing the rest of the crew with ease. She remembered the alien soldiers well enough to know that they are the same as these "Der'kal," of which rumors are apparently spreading. One such soldier spared her alone, telling her to take her ship back to her world and tell her people that their end of days was approaching, and then they left. They ringed back abaord their ship, waited a moment, and then the vessel jumped into hyperspace.
Junaea asks then what the people here plan to do with her, and Vala sadly mentions the problem with the Pentagon, to which the other woman says she'd rather die than be subjected. Vala is about to ask what else she knows when she suddenly convulses again. Dr. Lam rushes in with a med team and says they need to get her into surgery immediately, and they push her away. Vala watches, a look of fright on her face, then runs off to find the others.
SG-5's leader, a Major Gregory Travis, stops at the top of a high hill, looking down on the closest farm. He turns to his teammates and asks which way the town center is (the nearby settlement is apparently a sort of "welcome center" for the planet), but they don't seem to know either. Luckily, a farmhand spots them and waves them down, offering to guide them to the small township lying about four miles to the southeast. Maj. Travis accepts the offer and, after the farmhand recieves an okay from his supervisor, they depart.
They arrive on the outskirts of a bustling community appearing to be slightly ahead of mainstream Earth technology-wise, no doubt due to the massive revenue generated by supplying so many planets with food. SG-5's guide brings them into the square, where a large crowd has gathered for some event. The farmhand says that he must return to his work, but before he leaves he gives them brief directions to the governor's office, where they can arrange a meeting with the planet's leaders. Then he leaves.
Major Travis holds on a moment before going on, though, pushing through the crowd to see what everyone is looking at. After a moment, he sees: an elderly woman standing on a raised dias, speaking to the assembled crowd. She cries out that she knows of the "pall of darkness swallowing our brother words one by one," and a terrible "army of destruction" that will soon descend upon them all. Travis calls out to her to explain what she means, and she looks at him with a slight smile. She says, quite calmly, "The ones known as Der'kal, of course." When asked how she knows about the invasion (seeing as the incursion only began a week before), she claims to have known about it for a very, very long time... her entire life, in fact.
Some time later, Col. Cameron Mitchell is waiting at the foot of the gate at the ISGC, watching the puddle shimmer before him. After a moment, Samantha Carter jogs in, apologizing for being late. Cameron just shrugs at that, saying that nothing has really happened yet... at least, that was the case until now. SG-5 comes walking through the portal, one of the scientists helping an elderly woman (the same one from P8X-011) along, although she seems annoyed at being treated like a fragile doll.
Mitchell walks forward and extends a hand to their guest, introducing himself and welcoming her to Earth. The woman quickly yanks her hand free of the SG-5 member's and thanks the Colonel, introducing herself as Junaea To'nil. She takes a quick glance around the gate room, noting with satisfaction that this place seems clean enough. Carter smiles, shaking her head, and offers to take her to her temporary quarters. As the two leave, Dr. Talbot appears in the control room's window and calls Mitchell up to speak with him.
The Colonel quickly makes his way into the room, where he finds Talbot standing there holding a folder. When asked what's up, she hands over the packet of papers, saying that she just recieved a set of orders from the Pentagon; they want her to interrogate their guest immediately. Mitchell is shocked, especially considering they just met this woman and she doesn't seem to pose any threat. But the military is convinced that anyone claiming to have known about this invasion for years could be a tangible threat, and they want assurances that this Junaea To'nil isn't.
Meanwhile, Daniel is working on translating some comm. chatter they picked up from the Der'kal fleet over Hebridan ("Inroads, Part 2"). Vala waltzes in, twirling a Wraith stunner around her trigger finger, and plops down on the desk, asking what Dr. Jackson is upto. When asked about the stunner, she merely shrugs and says it was in the armory along with a dozen like it, no doubt having been sent back from Atlantis. Daniel then explains that he's attempting to figure out the Der'kal's strange language, which doesn't seem to have any roots in any Earth culture, unlike most other alien races. Vala, experimentally firing her stunner into the concrete walls of his officer, mutters something about the fact that they can speak the galactic language, though.
That's when Daniel sits bolt upright, his eyes wide. Of course! They can speak the language of the Jaffa, the humans, the Serrakin... they can speak the galaxy's standard language, which would imply that they were able to learn it from somewhere, right? Vala doesn't seem to understand where he's going with this, but Daniel grabs his notes and rushes off, telling her to gather up SG-1 and Dr. Talbot in the briefing room.
About an hour later, the requested people are sitting in the briefing room, bored (Teal'c is not present, but a passing comment of Carter's inplies that he is recovering from his wounds on Dakara). Everyone looks slightly bored. Then Dr. Jackson runs in, apologizing for being late and pulling out his notebook. He goes on to explain what he's figured out; the Der'kal have been watching this galaxy for a very, very long time. Vala's comment about their speaking galactic standard made him think of more galactic languages, not just Earthen ones. He ran their unrecognizable comm. chatter through a language analysis alongside every encountered alien dialect, and he got a 71% match with a very specific one; the Furling language as recorded at Heliopolis ("The Torment of Tantalus") and on the "paradise planet" ("Paradise Lost").
Dr. Talbot holds up a hand then, frowning. She asks how in the world the Der'kal were able to build their language around Furling when the Furlings themselves left the galaxy in a mass exodus millions of years before (Season 12: "Requiem, Part 2"). Daniel explains that, too; what if the Furlings didn't just head out into open space when they left? What if they went to another galaxy to find refuge, much like the Ancients? And what if, along the way, they ran into the Der'kal? So far, they know that the alien invaders are coming from a certain direction, and there are 3 galaxies in that area that could have offered a chance at a new begining for the Furling people. If the two races met, it would explain the similarities in language and how the Der'kal knew to find the Milky Way.
Daniel is about to launch into more explanation when an SF suddenly runs into the room, breathing hard. He says that there's a problem with their guest, and that they need to get down to her quarters immediately. At once, SG-1 and Dr. Talbot head out, leaving everything behind. When they arrive, they find a very disturbing sight: Junaea is writhing violently on the floor, her body contorted in pain. Talbot immediately radios for a medical team while Vala rushes forward, bending down to try and stabilize the old woman. Daniel shouts that if they don't get her to stop soon, she could seriously injure herself, and Vala takes matters into her own hands by pulling out the stunner she was toying with and firing a few blasts into Junaea's body. A moment later, she lies still.
The medical team arrives and gets her onto a cart, preparing to wheel her away to the infirmary. But as they pass through the doorway, Junaea's eyes shoot open and she grabs Daniel's jacket sleeve, shouting that "the past has returned!" before fainting.
Later on, Dr. Lam exits the infirmary to see SG-1 waiting outside. She explains that the ran a scan on Junaea's body and found something that SG-5 missed when they did a glance-over offworld; a small device of some kind is lodged near her brain. Lam says she has a surgical team working on removing it now, but the growth around it makes it appear that the device, whatever it is, has been there for some time now. Carter suggests talking to her once she wakes up, but Mitchell reminds her that the Pentagon still wants her interrogated for information. Lam quickly points out that Junaea is in no condition to speak to anyone right now, let alone be subjected to an IOA-esque interrogation process. She says she'll bog the Pentagon down in medical blocks as long as she can, then head back inside the infirmary.
While the rest of the team returns to their duties, Vala eases the door open and walks to the bed where the elderly woman lies asleep. She leans down and asks why she is such a mystery, but also apologizes for having to stun her. Then, very slowly, the woman opens her eyes. Vala stands, about to call for Dr. Lam, but Junaea asks her to wait. Perplexed, she sits back down.
Back in the briefing room, Daniel is finishing what he started earlier. He put forth that the Der'kal must have encountered the Furling exodus fleet and obtained the location of the Milky Way from them. But, as Mitchell points out, they could have invaded the galaxy millions of years ago were that tha case. Jackson doesn't really have a response to that, merely saying that perhaps they were waiting for things to be at their weakest; fighting the Alliance of old would have been suicide, and the System Lords may also have provided a tough foe, as would have the Ori. But now the galaxy is fairly weak, still recovering from two major wars, and they could concievably conquer them in a short time (he mentions that five outlying Jaffa worlds near Hebridan have suddenly blacked out, as well, suggesting the Der'kal are working on establishing a firm beachhead). Dr. Talbot acknowledges and says she'll forward his ideas to both Heliopolis and New York, then dismisses the team.
In the infirmary, Vala is asking Junaea what happened to her, and why she claims she knew about the Der'kal invasion. The old woman explains that, many years before, she was part of the crew of an al'kesh transporting cargo between two of Heru'ur's planets on the edge of the galaxy. One day, a hyperspace window opened near their ship (in deep space) and a massive cruiser emerged (from her description, this ship is recognized as a Der'kal warship). The alien vessel disabled their al'kesh and ringed aboard, killing the rest of the crew with ease. She remembered the alien soldiers well enough to know that they are the same as these "Der'kal," of which rumors are apparently spreading. One such soldier spared her alone, telling her to take her ship back to her world and tell her people that their end of days was approaching, and then they left. They ringed back abaord their ship, waited a moment, and then the vessel jumped into hyperspace.
Junaea asks then what the people here plan to do with her, and Vala sadly mentions the problem with the Pentagon, to which the other woman says she'd rather die than be subjected. Vala is about to ask what else she knows when she suddenly convulses again. Dr. Lam rushes in with a med team and says they need to get her into surgery immediately, and they push her away. Vala watches, a look of fright on her face, then runs off to find the others.
(See next post for more)
Thanks! It'll be a walk in the park ... a very scary park, filled with monsters who are trying to kill me.
I like the yellow ones.
OH CRAP!!!
You need someone dumber than you are.... You may have come to the right place.
Thank god for common sense.
This isn't Atlantis?
I don't think so.
If this is not the Lost City…then where is it?
I do try to plan out these things before I decide on episode ideas.
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