Fic: 400 Words About 4 Puddle Jumpers (Gen, Markham, Beckett, Sheppard, Zelenka)

[wickedwords]

Fandom: SGA
Summary: 4 people. 4 puddle jumpers. 400 words
Gen. Markham, Beckett, Sheppard, Zelenka

Thanks to elynross for betaing this. I make no money, I mean no harm. All mistakes are my own


400 Words About 4 Puddle Jumpers


Betty made eyes at everyone, but she had a favorite and it wasn't John. With John, she was sluggish and resistant to commands, practically rolling her eyes and fanning herself, saying "Oh, honey. You just don't have it, do you?" With Markham, she looped and rolled at the slightest thought, his hands guiding her easily, as eager and willing as a date on prom night. So when the dart came and the call went out for the pilots to assemble, naturally Markham grabbed his best girl, trusting that the two of them could defend Atlantis.

Betty never made it back.

***

When Carson had to fly to the mainland, he always took Huey; they'd ridden out the storm together, and he trusted Huey to get him back to Atlantis. Like a fat little pony, the kind you rented in the summer, Huey was always a little faster and a little more responsive whenever they headed back home. Even tempered and plodding, Huey was never shaken by any sudden actions, and Carson felt safer with him than any other jumper. So when they loaded the nuke into Huey's cargo area, Carson's heart pounded. He knew that this time, Huey wasn't coming home.

***

Snap climbed like a homesick angel, and John loved him for that. All spit and polish, sharp actions, fine lines, Snap was a skittish thoroughbred, requiring a deft hand on his controls. Carson wouldn't take him if he had the choice, but John adored the highly strung jumper with its atypical response time, grabbing it for off-world missions. Snap's responsiveness didn't help when the prisoners of Olesia shot at them, and John swore that as soon as he could, he'd bring the crashed jumper home. In John's mind, 'leave no one behind' applied to puddle jumpers as well as people.

***

Zelenka didn't have the gene, yet he knew the jumpers better than most of their pilots. Domino was the one he spent the most time working on; he suspected that she was something of a hypochondriac. Her warning lights came on more frequently than those of any other jumper, and while Zelenka had no fear about twisting knobs or swapping crystals, the pilots preferred to avoid it, if possible.

Zelenka was working on her when Ford knocked him out and used the emergency autopilot to head off-planet. Maybe the pilots were right and Domino was simply bad luck after all.


The End

Comments

[mmmchelle.livejournal.com]

What a nifty idea, telling the stories of the jumpers. And you told them so well.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon! Meanwhile, though, your icon - Squee! Blue!John is so adorable. You know how I keep saying that I watched SGA because it was blue? Well, I think it was nice of them to give me an ep where so much of the lighting was blue, too. *g*

I'm blue, dah-be-de-dah-be-dah. Okay, yeah, I crack myself up.

[mmmchelle.livejournal.com]

As soon as I saw all of that blue lighting I thought of you.

And damn it was flattering. John looked incredible, and it made Rodney's eyes stand out in a lovely way. I think they need to shoot them in blue all of the time. And the caps are such fun to play with. It's what I did when I got home yesterday.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I'm really looking forward to when people start posting some of these to take. I realized that while I have several 'goofy or determined John' icons, I don't really have a lot of him just looking good. And I really like that blue tinge.

And god, yes, Rodney!! He's totally lovely looking too.

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

That's really oddly sweet. I hadn't thought about anything from the puddlejumpers' POVs.

I do wonder what the Ancients would have thought of naming the jumpers Huey, Snap, Domino, and Betty. Of course, who knows? They might have called them things like Skippy. *g*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Do you remember "88 lines about 44 women"? I heard that within the past few months, and the idea of doing a set of related jumper drabbles stuck with me. I'm glad you liked it.

Personally, I think the ancients were bad at naming things. They probably called them 'gateships' in the first place.

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

True, they don't strike me as being the most imaginative of people.

OMG, I just saw your icon. *dead*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Taupe or Beige. Taupe or Beige. Atlantis interior decorators were really out there when they went for 'winter white.'

I <3 that icon too. *g*

[movies-michelle.livejournal.com]

Taupe or Beige. Taupe or Beige. Atlantis interior decorators were really out there when they went for 'winter white.'

Obviously it was done in the Ancients' rebellious teenagers phase. Probably some kid designed it and their Ascended parents came back and yelled at them, "White?! You did it in white?! Why don't you just pierce something while you're at it!"

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

Oddly touching. Makes sense that the long tradition of personification of "ships" would be even more intensified when one is in genetic rapport with the vehicle. One eeny weenie beta quibble -- the use of consecutive "but's" in the Snap paragraph. (Consecutive butts, on the other hand, would have been just fine. *g*)

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things I thought of as well -- the jumpers read the minds of the pilots, so there's bound to be a lot of personification going on -- well, that and some images via BSG. (Yes, it's fannish cross-pollination at work, at least a little bit.)

LOL! Okay, the second one became a 'Yet' as I could not think of another word to put in somewhere and each section had to be 100 words.

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

That works! :)

Now then, who's going to write that consecutive butts story? *g*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Ah, I had to lose the 'yet' isiscolo just pointed out that puddle jumper should be two words, so I had to fix it.

And Consecutive butts sounds like another threesome. *g*

[devohoneybee.livejournal.com]

ah, let us count the possibilities.... *musing*

[minnow1212.livejournal.com]

That's just beautiful. Poor Markham.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I thought Markham should get a fun one, since they die together. 'Teen Angel' was my mental sound track for the two of them.

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

Oh, this was so clever! Am impressed! Very much enjoyed the jumpers and their different "personalities." Yay! that Zelenka got a jumper too, even though he doesn't have the ATA gene.

wags, springwoof

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I had to give Zelenka a jumper, as he works with them so much -- at least in fan fiction. *g* Thanks!

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, these are *excellent*, especially the Markham one -- vibrant and bittersweet.

Thank you!

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked them! Thanks.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

ooo, very cool. Excuse me while I go and glare at Snap for resembling Peanuts, a pony from my childhood, *far* too much.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I had a lot of fun with the puddle jumpers. I'm sure the pilots enjoyed naming them as well.

[toniabarone.livejournal.com]

Awww...lovely! I can't explain what I liked about this, but I know I did. Everyone has their own Jumper.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Pilots often name their planes and give them personalities, same as sailors do with their ships. So it's only fair that the puddle jumpers also get to deal with faith and trust and the ideal of home, 'specially if they are part of the AI of Atlantis. *g* Thanks!

[adannu.livejournal.com]

I love the personalization of the jumpers. But Snap is my favorite, just for the phrase, 'climbed like a homesick angel'. *shivers happily*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! *g*

[not-sally.livejournal.com]

This is the coolest, most original fic ever. Cheers for a great fic.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Oh, and I love your icon! 'Slightly Disheveled' is a good Radek look.