Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007): Season 2, Episode 14 - Touchstone - full transcript

In the five weeks since
our return from PX7-941 ...

Known to its population as Madrona.

..we've processed most
of the data we collected.

We think we've corroborated some
startling first-hand observations.

- Which are?
- Well, sir,...

..the inhabitants can proactively
affect their own climate.

That's a bit of an understatement!

They can call it up...
just like... that.

You got a crop that needs water?

Order some rain.

It needs sun, it's literally
a matter of dialling it up.



Are you sure you weren't
under the local voodoo?

Believe me, General, no one
was more sceptical than I.

But we may have stumbled on the
most important piece of technology...

..the SGC mission has
discovered to date.

Even the Goa'uld have
no such technology.

You think you know how they do it?

Our best theory is that the planet
was terraformed about 900 years ago.

The Madronans are primitive, so it's likely
it was terraformed by another alien race.

The weather seems to be
regulated by this device.

The Madronans call it the Touchstone.

It's an ancient artefact, probably
made by the other alien race.

It's right there. It's
in the statue's hand.

The high priest turns a
series of calibrated rings,...

..which seem to determine
meteorological conditions.



Do we have any idea what makes it tick?

That's why we'd like to go back, sir.

Carter wants to get a closer look with
some of her specialised... doohickeys.

Doohickeys?!

I believe that's the
technical term, sir!

My instruments will measure
the Touchstone's emissions...

..and give us an idea of how it works.

Any chance we could borrow
it for a few days,...

..do a little backward engineering?

The Touchstone maintains
the weather on this planet.

Right.

OK, then. Go see what
you can figure out.

OK.

Greetings, Roham.

Princess La Moor.

- It's the visitors, Uncle.
- We demand you return the Touchstone!

What? I-It's missing?

Do not play games. You
must return it at once!

No games. We didn't take it.

It is gone! Come! See for yourselves!

This explains the
storm clouds out there.

Without the Touchstone to shield us,...

..we shall soon be
overtaken by the elements.

It's only a matter of time before we
begin to die because of your theft.

All right.

Here's a question for you.

If it was so important,
why wasn't it guarded?

It was guarded. We let down our
guard because of your people.

- We trusted you.
- We did not take it!

Had we taken the artefact, there
would have been no need to return.

There were witnesses.

What did these witnesses see?

People taking the Touchstone
in the dead of night.

They were dressed as you are
and carried weapons like yours.

- Did they see where these people went?
- They left by your Stargate.

As you know, none of our people
know how to use the portal.

Guards! Disarm the wrongdoers!

Hold it!

All right!

We came here in peace,...

..we expect to go in one... piece.

Explain yourself. But be warned.

If your answers are not satisfactory,...

..then we have no choice
but to seek retribution.

Taking revenge will not return the
Touchstone, for we did not take it.

Then it will lead us to those that did.

Only if they care what happens to us!

Look, let me give you a little
life lesson about thieves.

They're not really in touch
with their feminine side.

Caring would be on a low priority...

My uncle grows impatient.

If the thieves used
the gate to escape,...

..the only hope to get it back is
to let us go back through the gate.

And if they did come from Earth,...

..our technology can help us
find out who the thieves were.

How do we know that you will not use
the gate to escape responsibility?

Trust us?

We are a simple people, Colonel.

We have no means to protect
ourselves from this disaster.

If my uncle decides to trust you, our
entire future will depend on that decision.

OK, that's a little pressure!
But we can handle that.

Let them go.

Please... help us.

Why are you back so early? You were
supposed to study that weather device.

We would do, if it were still there.

What do you mean?

We should talk in your office, sir.

What's this about, Colonel?

The Touchstone was stolen, sir.

By people wearing SGC uniforms, who
came and went through the Stargate.

What?! Well, who was it?

Everyone involved here
would like to know that, sir.

I don't appreciate your
implication, Colonel.

Why would I send your team to study
the thing if I knew it wasn't there?

No implication intended, sir.

But circumstances do beg the
next logical question, which is...

..could another SG team have
gone through without your order?

Not without my knowing about it.

Yes, sir.

General, do you mind if I have
Carter recheck the dialling computer?

Just to see if there are any signs
of anyone sneaking through the gate...

..covertly.

Behind your back, as it were, sir.

Nothing happens regarding that
Stargate without my knowing about it.

If a person sneezes
near it, I get a report.

I understand, sir.

Colonel.

Have Carter check it anyway.

Thank you... very much, sir.

- Anything yet?
- Not on the Touchstone, sir.

Have you seen the Weather Channel?

I'm more of a C-SPAN guy.

Observe, O'Neill.

Chalk it up to a delayed El Ni?o
effect orjust a run of bad luck,...

..but more storms have
stretched all over America,...

..even in Phoenix, Arizona,
causing widespread damage.

Reports of injuries
are still trickling in.

We have flooding in Palm Springs...

And that's not all.

There's record rainfall in
Albuquerque, hail in the Panhandle...

..and three major rivers cresting.

Something is definitely
altering this planet's weather.

And you think it's this Touchstone?

- Kind of a reach, isn't it?
- Not really, if you think about it.

Whoever left that device on Madrona...

..probably keyed it to
its atmospheric conditions.

Somebody brings it back to Earth,
starts fiddling around with it...

..and... who knows?!

- We don't know it's on Earth.
- I'm thinking it is.

There was a huge transitory
glitch three days ago,...

..when SG-2 returned from a mission.

The same hour as the
Touchstone was taken.

SG-2's point of origin was
galaxies away from Madrona.

Yeah, but this energy
spike is off the charts.

Remember what happened the last time
the gate's power supply was overloaded?

It jumped to the second
gate in the Antarctic.

Thanks for the memory!

Are you suggesting that SG-2 used the
second gate to steal the Touchstone?

No. Not SG-2. Their mission went
as planned, through our gate.

But someone might have used the second
gate a split second after SG-2 used ours...

..to try to hide the
energy spike in ours.

Kind of like shooting off a
gun when a train's going by?

To hide the sound.

Yes, sir.

If I'm right, SG-2's log should
have the same electronic signature...

..as the last time the wormhole
jumped its tracks. Bear with me.

Bearing.

Damn! It should show up
on the primary meta-log.

- Try the backup log.
- Yeah. Possibly.

If someone did try to erase
all the relevant data,...

..they could've easily missed a backup.

Yes! There it is.

The second gate hadto have been used.
The energy signature's identical.

Who was authorised to use it? I thought
it had been officially decommissioned.

It was.

Officially.

- Come.

No. I need to talk to him now.

Son, do you know what
colour this phone is?

Yes. I'll hold.

Carter find anything?

Yes, sir. Apparently, the
second gate is being used.

What?! I was given top-level
assurances that gate was to be sealed.

A case of the left hand not knowing
what the right foot is doing, sir?

That's what I'm trying to find out.

No! It can't wait, son.

Well, make sure he gets the
message the second he comes out.

And, suddenly, the
President wasn't available!

Every time I call, he's tied up.

It's like someone is orchestrating
his schedule to keep us from speaking.

Got a someone in mind, sir?

This is gonna sound paranoid, Colonel.

Back when the SG programme began,...

..there was a philosophical
skirmish about its mandate.

Some people wanted to make sure that
all discoveries were brought back,...

..regardless of considerations
like interplanetary diplomacy.

Do you mind if I ask who
these "some people" were?

The truth is, I'm not sure I
ever fully knew who they were.

I had a feeling that someone chose
not to surface during the debate.

Not military
- politicians pulling strings behind the scenes.

No one said so exactly.

30 years in the service, you
develop an instinct about things.

General, is your gut telling you...

..that this "person" is responsible
for stealing the Touchstone?

I'm a long way from
drawing that conclusion.

But I'll be damned if I'll be blocked
by some sycophant in the White House.

I have other channels I can
pursue, markers I can call in.

General,...

..I know I don't have to tell you this.

But whoever these
dark-side guys are,...

..they can do some pretty nasty damage
if they figure out how to work this thing.

I know, Colonel. I know.
Let me do some digging.

In an effort to determine whether
the Touchstone was being used,...

..I measured the Doppler shift for
gravitational and radiation emissions.

I used one of my monitoring instruments,
and tied it in to two NOAA satellites.

- What did you find?
- It's somewhere in the Nevada Desert.

- From the crude triangulation...
- Nevada?

Yes, sir. Something wrong?

The second gate ended up in
Nevada, didn't it, sir? Nellis?

Yes.

If the gate is there, it makes sense that
the Touchstone has at least been there.

You're going to love this, Colonel.

Guess who just got reassigned to Nellis.

Do tell.

Colonel Maybourne.

Oh, well, here's good news!

Nellis is where we send the technology
we bring back through the gate?

Yes. The Groom Lake facility.

Area 51 .

- What are we looking at?
- We sent the MALP back to Madrona.

It's basically a blizzard, sir
winds gusting up to 80 miles an hour.

Any more intense, the
whole planet's a write-off.

How much time do they have remaining?

If my extrapolations are correct,
we're looking at 48 to 72 hours...

..before all the terraforming is kaput.

- Permission to take a trip to Nevada, sir.
- OK. I'll call Nellis and get you cleared.

Uh, General,...

..it's become pretty obvious that
our own people are involved here.

The government types, you know.

How do you know who to trust?

We have the necessary
clearance level, sir.

Colonel, I need some documents
delivered to the Groom Lake facility.

Are those documents sensitive enough...

..to warrant a three-man
team with a Jaffa escort?

Absolutely.

Colonel O'Neill. Major Reynolds,
NlD. Welcome to Area 51 .

Nice to meet you. This is Captain
Carter, Dr Jackson and Teal'c.

Gentlemen. Ma'am.

I can't tell you what an honour it
is to meet you. You guys are a legend.

Yeah, well... Thanks. We're hoping
to meet with Colonel Maybourne.

He's been paged, sir. Come inside
- he'll find you there.

You obviously know who we are.

If it wasn't for you and the other SG
teams, we'd be out of business here.

Follow me, please.

To your left is Medical Research.

They're focusing on the potential cure
for Alzheimer's that SG-5 brought back.

The other side is Geology, Space
Metallurgy, and Artefacts Study,...

..where they're poring over your notes
on that Heliopolis place, Dr Jackson.

"Meaning of life stuff"
- I love that!

Dr Dobson to room 483. Dr Dobson.

Those are the two Goa'uld death gliders
you were in after you did your hero thing.

Nice work, by the way.

Yeah. Thanks.

This way.

This is the Bio-research Lab.

Is this where you keep
the little green men?

There are no alien
life forms at Area 51 .

Present company excluded, of course.

Colonel O'Neill.

Hello, Maybourne.

Major, if you'll excuse us.

Teal'c! It's good to see you're well.

In my culture, I would be well
within my rights to dismember you.

Well... that's interesting.

Is there something I can do for you?

Yeah. We assume the
Touchstone was brought here.

Excuse me?

Maybe you have a different name for it?

The weather controller
from Madrona - PX7-941?

It seems that someone has sent
you on a fool's errand, Colonel.

There is nothing even
remotely like that here.

You are, however, aware of our mission?

I remember a reference to it.

But
- correct me if I'm wrong nothing came back from that survey.

- Not by our team.
- Another SGC team?

You tell me.

If you're looking for specific answers,
be less cryptic with your questions.

Fine. Where's the damn Touchstone?

Has the second Stargate been activated?

It's been under complete
lockdown since its arrival here.

It hasn't even been powered up.

Mind if we have a look?

I guarantee it's been dormant
since you came through it.

Then there's no harm in
taking a look. Is there?

There it is. Happy now, Colonel?

Carter.

- Satisfied?
- Not really.

Just proves it got packed up
real nice after it was used.

That gate has been in there since it
was brought here from the Antarctic.

Come on, Harry!

You and I have been
through this dance before.

Uh,...

..Colonel.

This gate is plastic.

What?!

Captain Carter is correct.

That's ridiculous!

That's the gate that was
brought back from the Antarctic.

It's been under lock and
key since it got here.

This gate's plastic.
Where's the real one?

So... what the hell
happened to the Stargate?

It's obviously been moved.

So it can be fired up
without raising eyebrows?

That's highly speculative.

I don't know who's giving
you orders, Maybourne,...

..but they had better come
from where the air is real thin.

Is that a threat, Colonel?

You tell me the punishment
for losing a Stargate.

That presumes there was no
authorisation to move the Stargate.

- So who authorised it?
- That's classified.

- We have the highest clearance.
- Within the military, you do.

Are you telling me...

..this is a civilian operation?!

Colonel O'Neill and his people need
an escort back to their vehicle.

- Who's pulling the strings, Maybourne?
- Take a piece of advice, Jack. Let it drop.

Drop it?!

Please... don't make these
gentlemen have to get disrespectful.

We're operating under
a virtual blackout.

No one will confirm or deny a thing.

The only other Stargate on the planet gets
spirited away, and it's business as usual?!

Not really. Somebody's clamped
down on the communications channels.

- What of the Touchstone?
- Sometime while we were gone,...

..my instrument
readings dropped to zero.

They've stopped using it, or
are shielding it from detection.

The weather anomalies
have abated on Earth.

They probably realised experimenting
with it was causing too many problems.

Exactly.

If we can't track the Touchstone, we may
be able to track the second gate on Earth.

Oh, sure! Let's just put out an APB for
a huge, honkin', two-storey metal ring...

..with 39 little pictures
all nicely engraved on it!

Actually, I had another thought.

Go ahead, Captain.

We use our gate to go to Madrona,...

..then do a 180 and return through
the second gate here on Earth.

If one input the Earth's coordinates
on the Madrona dialling device,...

..he would be sent back to
the gate on this facility.

You would. Unless you
intentionally overpower the gate.

The way the wormhole arced to send
the two of you to the other gate.

As you may recall, it was a minor miracle
that either of you survived that incident.

What if we used the MALP robot?

Perfect. The GPS could give us an exact
position once the MALP made it through.

Someone would have to
accompany you to Madrona,...

..to dial the correct address.

- Uh... I would be that person.
- I'll go, too.

Bring the necessary equipment to
modulate the power to the gate.

Let's do it!

They've arrived through
the Madrona gate, sir.

We're transporting our
people across the galaxy...

..to find something we
lost in our own back yard!

Incredible!

They're back, Uncle Roham!

- Did you bring the Touchstone?
- Not yet. We're working on it.

Don't you understand?!

Look around you! The
rivers have turned to ice!

Before long, all our
croplands will be decimated!

Why did you return?

We have to set this machine from
here to track the Touchstone.

- You're lying!
- We're not lying!

We really are trying to help.

Come now!

They should be inputting
the last address.

Status, Captain?

- It's through, sir. It's on Earth.
- Where the hell is it?

I'm switching over to
terrestrial video signal.

- We have visual, but it's dark.
- Can you make out anything?

No, not much.

- There's somebody moving.
- What is its location?

I'm resetting the MALP global
positioning system to Telsat 1 3,...

..attempting to triangulate.

- What the hell happened?!
- They blew it away, sir.

Carter?

The link is gone. They
destroyed the MALP.

- Did you get the coordinates?
- No time. But I've got it narrowed down.

How far down?

Well, as far as I can
tell, it's in Southern Utah.

Oh! Well... Southern Utah!

Well, at least that's a start.

I have one last marker to call.
Let me see what I can find out.

- Hello, General.
- Whitlow.

Shall we walk?

As I told you on the phone, I don't have
time for all this cloak-and-dagger stuff.

- I need to know...
- Please... walk.

It makes it harder for the parabolics.

Glad to see the paranoia
quotient is as high as ever!

You never know who's listening.
What do you need to know?

Two things. Who's got the Stargate?
Who's got the weather device?

- I wish I had that info.
- I don't have time for games, Whitlow.

As much as I'd love to clear our
little IOU, I don't know anything.

I don't even know what you're talking
about with regards to a weather device.

But are you saying the
Stargate is missing?!

- The second one is, yes.
- That doesn't sound like a good thing!

Come on! You've got your
fingers in every agency.

You haven't heard anything?
Military intelligence? NSA? CIA?

If it were military, I'd know
about it. It's got to be civilian.

Anything strange going on at Nellis?

There's always something going on at
Nellis, and most of the time it's strange.

But nothing about a Stargate
or a... weather... thingy.

Does this have something to do
with all the weird weather lately?

How about Southern Utah?
Anything going on there?

Southern Utah?!

Yeah, as a matter of fact.

A requisition just crossed my desk...

..requesting a C-5 for a classified pick-up
at an NID landing site. It's in Utah.

Hm. No idea what it's for?

Not officially. But I don't have
to tell you, a C-5's a big airplane.

Big enough to hold a Stargate and
transport it anywhere in the world.

Where's the strip?

Just south of the Black Mountains.
About 40 clicks west of Parowan.

Thank you, Whitlow.

George?

Does this mean we're even?

If it pans out, it does.

OK, here's the deal.

This NID landing strip
doesn't officially exist,...

..so I don't think there's
a jurisdictional issue.

But even if there is, that C-5 is Air
Force property, and it is our jurisdiction.

- Can we go now, sir?
- There's a chopper waiting.

It will take you to Hill Air Force
Base. Then you're on your own.

Thank you.

One other thing, Colonel.

We don't know if the people who took the
gate and Touchstone are friend or foe.

Therefore, under no conditions are
you to fire on them. Understood?

Under no conditions... fire.

That's right.

What if they fire on us, sir?

Then you're to take cover. Do not return
fire unless it's the only option remaining...

- ..to defend yourselves.
- I don't think...

Those are my orders, Colonel. We're
already going way out on a limb on this.

I don't want you killing another
American who may just be following orders.

- Understood?
- Yes, sir.

Stand to, gentlemen!

Keep those hands visible.

Who the hell are you?!

No one's damn business!
Step away from the crate.

Stop!

Don't do it!

Agh!

What?

I missed the address.

At least we have this.

They've come back, Uncle
Roham! Just as I told you!

- Do they have the Touchstone?
- They do!

- Thank you.
- You're very welcome.

We hope your faith and trust
in us has been restored.

You have lived up to your promises.
Let there be peace between our worlds.

We must remain vigilant,...

..lest those that trespassed
before come back...

..to violate the sanctity
of the Holy Touchstone.

Just make sure your guards
are paying attention this time!

Blessings be upon you.

Everything should be back to
normal soon, here and on Madrona.

We think they'll let us return to
do the studies we'd hoped to do.

- Any idea what happened, sir?
- It's still something of a shell game.

- The investigation was taken from me.
- By whom?

I'm still trying to find that out.

So we may never know who those
men were who went through the gate.

Not unless you can
tell me where they went.

Until then, all SG units
are to be on watch...

..for four NID guys wandering
around another planet.

Great! So all this
could happen again, huh?

No, Colonel!

This time, I was able to ensure that
our Stargate will be the only one in use.

Sir... The second
Stargate is being retired?

Yes. Only this time, there will be
a permanent iris welded over it,...

..and it will be placed
under round-the-clock guard...

..under the command
of the SGC my command.

No lying and deceit, smoke and mirrors?

You'll be there yourselves - all of
you will - when we put it away for good.

This put you out of a job, Maybourne?

Oh, you'd be surprised. Strange
things happen in high places, Colonel.

Don't I know it!

People get reassigned. So does property.

Artefacts get misplaced. Orders change.

Every day's a new day.