(O'Neill) So, Laira, when's the big show start?
Soon. Be patient.
Oh, I'm patient... I'm nothing if not patient.
- When's it start? - Is he always like this?
- Quite frequently. - Thank you, Teal'c.
Laira, we haven't seen any fire rain these past few nights.
- How come it's gonna fall tonight? - It begins this night each year.
Whoa... The same night every year? That doesn't make sense.
Unless the planet's orbit travels through an asteroid belt, in which case...
Please! Don't suck the fun out of this.
- Sorry, sir. - When I was a child,...
..my father told me that the fire rain was the tears of our ancestors,...
..longing to be reunited.
A falling star. That's, uh... that's what we call fire rain where we come from.
In our culture, you're supposed to make a wish.
- On Chulak we call it "tal pak ryd". - Which means, uh...
..falling star.
What do you think, Jack? Was it worth the effort?
Oh, yeah... Yeah, I'm a huge fan of fireworks.
(roaring)
Whoa!
Carter... How close was that?
- Close, sir. - How big?
- Big. - Thought so.
I was... rather concerned for a minute there, sir.
- I don't understand. - Laira, that's what we call a near miss.
If that had struck instead of bouncing off of the atmosphere...
- This is an annual event? - Yes.
Though it grows more spectacular every year.
By tomorrow evening the entire sky w...
What's wrong?
I'll make some more observations tonight, sir.
I'm gonna check the, uh... geological record in the morning.
I'll... make a wish.
See this bright dot? It represents your world, Edora.
It orbits your sun in a big circle like this...
..and crosses through an asteroid belt up here at its widest point.
As you pass through the particles, some of them burn up in Edora's atmosphere.
- As fire rain. - Exactly.
The problem is, the asteroid belt isn't uniform.
So certain orbits in certain years must pass through a denser debris field.
Ever remember fire rain striking the ground?
Not in my lifetime. Nor in my father's. But there is a tale of the ancestors.
That on the second day of the fire rain there was a distant thunder,...
..and the horizon burned as though the sun never set.
- How long ago was that? - Many, many years ago.
Mornin', campers. Who's goin' on Daniel's little geology field trip?
Garan!
He can show you the way to the caves.
He and a young girl go there from time to time. I don't know why(!)
(Garan) Mother!
(Laira) Fair day, and be well.
Sir, I'd like to go back to Earth and input the data I collected into the mainframe.
Go ahead.
- Fair day, Laira. - Fair day.
I'm sure you want to discuss the treaty.
Between our two worlds.
Sure... We could do that.
The decay rate differential between the layers of naqahdah is about 1 50 years...
- What's naqahdah? - A mineral substance.
You see, the further down these striations we go,...
..the further back into Edora's past we travel.
These layers are different.
They represent naqahdah dusts thrown up by impact events.
Cool.
Uh... J-Jack says that.
Yes, he does.
I'm not really sure that, uh, "cool" applies to this.
You see, something like this happened on my world and nearly wiped out all life.
- That's what's gonna happen here? - We only know it has happened...
..in varying degrees of destruction every 1 50 years or so.
And it appears that is precisely the amount of time since the last impact.
I see no reason to withhold the truth from these people, Daniel Jackson.
Is there anything we can do to stop it?
No.
According to the observations I made, the near miss was just the first...
..of hundreds of car-size asteroids directly in the path of Edora, P5C-768.
- The night sky is full of them. - We can't evacuate an entire planet.
These are the only descendants...
..of a people brought to Edora by the Goa'uld thousands of years ago.
There may only be a small number of strikes locally.
If that's the case, we can send them home in a few days.
If not, we'd be saving the last of a people, sir.
Paynan. This is Jack.
They say you've come through the stone ring.
Hard thing to ask a man to believe.
I know what you mean.
Any luck?
There is nothing more than meets the eye here.
Our fields, those few buildings... Our children.
What we have, we need.
We're only interested in fair trades.
Many of my people are most curious to know what it is we have...
..that you could possibly want.
Well, you remember how excited Carter got the day we got here?
- Something in our soil. - That's a mineral called naqahdah.
We don't have it on Earth. It's... Well, it's very important to us.
Why?
It's powerful.
And in return for taking this naqahdah from our soil?
There are a lot of things we could help you out with.
Medicine, technology, education. We'd become friends.
We're already friends.
Closer friends?
My mother taught me to be wary of men wishing to be closer friends.
If you'd like, I'll negotiate this treaty with her.
That way there'd be no conflict of interest.
I've never seen the fire rain in the light of day.
- Anybody else see that? - This is Carter, sir. I did.
I think it's just the beginning, sir.
Look at this.
It's a cooking utensil.
Which probably means people spent time here.
Perhaps this cave allowed some Edorans to survive the last meteor bombardment.
The ancestors.
- Teal'c, Daniel. Back to the village, ASAP. - Understood, O'Neill.
Folks, we think the fire rain is gonna start hitting the ground soon.
As a precaution, we'd like to take you all to our planet till the threat is over.
There is no threat.
If just one big meteor lands within a few miles of here,...
..the explosion could wipe out the entire village.
Year after year the fire rain comes, goes and harms no one.
Do you not see what they are doing? They want us gone so they can claim our lands.
- That's not true. - If you go with them,...
..you will never see your land again.
For cryin' out loud. There's always one like you in a crowd.
You wanna stay? Stay.
I have come to know these travellers.
And though their world seems far, it is only a step away.
I will take that step, in good faith.
If you wish to follow, join us at the stone ring.
And if you do not, may the ancestors protect you.
You need only take what you can carry. There'll be plenty of food and water.
Right, folks. Train's leavin'. Let's move!
Garan? Don't forget the prayer chain that your father gave you.
Garan?
Oh, no.
Have you seen Garan?
Daniel, Teal'c. Did Garan come back with you?
- He should be here, O'Neill. - The caves.
We were talking about previous generations of survivors.
You three go. Get these people outta here.
- We'll find the kids and catch up. - (Carter) Sir?
Go!
- SG-1's code, sir. - Here they come, people.
- Doctor, stand by to receive refugees. - Yes, sir.
Don't be afraid. The others are waiting for you on the other side.
Sir, this is Carter. We've begun the evacuation. What's your ETA?
Colonel, we're getting multiple strikes now. Please respond.
Nothing.
That is the last of them. The rest wish to remain.
- How many? - One third of the village.
What?
Why don't you go through to let the Edorans know that everything's all right?
Colonel, please respond.
Garan. Naytha.
Mother! This is where the ancestors survived. We brought food, water....
Garan, try this my way.
(meteor strikes)
- It's getting too dangerous, Teal'c. - I will remain until O'Neill returns.
He can dial home when he gets here.
(alarm sounds)
We're losing wormhole stability.
O'Neill went to help some villagers. We waited till the last moment.
I know. We almost lost you.
General, I wish to return with a search party.
That last hit was on top of the gate. You'd be walking into a firestorm.
- I am willing to take that risk. - I'm not willing to let you.
We could wait 24 hours and send a MALP through.
Major Carter's right. If it's safe by tomorrow, you'll all go.
Carter? Teal'c?
It's still pretty hot out there. We should stay put.
There's good news. It's raining.
- It should put out some of the fires. - Could you see the village?
No.
Garan, we had a plan.
Daniel said there's nothing you could do.
We were afraid.
Me too.
(meteor strikes)
Chevron six encoded.
Chevron seven...
..locked.
- Wormhole established. - Thank God.
- Standing by for MALP deployment, sir. - Send it through.
The MALP should reach Edora in four... three... two... one.
We should be receiving telemetry now, sir.
No signal.
(man) Environmental reports no telemetry.
(woman) Communications, no telemetry.
The MALP must have been destroyed as soon as it reached the other side.
Shut it down.
Until you can provide me with answers, the rescue mission is scrubbed.
Inform our visitors they'll stay with us until we can make a proper assessment.
Yes, sir.
Paynan?
Laira!
- It is all right. - One struck Talmar's home.
Three families were inside.
We are all that are left.
Why did you stay?
On the third day we could take no more.
We fled to the stone ring...
Where it used to be.
Used to be?
It's gone.
I'll never see my people again.
They can never come home.
No.
And you?
Thanks be to the ancestors that we live and have a roof to shield our heads.
Thanks be to the ancestors that we have food to sustain and nourish us.
This is all that remains of our people, because of you.
My mother and father...
You took them away through that thing, and now it is gone.
That thing probably saved their lives.
And if you'd have shut up and listened to me, this wouldn't be the situation.
This is my home, and you are welcome here.
You need to eat.
Thank you.
No signal from the radio transmitter, sir.
If the Edoran Stargate were buried, how was the wormhole established?
- The meteor hit while it was active. - So... So...
It's possible the molten naqahdah hardened just above the event horizon.
- Like an iris. - Yeah.
- Sergeant, shut it down. - Yes, sir.
That was our last shot, people, and I'm calling this one.
- I'm declaring him missing in action. - Perhaps the door can be reached.
- The Tok'ra could send a ship. - Or the Tollan.
Let me contact our allies capable of interstellar travel,...
..see if they're willing to help.
Very well, Doctor.
I thought you might like a clean work shirt. My husband never wore it.
I made it for him just before he died.
- There's a chance the Stargate... - We have to rebuild before the harvest.
And there are very few of us now.
Wormhole physics - a field, Major, that you pioneered -
states that under these conditions, matter won't even reintegrate on the other side.
- There's no way to overcome that. - I think there is, sir.
And I'm not the one who thought of it. Sokar did.
When he tried to breach the iris by bombarding it with a particle beam.
Particles barely small enough to reintegrate made energy as they decayed.
- Which caused the iris to heat up. - Exactly. If we could do the same,...
..we could melt the hardened naqahdah and create a pocket of superheated gas.
- Then what? - All we have to do is open the gate.
The unstable vortex it generates...
..would be allowed to expand into that pocket and create an even larger cavern.
One person might be able to go through, sir, and dig it out.
I think we can safely assume Teal'c would volunteer, but...
We don't have a particle-beam generator. We'd have to build one.
Then you'd better get started.
You, uh... missed evening meal. I brought you something.
Wasn't hungry.
Well, you gotta be. You've worked all day in the fields.
I've got a couple of hours of good light left.
I'm sorry.
- For what? - You can't go home.
- It's my fault. - No, it's not.
- You working through the night again? - Yeah. Lot of work to do. Thank you.
Look, Sam, there's no doubt you are going to solve this,...
..but you have to accept the fact it's going to take time.
Yeah, well, if I think that way it could take months.
Daniel says the Tollan could have a ship in the vicinity of Edora early next year.
He shouldn't have to wait that long.
You miss him.
Yeah.
- Is this a problem? - No.
No, of course not.
OK.
- Night. - Night.
Many of us fear the fire rain will come again.
- Do you? - No.
If Daniel was right, and he always is,...
..it'll be another 1 50 years before that happens again.
It's a long time.
I was just kinda wondering which direction home was.
It's this way.
- No, I meant... - I know what you meant.
Come.
I'd like your company.
I don't even like my company right now.
You will again.
Loss is that way.
I mourned my husband for 100 days.
I never left my house. I never spoke to anyone.
After that?
I left my house.
And I spoke to people.
Walk with me.
- You left this at home. - Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Paynan has invited you to evening supper.
Why? He doesn't even like me.
He's very grateful for all the help you've given him in rebuilding his home.
I just hammered a few nails.
Well, I made the nails first and then I hammered them, but...
Still, you've worked very hard. Thank you.
Anything I can do.
There is something.
Yeah? What?
- No. It's too soon. - No, come on. Don't... do that.
What?
You'll know when the time comes.
I need a little help here. A hint.
Does that help?
A little.
Initiating beam-firing sequence... now.
Particle beam is operating at 112% of predicted efficiency.
- How long do we maintain the beam? - The longer the better.
The important thing will be to dial again quickly as soon as it shuts down.
(hoedown music)
Well, whaddya think?
Absolute rotgut.
More, please.
What just happened?
The ancestors guided him to the one they wish him betrothed.
He was peekin'.
What?
MALP should be arriving at the Edora gate in three... two... one.
Receiving telemetry.
- No, wait. We've lost it. There's no signal. - What's happened?
- Transmission interrupt at the source. - Play back the visual.
(Carter) Whoa. There. See?
The gate is horizontal as you thought, Major Carter.
The MALP slipped back through the event horizon.
The vortex will have dug partway to the surface.
Secure yourself above the event horizon once you're on the other side.
- You'll have to carry everything you need. - I understand.
I hope you do, son. Because if you fail to dig your way to the surface,...
..this will be a one-way trip.
- Garan? - Just us.
(whispers) Ah...
Well, apparently I should expect a massive headache tomorrow.
So I should... get a head start.
Do you remember when I told you there was something you could do for me?
I want you to give me a child.
A child.
I wanted to be patient.
I wanted to wait until you had let go of the life you left behind.
Until you knew that you belonged with us.
Tonight... I see it in your eyes.
(whispers) Laira...
You should know...
..a part of me is never gonna let go of what I left behind.
(whispers) Well...
That's not the part I want.
Crap.
She is a fine woman.
Yes, she is.
Took you long enough to see that. I was afraid you were going blind.
No. If I've gone blind,...
..it's from whatever we were drinking last night.
Tolka.
- Has a bite to it. - Yeah. Yeah.
General Hammond, I have secured myself on the other side.
Understood, Teal'c.
I will begin immediately.
- Goin' somewhere with that stuff? - I thought you might not need these.
Well, hang on. Some of that's pretty good. The jacket is, uh...
Does it remind you of home?
Toss it.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
(drilling)
What's your progress, Teal'c?
It is most difficult, Daniel Jackson.
The gate will shut down automatically in... 60 seconds.
We won't be able to open it again.
The vortex would vaporise everything within the cavern.
You'll have a maximum of four hours of oxygen once we're cut off.
If you haven't reached the surface by that time...
Then you may want to wish me "rel tora ke".
Good luck, Teal'c.
(Carter) 15 seconds till shutdown.
10 seconds till shutdown.
Five seconds.
Curling. Big where my grandfather's from in, uh, northern Minnesota.
You throw a big, round, kind of slab of rock down this... slab of ice,...
..and you sweep...
What?
When I was taking your things away today,...
..l thought I heard a sound come from this.
Perhaps a voice.
This is Colonel Jack O'Neill. Come in.
- O'Neill. - Teal'c! Where the hell are you?
Attempting to reach the surface. Little oxygen remains, O'Neill.
- I got you on RDF signal. - (rapid bleeping)
I'm right on top of you!
Teal'c! You are one stubborn son of a bitch!
When the MALP sent back just a few seconds of telemetry,...
..we knew the gate was horizontal, and...
Is he all right?
He's fine. I just don't think he was expecting to go home again.
You must be very happy to be going home.
No, I'm not.
You don't have to.
Come with me.
I belong here.
I'll come back. Soon.
We still have that treaty to talk about.
Of course. Our two worlds are going to be friends.
Closer friends.
Fair day, and be well.
Visiontext Subtitles: Paul Murray