"And to another fine year of trading." "Hear, hear!" "Truly, the medical supplies you have given to us over the past several years have made an immeasurable difference to our people." "Not to mention your warning last harvest that the Wraith were nearby." "You saved many lives." "Well, uh, you know." "My favorite missions are when we come here to do our trading." "And I've said that, I can prove it." " I'm not just saying that..." " You don't need to prove it." "You know, actually, we got to get going." " So soon?" " Yeah, so soon?" "We were hoping that you could stay." "Well, I..." "I guess we could stay a little longer." "I hate to..." " No, never mind." " What is it?" "Well, I wouldn't dream of imposing." "You've been so generous to our people already." " What's the problem?" " Our sister." "She is in great need of your help." "I didn't even know you gals had a sister." "We do indeed." "And I imagine she's just as beautiful as you two." "Even more so." "And she's in great need of guidance." "Guidance." "That I can do." "You are most generous." "Excuse us for one moment." "I'll get her." " Dibs." " What?" "I'm calling dibs on the third sister." "You can't call dibs." "Look, we both know that Flora and Mardola have been suckered in by the whole cliché-heroic thing you've got going, but maybe this other sister, maybe her taste in men will run more to the..." "Geeky?" "I was going to say "cerebral," but, um, who knows, maybe we'll hit it off." "I don't need your love life screwing up our trade relations." "I'll try not to break her heart, but no promises." "These are the men I was telling you about." "Gentlemen, this is our sister." "Harmony." "Super." "As you know, our mother and queen passed at the beginning of this lunar cycle." "A secret, sacred ceremony was held to determine which of her three daughters would succeed her." "It was determined that Harmony shall be the new queen." "Really?" "Wow." "Well, congrats." "Before she is crowned, all future queens must perform a time-honored rite of passage." "A rite of passage normally performed alone." "It is not written one way or another." "And Harmony is so young." "It concerns me greatly." "I can do it." "You are very brave." "But the trail is difficult." "It would bring me great comfort to know that you had someone looking out for you." "What kind of rite of passage are we talking about here?" "Deep in the forest lies the ruins of the great temple of Laros." "Every queen must take a pilgrimage before the end of the first lunar cycle of their selection." "Once there, she must meditate on the journey that lies ahead of her and pray to be endowed with the knowledge and power to govern her people." "How deep in the forest?" "No more than a day's trek." "I see." "Yes." "No." "Uh, we are very honored, but, um, why don't you just have a couple of your own guards escort her?" "Although it is not written so, our people will expect their new queen to have completed the journey on her own." "So you don't want her to be alone, but you don't want anyone to know she's getting help." "Precisely." "Right." "We'd love to lend a hand, but..." "John." "Our peoples have enjoyed such a fruitful alliance." " Yeah." " One that has greatly benefited both parties." "Right." "I'd hate to think that one of us would put that in jeopardy over a simple day's walk in the forest." "When do we leave?" "I must confess." "I'm quite looking forward to this." "I rarely get to leave the confines of the castle, although I've had much training in forest survival." "Oh, you have, have you?" " Oh, yes." "I have completed three sessions with Nolar Lumsbred." "He is one of the greatest hunters amongst my people." "Three whole sessions, huh?" "With the Nolar Lumsbred?" "They were all I needed." "I am a quick learner." "I'll bet you are." "Tell me, which one of you is the superior officer?" "You mean, who outranks who?" "Yes." "I'm a civilian, I don't have a rank, but basically, we're equals." "Technically, I'm in charge." "I thought so." "You have all the makings of an excellent leader, John." "Well, thank you." "You going to eat your Powerbar?" "Yes, Rodney." "I told you, you shouldn't have eaten yours so early in the day." "I'm starving." "Usually Flora feeds us some sort of food when we visit." "Come on, you hardly ever eat yours." "No, Rodney." "Well, will you give it to me later when you decide not to eat it?" "You allow him to question you so incessantly?" "I guess I'm just used to it by now." "Would it not be easier to beat him?" "McKAY:" "We don't beat people where we come from." "Why not?" "Well, we find it's not very effective in the long run." "Unfortunately." "Really?" "You are a truly gentle leader, John." " I admire that." " Thank you, Harmony." "Isn't there supposed to be a rope bridge here?" "Well, maybe you're reading the map wrong." "No, I think it's pretty straightforward." "How old is this map?" "It has been passed down from too many generations to know for sure." "Okay, guess that bridge doesn't exist." "You two stay put." "I'm going to try to find a safe way across the river." "Don't worry, I'll be right back." "Where'd you find that?" "John's bag." "It's not yours." "I'm hungry." "You can't just take it like that." "When I'm hungry, I eat." "What's going to happen when Sheppard finds out?" "Well, he's not going to, now, is he?" "Oh, yes, he is, because I'm going to tell him." "I wouldn't do that if I were you." "Yeah, or what?" "I'm the queen." "Not yet, you're not, little sister." "Trust me, you don't want to be on my bad side." "Right?" "And what are you going to do?" "Have me beaten?" "All right, Princess, just hand it over." "Oh." "See, now you're in trouble." "You just wait till Sheppard gets back here, 'cause..." "I think I found a place for us to, uh..." " Is that my Powerbar?" " She stole it." "I did not!" "Oh, what?" "You so did!" "Tell him!" "I would never do such a thing!" "The second you were gone, she went into your bag." "You are a liar!" "You are a lying liar!" "Oh, please, who are you going to believe?" "Well, if she stole it, Rodney, how come you've got the wrapper?" "Well, I..." "I was trying to take it back from her, and then she wolfs it down and hands me the wrapper." "Really?" "Okay, you better come clean, brat." "It's okay, sweetie." "Sometimes, he makes me cry, too." "All right, we need to get going here." "All right?" "I found a path." "Can I navigate from the map?" "Sure, as soon as we get back on the path." "Now we go..." "Right." "Correct." " What was that?" " That's probably the beast." "Sorry, the what now?" "The beast." "The protector of the ruins of Laros." "Did Flora not tell you of it?" "I guess she forgot to mention it." " Don't worry." " When you say "beast,"" "I'm assuming that's a figure of speech, right?" "Oh, no, it's a beast, all right." "Though no one is quite certain what it looks like." "Those who have cast their eyes upon it have quickly perished." "But your little knife will protect us." "I'm the queen." "It will not harm me." "We may not get a chance to tell the beast that." "It will know." "Listen, why don't we just tell your sisters we made it as far as the ruins?" "We don't actually have to make it there." "They'd never have to know the difference." "I would know." "Yeah, but you're going to be queen, so who cares, right?" "I care." "My people care." "Listen..." "Perhaps it would be best if you stopped speaking." "Your voice hurts my ears." "Well, that beast could hurt my whole body, okay?" "So I'm sorry, but this is not what we signed up for." "Sheppard, back me up here." "Sheppard?" "John?" "According to legend, the beast attacks silently." "I thought you said the beast would know you were the queen." "Well, it didn't attack me." "John?" "John, are you there?" "It is strange, though." "The beast is supposed to only attack enemies of the throne." "If it was going to kill anyone, it should have killed you." "I'm not an enemy to the throne." "I'm not!" "I'm here to protect you." "Don't move!" "So far, I'm not impressed." "Drop your weapon." "We have her." "Map grid 11 in the small clearing." "On our way." " Hand her over." " You're Genii." "Step aside, and hand her over." "This is obviously some sort of huge misunderstanding." "All right?" "I'm Dr. Rodney McKay." "I'm a close personal friend of Ladon Radim." "You know, your leader?" "I'm your greatest ally!" "You don't know who I am?" "I'm the genius scientist." "The friend of John Sheppard?" "I gave you the bomb?" "No?" "Nothing?" "What do they teach you in Genii school?" "Hand her over." "Right now." "Okay, let's just talk about this." "I'm growing impatient." "Our quarrel is not with you." "Once you hand her over, you're free to go." " Really?" " Yes." "Hmm." "You wouldn't." "You took a sacred oath to protect me." "Nah, I don't remember doing that." "I'm going to count to three." "One..." "Where have you been?" "Well, my Spidey-senses felt an ambush coming on." "And you couldn't mention it?" "Not without tipping them off, no." "Well, then what took you so long?" "We just about..." "I had to take a position so I could shoot all three at once." "You okay?" "No." "No, I most certainly am not." "This one was going to hand me over to those men." " No, I wasn't." " I saw it in your eyes." "You were considering it." "To save your own worthless, cowardly hide." "I was keeping them talking." "You know, I was buying us time." "A little thing called "strategy"?" "Obviously you're too young to know anything about it." "Oh, I understand strategy." "In fact, I'm forming one right now." "The second we return to the castle," " I will instruct my guards to..." " All right." "Plenty of time to come up with punishments along the way." "But, John..." "Thumb screws, you like them?" "Yes." "Thumb screws are good." "We better find some cover." "That back-up he called is going to be here any minute." "All right, this'll work." "McKAY:" "Those were Genii." "Yeah, I picked up on that, Rodney." "Thanks." "So what are the Genii doing here?" "And why do they want to kill her?" "I mean, aside from the obvious reasons." "Harmony?" "I don't know." "I don't like the Genii." "I don't like the Genii." "But you know who they are." "Are you trading partners?" "Not anymore." " But you were." " Yes." "But they cheated my mother on many trades." "She banished them from our land." "What about you, huh?" "When you're queen, are you going to start trade back up?" "No!" "Absolutely not." "So maybe somebody in the royal court's a little more willing to play ball." "You know, once the path is cleared." "If I were to die, my sister would succeed me." "But if the Genii think that she would be more willing to trade than me, they are sadly mistaken." "You really believe that Ladon would give the marching orders to kill a little girl?" "Even this one?" "I don't know how these people work." "Maybe he told someone to fix the problem, and this is what they came up with." "It's creative." "Knowing why they're here really doesn't help us out." "All right, I need to get a take on how many are out there." "You stay with her, okay?" "Sure." "All right, stay here, and stay quiet." "Of course, John." "Thank you for taking care of this." "I'm not sure what I would do if you weren't here." "Tell me something, Doctor." "The place where you sleep at night, is it guarded?" "I know what you're trying to do, and it's not going to work, okay?" "I'm not scared of you." "You're just a kid." "A bratty little kid." "I couldn't care less that you're going to be queen." "In fact, nothing could impress me less, so why don't you just cool it with the "bad seed" act and just go back to ignoring me?" "Surely they can't guard you all the time?" "Squad three, take up position on the ridge." "Squad four, move to map grid nine." "Acknowledged." "Wonderful." "Stop it." "What are you doing?" "I'm burning your face into my memory." " You're..." " This way I can give the bounty hunters an extremely accurate description of you." "All right, Your Highness," "I have had just about enough out of you with this whole..." "I thought I said keep talking to the minimum." "I was..." "She was..." "How many Genii are out there, John?" "If I had to guess, I'd say all of them." "So, a lot of them?" "Yes, Rodney." "A lot." "This will make the pilgrimage most difficult." "That's funny, I was thinking the same thing." "I find we have much in common, John." "Hmm." "Yeah." "Anyway, I figure we wait for nightfall and then head back to the settlement." "Back to the settlement?" "Yep, road trip's over." "But that would make this journey a failure." "You win some, you lose some." "If you want to be queen, you've got to learn how to cut your losses." "But the lunar cycle is nearing its end." "If I do not make it to the ruins by tomorrow's sundown," "I will forfeit the throne." "I'm sure they'll make an exception." "No, they cannot." "It is our way." "It's too dangerous to move forward." "For you, perhaps." "If it's too dangerous for me, it's definitely too dangerous for you." "We're going to wait for nightfall, and then we're going to head back to the village." "End of discussion." "Fat chance of that." "It's not your decision to make." " I'm the queen." " No." "Not yet." "And until you are, you're just a regular kid." "I call the shots." "Many would consider disobeying the queen a treasonous act." "Well, I'm sure they wouldn't look too fondly on letting the queen get killed." "We're heading back." " You should not be here." " I was careful." "No one saw me, don't worry." "We use this from now on to stay in contact." "Does that mean it's not over yet?" "No." "Her two guardians have complicated things greatly." "They killed three of my men." "Yes, well, they were an unforeseen complication." "My apologies." "Your apologies do me little good." "We will increase your pay, don't worry." " Threefold." " Threefold?" "Triple the work, triple the pay." "You want us to kill them all?" "If they survive, they'll come back and tell my sister that the Genii were involved." "Now, we can't have that, can we?" "Listen." " I've been doing a little thinking." " Oh, you have, have you?" "I've got a Wraith stunner in my backpack." "She can't weigh more than 90 pounds." "I say we stun her and just carry her back." "Hmm..." "Nah, we can't stun a 13-year-old girl." "McKAY:" "It's kind of dangerous out there." "I mean, the forest is crawling with Genii." "Who knows when she could throw one of her fits?" "She'll be fine." "She understands how dangerous this situation is." " I talked to her." " I'm sure you did, but she's 13, she's unreasonable, among many other awful attributes." "You know, they say you dislike the things in others that you in fact dislike about yourself." " So what?" " I'm just saying." " We're nothing alike." " Okay." "She is a stuck-up, know-it-all brat." "Oh, ha, ha, ha." "All right, it's about as dark as it's going to get." "Let's wake her up and get moving." "Oh, no." "Oh, that sneaky little..." "I told you we should've stunned her!" "I'm going to kill her." "You really need to work on your child skills." "We have been searching for her for over an hour." "We have had not one, but two close encounters with the Genii." "All so some useless, spoiled brat can make her meditation appointment?" "More searching, less complaining." "Sorry, I'm hungry, and when I'm hungry, I get cranky." "And when you get cranky, you get hit." "Okay, okay." "I wish Ronon was here." "You know, you said that out loud, right?" "I mean, I'm right here." "Well, it's nothing personal." "It's just he's a better tracker than both of us combined." "Hmm, that's true." "Okay, I'm starting to hallucinate." " Why?" "What do you see?" " Not see." "Smell." "I smell food." "Delicious, fresh-cooked food." "Roast beef, hamburgers, hot dogs, pork on a spit." " Chicken." " Yeah, sure, the more, the merrier." "No, I smell chicken." "The nose that knows." "Follow me." "Ah." "Found it." "It's coming from down there." "Told you." "You don't need Ronon while I'm here." "Uh-huh." "What do you think?" "Genii camp?" "Give me the stunner." "All right, stay behind me." "John!" "How did you find me?" "We could smell your fire a mile away." "That's okay." "I was finished cooking anyway." "You ran away from us." "You didn't give me any choice." "You didn't give me any choice." "We've been out there searching for over an hour." "We almost were caught twice." "Yes, it's very dangerous out there right now." "That's why I decided to seek refuge in this cave and make camp." "You made all of this?" "Yes, and caught a Loden bird." "They're quite delicious." "How?" "You made all this with that?" "I told you, I completed three sessions with Nolar Lumsbred." "And they covered all that in three sessions?" "I am a quick learner." "Do you not listen?" " You're mad at me." " Mmm-hmm." "Our first fight." "I knew it would happen eventually." "We'll laugh about this one day." "I'm sure we will, but we got to get moving." "Right after we've eaten the Loden bird." "Or not." "That sounded very, very close." "Are we sure this isn't the beast's cave?" "You're so ignorant." "The beast doesn't live in caves." "We should stay here until the coast is clear." "All right." "Half-hour, tops." "Good." "I'm hungry." "I brought you the bird's heart." "My people believe it brings you great luck once consumed." "Thanks, but no thanks." "You're sure?" "Pretty sure, yeah." "Very well." "Are you still mad at me?" "No, I'm over it." "That's good." "I don't like it when you're mad at me." "Well, don't give me reason to be mad." "Very well." "So you're 13, huh?" "I'll be 14 in five lunar cycles." "Right." "Nervous about being queen?" "No." " Why would I be?" " Well, it's a lot of responsibility." "I know that." "You've got to put the needs of your people before anything else." "Including your own." "Some of the time, yes." "No, pretty much all the time." "I'm sure I will strike a proper balance." "Just remember..." "You're not queen because of divine right, you're queen because they allow you to be queen." "If you're mean to the people, they may change their minds." "Just remember that." "You know much about leadership, John." "Hard-earned lessons along the way." "And I know much about my people." "I hope so." "I think we would make a good team." "Hmm?" "As queen," "I will one day need a king." "Listen, Harmony..." "There's no need to answer now." "I know such an offer must be overwhelming." "You shouldn't make your decision rashly." "Well, I'm pretty sure I know which way I'm leaning." "You're a great little lady." "It's just that..." "What the hell was that?" "The Genii just had a little run-in with the beast." "All right, be a brave girl and stay here with McKay." "Hey, hey, hey!" "How come I always get stuck being the babysitter?" "You want to check out the beast?" " No, I'm good here." " Thought so." "Stay here." "This is Mardola." "I want an update." "What's taking so long?" "I have men all along the path to the ruins." "They've gone another way." "Well, obviously." "They're not idiots." "You should be looking everywhere but the path to the ruins." "I am, but it's night, and this forest is vast and dense." "My men are spread thin." "What if they make it back to the village?" "There's no way that I could save relations between our two peoples then." "We've just lost contact with some of my men." "We're heading to their last-known co-ordinates." "Maybe we'll get lucky." "Teran out." "You're a doctor, right?" "Yes." "Yes." "I mean, I'm not a medical doctor..." "So you're a liar?" "No, I'm a..." "What do you want?" "What does love feel like?" "Oh, boy." "Because I think I'm in love with John." "Yeah, well, it wouldn't be the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last." "What does that mean?" "It means that a lot of people, particularly alien women, tend to fall for John Sheppard's good looks and charm." "Not like me they don't." "He's a bit old for you, don't you think?" "I hadn't considered it." "Yeah, well, he will, so don't get your hopes up." "You're not going to try and influence him, are you?" "I won't need to." "Trust me." "You don't like me very much, do you?" "No, that's not true." "I..." "I don't not like you." "What does that mean?" "It means that you have a very annoying attitude, but I'm willing to cut you some slack because you're still just a child." "Whereas if I were grown up, my annoying attitude would be less excusable?" "That's right." "An adult would, uh..." "Hey, I don't have an attitude problem." "And I don't not like you." "Well, that's sweet of you to say." "So you promise not to get between John and me?" "I promise." "I'll give you this, you're a lot more mature than the women he usually falls for." "Thank you, Doctor." " McKay?" " McKAY:" "What do you got?" "Two dead Genii." "It's not pretty." "Multiple puncture wounds." "You mean like teeth marks?" "I don't think so." "So..." "So, what?" "Claws?" "Talons?" "A very sharp beak?" "I don't know." "It's not like anything I've ever seen before." "Over here." "What kind of creature could do this?" "It doesn't matter." "We don't leave this forest until all three of them are dead." "What took you so long?" "I thought for sure we'd lost you!" "I ran into Genii." "Had to lie low until it was safe to move." " So what happened?" " I don't know, but whatever that beast thing is, it's lethal." " I could have told you that." " Yeah." "Also, the Genii have shoot-to-kill orders for all of us." "Oh." "Super." "All right, Princess, let's move." " Wait!" " What?" "Where are you going?" "Where does it look like?" "We're going back to the settlement." "But we're so close to the ruins." "And it's almost daybreak." "Look, the fact that it's almost daybreak is a bad thing." "We need the cover of night." "I can't come this far and just turn back." "I refuse." "You know, I still have the unner-stay." "Harmony, the best thing you could do is go that way." "That sounded a little weird." "Hating to agree with the child, but, uh..." "Give me that." "The beast will avoid the ruins." "We'll be safe there." " How far are they?" " A half hour or so." "So what do you say?" "Well, it's better than running into the beast." "Hey!" "I was afraid of this." "That's sacred ground." "How dare he?" "Hey." "Hey!" "Whoa, whoa." "Whoa." "We'll handle this, all right?" "All right." " I'll do that." " I got it." "It's okay." " Really, just, just..." " Steady." "Come to papa." "Let's go." "Hey!" "Hey." "What?" "You've subdued him." "Now we can go." "Oh!" "Fascinating." "Ancient?" "Yeah." "Obviously." "It's weird." "This place seems strangely familiar." "It's even more beautiful than I imagined." "Something's wrong." " What?" " It's not working." "Shouldn't you be, like, silently meditating or something?" "My pendant, it's supposed to glow." "Well, I'll be damned." " Let me guess." " Oh, yeah, it's ancient." "It's the pendant of Laros." "The queen, and only the true queen, must return it to the ruins." "Once here, it is to glow and imbue me with great power." "Your sisters kind of failed to mention that." "It is one of our greatest secrets." " It's the testing ground." " What?" "I know what this place is!" "I've been reading about it." "Hell, we've been looking for it for the last two years." "I've seen the schematics." "Share with the class." "Well, believe it or not, this place actually does control the beast." "If the beast is what I think it is." " Which is?" " Mini-drones, if I'm right, and you know you can usually take that to the bank." "I mean, this planet must have been where the ancients first developed drone technology." "It was their main testing ground!" "That would explain why the Genii look like Swiss cheese." "The mini-drones went right through 'em!" "And that noise the beast was making was more like an electric swarm than a growl." "So the pendant is..." "Probably some sort of pass-key." "I mean, ancients weren't above protecting their research, even from each other." "Look, you need more than just the gene in order to activate or control the drones, otherwise..." "Yes, yes, yes, of course!" "It's in auto-protect mode!" "They're trolling the forest, taking out anybody without the gene." "That's why they stayed clear of us and went straight for the Genii." "The royal pain here must have it, as well." "Why isn't it working?" "Well, maybe because genius over there was messing with the crystal tray?" "All right, so?" "Well, so give me a second to figure out how much damage he's done." "The machine is broken." "That's why your pendant isn't glowing." "It's got nothing to do with machines." "If I am worthy of being queen, the gods will bestow the power of pure light and make my pendant glow." "Well, who knows what kind of wacky rules they've imposed on it." "I mean, I suppose it's possible that once a generation, the key needs to be reactivated here." "Maybe it's the one thing that allows them to use the ancient tech they have back at the castle." "It's complicated, but it will light up." "We just need to make some repairs." "You don't understand." "I've failed." "Maybe I'm not supposed to be queen." "Maybe..." "Maybe we've come all this way for nothing." "Trust me, it'll glow." "Wake up." "What'd you do to this thing?" "I'm not sure." "I just rearranged the crystals." "Don't tell them a thing." "They're going to kill us one way or the other." " Can you get it to work?" " Not quickly." "I mean, I can come back with a jumper and a small team and get it working." "Listen." " We're going to head back." " No!" "If I return with a darkened pendant, I won't be allowed to..." "Yes, you will be queen, I promise you!" "It's just busted." "This isn't the type of thing where you get a second chance, John." "Please." "I can do it." "I just need to focus more." "Whoa!" "Easy does it." "Huron, come in." "Huron." "Come in." "If we don't respond, they're going to come and investigate." "Huron here." "What's your status?" " Good." " Elaborate." " Real good." " Help us!" "Help us!" " Huron!" " Kinda busy, got to go!" "Well, it was worth a shot." "You got to get that thing working, fast." "Why can't we just run for it?" "We're boxed in from all directions." "We've got to get those mini-drones working, or..." "Or we die." "You know, you're not exactly inspiring confidence." "Yeah?" "How so?" "You're hiding behind a foot of solid rock." "How am I supposed to feel out here with only a cool breeze between me and the Genii?" "You're more than welcome to come get cover for yourself, as soon as you're done with those repairs." "Do you have any idea how many crystal placement combinations there are?" " More than seven?" " Try 7,000." "Well, that's less than infinite." "All right, look." "It's going to get very, very noisy when the Genii get here." "Screaming?" "No, these guns, they make a lot of noise." "It's very important that you stay put and keep your ears covered, okay?" "Shouldn't you give me a gun instead?" "You're going to stay put, cover your ears, and you're not going to move, okay?" "Son of a bitch!" "I think I got it!" "Harm..." "Harmony!" "What did I just say?" "Go, go, go, go!" "You're surrounded!" "You have limited ammunition, and I have unlimited men!" "We'll take our chances." "If you make this hard," "I will make your death as slow and as painful as possible." "Okay, what's option number two?" "Give us the girl, and we'll let you go free." "Never!" "They would rather die than deal with the likes of you savages." "When my sisters hear of this, the Genii will be finished!" "Finished, do you hear?" "How do you think we knew how to find you, little one?" "You lie!" "Come at us with all you have!" "I shall silence you once and for all!" "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Whoa!" "Let us handle this, okay?" "You have one minute." "It can't be true." "It doesn't matter right now, to be honest." "How can you say that?" "Did you get that thing working?" "Well, yeah, before they started shooting at it." " So it's broken again?" " Well, it was powered up." "50-50 chance it's still operational." "Provide me with cover." "I'll make it to the pedestal, summon the beast, and smite them." "There'll be no smiting today, little lady." "You've never even used that thing before." "But I am the queen, and the beast is my protector." "It's a little more complicated than that." "You say anyone with the ancient gene can activate it?" "Yeah, as long as they're wearing the pendant." " Exactly!" " 50-50, huh?" "100% chance they'll kill us if we talk about it for much longer." "You got a full mag there?" " Locked and loaded." " On three?" " Okay." " Yes." "Excellent." "One, two, three." "What are you waiting for?" "Shoot him." "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm good." "You?" "Sure, sure." "That was the bravest thing I've ever seen." "You're young." "I'm sure you'll meet even braver men than me as you get older." "Not you, usurper!" "You're lucky I like you, or you would be hung for treason!" "But you." "You saved my life." " I did?" " When the Genii started firing at me, you threw yourself on me, using your own body as a shield." "Oh, no." "No, no, no." "I tripped and fell on top of you." "It was an accident." "And then you pulled me to safety." "You don't, "don't not like" me." "You like me!" "No." "No, no." "Yes!" "You saved my life and restored the ruins." "You are a hero, Dr. McKay, both to me and my people." "Well, I don't know about "hero. "" "I mean, exceptionally courageous, perhaps..." "And modest, too." "It's time to go, before the Genii come back." "I doubt it." "They are a simple people, and I'm sure they were most impressed by your actions." "I, however, was not." "The pendant still glows." "The gods have deemed me worthy." "Now we can go." "You've returned!" "What are you doing?" "These are my private quarters." "It's all right, Mardola." "They've already searched my room." " You should allow it." " Why?" "The Genii attacked us." "Oh, well, it was a good thing" "Colonel Sheppard was there to protect you." "They knew the location of the ruins, Mardola." " How?" " You ask as if I would know." "You're too young to be queen, Harmony!" "Perhaps." "But when you're released from prison, you'll be too old to remember." "Dr. Rodney McKay and Colonel John Sheppard, your contribution to my people may never be repaid." "Well, we didn't do it for compensation, Your Highness-ness." "Kiss-ass." "I personally owe you a debt of gratitude for your help defeating the regicidal Genii." "I've had one of the court's finest artisans feature you in a rendering of our glorious victory." "Yeah, pretty much how I remember it."