Such Great Patience
(Kuril Trench, 1000 miles northeast of Japan, 5 miles deep)
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Westphalen: It's very exciting. No one has ever reached the epicenter of an earthquake less than an hour after it's happened, let alone a nine point two.
Bridger: Instant creation of a fifteen hundred foot cliff that stretches two hundred miles, this is gonna be wild.
Ortiz: WSKR on the left flank just malfunctioned and crashed into the bottom sir.
Hitchcock: That's the second one, Mr. Ortiz, and almost in the same place.
Ortiz: I can't explain it, Commander.
Bridger: Well adjust course. I want to take a look at this wall.
Ford: Come starboard eight degrees, Mr. Shan?
Shan: Some kind of headache, sir. I'm having trouble focusing.
Crocker: Mr. Weider, take his position.
Weider: Aye, aye, sir.
Bridger: This is the fifth headache that's been reported since we've been down here.
Darwin: Rock, water.
Lucas: Captain, he's doing it again.
Darwin: Fire, cloud, unit, center.
Bridger: What is it, my friend?
Darwin: Fast voice, heard.
Lucas: He's hearing things. We have no idea what he's talking about.
Bridger: Mr. O'Neill?
O'Neill: I'm at a loss to explain it, Captain. Sensors show a sound out there, but I can't find it; high frequency, well out of our acoustical parameters.
Bridger: Is this something he could hear?
O'Neill: Technically it's out of his range too.
Darwin: Declination, luminescent, ecliptic.
Bridger: Do you understand this?
Darwin: People words, not dolphin.
Bridger: I want this sound traced gentlemen; I wanna know what it is.
O'Neill: Aye, sir.
Ortiz: Captain.
Bridger: Woah, oh, oh, oh.
Westphalen: You better warn the crew; we may be here for some time.
Bridger: These sedimentation layers are so clearly marked. The time line is as precise as I've ever seen it.
Westphalen: What are we looking at?
Bridger: This layer (points at screen) used to be the bottom of the ocean about nine hundred thousand years ago.
Ford: Wow!
Ortiz: Captain, aftershock coming, it's a big one.
Bridger: Sound collision, head us into the epicenter, nose down.
Ford: This is Commander Ford, brace for shock wave, bow to stern.
Hitchcock: Closing all watertights.
(The aftershock causes the ocean floor to rise up even more. And there, in the middle of the bedrock, is an alien ship.)
Lucas: This is the coolest thing I've ever seen.
Bridger: Isolate this picture; no one sees this except the bridge.
O'Neill: Done.
Krieg: That looks like some kind of ship.
Lucas: A spaceship.
Ford: There's no such thing.
Ortiz: There is now.
Hitchcock: Captain, if what you said about the age of that rock is true …
Westphalen: That ship must be a million years old.
Bridger: Or more.
(Near the surface, directly above the alien ship)
(Bridger's room)
General Thomas: (on screen) What's your take, Captain?
Bridger: I'm convinced now that the sounds coming from that alien ship are giving the crew headaches.
General Thomas: (on screen) And you don't consider that a threat?
Bridger: What? Migraines?
General Thomas: (on screen) Aren't you being a little pie in the sky, Bridger? I mean this noise is coming from an alien ship that you know nothing about.
Bridger: That's true, General, but on the other hand, it has been entombed in this rock for over a million years.
General Thomas: (on screen) I still expect you to follow procedures. I mean we didn't spend millions developing an alien encounter program so you could make it up as you go. And another thing, I want that Lucas Wolenczak off the boat.
Bridger: Why?
General Thomas: (on screen) He doesn't have the necessary security clearances.
Bridger: I need him.
General Thomas: (on screen) I know this is an amazing discovery and everyone wants to be part of it, but that's not enough.
Bridger: You see, Darwin is somehow picking out words from this alien signal, and Lucas is my vocal link to Darwin.
General Thomas: (on screen) He plays you like a drum, Captain. Just once I'd like you to recognize my authority and follow orders.
Bridger: When I get back, we'll have lunch.
(Launch Bay)
Shepherd: Hey, Lucas, what happened on the bridge? Why are we being off loaded?
Lucas: I can't tell you, Shepherd. Just something.
Shepherd: Well, you gettin' in line with us?
Lucas: I'm not sure yet.
Shepherd: (sees Bridger) Good luck. (gets on launch)
Krieg: Surface fleet's in position, sir. When this launch leaves we'll be down to thirty two military personnel and twenty six science.
Bridger: Anything else?
Krieg: (hesitates) No, sir.
Bridger: Carry on.
Crocker: (to crewman) Set up the laser saw and the oxygen compressors in the launch MR-5 and let's get all of these scanners down to the science lab for calibration. (to Bridger) We've logged on board everything you've asked for, Cap, ready to get underway.
Bridger: Environmental suits?
Crocker: Yes, sir, right here.
Hitchcock: (entering) All external damage has been repaired, sir.
Bridger: Thank you. (walks over toward arriving launch passing Lucas, then stops) Uh, do you think you play me like a drum?
Lucas: Could I consult my lawyer?
Bridger: You can stay.
Lucas: All right.
Bridger: Get with O'Neill on that noise.
Lucas: Ta dump bump.
Ford: (after Keller exits a launch) Commander Keller, welcome aboard.
Scott Keller: Glad to be back, Commander.
Bridger: (coming up) Scott, how are you?
Keller: Nathan, General Thomas is hemorrhaging up on the aircraft carrier. How'd you keep his Alpha Commandos off this mission?
Bridger: I said a welcome wagon with a gun doesn't make a very good first impression.
Ford: What if something out there is still alive?
Keller: Than you and I are the luckiest sailors in history.
Ford: What if they attack us?
Keller: Every uniform thinks alike.
Ford: You wear one.
Keller: Yeah, for exploration, not for conquest.
Ford: Captain, I have to raise the possibility.
Keller: Listen, think it through, Commander. If these extraterrestrial applied the technology it took for them to get here to war, we're toast no matter what we do.
Bridger: Gentlemen, we prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Keller: Hey, I'll make a deal with you. You don't shoot anything until I've had a chance to say hello.
(Hallway)
Westphalen: O'Neill, pain killer for the headache. Come on, now, not even a needle.
O'Neill: I don't need it, I'm leaving on the launch.
Westphalen: You're not trying for the expedition? Tim?
O'Neill: Dr. Westphalen, can I ask you a question?
Westphalen: Sure.
O'Neill: Do you believe in God?
Westphalen: Sometimes.
O'Neill: Well, if we're created in God's image, than who created intelligent life on other planets?
Westphalen: God.
O'Neill: I was always taught to believe that we were the whole deal. That life topped out with man. Now it's like … it's like my whole beliefs are unraveling.
Westphalen: No they're not Tim. Come on, you believe in family, friends, strong morality, yes. Well nothing out there invalidates those.
O'Neill: When I was growing up, I always felt like a traitor as a kid in church because I secretly hoped that we weren't alone.
Westphalen: Well don't feel guilty for getting your wish. But you have to make your own decisions.
O'Neill: (holds out his arm) I've never run from anything in my life.
(Bridge) Ortiz: Applying Earth's aerodynamic principles, I'm taking a wild guess that this is how the alien ship would look like with the rock cut away. How the hell did they move a ship that big through space?
Keller: That's just one of thousand questions I want answers to.
Ortiz: She's over a mile long. How did they get it up to light speed?
Bridger: Wrong concept. Even if it went a million times light speed, most galaxies would be out of reach.
Keller: We've theorized curved-space loops and interdimensional worm holes. Bottom line, Nathan, I want to see their technology. I wanna see inside that cockpit.
(Hydrosystem Docking Area - Launch )
Krieg: Could you imagine if I got to go over there?
Hitchcock: You gotta promise not to hug 'em. It might not be part of their culture.
Krieg: I spent my whole life believing in nothing but the unbelievable. I mean, what do they look like? Did they crash here by accident? Where are they from? Are there others coming? I have to know.
Hitchcock: Would you mind if I submitted you name to the Captain?
(Bridge)
Bridger: All right people, here we go. Lieutenant?
O'Neill: Lucas and I have isolated the alien signal. An overlapping pulse on a high microwave frequency, but it's going to take a lot of math to decipher it.
Bridger: Ortiz, Hitchcock, here's where you come in. I want you to go in and bend and twist that signal. See if there's any rhyme or reason for it. Doctor?
Westphalen: Let's not forget what we're dealing with. We don't want to bring back some exotic virus. We've got enough of our own, I think. First sign of pain, headache medicine is available at stations all round the boat.
Bridger: The boarding party will consist of the following. Chief Crocker will assist Commander Keller and provide security.
Crocker: (surprised) Me?
Bridger: Lieutenant O'Neill will continue to track down the source of the signal and stand by to be interpreter if necessary.
O'Neill: Aye, sir.
Bridger: Filling out the rest of the team and photographing the expedition will be … Lieutenant Krieg. For the rest of you who volunteered, thank you very much. All right people, that's it. Let's get back to work.
Krieg: Uh, sir, besides turning the camera on and off, what do I bring to the party?
Bridger: Enthusiasm, Mr. Krieg. Enthusiasm.
Krieg: Yes, sir.
Lucas: I'd like to go.
Bridger: Oh, I bet you would.
Lucas: On the other hand, I'm pretty grateful just to be here.
Bridger: Uh huh. We'll watch it here, together. Ta dump bump.
(Launch)
Krieg: (into radio) Captain, we're approaching the alien ship. (to Crocker, next to him) You OK, Chief?
Crocker: Give me a break, will ya.
Krieg: (over shoulder) Commander, we're gonna try for a flush fit on the smooth section below the fin.
Keller: Clear. (walks into docking column) Air seal's positive. Hit the second seal. (kneels by hull of alien ship) Welcome to Earth. (to O'Neill) Scan the hull for Doctor Westphalen.
O'Neill: Aye, sir.
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Krieg: (on screen) seaQuest, you reading visual?
Hitchcock: Loud and clear, Ben.
Krieg: (on screen) Great.
O'Neill: (on screen) These little sparkles look like sand.
Keller: (on screen) They're silicon, Lieutenant. One of the most prevalent substances in the universe.
Krieg: (on screen) Talk about your common ground.
O'Neill: (on screen) Contaminant reading … zero. Looks clear, Commander.
Keller: (on screen) What do you think, Nathan?
Bridger: It's your call, Scott.
(Launch)
Keller: Let's open her up, Chief. (Crocker begins cutting a whole in the alien ship)
Krieg: Alien encounter program, official record. One million years imprisoned in rock makes finding life improbable, yet the existence of this ship is spectacular proof that we are not alone.
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Westphalen: This is a section of the ship's skin. They found a way to organize silicon. Imagine being able to grow crystals into any shape you want them.
Bridger: Do you have any guesses about these haphazard ones?
Hitchcock: It could be heatshields, like the ones we use on our spacecraft.
Westphalen: Hmmm.
(Launch)
Crocker: Almost got it. (finishes cutting and opens the hole) We're all through, Commander.
Keller: Take an atmosphere reading. Heavy silicon compounds, large concentrations of xenon and argon.
O'Neill: Traces of carbon, helium; parts per million asbestos.
Keller: Not breathable, but it's not gonna corrode our suits either.
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Bridger: You still wanna go inside?
Keller: (on screen) Try and stop me.
(Alien Ship)
Keller: (enters alien ship) Am I supposed to say somethin' for mankind here? Somethin', somethin' important.
Bridger: (on seaQuest) What comes to mind?
Keller: This is big, dark, and I'm very happy to be here.
Bridger: (on seaQuest) It's not very poetic, but it'll do fine.
Keller: Chief, somebody has to stay here and attach a permanent hatch here. You're carrying a gun, I'd prefer if you stayed on the launch.
Crocker: Yes, sir. That's a good idea, Commander.
Keller: (to O'Neill) Give me a radar map of what this place looks like.
O'Neill: Aye, sir.
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Bridger: Looks like a network of pipes and conduits connecting the system.
Hitchcock: The compartments all funnel back like an oil tanker or a cargo ship.
Ford: Yeah, but what kind of cargo?
Westphalen: Maybe they came here to collect zoo specimens, dinosaurs.
Lucas: Maybe they didn't come here to collect anything. Maybe they brought life.
Ford: The doors to those compartments are much too small for much of anything to fit through.
Bridger: Except liquid.
Westphalen: This could be ninety-nine percent fuel tank and one percent cockpit. Maybe whoever shot this off didn't expect it to come back.
Bridger: One way ticket to a new world. Crashing into the ocean wasn't what they had in mind.
Ford: Think of the courage it took to ride this rocket away from home the last time.
Keller: (on screen) Nathan, we're gonna detour into one of the side compartments.
Bridger: Keep in touch, guys.
(Alien Ship)
Keller: (to Bridger) Right. (to group) Let's move out.
Krieg: Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, a lifetime of these guys and I'm still not sure if I'm ready for this.
Keller: Stay close, visual contact, single file. I want continual readouts, and don't touch anything you don't have to.
Krieg: (entering a large room) This is unbelievable.
O'Neill: What is this place?
Keller: For the first time in my career, Lieutenant, I don't have a clue.
Krieg: If you made this up they wouldn't believe it.
(seaQuest DSV - Hallway)
Westphalen: That substance Keller has could be fuel residue. My people should have it screened by the time we get down to the sea deck. Pensive?
Bridger: Reflective.
Westphalen: Captain reflective, scientist reflective, or explorer reflective?
Bridger: Little boy reflective. (they board the Mag-lev and sit down) It's just our nature not to want to be alone in the universe.
Westphalen: (smiles) Do you think oceanography will be important after today?
Bridger: Or geology?
Westphalen: Funny how everything can change in an instant isn't it.
Bridger: You know who's not phased one iota by all this?
Westphalen: Lucas.
Bridger: His generation grew up expecting this. It's not a revelation, it's a confirmation.
Westphalen: Maybe we can learn from that. Roll with it, dude.
Bridger: Yeah.
(Alien Ship)
Keller: Lieutenant, where's the source of the signal?
O'Neill: Last time I had it, uh, that way.
Krieg: What's the matter?
O'Neill: Remember when you were a kid and your church would have those haunted house fund raisers at Halloween?
Krieg: Yeah, I loved those things.
O'Neill: Scared me to death.
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Ortiz: Sir, I'm picking up a strange vibration from the alien craft.
Bridger: Scott, abort the mission?
Keller: (on alien ship) What do you mean abort the mission?
Bridger: Scott, now.
Keller: (on alien ship) But we're making progress without any obstacles.
Ortiz: Commander, the alien molecules are vibrating, doubling in intensity every fifth of a second. The crystalline structure that makes up the ship is becoming unstable.
Keller: (on screen) You're talking implosion.
Bridger: Very possible.
Ford: Can you tell when it started?
Ortiz: Well, judging from our acoustical data, I'd say the moment we cut into her hull.
Ford: A self-destruct mechanism?
Bridger: Maybe, suppose they didn't want their technology to fall into the wrong hands. Woah, you better update the General. He'll think of this as some kind of a secret weapon. Move it, Scott.
Keller: (on screen) I'm coming back here, Nathan. I'm gonna see their cockpit. (to his group) Let's go, let's retrace our path outta here.
Bridger: (to Westphalen) As soon as your med team OK's them aboard, we're outta here.
(Alien Ship)
Keller: Which way from here? Give me a readout.
O'Neill: Uh, vectoring …
Krieg: This way.
O'Neill: No, Ben, you're all turned around.
Krieg: Maybe everything is. (all turn to see an alien)
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
Bridger: (screen goes fuzzy) What the hell happened?
Ford: Commander Keller?
Hitchcock: There's no incoming signal.
Ortiz: I'm not showing anything.
(Alien Ship)
Keller: Lieutenant, put the camera down.
Krieg: Why? I'm getting some great stuff here.
Keller: Put it down. He thinks you've got a weapon.
Krieg: Oh.
Keller: Hello. On behalf of all our people, I welcome you.
O'Neill: (repeats Keller's greeting in Spanish, Chinese, and Swahili)
(seaQuest DSV - Bridge)
General Thomas: (on screen) You are not authorized to risk more lives for your own scientific curiosity. I want you to destroy whatever's over there while there's still a chance.
Bridger: I can't do that.
General Thomas: (on screen) That's a direct order, Captain.
Bridger: It's one I can't follow.
General Thomas: (on screen) Then you're relieved of command.
Bridger: Fine. I'll wait for your arrival. (screen goes blank and Ford gives him a congratulatory high five) Get me Crocker.
(Alien Ship, seaQuest Launch)
Bridger: (on speaker) Have you heard anything more from Commander Keller?
Crocker: Nothing, Cap. I haven't heard a word.
Bridger: (on speaker) But we've lost contact. I think you better go in and get them Chief.
Crocker: Aye, sir. Well, join the Navy, see the world, and then some. (enters alien ship) Cap, seaQuest, anybody still read me? (notices alien) Wha…(the alien raises it's weapon) put that thing down. I don't want to have to fire. (the alien fires and he disappears)
(Alien Ship)
Keller: (opens map of stars) I assume you know where we are. Earth, the outer edge of the Orion arm, thirty thousand light years from the center of the Milky Way galaxy. (alien points to planet) Coma Berenices, that's your constellation.
Krieg: Something's happening here.
Keller: Did we do something wrong? (alien walks away)
Krieg: Don't do this, guys.
Keller: Oh God.
Continued