The Atlantis team travel to the planet of the Genii, known by the Athosians to be good traders of food and crops. As Tayla and Ford barter for food with the farmers, Sheppard and McKay stumble on a secret underground research facility, which belies the society’s technological backwardness. The Genii are close to developing atomic bombs to use against the Wraith. After being captured in the secret site, McKay is intrigued, while Sheppard remains skeptical.

Now the team must either forge an alliance with these unlikely allies, or find a way to extricate them selves from being killed by the Genii, now that they know the team knows their secret.