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A black hole on the far side of the Stargate threatens to swallow all of Earth.
As a MALP probe is prepared to be sent to P3W-451 to see what happened to SG-10, General Hammond recounts SG-10's mission: the indigenous life of P3W-451, a planet in a binary star system, recently became extinct and SG-10 was trying to find out why. Colonel O'Neil, who recommended Major Boyd for command, wishes to mount a rescue mission without delay; General Hammond wants to make a threat assessment first, but assures Jack that SG-1 and SG-3 will mount any rescue mission.
The probe's visual picture returns coloured only in red. It's not a malfunction, Teal'c determines, but caused by the same occurrence which slowed SG-10's Iris code. Captain Carter recognises that the image has red-shifted (distorted towards the red end of the spectrum) and has the computer compensate for longer lightwaves. Her idea works and SG-10 is seen fleeing from something, but SGC is unable to determine what as only 11 frames of image, representing a fraction of a second, have come through in six minutes. Hammond is now ready to mount a rescue mission, but Carter warns SG-10 is beyond help: tilting the MALP's camera up reveals a newly-formed black hole.
Carter explains that time is relative, factors such as extreme gravity causing it to slow down. On P3W-451, mere seconds have elapsed since SG-10 sent their Iris code and they are still trying to escape. The Stargate was open for less than a second on the planet, and the black hole's gravity will eventually become so strong it will tear SG-10's bodies apart. Carter is hesitant at closing the Stargate at first so they can observe the black hole, but Colonel O'Neil's stance that they "are witnessing good men die in slow motion" convinces her otherwise. However, the system malfunctions and the Stargate won't close.
At the entrance to SGC an Air Force Special Operations team led by Colonel Frank Cromwell arrives; four hours ago, contact with SGC was lost and the Pentagon suspects hostile aliens have overrun the facility. A sergeant informs Cromwell that before contact was lost everyone on the base was talking very slowly. Cromwell and his men break into the facility through a ventilation shaft.
General Hammond attempts to contact the President but the phone isn't working. Carter theorises that a time paradox has occurred; though the time limit for an open Stargate has expired on Earth, it can still be maintained on P3W-451 due to the time dilation. Even the Stargate's portal has started spinning like a whirlpool. SGC's lower levels are experiencing communication malfunctions, so Hammond goes upstairs to reach a secure phone and contact the President.
Technicians attempt to cut the power lines to the Stargate but they jam. O'Neil and another tech try to shut down the power at the main breaker but the system overloads in the embarkment room, badly injuring Teal'c and failing to close the Stargate. When smoke from the explosion is seen drawn into the Stargate, Captain Carter holds her dogtags to the portal and they are sucked in. Carter realises the black hole's gravity has reached Earth and orders the Iris closed.
Carter realises that P3W-451's Stargate is drawing energy directly from the black hole, giving the device power as well as extending its time limit. Carter had hoped that the wormhole would insulate against the black hole's gravity, but even though the matterstream flows in the opposite direction time is slowing at SGC. Unless the Stargate is closed soon, Earth will be pulled into the black hole.
General Hammond is met by Major Davis, an officer from the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent to bring Hammond to meet with the President in person. En route, Davis explains that at first the Pentagon suspected alien invaders but later realised time dilation was the actual problem. Hammond is to be present during a meeting with the President and the Joint Chiefs to determine their next course of action.
Colonel Cromwell and his team meet with Colonel O'Neil, who seems to hold a grudge. Cromwell explains his presence, O'Neil assuring there are no invaders but rather a black hole. The gravity field is expanding but at a higher proportion than on the far side of the Stargate thanks to a lensing effect caused by the wormhole.
By the time General Hammond makes the 18-hour round trip to the Pentagon and back, mere minutes have passed at SGC. The President has ordered the Stargate destroyed, taking the black hole with it. To that end, SGC personnel will be evacuated to a command post topside as the base's self-destruct is started; the black hole's gravity will contain the blast, therefore no hazard is posed to those on the surface. O'Neil and Cromwell will remain behind to start the countdown, but their five-minute wait means it will be more than six hours topside before the countdown begins.
Working on quantum gravity calculations, Carter realises their observations of the black hole contradict the assumptions used when the Pentagon ordered SGC destroyed. The base will be destroyed but the Stargate and wormhole will most likely remain intact, gradually sucking the planet in. Powerless against the Pentagon's decision, Hammond reassures they can restart the SGC program using the second Stargate (Solitudes) if all goes well.
Hammond's comment inspires a new idea in Carter: by flooding the Stargate with power, the wormhole will jump to another planet. If SGC can use a bomb to force enough energy into the Stargate, the wormhole will jump from P3W-451 to a planet away from the black hole, ending the ordeal.
In the control room, O'Neil and Cromwell confront their past: on a mission in Iraq with Cromwell, O'Neil was injured during an escape. Cromwell, thinking O'Neil killed, left him behind to save the rest of the group; O'Neil was captured and spent four months in prison, and does not forgive Cromwell for his cowardice. As the gravity pulls apart a window overlooking the embarkment room, Carter arrives and explains her plan to fork the wormhole.
O'Neil and Cromwell gear up in G-suits, nylon ropes allowed to be drawn towards the black hole to help them get the bomb in the right position. It takes days for the bomb to be customised and flown in from Travis Air Force Base—five minutes to SGC because of the time dilation. As O'Neil and Cromwell get the bomb into position, another of the control room's windows is pulled to the Stargate, the shards weakening Cromwell's lifeline.
When the Iris collapses the gravity intensifies and Cromwell's rope snaps. O'Neil tries to save him from being sucked in, but Cromwell sacrifices himself so O'Neil can set the bomb's timer. Teal'c hauls O'Neil in as the timer is set, though Jack is still on his line when the weapon goes off.
O'Neil comes to in the infirmary, where a recently-returned Daniel Jackson asks if he's missed anything. Teal'c pulled O'Neil far enough away from the bomb to survive the blast. The wormhole forked to P2A-870, upon which the Stargate was shut down. A new triennium-reinforced Iris is being installed, injured personnel will recover and Cromwell was the only casualty. "What day is it?" O'Neil asks.
Jackson, the only one not affected by the time dilation, explains "Since you reported for duty yesterday, two weeks have gone by."
"I think I'll sleep in," O'Neil decides.