Miles To Go Before I Sleep by catescorner

Well, here we are, at the end of my second multi chapter story. Thank you to all my very kind reviewers, I'm delighted that you've enjoyed it.

So, the crisis now seems to be over, leaving John and Evan free to explore their new mainland. Since it was never referred to in the series, I've brought Evan's knowledge of geology into this chapter, simply because I loved seeing it in the SG1 episode, Enemy Mine, and thought it would be nice to see this different side of him.

There are spoilers for that episode, along with a bit of an ominous twist in the tale that - well, I'll leave you to find out for yourselves! Thank you again for sharing this journey with me, and hope to see you all here soon :o)

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

Chapter Six - Trojan Horse

The only rocks that interested John Sheppard were the mountainous ones that you could climb. But to a geologist, they were things of complex beauty. Natural wonders, that spanned the universe. And in Evan Lorne's eyes, they ran a dead heat with the thrill of flying, and the tranquility of painting.

Surrounded by rocks of every shape, size, and formation, he was in his second best loved element – running his fingers over a seam of pale grey stone, then scanning it, with increasing excitement.

"Oh boy, this – this is trinium!"

The delight in his voice was pure Evan Lorne – just as the response to it was pure John Sheppard.

"Whattium?"

"No, tri-ni-um," Evan grinned, stressing each syllable for his geologically challenged friend. "It's an element that we used back at the SGC, and… whoa, these deposits are off the charts, they're huge!"

In John's eyes, they were still just boringly dull rocks, but… well, Evan clearly saw them differently. He was almost bouncing with excitement now, as he checked his readings. And that enthusiasm was contagious enough for John to smile too, with now genuine interest.

"And that's good. Right?"

"Better than good, John. Back at the SGC, trinium was considered priceless," Evan explained, reaching into his TAC vest and, to John's surprise, pulling a small hammer from one of its pockets. Stopping the inevitable smirk with an equally inevitable glare, he then smiled too, and shrugged, while taking some sample boxes from his backpack.

"Hey, once a geologist, always a geologist. And you never know when it might come in handy."

"Okay, Rock-Boy, I'll take your word for it," John grinned, blithely ignoring the glare that Evan threw at him in response. Instead, he stood at his friend's side, watching him work with genuinely proud admiration. He was completely focussed now, just as he'd been the previous night. Except this time, he was wide awake, driven on by constructive purpose, rather than needless guilt.

So yes, this was better. This was much better. This was the Evan Lorne that he'd trust with his life, without hesitation.

Yet this was also a side of him that he'd never seen. An expert in a rarely used, but still valuable field. Against his brilliance as a pilot, XO, and military leader, his knowledge of geology tended to be forgotten. And like every lover of learning, Evan Lorne had a natural gift for sharing that knowledge around.

"In its natural form, it's pretty useless. See there, how easily you can break it?" he explained, tapping out a small sample from the seam beside them, then giving it to John to see for himself. "But once it's refined, it's almost impenetrable, almost a hundred times stronger than steel, but still incredibly light. And that gave us a real advantage against the Goa'uld."

Met with a quizzically raised eyebrow, and a handful of seemingly useless rockdust, he then grinned – settling in for every geologist's love of some good old fashioned, practical demonstration.

Crumbling another sample into a small dish from his backpack, he then poured some water on top, using a stick to mould it into shape, and grinning at John's surprise that it was already starting to solidify into a solid, shiny mass.

"See what I mean? From weaponry to building our battlecruisers, its uses are almost endless. This really is incredible stuff."

Just the words that every military commander liked to hear – and John Sheppard was no exception. All teasing was forgotten now, as he recognized the potentially crucial advantage that lay, literally, in his hand.

"And we could use it here, to fight the Wraith? The Replicators?"

"Well, we have different resources here to those we had at the SGC, so we might need to find other ways to refine it," Evan admitted, frowning slightly, that he'd forgotten that in his excitement, before the grin brightly reappeared. "But you can see how quickly water removes its impurities to strengthen it, and… well, we don't have any shortage of that."

Sensing, and sharing, his eagerness to get these precious samples back to Atlantis, John nodded – seeing his friend through new, even prouder eyes as he helped Evan stack them into his backpack.

"Okay, I'll get a science team assigned here, ASAP, and… hey, that headache still bothering you?"

"Yeah, a bit. Damn thing just doesn't want to let go," Evan sighed through a sheepish grin, still rubbing his temple, and noticing that John was now doing the same, as they headed back to the Jumper. "I guess all that walking instead of sleeping is starting to catch up on me."

"Well, hopefully you'll sleep like a log tonight," John chuckled, unable to resist a teasing afterthought when Evan yawned and nodded, in sleepily docile agreement. "And if you don't, I'll just whack you round the head with my five iron."

"Gee, thanks, boss. You're all heart," Evan muttered, pulling a suitable face back at him – the bantering insult that would have undoubtedly followed turning, thankfully, into another cavernous yawn.

Steered by a gently brotherly hand, he was walking in his sleep all over again, if more consciously this time. By the time they reached the Jumper, tiredness had turned, with surprising speed, into total exhaustion. And within seconds of settling into his seat, he'd drifted into a depthless, peacefully carefree sleep.

Still watching him, John smiled too, in relief that his friend's crisis of conscience was finally over. It had been a hellish ordeal, for both of them, but - no, it really was over now. Better still, they'd found a crucial means of fighting the enemies who were still hell bent on destroying them. Enough supplies of it too, it seemed, to give them a real chance of defeating them.

So yes, after a shaky start, it had turned into an excellent day. Now, if he could just get rid of this damn headache…