A group of trainees and their leader, veteran gate traveller Gus Bonner, must help an alien named Draga, who is being pursued by both alien forces and bounty hunters from Earth, get back to her homeworld.

The team stay on a jungle planet, cut off by Nephestis who has framed Gus as a traitor. The local Thorn aliens are dying of a disease which Gus believes he left there on a previous expedition. The others choose to head out with the Ancient chrysalis but are ambushed by the Tlak'khan but escape...as the chrysalis hatches and the winged Ancient escapes. The Tlak'khan leader De'kyll takes the Thorn village hostage and Bonner surrenders but the Ancient intervenes and the cadets take them prisoner (except De'kyll escapes). The Ancient learns English through Seattle and asks the team for help, and after being named Draga. Draga heals the ailing Thorn but knows nothing about the Stargates and remains with the team.

The team arrive on a new planet and find diamonds. The team soon starts arguing over the diamonds themselves - a concept which Draga has trouble understanding. While Gus explains the concept of ""money' at great length, a team of bounty hunters closes in on the SG crew. Gus and Draga get captured but Gus turns the mercenaries against each other by playing on their greed. The team manages to overcome their greed and get it together to help out Gus and Draga but have to give up the diamonds to the mercenaries to buy their friends' freedom.

Arriving on a new planet, the team meets with the Alteri, a martial society that practices ritual combat. After getting defeated several times, Stacey learns their ways and that wearing the ""Mandro stones"" enhances the wearer. As she dons them she begins to suffer strange side effects - paranoia, anger, addictive qualities, and physical transformation. Stacey goes berserk and escapes for the Stargate. The team manages to slow her down enough so Gus can talk her down and Draga can transform her back to normal. Meanwhile, Draga has a vision of a star system after touching the stones which they believe may be the home of the Ancients.

The team arrive on a planet where the natives bear a extremely strong resemblence to Draga. They are contemptous of ""rock crawlers"" but Draga is drawn to them. But when the Tlak'khan show up the local's powers serve no good. The team helps them and gives them a measure of understanding of other cultures.

The gang find a mysterious ship emitting dangerous energy on an uninhabited planet. While Harrison and Seattle look for the owners the others break into the ship, much to Stacey's concern. Gus insists on using the ship to return to nearby Earth, unaware that it's actually a Tlak'khan trap - the ship takes them to Ga'Harn, the Tlak'khan homeworld. Da'kyll captures them all and holds them back from the Nax'kan Council by claiming Warrior Right of Capture. Hah'lak sends his own operative, Gal'korn, to free first Gus and then the rest of the SG team and they see through the deception. They get their vehicles and weapons and get to the nearest Stargate to make their escape.

The team arrive on Octasar where a Dr. Carrie Mason of the SGC is working with a local scientist, Dr. Bri'sal, who is working on a project of universal telepathy as part of a scientific conference and believes the Tlak'khan can help him - they're playing him, naturally, since Bri'sal's fellow scientists don't support his project. Stacey overhears them while the rest of the team convinces Mason they're not traitors. Mason doesn't believe them and when the project succeeds the Tlak'khan take control. The team launches an attack but the mind-controlled scientists are forced to attack them, but Mason grabs Da'kyll's device, freeing everyone and forcing the Tlak'khan to retreat.