Episode 12 - Collateral Damage

SG-1 embarks on a diplomatic mission to the planet Galar whose human inhabitants have discovered how to graft a memory from one person into the mind of another. What they haven't discovered is space travel so they're eager to initiate trade talks with Earth. After an impressive demonstration of the memory-sharing technique Col. Mitchell finds himself smitten with Dr. Reya Varrick the brilliant and beautiful civilian scientist in charge of the project. Mitchell's somewhat unsubtle overtures win him a few knowing smirks from his teammates -- and an invitation from Dr. Varrick to visit her apartment. There after a few drinks the two consummate their own private Earth-Galar alliance. Hours afterward Mitchell is awakened by Galaran security forces dragging him to his feet. Dr. Varrick lies dead nearby and there's blood on his hands. Worse he vividly remembers killing her. Even though he promptly confesses neither Carter Daniel nor Teal'c believes that he committed the crime. Instead Daniel voices what they're all thinking: The true killer has implanted the memory of the murder into Mitchell's mind. Before SG-1 can present this theory to the Galarans the Galaran emissary himself announces that for the sake of diplomatic relations Mitchell may return to Earth without penalty. But Mitchell refuses to take the deal. He can't live without knowing whether he's really guilty of the bloody crime he remembers. Instead he demands that the Galarans initiate a full criminal investigation even though if he's convicted he'll be executed. As Daniel and Teal'c review the evidence Carter and Mitchell meet with the memory project's scientists. The man now in charge Dr. Marell believes that Dr. Varrick was killed by the military because of her insistence that the project remain in civilian hands. Accordingly he eagerly agrees to investigate Mitchell's memories. Unfortunately his initial tests yield no evidence that Mitchell's recollection of the murder is false. Finally by comparing Mitchell's memory of the crime to an earlier memory with a similarly painful emotional resonance -- Mitchell's unintentional bombing of a civilian convoy in the Middle East -- Dr. Marell turns up a faint inconsistency in the murder memory. It's a fake.