Chapter Seven

By four forty-five Major Lorne was on his way out the door and headed toward the mess hall for a cup of coffee as was his usual routine. Still feeling slow and a bit groggy, he tried to present himself as normally as possible. Whatever he'd had in mind for the start of his day wasn't what he got, however. He found himself pausing in confusion as a Captain paused to salute him. Reflexively returning the salute and continuing on toward the mess hall, Lorne began to wonder if maybe Beckett had given him something a bit stronger than the usual.

Just outside the mess hall he crossed paths with a Lieutenant who did the same. Again, he responded more out of reflex than any real thought. But, thoroughly confused now, he hoped some coffee would help clear the remaining haziness of his thoughts.

The moment he entered the mess hall that idea was shot to hell. As soon as the first person in uniform had caught sight of him, the whole room stood to salute, whether they were in uniform or out of uniform. Again, Lorne responded. Now awake enough to wonder just what the hell was going on, he caught a Lieutenant in line for coffee.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant Ghannam. May I ask what that was all about?"

"It's a salute, sir," she replied with a smile.

"I get that, Lieutenant," Lorne said, clearly irritated, "But it's not exactly common practice around here."

"Yes, sir."

"Then why?"

Looking at him as if he were crazy, she kept her verbal reply to, "To show our respect for what you did for your team, sir."

Understanding dawning, Lorne suddenly remembered that something about Lieutenant Shingleton that Colonel Sheppard had mentioned the night before. Half of him wanted to rip into the man on sight. The other half of him wanted to do something much worse. But, he hadn't exactly been ordered to silence, so if there was any fault here, it was his own for not having seen to it himself.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Excuse me."

"Yes, sir."

For a moment Lorne just wanted to forego the coffee and make a hasty retreat to his office. But, at this point, his back on fire, he didn't see the point in trying to cover up anything anyway. His mood having soured to a point he needed the calming effects of the coffee, he grabbed a cup and headed for his office. Still trying for some semblance of normalcy, he just hoped this would go away. While acknowledging rank with a salute was normal on any military base, it was just plain out of character for Atlantis. He'd grown far too accustomed to the laid-back atmosphere of the city for this to be anything other than uncomfortable.

His hope of a reprieve in his office was short-lived, though, when he came around the corner of the corridor and spied the three figures standing outside his office. Just barely stopping himself from glaring, Major Lorne couldn't help the expression of irritation he knew was plastered on his face. As with the others, he accepted the salute and returned it. Motioning for the three Lieutenants to precede him into the office, he just barely bit back some choice curses.

"Do I even need to ask why you're all here, Lieutenants?" he queried, stepping around his desk as he spied a note tucked discreetly under the corner of his laptop.

"Sir, we just wanted to thank you."

"For what, exactly? Doing my job?" Lorne asked, nonplussed.

"Sir, we know you didn't have to."

Picking up the note, Lorne grunted.

They know. Make Beckett happy. Take the day off. –Sheppard

Returning his attention to his team, he knew today was probably going to be a total waste of effort. Setting down his coffee and perching himself on the edge of his chair so as to relieve his still slightly shaky legs, he sighed. This being the only time he'd ever regretted not having more chairs, he looked up at his team. Heaving a sigh, he relaxed a bit.

"What would you have done? Fought our way out? Called for backup?"

Shingleton had obviously thought this through and glanced to the others before speaking. "No, sir. Any alternative would have led to unnecessary bloodshed. But you didn't have to take it for us."

"Again, what would you have done, Lieutenant?"

This time he didn't bother looking to the others. "I would have done the same, sir."

Lorne nodded. Sheppard was right, Shingleton wasn't going to be a Lieutenant for long. The other two, he didn't doubt had their hearts in the right places, but didn't tend to think things through all the way. He had no need to ask them; besides this was uncomfortable enough for all of them, already.

"Why, Lieutenant?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, sir. But I believe letting us take the lashes was equally right."

Lorne shook his head rubbing his temples as if to rub away the headache he could feel growing there, he replied, "No, it wasn't. There was no prior warning, and you had no way of knowing you were committing a religious offense. It is my responsibility as your team leader to ensure you are properly educated on the customs and social etiquette. More to the point, I should not have let you wander without instruction. That is my responsibility as well. But it is an oversight I intended to see corrected with Colonel Sheppard immediately."

"Yes, sir," they replied.

"In other words, I did my job. Nothing more."

"Respectfully, sir," Keane spoke up. "I don't believe there's another team leader in this entire city excepting perhaps Colonel Sheppard that would have done the same."

And that was a truth he couldn't deny. Nodding sadly, he accepted that. "That may be the truth of it, Lieutenant. But we're all human. We do the best we can and hope it works out. It's all we can do."

"Understood, sir."

Heaving a sigh, Lorne leaned his forearms on his desk. "Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Good, then I believe Colonel Sheppard has given you a temporary reassignment?"

"Yes, sir."

"Thank you, sir," Keane and Shingleton offered with one last salute.

"You're welcome. Dismissed."

Not able to stop the groan once they were gone, Lorne folded his arms and laid his head down atop them. He wasn't sure how long he sat there like that, letting the peace and quiet of his office wash over him. But he couldn't deny the throbbing and burning in his back, now echoed by the throbbing growing in his head. It was almost enough to drive him right back to his quarters. Before that, though, he was determined to get his detailed report of the incident finished. If there was any hope of opening peaceful trade with these people, then he needed to ensure the proper education and conduct.

He was still waiting for his laptop to boot up when Sheppard made his appearance. Lorne very nearly groaned again.

"I thought I told you to take the day off, Evan."

"And we both know I have a report to write up, sir," he said stressing the honorific.

Giving a crooked grin at his XO's obviously foul mood, Sheppard plopped himself down in the chair opposite. "What? You can't write it from the comfort of your own quarters?"

"I'm already here."

"Yeah, I couldn't help but notice the trail of salutes in your path."

Putting his head down on the desk again, just short of an all-out headdesk, Lorne gave in to his groan on both a mental and verbal level. "John, I'll give you a salute of the one-fingered variety, if you don't go away. What do you want?"

Laughing Sheppard leaned forward and knocked on the desk hard enough to further irritate his friend. "For you to get some rest. At the risk of sounding hypocritical, you're injured and need to take the time. Go. I've got enough information to update Elizabeth for now. Your report can wait. Besides, your quarters is likely to be the only place in the whole city right now that you're going to get any peace."

Heaving another sigh and forcing himself upright, Lorne said, "True enough. I'm not going to argue too much. Today's probably a total waste at this point, anyway."

"Good, go on. I'll see you in a couple of days."

"Thanks."

Pushing himself up out of his chair, Lorne watched Sheppard heading out the door and down the corridor. Still exhausted, his legs still trembling threateningly, he closed his laptop and picked up his now cold cup of coffee. Yep, Beckett, at least was going to be happy today; and probably for the next couple of days, as well. Right now being stuck in bed sleeping for the foreseeable future sounded like a vacation in paradise.