Hey. I thought you said this was the main entrance.
It is. We just need to find a way to open this.
- I do not recognise the symbols. - It's Babylonian. Cuneiform.
- It's incredible. - What is?
Unlike Phoenician Ugaritic cuneiform, these are pictograms
rather than representations of sound symbols.
- Does it say how to open the pyramid? - Ziggurat.
- Huh? - You said pyramid. It's a ziggurat.
- Yeah. Open the door. - Well, it might not be so easy.
- I gotta go back to Earth for a reference. - How hard could it be?
Very. It's a dead language.
I doubt anyone's even stood here for 3,000 years.
Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that.
- What you got there? - Empty pack of cigarettes.
They're Russian.
- Major? - The Russian Stargate lasted 37 days.
We've seen their logs and the planets they visited, and P2X-338 was not one of them.
Perhaps they deceived us.
All they're admitting to is there may have been some unauthorised use of their gate.
What's that supposed to mean?
This is Major Valentine Kirensky.
He was serving under Colonel Sokalov at the base in Siberia.
It now appears that he was also taking secret orders
from certain hardline elements in Russian Army Intelligence.
He disappeared six days before we were called in to deactivate the Russian gate.
- They think he went off world? - With two other officers
and an archaeologist named Alexander Britski.
I know his work. He's an expert on ancient Mesopotamia.
Why go behind Sokalov's back?
Perhaps for the same reason the NID conducted secret offworld operations.
- To steal alien technology at any cost. - Why 338, as opposed to another planet?
That has yet to be determined.
If they used the gate before the others were killed, they could still be there.
It's doubtful they'd have survived.
The planet's surface temperature averages 135ºF in the shade.
Shade? I don't remember shade.
- They could have sheltered in the temple. - They figured out how to open the door?
I'll figure out the door.
- Should they not have tried to return? - Not without exposing their operation.
- They could be waiting for a signal. - Good point. Russians can be hard-core.
They'd wait for ever before violating protocol.
I'm aware of that, Colonel.
That's why we're letting a second Russian team accompany you back to the planet.
- Excuse me? - It's going to be a joint mission.
Full disclosure, full cooperation.
May I ask why, sir?
The Russians have been pushing for more involvement
in the Stargate programme for quite some time.
We've been resisting, but in this case it might be useful to have them on board.
Yes. Well, General, you know I'm a big fan of the Russians,
and international relations are a bit of a hobby of mine.
However, I do believe that SG-1 should handle this one... alone.
The decision's been made, Colonel.
They're on their way.
Yes, sir.
- Because we have an agreement, sir. - You see them holdin' up their end of it?
Well, have we?
No.
If Thor's ship hadn't crashed, we'd never have told them about the Stargate.
Hey, whose side are you on?
I'm just saying we should at least try to work together.
Carter, you gotta know your team members are watchin' your six.
Actually, in Russian they'd be watching your shest.
- What? - Which is neither here nor there.
- Figured out how to open that pyramid? - Ziggurat.
And, yes, I think I have.
The Russians e-mailed me the entire report of their archaeologist, Dr. Britski.
The temple is dedicated to the Babylonian god Marduk.
- And Marduk was a Goa'uld? - Well, it seems likely.
Babylon means "gate of the gods", so if there is a link, it wouldn't surprise me.
Hello.
Yeah, OK.
The Russians are coming.
Ugh.
The greatest superpower on Earth, and they can't make a decent cup of coffee.
- Nice view. - Oh, yeah. Colonel.
Good morning, gentlemen.
- And ma'am. There's a ma'am, sir. - At ease.
- You must be Colonel Zukhov. - It's a pleasure, General Hammond.
Allow me to introduce Major Vallarin,
and Lieutenants Marchenko and Tolinev.
Welcome to Stargate Command. This is Colonel Jack O'Neill,
Major Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson and Teal'c.
The famous Colonel O'Neill.
Mm-hm.
I believe we have a mutual friend.
- We do? - Dr. Svetlana Markov.
Ah.
She spoke very highly of all of you.
Before we proceed, perhaps you'd like to get some rest and something to eat.
We took the precaution of eating before we came.
What Colonel Zukhov means is that we'd like to get to work as quickly as possible.
Very well.
Dr. Jackson?
Two years ago Dr. Britski began an excavation near Rafhah in southern Iraq.
He found tablets engraved with Babylonian cuneiform,
and one with a set of symbols he didn't recognise.
- Gate coordinates. - In fact, the coordinates for P2X-338.
Someone must've recognised something,
because the results of the dig were never published. It became classified.
Wait a minute. Two years ago the Russians hadn't even seen a Stargate.
But they did have a DHD.
The one discovered by the Germans in 1906 and taken by the Red Army.
So when they got their programme running, they must have added P2X-338
to the list of addresses supplied by Colonel Maybourne.
That doesn't explain why they didn't just send a regular team.
Did Dr. Britski find anything that might suggest why they singled this planet out?
With the coordinates, the tablet included a reference to the "Eye of Tiamat".
It was a large jewel, which supposedly endowed Marduk with magical abilities.
That wouldn't be why you folks wanted to keep this quiet?
Need I remind you, Colonel, the US has operated a Stargate in secret for years
with the express purpose of obtaining alien technology?
That was before we had an agreement to share information.
You took it upon yourselves to represent the interests of the planet
without consulting anyone.
- You exposed the world to many dangers. - At least we dealt with them.
It only took you, what, a month to find something you couldn't handle.
Gentlemen, please.
We seem to have gone a little bit off topic here.
Dr. Jackson, what about the entrance?
- Can you get us inside? - Yeah.
The engravings on the entrance are a kind of code. It's like a giant combination lock.
It's a matter of activating the correct symbols in the proper sequence.
I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, Doctor.
You have a go.
Swell.
Is that a P90, Colonel?
50-round horizontal clip, 900 armour-piercing rounds per minute.
Feel the weight of that sucker.
Impressive. Though I prefer the Russian Zastava M85.
Those are made in Yugoslavia, aren't they?
Chevron seven locked.
SG-1, move out.
(In Russian) Stay in close formation. If you get separated, maintain contact on channel 3.
What was that all about?
I was just wishing them the best of luck.
Right. Look, Zukhov, let's get something straight here.
I'm the ranking senior officer in this mission.
This is a joint operation and we are of equal rank.
So you should appreciate the need for a clear chain of command.
- Of course. - Colonel!
Is there a problem?
No, sir.
After you.
- Daniel? - Just about there.
You said that an hour ago.
Look, if you wanna give this a try, be my guest.
- Carter, break out the C4. - Wait, wait, wait, wait!
OK, I got it.
It's a standard retelling of the Babylonian creation myth.
Marduk slays the winged serpent, Tiamat. He cuts her in two.
He uses half of her to create the sky and the other half to create the earth.
How does that help us, Dr. Jackson?
Some text has been deliberately placed out of order.
Only a priest of Marduk would be able to spot the discrepancies.
Here.
And... here.
Nice job.
- This doesn't seem very stable. - It's over 4,000 years old.
- Which way? - I don't know.
We should split up.
You take your team down here and we'll go down there.
All right, but Teal'c goes with you.
For your own protection.
And perhaps you should take Lieutenant Marchenko.
For the same reason.
Fine. Move out.
Marchenko...
Colonel.
Identify yourself.
Oh.
- One of yours? - Da.
If these men disappeared ten months ago, how could one decompose that fast?
It didn't decompose.
- Skeleton's covered in tiny teeth marks. - Something ate this guy?
Stripped the flesh right from his bones.
Holy shit.
You can say that again.
It appears to be a sarcophagus.
Zukhov, this is O'Neill.
What is it, Colonel?
We found one of Kirensky's men. He's dead.
- Exercise extreme caution. - Understood. We found a sarcophagus.
- We're investigating. - Negative.
Hold your positions till we get there.
Zukhov, respond. Zukhov!
Damn it. Fall back.
You are disobeying a direct order.
I trust Colonel O'Neill won't take it personally.
- Hey! Get outta there! - Marchenko!
Argh!
Interesting trap. Doesn't protect the sarcophagus, but locks you in with it.
- I told you to hold your position. - We must thoroughly explore the area.
I gave you an order!
Someone would have set off this trap eventually.
It is just as well.
One of your own men is dead.
Where I come from, that tends to make a commander a little upset!
Where I come from, casualties are to be expected.
What?
We still need to find a way out of here.
Shouldn't we open this first, make sure there's no one home?
- Teal'c, ever seen anything like this? - Indeed I have not.
It's like someone tried to seal the sarcophagus from the outside.
Kirensky's team must have cut it open with a blowtorch.
Open it up.
There's no crystal. There's no button to open it.
Oh, for cryin' out loud! I'll do it myself.
Pull.
So much for Marduk.
I thought a sarcophagus could keep one alive indefinitely.
- Perhaps it malfunctioned. - I don't think that's what killed him.
These bones exhibit the same markings as the skeleton we found.
Whatever killed the Russian soldier killed the Goa'uld as well.
How'd it get in there?
I don't know.
Better question is, where is it now?
- Sir, we've got a problem. - We've got a lot. Be more specific.
We can stretch out our food rations, but our water's limited to five days.
We won't be here that long.
So now what do we do?
We can use plastic explosive to blast a hole in the entrance.
Yeah, that might work.
Might also bury us under a ton of ziggurat.
The colonel is right, Major.
The time has not yet come for such desperate measures.
What about this writing? Any mention of a back door?
No. This portion of the text deals with the final fate of Marduk.
I think we know the final fate of Marduk.
Apparently he was so evil his priests rebelled against him.
They sealed him in the sarcophagus and placed some thing in there with him.
There's no direct translation, but I assume it refers to the creature that ate him.
He was eaten alive?
The sarcophagus would've tried to keep him alive, so it would've taken a while.
OK. That's officially the worst way to go.
- It would seem his fate is well deserved. - Marduk would have died eventually,
but the creature must've stayed alive until Major Kirensky and his men came along.
They let it out. It killed them.
We've only found one body.
All right, here's the deal. We're gonna search this place top to bottom.
We're lookin' for a way out and the rest of Kirensky's team. Everybody got that?
I'd like to stay and finish this translation. It might be useful.
Fine. The rest of us'll pair off.
Teal'c, you're with Zukhov. Carter with Tolinev. Major, you're with me.
Yes, sir.
Hold it. I got something.
What is it?
It looks like some sort of cocoon. It's empty.
What is it?
I thought I heard something.
It's Britski.
O'Neill.
Yeah, go ahead.
Colonel Zukhov and I have found additional skeletal remains,
along with equipment and personal items.
Any sign of... a creature?
- Negative. - Colonel O'Neill, this is Zukhov.
I have what appears to be Britski's personal log.
All right, take it back to Daniel. We'll have him look at it.
Very well.
Colonel Zukhov.
Coming.
There it is again.
I don't see anything.
It's around here somewhere.
Daniel, report!
It's not me.
Carter, what's your situation?
- Carter! - I'm all right.
- What happened? - The creature attacked us.
- I think she's going into shock. - Get her to the main chamber. Teal'c.
Sir, it's still alive.
Well, we'll kill it.
No, that's not what I mean. I sensed a presence.
- What are you talking about? - The Goa'uld symbiote. It's still alive.
It's inside that thing.
The creature must have injected her with venom. Her body's shutting down.
- What can we do? - I've given her epinephrine for now.
If we don't get her back to the SGC soon, she won't make it.
She's right.
The same thing happened to the other team, according to Dr. Britski's journal.
The creature escaped the sarcophagus, attacked Kirensky,
he was dead within two hours.
Any mention of the others?
Two people died when a passageway collapsed...
And... the last entry reads:
"I'm all alone now. There is no escape. Only one course of action remains."
A cyanide pill. They were given to all Russian Stargate personnel.
Colonel, we no longer have a choice.
- We must use the C4. - We're not done searching yet, Colonel.
- Tolinev is running out of time. - I'm well aware of that, Colonel.
But we risk no more lives until we've exhausted our options.
Hey.
Look at this. It's a sketch of an artefact Dr. Britski found inside the sarcophagus.
He thought it might be the Eye of Tiamat.
Find anything like this with the journal?
- There was nothing but old equipment. - Then where is it?
Colonel, surely the recovery of this artefact is no longer a priority.
It never was a priority.
This was supposed to be a rescue mission.
It would appear there is no one left to rescue.
Well, I wouldn't say that.
Looks like blood.
Indeed.
Colonel, this is Carter.
Yeah, go ahead.
Sir, Teal'c and I found traces of blood. I think I may have wounded the creature.
Won't its snake fix it?
Depends on how bad the injury is, sir.
All right. Stay sharp.
How is she?
Her pulse is getting weak.
Did you hear that?
What?
Wait here.
Yes, you go down the dark hallway alone and I'll wait here in a dark room alone.
A dead end.
Yeah. I guess we should have considered taking that left.
Colonel, we both know there's only one way out of here.
Any blast big enough to put a hole in that door is gonna bring everything down.
- I'm willing to take the chance. - Yeah, well, I'm not.
What about Lieutenant Tolinev?
Aren't casualties to be expected?
It's obvious you're not capable of taking the necessary risks.
No, we take risks. But we don't hand out cyanide pills.
And we don't leave our people behind.
Is it just me, or have we been down this passageway before?
Indeed we have.
This place is like a maze.
Perhaps we should return...
It's not moving. I'm not sensing anything.
Nor am I.
There is no symbiote inside this creature.
It could have left the body when it realised it couldn't heal the wound.
It would not survive for long under those circumstances.
Unless it found a new host.
- Colonel O'Neill. - Go ahead.
We found the creature. It's dead.
- That's good news. - Only problem is the symbiote's not in it.
- That's a bit disconcerting. - Sir, as you know,
Teal'c's body cannot sustain a symbiote as long as he carries a larval Goa'uld.
And he doesn't sense a Goa'uld in me, so...
that leaves Daniel, Major Vallarin and... well, the two of you, sir.
- Drop the weapon. - I don't think so.
- I know it's not me. - And I know it's not me.
Colonel, respond.
Get back to the main chamber. Check on Daniel and Vallarin.
- I'll see you there in a bit. - Roger that, sir.
I'm not kiddin', Zukhov. I'll shoot ya.
- This is beginning to make sense. - Is it?
If you were the Goa'uld,
you might not want to leave until you found the Eye of Tiamat.
It would explain your reluctance to use explosives.
And if you were the Goa'uld and you'd been stuck in this dump for 2,000 years,
you might not think about anything except getting out of here.
Which would explain why you're willing to take such an insane risk.
Then it would seem we have a problem.
Daniel.
Hey, guys. I just finished translating this section... Whoa!
Hey, what's up?
- I do not sense the presence of a Goa'uld. - Me neither.
- Well, thank you. - So what were you gonna say?
I was gonna say that I just finished translating a section of the text.
It says Marduk used to emerge from his temple and appear amongst his people,
riding a beam of white light.
- A ring transporter? - Yeah.
There's a good chance it might be right here in this room.
- Colonel Zukhov? - In here.
What is this?
I believe O'Neill may be the Goa'uld.
Don't be an idiot, Zukhov.
- It could just as well be him. - Very true.
Oh, man!
Where is the Eye of Tiamat?
I don't know what you're talking about.
You forget, Colonel, that I retain all the knowledge of my host.
And he was well aware of your secret orders to obtain alien technology.
You were to bring the Eye back to your superiors.
I have no secret orders.
You lie.
Yup. It's here.
- We gotta tell the colonel. - Not until we're sure he's not a Goa'uld.
- Teal'c, what are you doing? - We must find a way to engage the rings.
Right.
An interesting weapon.
It's obviously capable of inflicting severe pain, as well as death.
Shall I test it on your new friend?
Stop.
I have the Eye.
Give it to me and I will spare you.
What are you doing?
I'm sorry, Colonel. I was acting under orders.
Don't give it to him. Don't.
No one else will die because of me.
Give me the Eye.
Take it!
Jeez!
- What's that? - Colonel O'Neill?
Colonel O'Neill?
Yeah, I'm OK.
- What happened? - The Goa'uld was in Vallarin.
Zukhov just... took him out with a grenade.
We found a ring transporter. Daniel says it'll take us to another temple nearby.
All right. I'll be there in a minute.
I do not sense the presence of a Goa'uld.
Well, good. And I'm fine, by the way, thanks.
- How's Tolinev? - OK, if we get out soon. Where's Zukhov?
He didn't make it.
One thing left to do here.
- Right, all set. Let's go. - Colonel O'Neill!
I will have my revenge.
You know, you guys always say that.
Yes.
Colonel.
Lieutenant Tolinev corroborates your story.
So she was telling the truth.
She will be debriefed again in Moscow, where she can speak more freely.
- I'm sure you'll be able to get her to say... - Colonel, this isn't the time.
General, Zukhov's secret orders put us all in jeopardy. I want that on the record.
Your opinion is already a matter of public record, Colonel.
So is the fact that all your team survived,
yet only one Russian soldier made it back alive - barely.
If your people understood the concept of chain of command...
We are agreed. You were in command.
We also know which lives you were willing to sacrifice.
We regret the loss of life and offer our condolences to the officers' families.
I'm sure you also regret this Eye of Tiamat was buried with Zukhov,
never to be recovered?
Yes, we do.
Perhaps it is best to admit we both made mistakes, huh?
Be better if you admitted you screwed up.
- I will pass that sentiment along, Colonel. - Yeah, please do.
I'm sure this will have no bearing on our future participation.
I wouldn't count on future participation if I were you.
No? I would.