Once you walk through that door, there is no turning back.
Oh, I understand, Brian. I'm not having any doubts.
Alec, it is not just your credibility at stake here.
You're right there.
It's the leaders of the democratic free world that should be worried.
Think about the people who work for this company.
- The shareholders. - I am, Brian.
They have a right to know the truth, as does everybody else.
Trust me.
We're doing the right thing.
Thank you all for coming.
As you all know...
about five months ago our planet suffered a horrible tragedy.
Over 2,000 American servicemen and women were killed...
when a meteor shower disrupted global communications...
and hit a United States naval carrier group...
on maneuvers in the Pacific Ocean.
I am here today...
to challenge the facts of that incident...
as they've been conveyed to the general public.
On the day in question...
none of our satellites detected a meteor shower.
- Hey, what's going on? - Shh, shh, shh.
Now, I don't know how many governments around the world are in on this...
but I do know we are being lied to...
and the truth is being covered up.
Uh-oh.
Ladies and gentlemen...
there is life beyond our world.
There are aliens out there.
They have a technology far beyond ours...
and they have been intervening in our existence for quite some time.
I have proof...
and I am giving the governments...
of all the nations that are aware of this...
24 hours to reveal the truth...
or I'm gonna do it for them.
Thank you.
Well...
there you go.
For those of you living on another planet for the past 20 years...
Alec Colson, age 42...
net worth over $60 billion...
runs a global empire of companies...
including communications, biotechnology, aerospace and aviation.
He's number eight on the Fortune 500.
He personally holds over 200 proprietary patents-
Shut it off!
We know who he is.
Some of us better than others.
We worked together briefly, sir.
Colson Aviation developed the multi-engine control systems for the F-302s.
Colson didn't know what they were for, of course, but he is a brilliant engineer.
He's also a little nuts, isn't he?
You've test-flown experimental aircraft.
We all go through the gate.
- This isn't about us. - Well, in a way it is.
The point is, sir, he's not some loony cult leader.
People are taking him seriously.
So, what do we think he knows?
He owns several Earth observer and weather satellites.
Maybe it's possible they picked something up--
pictures of Anubis's fleet in orbit, or the battle over Antarctica?
What I don't understand is, how could it have come this far?
He's gotten the national security speech from the Pentagon several times.
Apparently the president has called him personally.
Why not merely tell him the truth?
His personality was profiled and he was deemed a "security risk."
For obvious reasons.
His father was a newspaper reporter who was jailed during the McCarthy era.
He believes in freedom of speech and the right to know what the government's doing.
Leaking classified information could be considered treason.
All right, see if he can be convinced not to go public.
Without actually telling him anything?
Right.
We've got all the major networks...
over a dozen live radio broadcasts...
and reporters from newspapers, both legit and tabloids...
all waiting for the next shoe to drop.
- Brian, calm down. - Our stock price is trading down 25%.
We overextended ourselves competing for that last round of contracts.
That stock price is the only thing covering our debt...
and you are alienating our biggest client.
We're gonna have to start selling off assets.
What does that matter, Brian...
given what we know?
I don't know. I guess I'm just trying to hold on to some shred of reality.
Well, you, along with everyone else...
are gonna have to start dealing with a whole new reality from now on.
What if the world can't handle it?
What if Washington's right and we should just keep this thing in the bag?
Trust me. The truth is always right.
We've already caused mass hysteria.
You have no idea how much chaos this could cause.
- They're here. - Show them in, would you?
It'll be okay.
- Lieutenant Colonel. - Alec.
Radiant as ever.
- Daniel Jackson. - Oh! Doc.
- I'm a big fan. - Really?
Yes. I've been following you since your early career.
Pyramids as landing pads for alien ships? Fascinating.
That was a long time ago.
What have you been up to since? It's like you just dropped off the map.
I've been around.
I beg your pardon. May I introduce Brian Vogler.
Thank you for seeing us today.
Well, shall we?
Why don't we start with something I'm sure we can all agree on. Hmm?
That meteor shower was a cover story.
And a surprisingly weak one at that.
Although, under the circumstances, I'm not sure I'd have come up with a better one.
What makes you say that?
I'm guessing that's one of ours.
We lost contact with 12 communications and weather mapping satellites...
for over six hours on the day in question.
When we got them back, they were able to transmit images stored in the buffers.
Images like these can be faked.
Or made to seem fake.
I know why you're here, Sam.
The Pentagon wants me to know...
that people like you are gonna be trying to make me look like a fraud.
- People like me? - Very smart people.
Oh, we have more than this.
Now, obviously, I don't know everything...
but I do have a right to, as does everyone else.
Anything we can say to stop you?
Believe me, I've tried.
Sam, it's Julia Donovan.
How did you get this number?
I have my sources.
Our camera truck just caught you and a nice-looking young man...
going into Colson Industries' head office in Seattle an hour ago.
I just saw the feed.
And?
Just wondering if you had an official comment.
- Yeah. I think your coverage is one-sided. - Come on, Sam.
Colson's gonna out the whole operation.
You don't really think Washington can contain this.
We'll see.
Look, I don't have to remind you about the nondisclosure agreement you signed, do I?
It's a reporter from the Prometheus incident.
Colson doesn't seem to be worried about going to jail.
Yeah, well, he hasn't done anything illegal yet.
We had an agreement.
You said that if something big was gonna break, you would call me first.
I will. Okay? Bye-bye.
I got 13 messages from Emmett Bregman.
The switchboard's been jammed ever since the press conference.
Every crackpot in the world is calling.
I've arranged security for all of you and your families.
Do you really think we need to be worried?
I'd be more worried about the things we don't know at this point.
I'm trying to convince him it's not too late.
It is too late, Brian.
Too late for the world to know there was an alien attack against our planet...
which was barely thwarted...
too late for the general public to realize they've been lied to...
by two different elected administrations about the very nature of our existence.
- So we're going public? - I was hoping the feds would come clean.
I can't believe Washington hasn't done more to stop us, some legal injunction.
That would legitimize our claims.
No, they're obviously going to try to play this as if we can't be taken seriously.
We're one of the largest corporations in the world.
And we're telling the truth.
Alec, it doesn't matter who we are or how right we are.
- They can stop us if they really want to. - Come on, Brian.
What are they gonna do? Hmm?
Have me killed?
He's gotta have something more significant than pictures.
I'm going over government contracts assigned to Colson's companies.
I haven't gone through them all, but there's quite a few loosely related...
to R&D of alien technologies that we procured off-world.
We'll now head to Colson Industries.
Welcome.
- Thank you for coming. - Twenty-four hours, to the minute.
Yesterday, I told you of our belief...
in the existence of intelligent life...
beyond our planet.
I also told you...
that we believe several governments, including our own...
have known about this...
and have been concealing the information for quite some time now.
Yesterday, I challenged those governments...
to come clean, reveal the truth.
We got only silence.
Which gives me no choice...
but to present to you...
what evidence I have.
How do I know for sure that alien life really does exist?
Ladies and gentlemen...
seeing is believing.
Well, I'd call that something.
The world is in a frenzy...
after yesterday's startling revelation of what appeared to be a live alien...
by billionaire industrialist Alec Colson.
Thus far there's been no official statement from the White House...
and sources inside Colson Industries...
promise that there is definitely more to come.
Okay. Thank you, Sergeant.
Well, we just got a message back from Thor.
As far as he knows, there are no Asgard currently on Earth.
Loki was here for years conducting experiments...
without the high council knowing about it.
Okay, here's a possibility.
What if it wasn't really an Asgard?
- Looked like one. - Didn't sound like one.
- Didn't say anything. - That's my point.
Colson wrapped things up pretty quickly without taking any questions.
It was a perfect likeness.
Imagery of little gray aliens has been commonplace on Earth for years.
- Colson could have a picture. - So, not a real Asgard?
No Asgard we know would allow himself to be used that way.
It did look a little vacant.
Still, as much as he wants the whole truth...
I don't think Colson would perpetrate a hoax to get it.
Then what was it?
I don't know.
The networks all want interviews.
Too bad our friend can't talk.
Well, we know he's capable. The MRIs show a larynx not too different from ours.
But he doesn't seem to have anything to say.
They also want full access for independent medical and scientific personnel...
to verify that it's really what we say it is.
How are we supposed to convince the world of alien intelligence...
when this guy doesn't seem to have any?
We can't trot this thing out on TV with claims we aren't gonna be able to back up.
Granted, it's an amazing genetic experiment.
But we don't even know that the thing is really alien.
What else could it be?
All we know is that the DNA came from the Department of Defense.
Look, we're trying to build a circumstantial case here.
The more questions we can raise...
the more the burden of proof is gonna shift to Washington.
Sooner or later they're gonna have to respond to the public pressure.
Meanwhile, we stay quiet.
The media's going nuts over this whole thing...
so let's just sit tight...
and see what happens.
Well, Sam was right. There's something different about Colson's Asgard.
Seems that a Colson biotech research company...
was given a copy of Asgard DNA for sequencing.
We were trying to help with their cloning problem.
Colson grew a clone?
They weren't told it was alien DNA. It was meant to be a blind study.
But they obviously took their research further than the contract specified.
Asgard DNA is programmed to grow a clone to maturity in just three months.
But they're essentially an empty shell...
until an existing consciousness can be transferred into them.
It did not speak because it was not capable.
Exactly. They probably spent what time they had with it teaching it how to walk.
Well...
the Pentagon has lost all patience.
- What are they gonna do? - They want us to put a stop to it.
How?
We're calling in a marker.
Yep. Callin' in a marker.
Greetings.
Excuse me.
It's gone.
- What do you mean? - Just disappeared right out of the lab.
The alien! Computers, everything.
How? What about security?
Nobody took it. It disappeared.
We were standing right there, there was a bright flash of light...
and it was all just gone.
Have Ron send out the decoy car, and get the plane ready for a trip to Washington.
Have it ready by the time I get to the hangar.
You ready?
- Not really. - Just try not to think about the camera.
- Focus on me. - It's not that.
I respect Alec Colson.
I don't like being asked to discredit a man who has every right to want the truth.
- But you've been ordered to do this. - Yeah.
Well, if you want to go against those orders, feel free. I'll go with it.
In five, four, three, two--
We're here with Lt. Col. Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force.
- Welcome. - Thank you.
Your background is astrophysics...
and you're one of the military's leading scientific researchers.
We're all very eager to finally hear some reaction from Washington...
regarding the revelation made by Alec Colson.
Well, first of all I can assure people...
if aliens really existed and were visiting the planet, we would know about it.
So, are you saying his claims have no merit?
We all saw an alien on live television.
Yes, well, Hollywood's been helping us see things on TV for a long time now.
Are you saying that the alien wasn't real?
It depends on what you mean by "real.'"
Notice she hasn't actually lied once.
I can show you...
advanced methods for creating realistic 3-D images that we've been working on.
By all means.
We've been experimenting with technology...
that makes it possible for us to create anything you can imagine virtually.
Wow. That looks just like the alien Alec Colson introduced to us.
Greetings, people of Earth.
That's amazing. He looks so real.
Though I look real...
I have been created through the use of advanced holographic technology.
That's just incredible.
It's just a projection.
You'll probably be seeing technology like this in theme park rides in a few years.
She's good.
Not quite the exclusive I had in mind, but it'll still do huge numbers.
You're hilarious.
After everything you've been through, you still care about ratings.
How did you do it?
I've seen visual effects before, Sam.
I mean, this was some sort of--
this was some sort of alien technology, wasn't it?
What is it?
"Ten minutes ago, Alec Colson's private plane...
was forced into an emergency landing...
after almost crashing on take-off from SeaTac.
The plane suffered sudden depressurization and loss of engine power...
but was able to land without serious incident."
Excuse me, Sam. I've gotta go to the air with this.
I need something on Colson's wife and his daughter.
They died in a plane crash when he was 24.
That's why he started Colson Aviation.
Let's go.
It's Alec Colson.
- Are you okay? - News travels fast.
It was close. Brian's still as white as a sheet.
- How did you get this number? - Oh, I have my sources.
The ground crew here found evidence the plane had been tampered with.
- Someone tried to kill you? - Seems that way.
Any ideas?
You think I know?
Why would I go on TV to discredit you if I knew you were about to be assassinated?
To make sure it didn't look like Washington had anything to do with it.
And a fine job you did, too, by the way.
- I'm sorry. I was following orders. - Yeah, I know.
Don't worry, Sam. I don't believe for a second you were in on it.
If it was our government, I'm sure you were just a pawn.
That doesn't make me feel any better.
- Look, Alec, I can assure you-- - It's okay.
It wasn't my first rough landing. I'm sure it won't be my last.
I won't be stopped, Sam.
I promise you, one way or another...
the world is going to learn the truth.
How about a hyperdrive for the Prometheus?
That is something I must discuss with the high council.
Thor, come on.
You said you wanted to get something nice for the president.
Sir, anything on who might've tried to kill Colson?
It wasn't us.
We think that Colson may have fragments...
of downed Goa'uld ships recovered from the Antarctic.
A subsidiary of his was involved in the salvage and the cleanup.
Are we just going to keep trying to discredit the man?
I mean, aren't we the ones a little delusional...
to think that we could cover up an attack of this scale?
- What's the alternative? - How about tell the truth?
I mean to Colson.
I know he's been deemed a security risk. Obviously that's an accurate assessment.
But what have we got to lose at this point? He's already trying to go public.
Let's show him why it's so important to keep the secret.
Besides, think of the benefits of having a man with his resources on our side.
Well, Thor and I are meeting with the president in five minutes.
I'll bring it up.
- Five minutes? - Oh, yeah.
Right.
2:00 we go live...
with the pictures, pieces of the alien ship, everything we've got.
Alec, they tried to kill us.
You think that didn't work in our favor?
Dying doesn't work in our favor!
Okay, what just happened?
Well, in layman's terms, we beamed you up... and then down again.
Where am I?
Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado.
- You know Daniel, of course. - Yeah. Hi.
And this is Thor.
Greetings.
Ah, so this is a real one.
- Yep. - Well, what happened to the clone?
It will become a host to an Asgard consciousness...
whose physical body is failing.
Okay.
Now I must take my leave.
General O'Neill said he will see you all tomorrow.
I want to show you something.
We call it a Stargate.
I'm okay, Brian.
I promise you, I'm fine.
I'll be back in a couple of days.
I've got to go.
- All right. Bye. - Ready?
Whoa. Look at you.
Yeah. Soldier Sam.
Oh, I get a uniform too?
Yep.
All right.
So, where are we going?
P4X-650. We have an off-world base there.
And how far away is that?
640 light-years.
- Really? - Let's go.
Didn't feel a thing.
You were demolecularized.
Welcome to the Alpha Site.
Alec Colson, Captain Shefield.
Well, it's-- it's nice.
Our last Alpha Site was destroyed in an attack.
We decided to build this one inside a mountain like the SGC.
The conditions are a bit spartan, but it's our home away from home.
I guess I was just expecting something a little more, I don't know, otherworldly.
Now, that-- that's more like it.
It's called the F-302. Alien-human hybrid.
So this is what the MECs were for.
Thanks to you, it's capable of leaving the atmosphere and returning.
We used a number of these to defend Earth five months ago.
This is just one of the many advancements we've made...
as a result of technology procured through the Stargate.
You want to take a ride?
Brian, what are you doing?
Alec wants all the evidence that we have about the alien cover-up...
duplicated and secured off premises.
You can get started on whatever we have left on the clone research.
I told you. I don't know where he is.
I have a meeting with the SEC this afternoon.
I understand.
Don't worry.
It'll work.
- Beautiful. - Yeah.
Must be hard, keeping all this secret.
I don't know how you do it.
I think of all the fear it would cause, the potential chaos.
But what about all the greater meaning you could bring to people's lives...
just knowing that all of this is-- is out here?
What's "out here" is a enemy so advanced, so evil...
it's a miracle we haven't been wiped out or enslaved yet.
We've been very lucky so far.
I think most people would have a hard time...
living with the threat of constant, impending doom.
Oh, right.
The old "if you had cancer" argument.
Would you want to know you were going to die...
or would you rather live out your final days in blissful ignorance?
Yeah, I guess I don't really buy it either.
Well, I'd rather know, try to cure it...
and if I couldn't, then I'd try to make my final days as meaningful as possible.
You want a turn?
I thought I was going to have to ask.
Switching to copilot control. Go ahead. She's all yours.
- So, what do you think? - Amazing!
She maneuvers like an FA-22 and feels like a 747.
That's the inertial dampeners.
All right, let's try this.
Alec, pull up!
Flight, this is Alpha Command. Is everything okay up there?
It is now. We're fine. Bringing her back in.
Well, that was reckless.
The 302 can handle it.
I know.
I may not have known its name, but I helped you build it. Remember?
It was a joyride. I took you up for a little fun.
This isn't a game, Sam.
What you guys are doing up here? This is life and death for all of us.
We know that.
It wasn't much fun feeling out of control like that, was it?
You don't have to make your point with my life.
Oh, come on. We were never going to crash.
Unlike my plane back on Earth.
I told you. We had nothing to do with it.
Yeah, well, someone did.
And if you think that...
or any of this...
is going to prevent me from telling the world what they have a right to know...
well, you're dead wrong.
Alec, there's something else I need to talk to you about.
There's a clandestine group of private businessmen like yourself...
who were informed of the Stargate program over six years ago...
by rogue elements of the NID.
We've tried to identify them, bring them down, but they are very highly connected.
Former Vice President Kinsey has been linked to them.
Now, instead of going public, like you...
they've been funding various secret endeavors...
all aimed at controlling alien technology for their own purposes.
- Which are? - You'd have to ask them.
Personal profit, or maybe they think they can do a better job...
of defending the planet than we can.
Why are you telling me all this?
Because I'm guessing that's who tried to kill you.
They'll never get control of the gate if the world finds out.
When I was young, all I ever dreamed about was flying.
I had every make of aeroplane ever built hanging from my ceiling.
And then-- well, I take it you know about my wife and daughter.
One of the downsides of celebrity.
We really do have no secrets.
Anyway, after the crash...
I vowed to make flying as safe as it possibly could be.
I really thought that I could do it better than anyone else.
But you have made a difference.
But nothing's perfect, is it?
Intergalactic travel...
advanced alien civilizations, humans living on other worlds.
I do realize that there may be bad guys out there too.
You have no idea how bad.
But in the end, we have to believe in humanity.
I mean, who knows? This might bring us all together as a planet.
If we knew it would play out that way, then--
You're afraid that knowing about the Stargate...
would fracture the world more than it already is.
Yeah.
Not just stop us fighting the Goa'uld, but end things for good.
We've seen it happen on other planets like Earth.
In one case, public revelation of the Stargate caused an apocalyptic world war.
Oh, that would be the ultimate irony, wouldn't it?
You secretly save the world from destruction...
at the hands of alien invaders...
only for us to destroy ourselves out of fear, after the fact.
Change your mind?
Not really.
I don't think it would happen.
And if a truth of this magnitude...
about the very nature of human existence...
could lead us to destroy ourselves...
then I'd say we would deserve it, wouldn't you?
Investigators now believe that Alec Colson created the alien hoax...
in order to divert attention from his real corporate financial problems.
Colson, who has still made no public statement--
Corporate financial problems?
What is she talking about?
The story broke about an hour ago.
The president's halted trading on the markets.
Your company's stock had fallen 80%, and the Dow was down over 500 points.
What's going on?
The SEC is investigating you for securities fraud.
That's ridiculous.
They're saying there are irregularities...
in your company's last two financial statements.
Why, it's not true.
Come on!
The timing of this--
I'm being set up.
What's she doing here?
She wants to help, Brian.
Oh, good. Does she have a time machine so we can go back and undo everything?
Brian, what's going on?
You wouldn't listen.
You wouldn't stop.
So you admit you did this?
You go off on your adventures. You fly your planes.
You drop by every now and then with a bright idea.
Ever since we were kids.
You're always biting off more than you can chew...
and I'm always having to bail you out.
So you doctored the books?
I had to!
I had to do something. I told you.
We were overextended.
The stock price was the only thing keeping us afloat, and you wouldn't listen.
No, I don't believe this.
Alec, who do you think told the SEC?
Why? Why now?
What difference could it make, Brian?
- Once the truth came out-- - Alec, I almost died in that plane too.
I still have a family.
- They tried to kill us. - Who?
Did you really think they were going to let you tell a secret like this?
- What are you talking-- - They call themselves The Trust.
Look, all I know is...
they're very powerful...
and they think that Washington abdicated its duty to protect the planet...
maybe even caused the problem in the first place.
They see it as their responsibility to step in.
We can fix this.
It's too late. It's done. It can't be undone.
Brian, we'll both go to jail.
Yeah, but my family will be safe.
Well, what about the rest of the people that work for this company?
What about their families?
Why weren't you thinking about them three days ago?
How did they know?
How did the people who threatened you know that you'd cooked the books?
How did they know that there would be enough to indict both you and Alec?
They got to you six months ago.
Alec, they knew what you had. Don't ask me how.
They had to make sure they could stop you.
You were wrong, Alec.
True or not...
this shouldn't come out.
The world's not ready.
There must be something we can do.
You signed false financial statements.
No, I mean about the people who tried to kill us.
All I know is that they operate above the law...
and that they've threatened people's lives before.
- Then we have to bring them down. - We've tried. Believe me.
Well, we have to try again.
So Colson's convinced Vogler to arrange a meeting with his contact and wear a wire.
Hopefully, we'll get enough to connect him to the rogue NID...
and then flip him for someone bigger.
We're coordinating with Agent Barrett.
At the very least, it may restore Colson's public image.
Especially if it turns out...
that someone in direct corporate competition with Colson Industries...
was pulling the strings.
Unfortunately, without further evidence...
Brian Vogler's word alone...
isn't gonna be enough to undo all the damage already done to the company.
What of Brian Vogler's safety?
He's under close surveillance. His family has been taken into protective custody.
Well...
I guess the secret is safe again.
For now.
You know, I wouldn't count Colson out just yet.
He still feels really strongly that the world should know the truth.
All right. Thank you.
Surveillance just found Brian Vogler dead in his bathroom.
What? How?
He hanged himself.
I'm so sorry about Brian.
I killed him.
Might as well have put the gun against his head...
and pulled the trigger myself.
You couldn't have known.
You saw how scared he was.
I know what his family meant to him.
He was never going to do anything to put them in any danger.
He was my best friend.
- He betrayed you. - No.
I betrayed him.
Why don't you put the gun down.
My life's over, Sam.
Everything I worked for, everything I believed in, held to be true--
Still exists.
Apparently Congress is looking into providing relief.
The companies, the employees will survive.
While I go to jail for something I didn't do?
Back on the alpha site you said, no matter what...
you would rather make whatever time you had left meaningful.
I'm here to give you that chance.
How?
By making all the indictments against me just disappear?
I was thinking more along the lines of making you disappear.
Problem with a guy like me--
no place on Earth I can hide.
Who's talking about Earth?
Oh, no. I couldn't let you do that.
Believe me. I wouldn't be here without the approval of my superiors.
The president wasn't responsible for what happened to you...
but he's also not sorry that you were publicly discredited.
Please, Alec, come with me.
You can still make a difference.
"He who fights and runs away"--
"Lives to fight another day."
And no one will ever know.
Welcome to my world.