"Like most ancient tech the jumpers are controlled by a neural interface" Lorne informed Riley as he closed the rear hatch.
"So I need to keep my mind on the task at hand" she drawled teasing him.
He couldn't help laughing as he dropped into the co-pilots seat where he quickly took her through the different controls. It wasn't long before they were circling the city with Riley performing basic maneuvers.
"Is there anything you can't do" Lorne thought aloud mentally adding jumper pilot to her ever growing skills list.
"Let me think cook, beat my brother at chess, stay still for long, stand arrogance".
He was a little confused by this seemingly random list "pardon".
She laughed banking sharply to avoid the central tower "you asked if there was anything I couldn't do, that's what came to mind".
"I didn't realize I said that out loud, now how about we try landing" he asked pointing her towards the mainland.
"Off world activation" Amelia called over intercom raising the shield.
Sam who'd been on her way back to her office following lunch altered her course heading for the gate room instead.
"Receiving IDC, it's Sheppard" she announced glancing at Sam a look of disbelief on her face.
"Let them in" Sam called as she made her way down to the gate room.
Moments later the event horizon rippled as John's team (apart from Teyla who was on maternity leave) returned from their overnight recon.
"Welcome home guys, how'd it go" she asked surprised they were back on time.
John shrugged "nothing worth writing home about".
"Are you kidding it's going to take me ages to go through all the data I collected" Rodney whined in his usual fashion.
Sam smiled "alright meet me in the briefing room once medical's finished with you"
Nodding they trudged off in the direction of the infirmary depositing their gear along the way.
As soon as Sam dismissed them John shot out of his seat looking forward to a hot shower and a cold beer.
"John could I have a word" Sam called stopping him in his tracks.
"Sure" he replied returning to the table as the others left.
"Doctor Taylor arrived yesterday, I was wondering if you'd pop by her quarters and say hello".
"No problem as soon…"
"Whenever you're ready, she's next to Lorne".
"Got it" John said heading for his quarters where he went straight to his bathroom. Turning the shower on he peeled off his clothes while the water warmed.
Showered and dressed in a fresh uniform John cast a longing glance towards his fridge as he left. Ringing the door chimes he leant against the wall hoping to look nonchalant. Something ruined by the shock he got when the door opened.
"Beer" Riley asked recovering first.
"Please" he asked settling in one of her chairs "so you're the new scientist".
"Yep and you're the military commander".
"Yep".
"That was a stupid idea".
"Thanks".
"My pleasure, so is Rodney as bad as everyone says".
"Worse" John said offering her a mischievous smile.
"If he thinks he's going to treat me like dirt he's got a shock coming. I've still got the plotter" she replied referring to the book they'd careful recorded their pranks in as kids.
"Not to mention you can totally kick arse".
"You going to tell everyone our connection".
"Where's the fun in that".
"Poor Sam, she won't know what hit her. Have you spoken to Dave recently".
"We had a brief chat at the wake and exchanged a few emails since".
"That's why he stopped asking me how you were".
"You're the one thing I regretted leaving on Earth Rey. I've missed you".
"The devil must be ice skating if a Sheppard man's articulating his feelings" she teased "I've missed you too".
"So what do you make of your team".
"I think we're going to be good friends".
"Glad to hear it. You know you're going to have to unpack sometime" he said glancing at the moving boxes.
"Why, I think it gives the place a fen shui look".
Meanwhile...
Having dismissed John's team Sam headed to the archives using her swipe pass to access the room containing the personnel files. Ever since she'd met John something had been bugging her about him and she finally had an idea what it was.
Pulling his file from the military section she flipped it open to the front page, just to be sure she pulled Riley's file from the science section.
"Things just got interesting" she said returning the files to their rightful places.