Pegasus Ethics by the_drifter (G)

[asugar.livejournal.com]

Rec Category: Major Evan Lorne
Pairing: None
Category: Major Evan Lorne, Character study, Gen, Atlantis, John Sheppard, Vignettes, Episode related, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Original character, Rodney McKay, Elizabeth Weir
Warning: Brief suggestion of a possible lesbian relationship, mild language
Author on LJ: http://fiercelydreamed.livejournal.com/
Author's Website: http://fiercelydreamed.talkoncorners.net/main/
Link: http://community.livejournal.com/sga_flashfic/616035.html

Why This Must Be Read: Lorne appears in 4 and 6  of the six vignettes in the taut, harsh and nicely ambiguous Pegasus Ethics and manages to steal the story out from under the other characters. I cannot forget this meditation on the many morally questionable decisions made on Atlantis and whether their ways of living and working will be their doom in the end. I admire the author's bravery and the excellence of the characterizations. This is extremely thought-provoking and powerful look at life down range in Pegasus. The analysis is painfully insightful and the interactions haunting. The last line rings true not just for the IOA, American government and the Air Force's treatment of John but that of the brass' treatment of front line military commanders in the field everywhere.

One caveat: I would hope Elizabeth has a better grasp of the fundamentals of customary international law, treaty law and United States foreign relations law than she seems to here. It's the author's only misstep in an otherwise superb work.

A snippet of 4....

As one of the second wave of personnel to join the Atlantis expedition, Evan knew first-hand that newcomers adjusted in stages. Stage one was culture shock, where you learned the city and did your job with a constant low level of what the fuck in the back of your head, because this place was half-military, half-civilian, and a totally different animal from any base or outpost you'd ever seen. Not everyone made it past this stage, and those who didn't usually transferred back to Earth inside of six months. You reached stage two when you learned to hate the phrase unscheduled off-world activation and to love that purple cauliflower-parsnip thing from M4X-113. It was acclimation.

Then, just when you were good and comfortable, another wave of newcomers came in off the Daedalus to get lost in the corridors and have their sleep cycles rewritten by the twenty-six-hour solar days. They reminded you of all the ways this place was nothing like Earth -- but instead of getting sympathetic, you found yourself poised to defend the city and the people in it against any slight or criticism. Any threat from within.

That was stage three, and it was when you realized you belonged here.