Major Evan Lorne was standing, shirtless, in front of the mirror surveying the assortment of bruises and scars on his torso. It had been a little over forty-eight hours since Sheppard's team had rescued him from a group of religious fanatics who were preparing to sacrifice him to their God in return for protection from the Wraith. Dressing was proving a bit of a problem as his arm was in a sling, he had managed to get his trousers on without too much of a problem but his shirt was proving difficult. He'd abandoned the idea of a t-shirt early on, as he couldn't raise his arm above his head and now the shirt was proving just as difficult, he screamed in frustration and threw the shirt at the mirror. He flopped back on to the bed and closed his eyes....

Lorne blinked and tried to focus. The last thing he remembered was an attack on his team and him being hit on the back of the head, he groaned and sat up he had no idea how long he'd been out, Rowe and Collins must have raised the alarm by now so, hopefully, Sheppard and SGA-1 would be along pretty soon. He heard the sound of keys in the door and his captors entered the room, the leader had the look of a priest about him so maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. The priest slapped him hard across the face, so much for appearances

"Infidel, how dare you despoil our sanctuary" the priest spat. 'Infidel' thought Lorne, that was a word he hadn't heard since Desert Storm

"Sanctuary" muttered Lorne "I'm sorry we thought this place was deserted, we're explorers"

"Only the worthy are allowed in the Sanctuary," said one of the acolytes as he too hit Lorne.

"We didn't know this was a sanctuary, we thought this planet was deserted, we came to explore and to study the ruins by the gate" said Lorne through numb lips

"That is the Sanctuary, no one may enter it but the Chosen with the offerings" said the other acolyte as he slapped Lorne,

"Will you stop doing that!" yelled Lorne as he tasted blood "I've said we're sorry, let me go and I'll make sure no-one comes through your gate again".

"We cannot do that, you have been sent to us for a reason, Ulnek wants you," said the priest

"Who the hell's Ulnek?" asked Lorne and received another slap from the priest

"Ulnek is the all seeing, all knowing protector of our world" said the priest

"So he's your God," said Lorne.

"He is the most Holy name in the Galaxy, he protects us from the Wraith, he sends us those who are to be offered in his name" Lorne didn't like the sound of that "I will enjoy offering you to Ulnek" the priest sneered.

"Offering?" questioned Lorne

"The unclean and the unworthy are offered to Ulnek as a gift to thank him for his protection from the Wraith," said the first acolyte.

"So he's not the benevolent type," remarked Lorne,

"Silence!" screamed the priest, this time Lorne ducked before the blow struck "You will not besmirch the name of Ulnek". One of the acolytes aimed a kick at Lorne's head, he rolled away but not quick enough and the acolyte caught his collarbone, Lorne yelled in pain as he felt the bone give,

"B@stard, you and your so called God can go to hell" Lorne spat. The Priest smiled

"I can assure you that is the last place you will see me, your lack of faith pains me," he said in mock sorrow

"I have faith, just not in some tin pot God who demands human sacrifice," said Lorne; this caught the priest's attention

"Who is your 'God?'" he asked

"He has many names, the Father, Jehovah, Yahweh, God, pick one" Lorne replied.

"Does he protect you from the Wraith, even without sacrifice?" the priest asked

"The Wraith have never been to my world," said Lorne, he knew it was stretching the truth a lot but he needed to keep this guy talking

"How so" the priest asked in surprise "only Ulnek can protect from the Wraith".

"The sins of man, all men, have been forgiven, including the Wraith," said Lorne trying to recall what he had learned in school. The priest's face twisted with hatred

"You are a Wraith Worshipper, I have heard stories about your kind, you betray worlds to the Wraith in return for their blessing," the priest screamed. He produced something that looked like a Cat O' Nine Tails and the first acolyte ripped the shirt from Lorne's back, the two acolytes held him down as the priest lashed out with the whip "death is too good for you". Lorne felt five lashes of the Cat before he passed out.

The pain was excruciating, every movement was torture and he'd endured a lot of that in his time in the Air Force.
He hadn't thought about God for years and he hadn't been to church since his sister's wedding five years ago, in his time with the SGC he'd seen those that claimed to be God's, he'd seen miracles and he'd seen the comfort Faith had bought those in need. He'd often questioned the existence of God during his time with the SGC, knowing what was out there, now he was going to die, as an offering to a God no-one on Earth worshipped, he'd stood up for his Faith for the first time in years, why?. Men were supposed to repent and accept God on their deathbeds weren't they. Would God think him a hypocrite begging for his life with promises he had no intention of keeping. He knew he was going to die serving his country...no...his planet, he'd accepted that a long time ago but now faced with the prospect he felt oddly...calm, was God with him. Was God really protecting him here in the Pegasus Galaxy? The sun was beginning to rise; he wasn't going to give these b@stards the satisfaction of watching him plead for his life, now it was time for him to make peace. He slowly lifted his hand and crossed himself for the first time since he left school,
"It's been too long since my last confession...,” he murmured.

They came for him in the first light of dawn and dragged him down to the sanctuary. The villagers lined the route, some looked at him with pity, some with sympathy, all looked at the priest with fear. Two different acolytes tied him to the altar; the younger of the two bowed his head as Lorne caught his eye

"You are the bravest man I have seen, may your God be with you on your final journey," the acolyte whispered

"Thank you" Lorne whispered back

"I am sorry," said the young man as he bowed his head again. The ceremony began and Lorne started to realise that Sheppard's eleventh hour rescue was going to be too late this time; he closed his eyes and whispered his final prayer. He opened his eyes slowly as the priest started to scream

"Ulnek is here, Ulnek has come to claim this one in person, can you not feel his mighty breath" the priest screamed, Lorne let out the breath he was holding, he knew the sound of a Puddle Jumper when he heard it.

The cloaked jumper landed, the back lowered and out stepped Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla with weapons raised

"Release him now," demanded Sheppard

"Never" screamed the priest "he is the offering to Ulnek, Ulnek demands his life and now yours". The priest danced manically "Ulnek will bless me and I will sit on his council until the end of time itself, never before have we had the chance to offer him so many lives, we will be free from the Wraith for an eternity, seize them" he screamed. Sheppard fired a warning shot over his head

"I don't wanna hurt anyone but if you don't release him my aim may get a little out of whack next time," he said

"Seize them, as Ulnek's channel I demand they be offered to the great and powerful protector Ulnek," demanded the priest. The villagers and acolytes stood frozen to the spot, "I command you to obey me..."
Sheppard raised his weapon and prepared to fire when a movement made him stop. The young acolyte raised the ceremonial sword he was carrying, swung it in an arc and a gasp ran through the crowd as the priest's head fell to the floor.

"There will be no more sacrifice, Ulnek will have to make do with our prayers" he said as he dropped the sword, Ronon ran forward and cut the ropes that bound Lorne to the altar as Dr Carson Beckett appeared out of the back of the jumper and rushed forward to help. The young acolyte dropped to his knees in front of Sheppard

"I beg for your forgiveness for the treatment of your friend, we have been blinded by fear for too long..." he started, he looked up as hand grabbed his arm and tried to pull him to his feet, he looked up to see Lorne "you gave me the strength I needed

"No I didn't you did it by yourself" said Lorne with a smile, the Acolyte grasped his hand

"Thank you for showing us enlightenment" he said.

"Free, we are free," said a voice in the crowd as the sound of laughter and crying rippled around the sanctuary.

Lorne opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his room. Dr Beckett had released him late last night with orders to come back every day for his dressings to be changed. Sheppard had been in to see him and told him that Teyla and Ronon had stayed on the planet and that the young acolyte, whose name was Eromir, was eager for their help with the changes his actions had bought to the planet, apparently, he'd been unanimously voted in as the new priest. He wondered if God had been watching over him in that cell, all that musing he'd done and he still couldn't come up with an answer. He needed to go home for a few weeks; he had enough leave time stacked up so he'd ask Dr Weir if he could leave with the Daedalus next time it came in, as he really needed to talk to Father Barone. There was a knock at his door; he hoped it wasn't Dr Heightmeyer

"Come in" he said with a sigh as he struggled to try to get up. From his position on the bed, he couldn't see who had come in until a length of strawberry blond hair came into view

"Need a hand sir?" said Laura Cadman with a grin, he was about to say no, out of pride, but he was stuck.

"Yeah" he replied, she balanced the plate she was carrying in one hand on top of the mug she had in the other, she grabbed his hand and pulled him off his back, "thanks". Laura sat down next to him and handed him the plate and the mug, the mug held coffee and the plate had a sandwich on it
"Alex says it's something called a Bacon Sarnie and it's just what you need at the moment" she said with a giggle, he took the mug and gulped down some of the coffee

"What are you doing here?" he asked

"Came to se how you were doing as we missed you at breakfast" she grinned wickedly "I won't ask how you're feeling, not after what you said to Kate Heightmeyer yesterday" she replied.

Lorne had woken up from a nap to find Dr Kate Heightmeyer sitting next to him

"How are you feeling Major?" she had asked, Lorne had rolled his eyes and sighed

"I've been beaten, whipped and almost sacrificed by a despotic priest, how do you think I feel you stupid woman" he had snapped, Laura, Sheppard and Weir had been in the infirmary at the time, Weir, Sheppard and Beckett had politely tried to stifle their laughter but Laura had no reservations, she had whooped and laughed out loud

"Oooh that's telling you Kate" she had said as Heightmeyer went pale and got up to leave

"I'll come back later," she said in a strained voice
"Not if I can help it," muttered Lorne.

"As much as she's a friend of mine, Kate has the tact of a sledgehammer at times," said Laura with a smile "so what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to go home for a while, sort a few things out" he replied

"You're not leaving for good are you?" she asked in surprise, he shook his head

"No, but I need some time with my family, to get my head straight, I spent a lot of time thinking in that cell and I..." he said falteringly, Laura smiled.

"S'ok, I think I understand" she got up and picked up his shirt off the floor "you need a hand?” Lorne thought for a moment

"Yeah I guess I do" he replied, sometimes there was no point in being too proud to ask for help.