The following day, Shani walked to the clinic with a smile on her face. Much of the previous evening had been spent sharing supper, as these people called it, with Carson and telling him about her flight with Major Lorne. She was careful to use Evan's title, though she thought of him by his given name. Why she did so was a mystery as she had never been one to hesitate before. Of course, it could be the way he'd stared at her or the intensity of his blue eyes when he smiled. Or maybe the dimple that appeared or the way his eyes creased ever so slightly at the corner.

Shaking herself from her thoughts, Shani focused on the present. She should have arrived at the clinic hours ago, but Lindsey Novak-Marks had come to her with a situation. The woman was concerned about her health, and the mere thought of speaking to Carson about it sent her into fits of hiccups. Shani was happy to help but, beyond the obvious conclusions, could offer no solution for the problem. So, she'd resolved to speak with Carson about it. Now, it was almost time for her to meet Evan as promised, and she hoped to catch him as he arrived at the clinic. She did not wish to put off their flying lesson, but the issue with Lindsey could not wait.

"Major." Carson's voice drifted out the open window of the clinic. Shani stopped as she glanced inside, seeing the two men facing one another. "I spoke with Shani yesterday."

"Yeah?" Evan asked.

"An' she tells me you took her on a tour around the planet."

"Yeah. So?" Evan wasn't necessarily angry or petulant. He appeared genuinely confused.

Carson stepped forward, lowering his voice just enough that Shani had to strain her hearing to understand his words. "You're supposed to be teachin' her to fly the Jumpers, not takin' scenic flights around the planet. Not to mention the threat of the Wraith sensin' that this world is no longer dead."

"First of all, Doc," Evan said as he gave Carson a tight grin, "we were cloaked the entire time. The Wraith wouldn't detect the Jumper. Secondly, remember how nervous you were when you first started flying the Jumpers?"

"Aye."

"Well, imagine if you'd never been in an airplane before." Evan's voice was filled with sympathy. "Shani was so tense that she could have shot someone with a stray thought. I need her to relax while in the Jumpers before I can even teach her to fly. Only way she's gonna do that is if she's taken on numerous flights and shown it's not going to hurt her."

Carson's face changed from an expression similar to Javan's overprotective mode into something much more contrite. "You're right. I'm sorry, Major. It's just. . . ."

Evan nodded. "I understand, Doc."

Figuring she should make her presence known, Shani rounded the house and approached from the opposite direction. Coming to stand in the door, she looked between the two men. "Major. I needed to speak with you. Is it possible to postpone our lesson for an hour?"

"Sure." He smiled at her, but it wasn't the same as yesterday's smile. This time, it was business-like. "I'll meet you at the hangar?"

"Yes." Shani waited while he left the clinic. As soon as she was certain he was out of earshot, she turned to Carson. "I am sorry for being late," she began, ignoring the slightly guilty look on his face. "I was visited by Lindsey."

Carson's eyebrows rose. "Dr. Novak-Marks?"

"Yes." She stepped toward the desk he'd set up, lowering her voice as she went. "She had a medical issue that she was uncomfortable bringing to you. I told her I would speak with you as I have limited experience in dealing with this issue. I know I was a healer on Ataliya, but I dealt with injuries and illnesses. I did not handle this as often as we had others more capable, more experienced in handling it."

Carson frowned at her babbling. "What is it?"

"I believe," Shani said as she drew herself to her full height, "that she is with child."

oOo

An hour later, Lorne paced in the hangar—as the warehouse holding the Jumpers had come to be called—while he waited for Shani to appear. She'd seemed tense, almost concerned when he last saw her. Of course, he'd been put on the defensive thanks to Beckett's overprotective questions. He'd understood the doc's position, of course. As an older brother, Lorne would have asked a man taking his sister out the same thing. But it still struck him as out of character for Beckett considering the man's recent relationship with Dahlia Radim.

Shani finally rounded the corner, and Lorne forced himself to put away the irritated thoughts. A smile touched her lips, and she shrugged sheepishly. "I apologize, Major. A situation had come up that I needed to handle."

"Don't worry about it." He touched the control that opened the Jumper. "Everything okay?"

"Yes." She walked hesitantly into the small ship. "I simply needed Dr. Beckett's guidance on an issue."

"Good." Lorne dropped into the pilot's chair and began his preflight check. "I thought we'd take a flight around the planet today."

"That sounds great." She looked over the controls. "Will I be flying today?"

Lorne watched as she asked the question. Her face showed serenity, but her eyes tightened slightly. "Only if you want to." He turned his chair to face her, preflight checks temporarily forgotten. "Shani, we're gonna fly in this until you're comfortable with the idea of being in the air. Until you're able to relax, I don't want to turn the controls over to you. Not only will it make for a bad experience for you, but it could be dangerous for others."

"I know." She rolled her eyes. "I did crash the one I flew a few days ago."

Lorne smiled at that. "We're in the one you flew a few days ago. And I can say that your little four-foot drop did no damage. Well, none that would worry McKay."

She simply nodded while he finished his checks and took off. Today, Lorne figured he'd fly over the farmland they'd begun to till, past the still-smoldering pyres where they'd burned the Satedan skeletons lying around the city, and over the remainder of the planet. He wouldn't be able to get a full survey done, but the sensor readings he planned to take would be helpful in knowing when and where they could settle next.

Beside him, Shani stared out the viewport as they flew. Lorne paid attention to body language, seeing how she tensed on course changes. But, as the small ship continued through the air, she seemed to relax. When she settled back in her chair, a tiny smile on her face, he knew she might be ready to take the controls for a time.

He had just opened his mouth to ask her if she wanted to take control for a bit when his radio activated. Instead of asking the question, he tapped the button. "Lorne here."

Coughlin's deep voice came over the radio link. "Major, what's your location?"

Lorne rattled off his coordinates. "Why?"

Voices could be heard in the background as Coughlin sighed deeply. "We've got a problem at the gate."

oOo

The day after Ronon and Teyla returned from Belkan, Sheppard led his team on their first mission since the Battle of Kiah. Ronon followed everyone through the gate while nodding to Olina. Last night had helped as he talked through what had happened, and seeing her nearby as he left meant a lot. He had forgotten what it felt like to have someone waiting for him back home. It was different and, if he were honest, a nice change.

This new world was a rural world, one that was clearly in the midst of harvesting their crops. As a result, the team was put off until McKay started grousing about it. Of course, McKay groused about anything that didn't involve technology that might get them back to Earth. When they'd first arrived on Ataliya, the only thing that shut the man up was the shock of Kolya's appearance and death and the promise of the Ancient outpost in the desert. Once that had been exhausted, McKay had gone back to fussing. Ronon supposed it was just the way he coped, but the constant whining was getting irritating.

Even Teyla had reached her limit. "Establishing good relations with our neighbors is not just about trade," she snapped.

"Right." McKay rolled his eyes. "But do we need to make friends with every primitive agrarian society in the Pegasus galaxy?"

Sheppard stepped out of the house, stopping Ronon's retort that McKay was also part of a primitive agrarian society right then. Their team leader held a strange vegetable and cut off a piece, sniffing it. "Alright, that's enough. They can't all be planets with cool technology and open-minded women."

"I don't see why not!" McKay shot back.

Before the conversation could continue, a tired, dirty, gray-haired man approached. "Greetings. I am Eldred."

"I am Sheppard. This is Ronon, Teyla, McKay."

Eldred walked past them, looking around nervously. The little man's apprehension made Ronon nervous, and he scanned the faces around them, searching for trouble. Eldred finally spoke. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but it's harvest time and we must prepare our tribute for the Tower."

Sheppard frowned. "The Tower?"

Eldred faced them, his confusion evident. "You must come from a distant land indeed if you have not heard of the Tower. I don't know of anyone not under its protection."

Teyla glanced at Ronon, though he suspected they knew the answer. "Protection from what?"

"The Wraith." Eldred's answer caused McKay to roll his eyes. Ronon buried a grin that the scientist's assumption that this was a backward, primitive race was wrong.

Sheppard lifted his chin. "Is this Tower close by?"

"I will show you." Eldred motioned. "Come."

He led them through a wooded area, one that was filled with fall flowers and green underbrush. Ronon did nothing to hide his trail here, but he couldn't stop the feeling that they'd discovered something they weren't prepared to handle. He knew it, however, when Sheppard tensed as Eldred pointed.

"There," Eldred said unnecessarily.

Sheppard glanced at Teyla. "Is it my imagination, or does that look a lot like. . . .?"

"The central spire of Atlantis?" she asked, completing his question.

Ronon watched McKay's jaw drop and knew that their chances of reestablishing contact with Earth had just increased exponentially.

oOo

Hours later, circumstances changed. Ronon, Teyla, and McKay shared dinner with Eldred and his family while Sheppard endured a disgusting display of decadence at the Tower. Now, back in his own room, he went through his TAC vest as he considered his options. If they had Atlantis to back them up, things would be much different. But, right now, his current circumstances concerned him.

He'd been separated from his people and forced to become a "guest" of the Lord Protector. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but Sheppard had seen how the Tower guard treated villagers. He worried that McKay or Ronon would accidentally say something that would bring the Tower guard down on them. They had no way of contacting Sateda, save via radio, and the gate was too far from the Tower to do Sheppard much good.

The red drapes that served as walls and doorway around Sheppard's room pulled aside, and Mara, the daughter of the Lord Protector, stepped through. "Am I disturbing you?"

"Mara, no." Sheppard set down his pack and blinked away memories of when Gisli had come to his home on Kiah. "Uh, how's your father?"

"He is resting." She smiled. "Thank you for your concern."

Sheppard walked over to her, more than a little uncomfortable. Her presence reminded him too much of Gisli, and his natural reaction to that disturbed him. While the bitterness still played through his mind, he also remembered the good times they'd shared as well. A different kind of bitterness rose up at the thought of those good times. Gisli had done nothing but lead him around by the nose the entire time, and he didn't want to experience that again. With anyone, much less Mara. "Uh, look, maybe it'd be best if I just, uh, came back another day." He hoped she would figure out that something had changed and let him get away from the memories.

"No!" She held up her hands, obviously worried that he would push past her and walk out. "You can't leave! Please—there's a matter of great importance my father wishes to discuss with you. Perhaps in the morning?" When he grimaced, she shrugged. "If these chambers are not to your liking. . . ."

"No, no they're fine." A little too fine, he added silently. He'd become accustomed to the simplicity of Kiah and Sateda.

Mara gave him a coy look. "Well, then, maybe there's something I can do to make you more comfortable."

Sheppard shrugged. "Uh, I don't think so."

"Are you certain?" As she spoke, she unbuckled the waist of her gown. It slid off her shoulders, and Sheppard stared in amazement as she stood before him without another stitch of clothing on her body.

"Oh, wow!" He blinked, trying to look her in the eye. But all he could imagine was how Gisli must have looked beneath her attire. Realizing he was ogling the daughter of a man who could order him executed, he finally succeeded in lifting his eyes. "I. . .I'd never see this coming!"

"You don't find me pleasing?" she asked, dismayed.

"No, no, it's not that." He tried to find a way to explain that he'd just recently ended a relationship and didn't want to let another woman into his life. "It's just. . . ."

She grabbed him and kissed him, melting through his reserves within just a few seconds. When she pulled back, she gasped. "What you said at dinner, did you mean it?"

"Absolutely!" He kissed her again, pulling her into his arms as he reacted to what she offered before he realized that he had no idea what she meant. "What did I say?" he asked before moving his attentions to her neck.

"About the villagers," she replied as she tilted her head to give him better access. "My brother thinks it's a sign of weakness, but I know that means you'll be a great ruler someday."

"Right." He grinned and kissed her again, already losing himself in the lustful haze that would soon follow. But her words caught up to him, and he blinked and pulled away. "Ruler? Wh—wh—what are you talking about?"

Mara grinned. "My father has promised that if we are married, succession will fall to me!" She giggled and pushed him backward.

Completely stunned, Sheppard fell onto the bed, watching as she climbed on top of him. When she continued to kiss him, he decided to forget about politics or his team or his possible death because of these actions. Instead, Mara morphed into Gisli in his mind, and he spent the remainder of the evening taking his fill of what she had offered and then so cruelly pulled away. This time, Mara made certain she fulfilled his every wish, causing the haze that had settled over him to thicken until he felt like he'd lose control.

Late that night, with Mara sleeping contentedly in his arms, Sheppard stared at the ceiling and let out a deep breath. The tension that had plagued him for weeks was gone, and he finally felt a bit of relief from the bitterness. He closed his eyes and, for the first time since Kiah, slept peacefully.

oOo

For the first bit of their flight, Shani struggled to relax like Evan wanted. He had just reminded her of his desire to be called by his given name, and she hated her penchant for blushing whenever he glanced her way. She had never believed herself to be susceptible to the same behavior that plagued younger women, but it had apparently happened to her. Not only was Evan Lorne incredibly attractive physically, but he had a calm demeanor that she liked. This wasn't a man who would panic in the heat of battle, as evidenced by his stature as a hero in his people's struggle to survive. She liked that, and it drew her to him.

Shaking her head ever so slightly, she watched the landscape change from the ruined city to pure, untouched farmlands. Here and there, a dilapidated farmhouse or settlement disturbed the peace. But Shani suddenly wished to land in the fields and merely walk. She idly wondered how Evan would react and imagined him at her side, chatting and laughing as if they had not a care in this world. The intimacy that suggested made her flush again, and she wondered why she, a woman thirty summers old, was suddenly feeling this way about a man.

The radio activated before she could say anything about landing. Evan looked like he wanted to ask a question but instead answered the call. "Lorne here."

Coughlin's deep voice came over the radio link. "Major, what's your location?"

Lorne rattled off his coordinates. "Why?"

Voices could be heard in the background as Coughlin sighed deeply. "We've got a problem at the gate."

Shani sighed as Evan turned the Jumper around. He sped up the little craft's flight, and they arrived at the hangar in half the time it had taken them to leave. After a quick landing, he jumped to his feet and rushed out the back hatch. Shani followed him toward the gate. She had seen the mask settle over his features at the radio call and managed to stay relatively relaxed as he turned the Jumper back toward the city. He apologized to her about putting their flight on hold, and she reached out to touch his arm in acceptance. She understood.

Now, however, she stayed to the edge of the group, watching as he strode purposefully toward the small, rotund man smirking at the guards around the gate. Her eyes took in every move Evan made, seeing the way he commanded respect in spite of the rough-spun brown shirt and tan pants. A thick wide belt at his waist held a holster with his weapon, and he touched it as if confirming it was there. "What's goin' on?"

Coughlin, the man who had radioed them, turned. "Major. He came through right before we called you and is insisting on speaking with Ronon."

Evan turned to the newcomer. "Ronon's not available right now. I'm Major Lorne. Can I help you?"

The man met Evan's eyes. "Yeah. He said he was rebuilding this place and to come find him if we wanted to help."

Evan blinked, clearly taken off guard. "He did?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe it would help if we knew who you are."

"I'm Solen Sincha." The man grinned. "If you're truly rebuilding Sateda, then I want in."

~TBC