Stargate SG-1 (1997–2007): Season 2, Episode 19 - One False Step - full transcript

What is she doing?

She said she had to time the calculations
exactly right this time of year.

This time of year? What
difference does it make?

Uh, she said something about solar...

Uh... Well, to be honest with you,
I wasn't really paying attention.

Really?

Carter?

Almost there, sir. This time of year
the direct line between P2X-555...

...and the Earth takes us
within 70,000 miles of the sun.

I'm updating the drift calculation to
include gravitational space/time warping.

We know that! Let's go.



Yes, sir.

You can start the dialling procedure.

Sir?

- How's the hand?
- A little sore, but all right. Thank you.

Chevron one encoded.

Take this note with you. Keep it in your
vest pocket till you get on the other side.

It's fairly self-explanatory.

Chevron two encoded.

- Is everything all right?
- Everything's fine.

- Chevron three encoded.
- Time to ship out, Captain.

Yes, sir.

Chevron four encoded.

Chevron five encoded.

Ah! Done already?



Chevron six encoded.

Chevron seven locked.

What the...?

- Did you see that?
- Uh, Jack, do you see this?

Captain Carter...

...where are we?

I don't know. For a minute,
we were back in the gate room.

You know, this looks suspiciously
like the butt end of a Titan missile.

Standing by for test burn
in T minus 20 seconds.

- What is a test burn?
- Just what it sounds like.

Any ideas here?

Abort!

Abort!

Fifteen seconds.

Abort!

Stand by for ignition.

- Abort!
- Ten...

...nine, eight, seven...

...six...

...five...

...four, three...

...two, one...

...ignition.

How'd you know that would work?

- I did not.

Hands on your head! Get on your knees!

Who are you? How did you
get into this facility?

- What facility?
- Answer the question!

Sir, don't say anything.
This is the gate room.

- Shut up!
- We're still in Cheyenne Mountain.

Next person who shoots
his mouth off gets this!

- Take them to the holding room.
- Yes, sir.

No, take me to your CO.

The major wants all of this
stowed for transport, sir.

What is it?

My orders are to forget I ever saw it, sir,
so I don't know what you're talking about.

Thank you, Sergeant.

I think we've travelled
back in time, about 30 years.

I think we were in both
time frames simultaneously...

...so the Stargate was there
one minute and gone the next.

Little bump in the
calculations, Captain?

I'm sorry, sir. I
don't know what to say.

Get us back home and we'll
say it never happened.

Or get us back before we
left and it won't happen.

Well, think about it.

We're the first humans in history to
go back in time. Well, for all we know.

If we could figure out how to do
this again, think of what we could do.

We could actually visit Babylon. We could
see the Great Wall of China being built!

- Or prevent regrettable historical events.
- No! That's exactly what we can't do.

Why not?

Because of the grandfather paradox.

If you murdered your grandfather, your
own father would never have been born.

So you're saying that if
we change our own past...

We could change our world in ways
that we can't possibly imagine.

We might cease to exist, along with
everything and everyone we know.

I have no part in the
history of your world.

But when they find out
about the Goa'uld threat...

...they might not open the
Stargate in the first place.

In which case, we never meet and you're
back to being first prime of Apophis.

I see.

So... we don't tell
them about the Goa'uld.

How do we explain the larval
Goa'uld that Teal'c is carrying?

Our advanced weapons, our GDOs?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but...

...haven't we altered history
already just by being here?

We have to concentrate
on damage control.

At the very least, destroy
our weapons and technology.

- That's gonna be a little tough.
- We also cannot tell anyone anything...

...about who we are or where we're from.

This is a top-secret facility.

Anonymity does not go over big here.

We cannot tell them we're
from the future, sir.

- Even if...

- Daniel?
- He asked if we were Soviet spies. I just...

Come with me.

Sure.

You bet.

Nyet?!

I'm Major Robert Thornbird.

And you are...?

Captain James T Kirk of
the Starship Enterprise.

Your dog tags say otherwise.

They're lying.

Your American accent is
very impressive, Mr Kirk.

Before we ship you out and hand you over
to wherever they take spies like you...

...I wanted a word.

Your incursion into
our training facility...

...is gonna leave an
embarrassing mark on my record.

Training facility?

You don't think we'd test fire a real
missile 28 floors inside a mountain?

Listen, you don't have the exact date...

What was the weapon you used?

Weapon?

Our cameras saw some sort of weapon.

Well, it's hard to say.

Some sort of state secret?

No, just difficult to pronounce.

My government doesn't take kindly to
spies in its highest security facilities.

Neither do I.

Oh...

Bob... Can I call you Bob?

Even though you achieved nothing.

Unless that's exactly what
we were trying to achieve.

Kirk, you can talk to me,
or you can talk to the CIA.

Ooh...

All right.

I'll be honest with you, Bob.

My name's not Kirk.

It's Skywalker. Luke Skywalker.

Still no sign of SG-1, sir.
They never made it to P2X-555.

Very well.

SG-5 will have to
complete their mission.

If I may ask, sir, what are
we going to do about SG-1?

They're out there somewhere.
Hopefully, they'll find their way back.

Shouldn't we start a search?

I'm afraid this is one
mission they're on their own.

Yes, sir.

I don't know where we're headed. They'll
split us up. We won't have much time to...

Escape and live out our lives
without affecting history.

Or...

I can't think of an
"or" at the moment, sir.

- No "or"?
- There's an "or".

You can't will something to happen
because you want it that way.

Captain, where there's
a will, there's an "or".

Way.

If I remain on this planet, I will eventually
be taken over by my mature symbiote.

I'll keep an eye. You help the driver.

- Flat tyre?
- I'm the one who arranged it.

Before I even think of doing
what's asked of me in the note...

...I need to know who you
are and who gave it to you.

Oh, my God!

My name is Samantha Carter
and you gave me the note, sir.

General Hammond gave me a note...

...and told me to keep it in my
pocket until I got to the other side.

It's addressed to me. In my handwriting.

What's it say?

"Help them."

Helping you will lead to court martial,
so I'd like to know why I would do that.

- Because it's your idea.
- Albeit one you won't have for 30 years.

What?

I know this is hard to understand, but that
is how far back in time we've travelled.

- I'm sorry. I can't help you.
- Wait!

We can... we can prove it.

- What's the date?
- August 4th.

1969.

- '69. What happened in '69?
- The moon landing.

- That was a couple of weeks ago, right?
- The entire world knows that.

But you watched it from your father's
bedside in his hospital room...

...just two days after
his first heart attack.

- How did you know?
- Because we know you.

We will know you.

For some reason, 30 years ago
you decided we would need help.

Otherwise you wouldn't be
standing there with a note.

Now, are you gonna listen
to yourself... or not?

- There are two men, including the driver.
- Thank you.

Ow!

I'm sorry, miss. Did I hurt you?

It's "Captain".

And it's all right, Lieutenant.

Uh... May I see the note?

We don't want to hurt anybody, but
we do have to knock those guys out.

Will this do?

Call for help.

The dangerous foreign agents you now
guard have inexplicably freed themselves.

Help!

- Where's the rest of our gear?
- In a separate truck for security reasons.

- They should be right behind.
- OK, good. Get down on the ground. Go!

Everything you confiscated
from us is in these two boxes?

- Except for your ray gun, yes.
- Right.

Watch yourself.

Your Major Whatshisname had video
tape of this thing in action.

Uh, yes. It was in those boxes
along with everything else.

Good.

- Got any cash?
- Uh, yeah.

- I might have some.
- That's good.

I'll pay you back. With interest.

You must keep everything you've seen
and everything we've told you a secret.

- For the rest of your life.
- General Hammond.

I like the sound of that.

What are you gonna do now?

Well, you're better off not knowing.

But I do want you to know that I'm about
to keep you from getting court-martialled.

We should get off this
road. Find the interstate.

- So what's the plan?
- Find the Stargate.

- That's the plan?
- Elegant in its simplicity, isn't it?

And if we don't find the Stargate?

- There's one in Antarctica.
- Antarctica! That's a fabulous plan.

Assuming we find the Stargate,
how do we get back to the future?

Well, now, that's all in the note.

Right?

Uh, no, sir.

No, sir?

Well, it doesn't explain how to
get back. At least, not explicitly.

"Help them."

"August 10th, 9.15am.
August 11th, 6.03pm."

That's helpful.

He had to be intentionally cryptic, so
as not to risk changing his own history.

August 10th. That's cryptic.

It just means that at 9.15am
something is going to happen.

And happen again the next day at 6.03.

We just have to figure
out what that something is.

Right.

The 'Vette blew it when they went with
that body style. They used to be so cool.

Actually, I was about
four-and-a-half years old in '69.

Carter, stick your thumb out.

We should go to New York.

Why?

That's where Catherine lived, or lives.
She's the only person outside of military...

...who might know about the Stargate.
She won't tell us over the phone.

Daniel, you can't.

In order to preserve our past, Catherine
has to first meet you years from now.

So we go in disguise.

Pretend to be... foreigners.

- How are you gonna do that?
- I speak 23 different languages. Pick one.

She began her research in the late '60s.

Maybe we gave her the
idea in the first place.

This method appears to be ineffective.

Teal'c. Teal'c!

What are you thinking?

That is effective, O'Neill.

Hey! We would've stopped, man.

Hi. Listen, we've got gas
money. Where are you headed?

Upstate New York. Some big
concert. Where you headed?

New York. Back East.

Hop in.

Ride up front with
me, brother. It's cool.

I'm Michael.

I am not at liberty
to reveal my identity.

Far out!

- Hello.
- Hi.

So what'd you do?

We didn't, uh...

We didn't do anything.

We've got a little problem with...

...the Establishment.

I so relate to that.

So if you could take
us as far as New York...

I really love your hair.

Thanks.

Listen, we could really
use some cheap clothes.

If you see a cheap clothes
place around, we'd appreciate it.

No sweat!

So, uh...

Your thing... That thing...

What's it symbolise? Peace?

Slavery to false gods.

Right on!

So, um, it's made out of...

- Do not discuss it further.
- I dig!

It's cool.

So you just go AWOL?

Hey, we're cool.

After the concert, me and Jenny, we're
thinking of crossing the border to Canada.

For what reason?

You know, man. The war.

The war with Canada?

No.

Flare.

- What?
- It's the only explanation.

- We're here because of a solar flare.
- Not an error in your calculations?

I don't think so. After the Abydos mission,
when we couldn't make the gate work...

...I researched alternative
applications, including time travel.

- What'd you come up with?
- Just this.

What if... a massive solar
flare just happened to occur...

...exactly when we were travelling
between Earth and another Stargate?

If the wormhole moved closer to the sun
because of the flare's magnetic field...

...the increased gravity could
slingshot us back to Earth.

- Why haven't we tried this before?
- Because flares are impossible to predict.

Light takes several minutes to travel, so
by the time a flare has been confirmed...

...it's already too late.

If they're impossible to predict,
how do we get ourselves home?

August 10th, 9.15am. It's in the note.

- That's the time of the next flare?
- Yeah.

General Hammond must've used
my research to work it out.

Maybe that's why he asked
you to do the research.

And then he looked up two flares in
August of 1969 that could send us home.

General Hammond, you old son of a...

Hello.

Soup?

Who are you guys?

Come on, have something to eat.

Travelling between Earth
and where? What's that about?

- When I said that, I was just imagining...
- I don't think so, man.

You said that you were in
trouble with the Establishment.

And...

...we are.

- We are.
- Just not the Establishment...

...of this planet.

No, it's true, Michael.

We came to Earth to hide among
your people a long, long time ago.

From a galaxy far, far away.

But now it's time to go
home. And we need your help.

How?

We need to be in a place
called New York by tomorrow.

I don't know, man.

It's all right.

Whoa!

That was unreal!

It is, in fact, extremely real.
As is our need for assistance.

We have to help them get home, Michael.

OK. We'll do it.

Sir, remember to use the
hydrogen-alpha solar filter.

- Or I'll burn my eyes out. I know.
- Good luck.

Yes!

All right. We've got one shot to prove
Carter's theory. Don't screw it up, Jack.

Is not astronomy one of
your hobbies, O'Neill?

Not quite on this scale.

Let's get that dome open.

Father never told me
Heinrich Gruber had a son.

I was a small boy when they were
still working together, but...

...mein Vater often
spoke of dein Vater...

...as one of the few people
in this world he could trust.

Before we continue I must ask...

...what was so important it couldn't
be discussed over the telephone?

Mein father believed there must
have been a second artefact...

...near that which dein
Vater discovered in 1928.

He referred to it in his
notes as a "doorway to heaven".

You found only a
fragment? Nothing beneath?

The artefact had already been removed.

We always knew there had to be a second
device with which to control the ring.

I realise these matters require
the utmost propriety, but...

Did your father ever explain to you the
nature of the work he was doing in 1945?

Only that the American military...

...was under the mistaken impression
that the device dein father discovered...

...might hold some...

...dark military purpose.

Even that much, I was sworn to secrecy.

- There was an accident.
- Ernest Littlefield.

When the war ended, my father and I
were told never to speak of it again.

It is simply locked away.

And... you cannot tell me where?

Some old armoury in
Washington, DC, gathering dust.

But it's pointless.

The military won't even
acknowledge its existence.

Would you know which armoury?

All right. In a few seconds, we'll
know whether or not we can go back.

And if we cannot, O'Neill?

I guess we stay.

All right. It's showtime.

Brother Teal'c...

...at precisely 6.03pm tomorrow...

...we're going home.

- Well?
- Your theory is confirmed.

Where do we have to be
for tomorrow's flare?

Washington, DC.

We're almost there, sir. We must
find a power source right away.

We will.

Listen, I really have to say this.

The two of you have been unbelievably...

Groovy.

Groovy, I think, is the word.

The people of our world
will be extremely grateful.

- Not the Establishment, mind you.
- No, not them.

What we're trying to say is that we
have to go the rest of the way alone.

Why?

- Because it's dangerous.
- We want you to take us with you.

- We can't do that.
- But you owe us.

Yes, we do. We owe you a lot.

But you belong here.

You have to trust me on this
- this is a great time.

Michael got drafted.

We were just going to the concert
first. You know, one last blast.

But if we went with you...

I don't wanna kill anybody.

- Michael...
- Sir, you can't say anything!

He has to make up his own mind.

We can walk the rest
of the way from here.

We gotta go.

I'm sorry.

Your secret's safe with us.

I know that. Thank you.

Take care.

Where to?

- Back the way we came, via P2X-555.
- How do you know we'll travel forward?

General Hammond must've chosen flares
on the opposite side of the sun...

...so the sun's rotational differential
will send us forward instead of back.

We just have to trust him. We are
15 minutes away from our only chance!

- And we haven't found a power source...
- How much power?

Keep it going!

You, stop!

We have got to go.

The timing has to be exact.
Just a few more seconds.

It's close enough. Go!

Get down!

Auntie Em?

- Auntie Em?
- Where is everyone?

Hello, Jack.

Teal'c.

Daniel?

I hardly recognised you with hair.

Do...

Do we know you?

Sam will recognise me. Come closer.

Oh, my God! Cassandra!

Dear Sam!

Excuse me.

- Who is this?
- Cassandra.

- Cassie's 13 years old.
- Not any more, Jack.

I've been expecting you
- my whole life, in fact.

You entered the Stargate
a few seconds too soon...

...so the flare threw
you far into the future.

I've come to send you
back where you belong.

- How did you know we'd come here?
- When I was old enough to understand...

...Sam explained what happened, and
that I'd be the one to send you home.

- Like a self-fulfilling
prophecy? - Mm-hm.

As much as I'd love to spend more time
with you, the timing must be precise.

- You have to go.
- Already? But there's so much that you...

You know I can't.

I will tell you this.

Your journey's just beginning.

Incoming traveller, sir.

- It's SG-1! Open the iris.

Yes!

We're home.

Thanks to one sparky,
young Lieutenant Hammond.

How did you know, sir?

As a Lieutenant, I was asked to escort
four people out of Cheyenne Mountain.

In the vest pocket of one, I
found a note with my name on it.

Needless to say, I
followed its instructions.

- And you knew when to give it to me?
- Not until I saw the cut on your hand.

Remember when I took your cuffs off?

Then you've been waiting
for this to happen.

Ever since we met. I
almost didn't let you go.

But if you didn't, you would've
changed your own history.

It's going to be a long debriefing,
people. We'll start in one hour.

Yes, sir.

Oh, by the way, Colonel...

...with interest, you owe
me 539 dollars and 50 cents.

Yes, sir.