Stargate Rejects

Nick followed Alex down the hall, trying to ignore Ritter and Saporta's obnoxiously loud conversation.

"Really, Saporta? Out of all the women on this expedition, you'd choose Asher?" Ritter snickered.

"She's hot," Saporta said defensively. "Why? Who do you think is the hottest?"

There was a long pause where Nick could feel Ritter's eyes on him. Or maybe that was just his imagination.

"Can we just focus on getting to these Puddle thingies?" Nick asked when the silence had stretched on for far too long.

Saporta turned his attention to Nick. "How about you, Wheeler? Who do you wanna get with?"

Nick turned around angrily, just in time to see Ritter smirk at him.

"I think I have a pretty good idea," Ritter said.

Nick turned away again, blushing furiously. Did Ritter have to be so cocky? Nick repressed an urge to punch him in the face. Although, he admitted to himself, that was only one of the many Ritter-related urges he was repressing, and not all of them were that violent.

"Are we almost there, Major?" Alex asked, returning Nick's mind to the spaceships.

"It's quite a bit further, Dr. Gaskarth."

"Where is it?" Nick asked, bringing up the Atlantis map on his laptop.

Ritter leaned over his shoulder and examined the map. "Right there," he said finally, pointing to a room. It was, Nick realized, one floor up, and directly above the Gate room.

"The stairs are just a little ways down this hallway, but then we need to go in the opposite direction when we reach the top," Ritter said.

"I think I know a faster way to get there," Nick replied. He stopped in front of a door and waved his hand in front of the control. The door slid open, revealing a tiny room.

"Elevator?" Saporta asked.

"Not quite," Nick replied, examining a map that was attached to the back wall of the room. "It's a Transporter. It can take you to any of the other Transporters in the city. And there happens to be one..." he trailed off, double checking the map on his laptop, "...right down the hall from the room Major Ritter indicated."

"Great," Alex said. "Let's go." He, Ritter, and Saporta entered the Transporter. It was a tight fit with the four of them jammed into the tiny space, and Nick had to flatten himself against the wall to avoid being pressed up against Ritter. He reached out and carefully touched the map on the wall, choosing the Transporter closest to the room with the spaceships.

The doors slid open again, and they were in a different hallway.

"This way," Ritter said, leading the way out of the Transporter. Alex and Saporta hurried to catch up with him. Nick sighed, and followed them down the hall.

Ritter lead them through a door and into a large, round room. Lining the walls were small spaceships. There were only about eight or ten, but they looked oddly impressive.

"Welcome to the Puddle Jumper Bay," Ritter said, grinning. For once, Nick wasn't tempted to roll his eyes.

"These are amazing," he said, gazing at the closest Puddle Jumper. "They look like they're designed specifically to go through the Gate." He allowed himself to marvel at the ships for a few more seconds, before turning to Alex. "Get Blackington down here."

"I thought he was working on shutting the systems down."

"He'll have finished by now."

Alex switched his radio on. "Dr. Blackington, are you finished shutting down the unnecessary systems?"

"Yes, Dr. Gaskarth."

"Report to the Puddle Jumper Bay. Dr. Wheeler will send you directions."

"I'll be there soon."

Alex turned to Ritter and Saporta. "I've got to go see some other things around here. Major Ritter, I need you to come with me. Major Saporta, you stay here with Dr. Wheeler and Dr. Blackington. Dr. Wheeler, I'll be back in a few hours. Tell me what you've discovered."

"Yes sir," Saporta said.

Alex and Ritter left the room. Nick sighed, dreading the prospect of spending an entire afternoon with Blackington and Saporta. However, his exasperation vanished as he opened the door of one of the Puddle Jumpers and began to examine the controls. He was in an unexplored galaxy, in an Ancient city, getting to discover the secrets of the Ancients firsthand; one afternoon spent with a rival scientist and a loud, annoying Air Force officer was a small price to pay for an opportunity like that.

However, if it was Ritter he'd had to spend the afternoon with, he wasn't sure he would have had such an optimistic attitude about it.

Alex and Ritter returned several hours later. Nick and Ryland were talking quickly, bent over the control panel of the Puddle Jumper, while William leaned against the wall, looking bored.

"Dr. Wheeler?" Alex said.

"Yes?" Nick looked up.

"Why is Beckett here?"

"Ancient gene."

"Hmmm." Alex frowned. "That's starting to become quite a problem. We've had the people with Ancient genes running all over the city today. There just aren't enough of them."

"That might not be a problem much longer," William said, giving Alex a significant look.

Alex nodded. "Good."

"What are you talking about?" Nick asked.

"That's not important right now. What have you learned about the Puddle Jumpers?"

"Well," Ryland started, "They were designed by the Ancients to go through the Stargate -"

"Yes, I think everyone knows that already," Nick interrupted. Ryland rolled his eyes and turned back to the control panel.

Nick took over the explanation. "They're meant to hold four to six people, but they can support up to twelve people if necessary. They're only meant for short trips. They have weapons for emergencies, but engaging another ship would probably be a bad idea. They have a cloak, which makes them invisible and stops most sensors from detecting them. There is a set of airtight doors that separate the front and back areas. The main controls are in the front area, but some controls can be accessed from the back, although it's more difficult than using the controls in the front. There's a D.H.D., inertial dampeners, and a navigation system, as well as some other things we haven't quite figured out yet."

"And have you figured out how to fly it yet?"

"Um... no. I mean, Beckett tried, but he couldn't do it."

William rolled his eyes. "I'm a doctor, not a pilot."

"That's alright. I've found a pilot who possesses the Ancient gene and is willing to test fly the Puddle Jumpers."

"Let me guess," Nick said, rolling his eyes and glancing at Ritter.

The corner of Ritter's mouth twitched into a smile. "Yeah."

"Well, I hope you have fun."

"Actually, Dr. Wheeler, you'll be going with him," Alex interrupted.

"What?"

"You, Major Saporta, and Major Ritter will be taking the Puddle Jumper on your first mission tomorrow."

"Really? Where are we going?"

"A planet called Athos. You're going to try to form an alliance with the people there, and persuade them to let us evacuate to their planet if the Wraith attack Atlantis before we find a ZPM."

Nick nodded. "Alright."

"Are the Puddle Jumpers safe to fly right now?"

"As far as we can tell," Ryland said.

"Good. Wheeler, Blackington, Beckett, Saporta; go up to the mess hall for dinner. Major Ritter and I will take it from here."

There was a chorus of "yes, sir", and they climbed out of the Jumper, heading towards the exit. As Nick was exiting the room, he saw the Jumper rising into the air and hovering several meters off the ground.

"Ritter's flying it!" Saporta said. William and Ryland stopped to watch.

"Hmph," Nick said. He headed down the hallway towards the Transporter, fully aware that he was the only one not staying to watch the first flight of the ship he'd been so delighted to work on that afternoon.