Later that afternoon, Jack was standing in the Jumper bay, stretching stiff limbs. He hated sitting for too long, so he was really looking forward to going off-world.
Pulling his cap from a pocket of his borrowed TAC vest, he wandered over to Jumper One where Sheppard was doing a preflight check. The man was a great pilot. He knew that from experience. And the fact that the Jumpers read your mind probably made him just that much better.
Jack strolled lazily up the open hatch, hands resting on his P90 in an unguarded fashion. He stood at the read end of the Jumper for a moment, watching as Carter and Sheppard went through the check. When he got bored with that, he stowed his weapon with the other ones in the overhead racks and headed into the front section, leaning against one of the seats.
"Everything hunky-dory?" he asked, starring at the HUD.
"Yes, sir. We're ready to go whenever Ronon gets here," Carter answered.
"Would you like to pilot, sir?" Sheppard asked, though he didn't sound as though he wanted to give up his seat.
Jack shook his head. "No, wouldn't want to get between a man and his craft. Besides, the last time I flew one of these babies, there was some serious time travel involved."
"Don't worry sir, we aren't time travel compatible," Sheppard replied. Jack could hear the smirk n his voice.
Carter relinquished her seat, allowing Jack to ride shotgun. He slid into the seat…okay more like flopped into the seat, slapping his hands down on what he considered the Jumper's dashboard. He still didn't trust all this Ancient-y technology.
After a few minutes of watching Sheppard's hands glide over the controls in an almost intimate manner, Ronon finally trudged into the Jumper and flopped down in the remaining seat in the same manner Jack had done. The only difference was that the big man had a tendency to kind of sprawl in his seat.
"Ronon." Jack nodded over his shoulder at the cave man.
He grunted in response.
"Civil," Jack muttered under his breath. "Ahyrick settlement ho," he added, loud enough for them to hear.
"Yes, sir." John nodded and the hatch closed automatically. There was a low hum as the Ancient aircraft rose from its bay and moved forward into the center of the room.
Jack watched as the walls moved slowly past the windscreen as the Jumper descended into the 'gate room. This was all automatic, but Sheppard had his hands poised over the controls anyway.
When the Jumper finally rotated into position, the event horizon was already sparkling inside the Stargate. John eased the craft forward into the 'gate and everything disappeared around them.