Chapter 7

Morning...

At around 7am Colonel Sheppard came by Felix's room to take him to breakfast. He had already talked with Dr. Weir about the monitoring of the strange man and his obvious nightmares. Sheppard talked to the security team outside the room and confirmed that everything was okay, and waved the door open.

Once he was in he saw Felix doing some push-ups against a wall, so he waited until the exercises were finished. Then he said, "Morning - ready for some food?"

Felix replied, "Oh yeah, definitely ready for that, sir."

Sheppard looked around the room and saw that Felix hadn't moved his blankets from the floor - but it was neatly made up. He asked, "Get any sleep last night?"

Felix shrugged and replied, "A bit, sir - the usual - new place, excited, can't sleep - you know."

Sheppard acknowledged that with his usual, "Yeah - shall we?" and motioned towards the door.

Felix asked, "Is this attire suitable for the mess hall, sir?" as he was dressed in fatigue pants with belt, dark t-shirt, underwear, socks, soft soled Gore-Tex-style boots and a fatigue jacket on the bed.

Sheppard replied, "That's fine," and went out of the room, without waiting for Felix to follow him.

Felix grabbed the jacket and then threw it back on the bed, and dashed after Sheppard for breakfast.

Sheppard didn't say anything until they got to the mess hall where he pointed out to Felix the trays and cutlery and said, "Over there is where the tray drop-off is," and moved along the still empty food line.

Felix followed and made a point of not making eye contact with anyone but only pointing at what he would like for food. He ended up with scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and he gulped back two cups of hot coffee before getting a third for the table. He grabbed salt and pepper for his eggs and followed Sheppard to a table and sat across from him.

As Felix was trying not to shovel the food he asked, "I take it that everyone eats in the same area, sir? No divided mess like back on Earth?"

Sheppard replied with a question of his own; "Is that a problem?"

Felix raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sheppard and replied, "No sir, it isn't a problem - I was simply asking if that was the arrangement."

Sheppard took the reply at face value and said, "This was the way it was designed by the Ancients so we decided to do the same. It seems to work." He paused and then asked, "I have to know something - how did you get way out here in the Pegasus Galaxy? You said your original mission was a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy getting a couple of X-302 crews back home. So what happened?"

Felix finished his mouthful, which was also the last of his meal, pushed the tray aside and told Colonel Sheppard, "I do remember telling it yesterday, sir, and I'll say the truth again. I don't know how it happened, but I do have my notes that I kept so I can show someone the gate address and see if they know anything about it. I know squat about gate technology so as to how it happened - I don't know. I had a feeling while I was transiting through the one gate to the next that it seemed to take longer. That's about the only way I know how to put it, sir. I have found that this galaxy is a bit backwards on some worlds and very advanced on others, and hostile on some - like any of the Wraith infested planets."

Sheppard asked, "So where are your notes on the planets you travelled to?"

Felix gave an evil grin and replied, "Guess, sir."

Sheppard said, "Back where we picked you up, I'll wager."

Felix sat back, "Correctamundo, sir - and booby-trapped by yours truly, so anyone trying to take my pack, well ... say good night, Gracie."

Sheppard to find out something, "Do you enjoy hurting other people?"

Felix replied, "Uh ... no sir, I don't. I found that out here if you don't take defensive measures, someone else would have you for a meal. And I don't plan on being anyone's meal anytime soon."

Sheppard didn't say anything else for the remainder of the short breakfast as he digested that bit of information. Once he was finished his food he stood up without saying anything and walked over and dropped off his tray.

Felix followed him and did the same and then wondered if he'd pissed off the Colonel, as the man still hadn't said much. So he decided to speak up just in case the Colonel was too preoccupied with whatever thoughts he had currently. He said, "Uh sir - can we swing by to get my ghillie suit?"

Sheppard finally heard Felix after a long moment and replied, "Right," and headed to the room where they washed the ghillie suit. Upon entering the room Felix saw his suit being looked at by an attractive reddish-blonde haired young woman, and was about to crap all over her but waited to see what was going on here. He stayed at the room entrance as Sheppard went and talked to the blonde momentarily who then turned to face Felix.

Sheppard looked at Cadman and as casually as he could said, "Sergeant - this is Lieutenant Cadman - she's our resident bomb and explosives expert; Lieutenant Cadman this is Sergeant Felix Grey. He just ... arrived yesterday from ... off world."

She looked at Felix and said, "Oh right! The guy that saved Major Lorne's team! Well done indeed." She stuck out her hand in greeting to see what reaction she would get from the equally short Sergeant. Felix smiled and shook her hand firmly but not too hard and then didn't let go for a moment.

Felix closed in to the young officer and told her softly, "Ma'am - no disrespect is meant towards you, but if you are an 'expert', then you should remember not to pick up strange stuff. Especially if you don't know if it may go boom."

He let go of her hand and reached up for his ghillie suit as she asked, "What exactly is that thing?"

As he pulled it down and was glad that it was dry, which did make him cheerier, he replied, "A ghillie suit, ma'am."

She asked, "What is it used for?"

Felix chuckled as he looked at Colonel Sheppard and said, "Maybe you could explain it to her, sir - you guys got to see first hand just how it works."

Sheppard gave Felix a small look that said 'ha ha' in a sarcastic way and ignored the jibe but answered the young officer, "It is a camouflage suit used by snipers or people like Felix here."

She looked at Felix and asked, "Are you a sniper?" and then she asked Sheppard, "Why do we need a sniper, sir? We're all pretty good shots."

Felix replied, "I'm not a sniper, exactly."

Lt. Cadman looked confused until Sheppard said, "I'll explain later, Lieutenant." He then looked at Felix and said, "Okay, now we go and see about your weapons."

As they left the room Felix put his ghillie suit over one arm and headed towards the armoury, Sheppard caught Felix and grabbed his arm and asked, "What did you say to Lt. Cadman there, Sergeant?"